Project Management - Moss and Mcadams Accounting Firm - Case Study Example

? Project Management Project Management A day in the life This case study is based on chapter one of the book ‘Project management’, in which the day of a project manager in a large Information Systems (IS) Project, Rachel, is analyzed. Question 1: How effectively do you think Rachel spent her day? From the research, it is clear that Rachel spends most of her day in a constructive manner. For instance, it is evident that Rachel is a hardworking lady following the fact that she is always the first to arrive at the office before everyone else. This is an added advantage for Rachel since at that time there is no distractions hence total concentration. However, although she gets to work early, in the first twenty minutes after getting into the office, she does nothing constructive. Instead, she takes these twenty minutes to socialize with her colleague Neil. Although socializing gets an individual in a good mood to start off the day, it is unadvisable since it may also act as a distraction (Erik and Clifford, 2011). Question 2: What does the case tell you about what it is like to be a project manager? It is worth noting that project management is not an easy task since it is a leadership position. Therefore, as a project manager, Rachel should arrive early in order to set a trend for her team members on punctuality and time management. More so, by the time the company managing director arrives, Rachel should be able update him or her on the progress of the project, as well as, the working team. There are a number of managerial traits that are required of a project manager. First, project manager is a supervisor that over sees all the operations concerning the project (Erik and Clifford, 2011). For instance, Rachel spends most of the day moving from one office to the other supervising her team, consulting with her workmates as well as reporting to her boss. Secondly, as a project manager, one should play an assistive role to his or her colleagues. For example, Rachel helps another IS project manager in reviewing the project and bringing it back on track. Finally, a project manager should be social and keep in touch with everyone within and outside their organization. Rachel communicates with her team members and discusses extensively with her counterparts from client firms. These, among other reasons, show that the role of a project manager is a generally a one man task. 2) Moss and McAdams Accounting firm This case study is based on an occurrence at the Moss and McAdams (M&M) firm that caused a conflict of interest between two managers: Bruce Palmer and Ken Crosby. The disagreement was on whom Mr. Zeke Olds, a very resourceful person, should work for. However, there are a number of reasons that place Crosby as the most suitable person to work with Olds. Question 1: If you were Palmer at the end of the case, how would you respond? The first reason would be that it is not advisable to have a member of the team who is not fully committed to the roles he or she is supposed to play. In addition, it would be best for Bruce to avoid conflicting with Crosby who was an important colleague (Erik and Clifford, 2011). Question 2: What, if anything, could Palmer have done to avoid losing Olds? According to Erik and Clifford, 2011, Although Palmer would have taken some impromptu actions to avoid losing Olds; it was the best action at the time. Initially, he could have held a discussion with both Crosby and Olds for the purpose of making a proper timetable as well as setting rules that would not disadvantage either party. The second reason was that Palmer took quite a while before communicating with Ruby Sands, the manager in charge of assigning personnel to various accounts at the Green Bay Office in which Palmer and Cosby were based. Had he communicated his wish earlier, the situation would have been kept in control and his project, the Johnsonville Project, would have been kept on schedule. However, Crosby was not an understanding colleague since he expected favors although he could not return them. He also lacked ethics since he did not help in solving issues simply because they were not favoring him. Question 3: What advantages and disadvantages of a matrix type organization are apparent from this case? Managers with traits similar to those of Ken Crosby make it difficult to establish a matrix type organization. The matrix type organization is the style in which control and allocation of managers to clients and assigning of personnel to clients is done following a specific pattern. For instance, at the M&M firm, when a new client was recruited, a manager was assigned to their account. However, putting into consideration the size and scope of the workload, several accounts could be assigned to one manager. In the same way, personnel such as senior staff and accountants were assigned to teams under the same manager. This is advantageous because personnel would be able to organize their time between different accounts while working under the same manager. However, the demerit is that the expertise of various personnel may be required in different accounts under different managers. This may causes a disagreement especially if the growth of the firm is at stake. Question 3: What could the management at M&M do to more effectively manage situations like this? The management at M&M can effectively manage the situation like that of Palmer, Olds and Crosby by setting rules and regulations that control the allotment of time and labor in such exceptional situation. 3) Bim-Bam’s priority Question 1 You are the head of the project selection team at Bim-Bam Recording Studios. You are considering three different projects. Based on past history, Bim-Bam expects a rate of return of at least 25%. Inflation is expected to remain constant and does not need to be considered. Given the information provided below, which project should be Bim-Bam’s first priority? Should any of the other projects be funded? If so rank them in the order of their priority. Project Buckeye Blues has the highest net present value (NPV), therefore making it a priority. As a result of its success, this project should be funded. Next in line of priority is Project Amazing Maze then Project Roll Tide Roll. Since Amazing Maze and Roll Tide Roll projects have a positive NPV, they should be funded. Reference Erik W. L. & Clifford F. G. (2011). Project Management: The Managerial Process (5th Ed.). McGraw: Hill School Education Group. Read More