Exercise 4

Exercise 4

CHAPTER – 4 Project Integration Management

Exercise 1 (page 160)

Write a two – page paper based on the opening case. Answer the following questions :
a. What do you think the real problem was in this case?
b. Does the case present a realistic scenario? Why or why not?
c. Was Nick Carson a good project manager? Why or why not?
d. What could Nick have done to be a better project manager?
e. What should top management have done to help Nick?


a. What do you think the problem was in the case?

This case is about to do project for critical biotech for analysing the human genome. In addition, it also includes the development of hardware and software for assembling the human genome. In the case it shows that this project is the largest project for the company and in the case it shows that within three years the company has already changed three project managers. Now, the company has chosen Nick as a project manager as he has good software technical background.

The problem in this case is that it seems that Nick as a project manager does not have good management skills because he was not able to manage entire aspects of the project. Moreover, Nick was not able to deal with problems occurred during the entire phase of the project. The true role of the project manager is to manage daily activities by scheduling them and t cope up with the situations that arises but in this case Nick as a project manager was not successful to manage his work properly.

The key problems in this case are first that Nick was able to manage entire aspects of the project and the second problem is that he was not communicating with the top management. He was not accurate in his work as he does not impart with top management and he does not provide any schedules or process plan for his work so, the top management was not happy with his work as he was not able to focus on all the tasks of the project.

Although, he was working as a project manager he wants to work as a software integrator so he was not able to cope up with the two roles at same time. Instead, he should perform one role at a time and should improve his management skills.


b. Does the case present a realistic scenario? Why or why not?

Yes, this case presents a realistic scenario. This kind of problem can be faced by many companies by not selecting proper project manager because, the project success is based on the project manager. It depends upon the managers skills that how easily the manager can perform his tasks by properly scheduling them. The key problem with the Nick was that he had a good technical skills but he was not able to manage and schedule his work properly.

Project manager duty is to communicate and provide details of all the processes of project to top management. As project manager leads the project it is duty of the manager to guide the team in order to complete the project successfully rather than not scheduling and managing the process properly. Moreover, should provide details and plan of the work to top management so, the top management can deal with process further.


c. Was Nick Carson a good project manager? Why or why not?

No, Nick was not a good project manager because he was only concentrating on some of the aspects of the project and had only good technical skills rather than also having good management skills as well as communication skills.

He did not provide top management with detail schedule and plan for the process he was performing so, top management was not able to figure out that what actual work was performed by him and his team.

It was true that he had finished the project but still the top management was not happy with his performance.


d. What could Nick have done to be a better project manager?

Nick as a project manager needs to improve his management skills though he has good technical background. Moreover, he needs to perform one role at a time because as he was performing the role of project manager at the same time he accepted the role to perform as a software integrator and troubleshooter so, that resulted in improper management.

Nick should inform project manager about his schedule for performing the process and if he faces some problems then immediately he should inform top management about the problem. To be a good project manager Nick should adopt good management skills and should report top management about plan for his work so, the top management can guide him throughout the whole project life cycle.


e. What should top management have done to help Nick?

Top management plays a vital role in company’s success by providing resources to the company in order to improve company’s performance Top management should provide proper guidelines to Nick as he was not focusing on all aspects of the project. Top management should keep a record of work that Nick was performing so they can know how Nick is working and where he had faced the problems.

Top management should motivate Nick by providing him appropriate solutions regarding his problems and should provide him training in order to improve his management skills. Nick is new to the role of a project manager and as the project is very large he might face certain difficulties while handling the large project so top management should provide him with various resources when needed. Top management should build good relation with Nick and should give encouragement and support so that he can perform his role better.




Reference:

Scwalbe, K 2006, Information Technology Project Management, 4th edn, Thomson Course Technology, Cambridge, MA.