Implementation of Project Management - Essay Example

Implementation of Project Management 0 Introduction: "'Project Management' is a technique that breaks down complete processes, schedules activities and ensures that the project is completed on time and on budget. Project management is different in that it reflects a commitment of resources and people to an important activity for a relatively short time. The features and characteristics of project management tend to be unique. The project team is essentially cross functional consisting of a group of individuals selected from other areas in the organization or from outside the organization, because of their special skills, expertise and experience related to project activities". (Russell & Taylor 2003) There is usually more perceived and real pressure associated with project management and this makes the job of the project manager a real challenge. A project manager has to have a closer coordination with various functional departments in order to be successful. Especially in a manufacturing environment, where there is always the need for development of new products, the existence and operation of the project management is of vital importance. But usually the project management department has to use all its capabilities to get the other functional departments to contribute to the product development, as each department will have its own explanations and reasons for not engaging themselves in the product development. In this context this report examines the relative strengths, weaknesses and other important lessons learned from the discussion on the proposed implementation of a formal project management in Hyten Corporation. 2.0 Project Management in Hyten Corporation - A Background: Founded essentially as an automotive component manufacturer, the company started manufacturing electronic components for the military during the Gulf war. Soon after the Gulf war the company emerged a major component supplier for the space programme and when that business segment did not grow well, the company embarked upon the production of various other items relating to energy management, building products and machine tools in addition to automotive components. With a turnover of $ 600 million, the automotive components manufacture remained the major business activity of Hyten Corporation. The coordination of any new project or a new product from concept to market is the responsibility the 'Business Development Department' started to substitute the non-existent project management department. The business development department was taking decisions on the undertaking of any new products or services in a crude way based on macro factors like economic and industry indicators without really going in to the other details of the product or service. The activities of the department were conducted through informal meetings of the functional directors and the manpower for the department was met with people both from within and outside the organisation. With a view to redefine the functions of the business development department as a full fledged project management department Wilbur Donley, with five years experience as a project manager was hired by Hyten Corporation. When the process of establishing the formal project department in Hyten Corporation, there were different ideas and views expressed by the various departments of the company about the implementation of the project management which are summarized below: 3.0 General Observations on the Introduction of Project Management in Hyten Corporation: As a result of the discussion between Wilbur Donley, the project manager, Frank Harrel, the Manger for quality and reliability and George Hub, the Manager of manufacturing engineering the following points about the integration of formal project management in Hytel Corporation emerged: Presently due to lack of coordination among different departments, the marketing and manufacturing departments do not understand and appreciate the functions of the quality department. More open lines of communication will help to improve all round performance of the company Under the present system constant changes are made in the designs of new products by the product designs group which results in cost overruns and also the developments could not be completed on schedule. Quite often the manufacturing department is blamed for such delays. This is mainly due to lack of coordination between various departments connected with the development of a new design or product. Introduction of formal production management should result in meeting the time schedule, reducing cost and improving the attitude of the people within the organization. 4. 0 Effect of Formal Project Management on Human Resources: Wilbur Donley, the project manager convinced the management of Hyten Corporation to organize a seminar on Project Management conducted by an outside consulting firm, to be attended by all management and supervisory employees of the business development division. Soon after attending the seminar, Sue Lyons the director of personnel and Jason Finney, assistant director has a personal discussion on the proposed implementation of the formal project management and the discussion resulted in the following views: The implementation of a formal project management gives rise to employee related issues which should be guarded against by the company. Assignment to a project team is usually temporary, which can have both positive and negative repercussions. The temporary loss of workers and staff from their permanent jobs can be disruptive for both employees and the work area. It may so happen that sometimes the employee must serve two masters reporting to both the project manager and the functional manager, which may distract the concentration of the employee and may also result in the employee evading his job responsibilities citing his twin engagement. Sometimes, the projects may be exciting that provides an opportunity for the employee to work on an interesting and innovative assignment. This may make the employee reluctant to report back to a more mundane and regular job after the completion of the project. The recruitment of skilled personnel for inclusion the project team from outside the organization may cause resentments among existing employees which may tell upon the employee morale. Evaluation of the work of the project team members often gives rise to debates as to who shall have the duty and authority to evaluate the performance of the project team; whether the project manager or the functional manager. Most of the times, since the projects are for shorter periods the project managers may not be able to effectively evaluate the work of the personnel associated with the project. An improper evaluation may affect the employee morale and may lead to delays in the completion of the project. The problem of evaluation may be countered with more than one evaluation; one from the project manager and another from the functional manager concerned. 