Harrison Keyes

Essay by ikhalid April 2009

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University of PhoenixMBA- 590 Strategic Implementation and AlignmentThis paper discusses Devices for Vascular Interventions plans for expediting the time table to relocate their manufacturing production lines from Redwood City to Temecula. It identifies the opportunities that could have been overcome by becoming a synergetic team and using a project management approach to accomplish their goal.

Although the “as is” layouts had been developed in January by the Industrial Engineers, the “to be” layouts also needed to be created and were scheduled to be completed in late February. However, in the beginning of February the new Vice President of Operations instructed his staff to have the new facility operating by the beginning of beginning of April even though it was originally scheduled for operation in by the end of May.

This accelerated activity aided a lot of stress and confusion between departments since there was no approved official planning to move the facility and equipment at this accelerated timetable.

The Vice President decided to play politics with the President by attempting to develop his credibility and aggressiveness within the company without participating with the employees. Thus the employees had no voice with management’s decision making strategies. “Managers who manage project by the “seat of their pants,” rely heavily on team dynamics and organizational politics to complete a project. Good project managers balance their attention to both the technical and sociocultural dimensions of project management.” Clifford & Larson, (2006), C. 11, P. 15.

“Project Managers recruit members, conduct meetings, establish a team identity, create a common sense of purpose or a shared vision, manage a reward system that encourages teamwork, orchestrate decision making, resolve conflicts that emerge within the team, and rejuvenate the team when energy wanes.” Clifford & Larson, C. 11, Managing Project Teams. C.11, P. 347, (2006). This new top management commitment required teamwork before the Vice President initiated the new project’s date.

Based upon the Vice President’s commitment to the President, Engineers had to fly down to Temecula in order to verify the facilities measurements and determine resource requirements and contractors to get the facility operating. A preliminary Master Gantt Chart of the activities to relocate the entire facility was update expeditiously by Industrial Engineering. Industrial Engineering developed the new layout, in addition to coordinating the labeling and packaging of the tools and equipment into trucks which transported all of the equipment to Temecula over the weekend during the first week of March.

Moreover, there was a lot of stress, fighting and bickering due to the accelerated time table. “Camaraderie and collaboration can quickly vanish only to be replaced by bickering and obsessive preoccupation with group or individual politics.” Clifford & Larson, C. 11, Managing Teams, P. 360,(2006).

The Maintenance Department was responsible to coordinate with the contractors the installation of all the resources water, air, electrical and move the equipment into it’s proper position so the facility would be operational in April. The installation of resources and equipment had a three week delay in getting the facility and equipment operational, since contractors were not available to provide electrical, water, and air to the production processes. However, the Vice President did receive a $10,000 bonus for accomplishing the plan one month ahead of schedule.

Since the plans were accelerated there was a lack of teamwork among departments. Confusion among team players as to how much detail was required to get the facility operating since the accelerated Gantt chart was not validated with the team. This caused a lot of details to be omitted which manifest into overtime and cost over runs.

This scenario demonstrates how playing politics and lack of proper planning and teamwork can cause companies to miss their budget targets and cause confusion among the employees as mentioned in the text book, “Independent decision made by different individuals or groups of managers create a set of condition leading to conflict, confusion and frequently and unsatisfied customer.” Clifford & Larson, C. 1, P.12. (2006).

Introducing new products into the market place during the New Product Develop Cycle is critical to increase sales volume. However, planning and coordination of these efforts with your team is essential. Communication and functioning as a team in a new facility is critical rather than trying to cut corners and have the Vice President make commitments without getting inputs from his team. The project coordinator should have used the SMART system to determine that the schedule was too aggressive, which would was manifested in project delays and causing the project to be over budget.

ReferencesClifford E. Gray, Erick W. Larson, (2006). Project Management: The Managerial Process. New York, New York: McGraw Hill. C.1, P. 15.

Clifford E. Gray, Erick W. Larson, (2006). Project Management: The Managerial Process. New York, New York: McGraw Hill. C. 11, P. 47Gray, Larson, Clifford E., Erick K. (2006). Project Management: The Managerial Process. New York, New York: McGraw Hill. C. 11, P. 360.

Clifford E. Gray, Erick W. Larson, (2006). Project Management: The Managerial Process. New York, New York: McGraw Hill. C. 1, P.12.