What were some of the specific problems that were originally encountered by the project teams?

a. Since no attempt was made to get input from the eventual system users, serious organizational resistance was encountered. As a result, there was a general lack of interest among the potential CIS users. Relying on the

"best available^N criteria proved to be impractical and infeasible.

Contrary to one of their key assumptions, no one single dominant pri- vate model of a CIS existed. Each organization had modeled its system to fit its particular strategic needs. There was no real objective or goal that could serve to guide the team toward one direction. As previously discussed, the goal it had was too vague to be of practical use to the team.

As stated in the case, the project had been inadequately planned. The company basically treated the project like a routine procurement pur- chase that did not warrant any additional planning.

b. No attempt had been made to devise a so that there were no work packages to be assigned. The necessary steps to reorient the culture to using such a system were never undertaken. The potential system users were never consulted for their advice on how to implement these proce- dures. Consequently, the operational plans were never revised to incor- porate the daily operations of the new CIS.

4. What were the keys to project success as cited in the case? What other fac- tors influence the success or failure of a project?

a. The factors identified in the case are:

Design the system so as to satisfy the needs of the lower levels.

The system should be designed and perceived to allow improvements in job performance that are followed by future rewards and recognition.

The case also cites the need to have the system inspired by the "best business practices," and not to fit the organization's culture by man- date. However, it seems that the system should be based on an orga- nization's needs and fit into its strategic planning processes.

The people who would have to run and use the system need to feel a sense of project ownership.

b. Kharbanda and J. Pinto in Successful Project Managers: Your Team to Success, Chapter 4, Project Critical Success Factors, the following critical success factors, as paraphrased:

project mission-with clear goals and objectives

top management support-the support required to carried out the plementation (resources, authority)

schedule plan-a clear definition of each activity and stage in a time frame

client consultation-with the final user of the project, to gain accep- tance and feedback

personnel-the search, selection, hiring, and training of the right pro- ject team members

technical tasks-the technological proficiency required to carry out each project activity

client acceptance-the final approval and acceptance from the intended users

monitoring and feedback-the control system that guarantees the ad- equate revision in each activity and stage

communication-the process of gathering, processing, and distribut- ing all relevant information

troubleshooting-the ability of making the right decisions when the unexpected happens.

From a research project that that looked at over 400 projects and tried to assess the importance of the ten factors, Pinto and identified the mission as the most important factor in the study.

5. Describe the eventual implementation strategy used on this project. What are some of the potential problems of this approach?

a. The implementation strategy called for a competitive atmosphere in which the overall project was divided into a series of mini-projects to be executed by small teams of volunteers within the organization. Basical- ly, the agency provided the necessary guidelines, money, and technical support along with a means to evaluate these mini-projects. In addition, management decided to keep the specialized CIS staff to a minimum.

The bulk of work was to be accomplished by the line personnel through this informal team process. These teams of volunteers would submit a short project proposal to the CIS team and, if approved, would assume responsibility for running the monitoring system. Overall, the approach taken by management seemed to lack a firm sense of direction.

b. The student may also care to elaborate on some of the more detailed as- pects of this informal approach. In essence, the agency seemed to be off from its original position of having a system operational within two years. Instead of using a more formal and planned project management approach to establish this system, the organization is now trying to install this system through an informal type of task force ap- proach. Although the case gives the impression that each mini-project was adequately controlled while instilling ownership in the employees, there still lacked an overall plan to tie everything together. The overall approach seemed to be haphazard in nature. In short, the project was

an goal that tied all efforts together.

c. One can also argue that this volunteer task force approach in effect deemphasized the importance of the project. For such an encompassing project, it seems unlikely that this ad approach would truly be suc- cessful. The establishment of mini-projects could be better accom- plished by first a and then assigning the resulting work packages to the best qualified individuals. There appears to be no clear link between the work that needs to be done and what the various task forces submit as proposals.

The instructor may be interested in discussing why this very informal ap- proach to project management was successful in this particular case. Fur- thermore, the instructor may want to address the question of why these small task teams consisting of volunteers proved to be so successful in this envi- ronment. Finally, the instructor may want to discuss the author's implication that software projects warrant the use and application of special project man- agement techniques.

Communicating Risk Management in Municipal

Government Projects: City of New Orleans Computer-Aided Dispatch System Project 3 7

Cape Town's Olympic Bid: A Race against the Clock 41 Sydney 2000 Olympic Games: A Project Management Perspective 43

Strategic Project Control Initiatives 4 7 Libya: Challenge 51

Land Reserve Modernization Project: The Future of Army Infrastructure 55

in

How ICL Used Project Management Techniques to Introduce a New Product Range 65

Communication Risk Management in