4.0 Project Management as Perceived by Other Departments: The perception of the implementation of a formal project management by different functional department head and directors of Hyten Corporation is expressed as below: Frank Harrel - Quality and Reliability Manager: Since project management involves interaction and coordination of various functional areas within the organization to achieve the project goals, it gives an opportunity for the quality control department to present its broader objectives than being looked upon as a hindrance to production. The more the interaction with other departments, the more are the chances for higher cooperation. With the introduction of project management, there will be a change in the outlook of other functional departments towards quality department in that the function of this department will be viewed as having more to do than just finding the defects. The real contribution of quality department will be understood and appreciated by all other functional departments of Hyten Corporation. Harold Grimes - Plant Manager: The main apprehension of the plant manager relates to: Training the people hired from outside the organization in the production techniques and processes rather than using the people from within the organization may lead to backlog of work in the production department. Presently available MBA graduates from within the Business development Department should be trained to head projects instead of hiring outsiders. Herman Hall - Director of MIS: The observations are: The existing staff is involved in current projects like installation of mini-computers and on-line terminals and other maintenance projects and hence unless the existing projects are halted it would be difficult to allocate manpower for the proposed formal project management. The switching of existing people may delay the completion of the projects on hand and hence the implementation of a formal project management would result in further delays of the projects being already handled by this department. Another problem that may be encountered is that it may take considerable time for designing a suitable information system in respect of the project management. Designing, actual programming, testing and debugging a new information system may take a longer time and hence it may not be possible to support the project management instantly Bob Gutswell - Scheduling Manager: Here again the main apprehension for the Scheduling Manager was the additional manpower requirements and changes to the routine. However according to the Scheduling Manager: Project management helps to reduce the schedule changes and this will be welcomed by the scheduling department as it makes the work of this department more efficient. By an effective interaction and coordination with all the departments the scheduling department will be able to prioritise its work and become more efficient in the scheduling activities. John Rich - Director of Engineering: According to the Director of Engineering: Introduction of formal project management would affect the work flow, since the engineering function basically is too technical to take directions from people who are not well versed with the processes. Project management may often change the specifications of the designs and processes, with a view to achieving the object of saving in time and money. This may deter the work flow in the engineering department. Fred Kuncl, Plant Engineering: According to the head of the plant engineering department: A formal project management may weaken functional specialisation of the plant engineering (maintenance) department since it requires cross-utilisation of resources and manpower. It also restricts the ability of the plant engineering department to respond quickly to maintenance activities directly related to manufacturing activities. Since plant engineering department will always be looked upon to provide services with changing priorities depending upon the production requirements, assigning manpower for project related works may over burden the department with additional tasks. This may also affect the efficiency of the department to react quickly and efficiently to the demands of the production department. . Bill Knapp - Director of Marketing: According to the director of marketing implementation of project management has the following distinct advantages: Project management may prove to be handy in achieving this organizational goal by giving sharp focus on all the products of the company. Especially in an environment, where diversified products are involved, there is always the need to allocate the available resources and use them efficiently in the best interests of the organization. This would be possible only by implementing a formal project management. Project management ensures individual emphasis on the products and designs and thereby enhances the chances of better utilization of the resources of the company in an efficient way. This can be achieved by streamlining the production processes even at the design stage and the product will be taken to the market once the project team is confident of its success and efficiency. Stanley Grant - Comptroller: The chief of the finance department of Hyten Corporation made the following observations about the introduction of a formal project management in the company. Although instant acceptance of the introduction of the project management cannot be expected, it will have its impact on the cost control and the internal control systems. Alterations in the existing accounting system to incorporate project cost control techniques may have to be undertaken. The system should be able to establish and provide project cost commitment reports to aid the project manager and other functional managers associated with the projects to take immediate and timely technical decisions based on the cost factors. Project cost audits, periodic comparison of actual expenses with budgeted costs, analysis of manpower allocations and analysis of funding schedules are some of the areas which the finance department should look into with respect to the project management. On a clear understanding of the project requirements the internal control procedures should be established with a review and modification of the existing control procedures. Conclusion: The discussions held between some of the department heads and views and opinions expressed by the other departmental heads have led to rather a mixed response regarding the introduction of a formal project management in Hyten Corporation. Most of the managers expressed the shortage of manpower as the crucial factor which may affect the existing routine in their respective departments. There is some point in the argument of John Rich, Director of Engineering that the project management would lead to changes being made quite often in the designs which may affect the work flow. However bringing about changes is all about project management and how efficiently such instances of changes are reduced is the success of the project management. Thus the success of a project depends upon the thorough understanding of the project requirements by the project manager and his ability to steer it efficiently towards success by a tactful interaction with all the functional departments concerned. Reference: Roberta S. Russell, Bernard W. Taylor III (2003) Operations Management Edition IV Prentice Hall Read More