The Lack of a Plan for New Business and Design - Case Study Example

PART ONE: Use the case materials to complete this assignment. ANALYSIS Describe all assumptions seen in any documents provided. For full credit, provide AT MINIMUM: four to six assumptions held by Kelly; six to nine assumptions held by Pat; two to three assumptions held by Cliff; two to three assumptions held by Chris. Kelly That quality control is an essential part of the prototype. That the program in question will take significantly longer to create. That the budget is overly optimistic for the project. That parts of the project (real time information) are not possible. That she can have one feature, but not a whole project completed in six months. That there needs to be a system in place for creating new projects before a new project is started. That there are only enough programmers to keep up with current customer demand. Pat That creating new software is a relatively easy and short task. That the company will fail unless everyone works on getting the new project to retail. That there is a significant market for retail retinal scanners. That many people in the company are purposely being difficult because they do not support the project. That Cliff does not support the project, because he wants other employees ideas and beliefs about the project. That the budget is more than reasonable for the project. That a contracted programming group would be able to complete the project in six months. That beating the competition to market is more important than a sound product. Cliff That a new project is necessary to keep the company going. That the budget crisis will be fixed by offering new technology to the market. That there are some problems between the staff in putting together the project. Chris That while the budget is in bad shape, the new project will save the company. That the group is not working together on the project successfully. Explain the arguments made by each of these people. Explanations should be comprised of two to six sentences for each of the following. Cliff O'Connor Cliff argues that the company needs to develop a new product to successfully compete in the market. However, at the same time, the new project budget is far higher than he would like to see. He is concerned over the inability to communicate between the programmers and Pat Lambert. He argues that the company needs to succeed, but should not ignore the product they already have on the market, or their long time customers. Pat Lambert Pat Lambert believes that the only way the company will remain successful is if this new project is beta tested in August. She believes that Kelly is being an obstructionist, and not allowing the project enough of the programmers time, dooming the project to failure. She believes that it is worth extending the companies budget to bring in outside programmers to ensure the project's success. Kelly Thomas Kelly Thomas believes that this project is unreasonable. Without a set plan of developing new projects, there is no way to ensure enough quality control testing. She also believes that what Pat is asking is unreasonable, and is not possible in the time frame that Pat Lambert has asked for. She recognizes that an increased budget still does not speed up development time. Chris Martinas Chris Martinas believes that this project is integral to the success of the company. At the same time, he shows some ambivalence as to whether this program is actually what they need, especially considering the increase in budget Pat is asking for. Chris would like the project to succeed, but also recognizes that it needs to be kept within the company, and not done by hiring other programmers. Evaluate each argument listed above as sound or unsound and why. Indicate whether they are emotional or logical in nature. Evaluations should be comprised of two to six sentences for each of the following. Cliff O'Connor Cliff's arguments are reasonable; he recognizes that with a broadening market that his company needs to expand to remain competitive. His recognition that older customers should not be ignored and that the budget for the new project needs to remain low is also very reasonable. He recognizes that change is necessary, but that it should only be good for the company. His arguments are very logical in nature. Pat Lambert Pat recognizes that the company needs to expand, and believes that her project is the only way for the company to succeed. However, she is so wrapped up in the project that she is ignoring the fact that there is no way it will be done in the time frame she expects, or at a reasonable budget. While she was originally being logical, she is allowing her love of her own project to make her overly emotional about how people react to her goals. Kelly Thomas Kelly does not see this project as the way to protect the company. While she is being emotional about how the layoffs affected her programming department, she is being very logical in the rest of her arguments. She recognizes that it is not feasible to complete a new project in only six months time, and to maintain a high level of quality control. She also recognizes that there needs to be a system in place to create new projects. Finally, she is remarkably logical about the budget. She knows that the current proposed budget is too low, but also that throwing money at the project will not make it better. Chris Martinas Chris is thinking mostly emotionally, as he knows the new project isn't perfect, but also that the program needs a new project to stay competitive. He is being logical about the need for new business, but emotional about not looking at how feasible the new project is. Describe specific fallacious arguments, and identify the people who hold them. Pat holds a fallacious argument in that she believes that the project is being held up by the programmers. It is fallacious, because she is not looking at actual timetables for project development. Chris is holding a fallacious argument because he believes that this new project will save the company, when in fact the budget and development timetable will be more harmful than helpful to the company. Pat holds a fallacious argument in that she believes her project is feasible. She is not a programmer, and does not understand how a program works, or what is possible. Cliff holds a fallacious argument in that he believes that his employees are all looking at not only what is best for the company, but what is possible. He does not recognize the Pat's dream project is not in their companies scope. For full credit, provide AT MINIMUM four to six fallacious arguments. CONCLUSIONS Describe all problems in this situation. Describe a minimum of two to three problems that characterize the situation. Single sentence format is acceptable. The primary problem in this scenario is that nobody is communicating effectively. The project is simply not feasible, but because there is no communication, nobody recognizes what is wrong. The secondary problem is that everyone is too emotionally involved in the project, and are unable to step back and see why the project is not successful. The tertiary problem is that there is no set plan for new projects, so nobody knows how to go about creating a new program. For each problem listed above, describe the data, arguments, and reasoning that contribute to the problem. Describe issues of data, arguments, and reasoning-related to each problem within two to six sentences. The arguments that relate to this problem are that programming does not feel the project can be accomplished, upper management does not approve the budget, and design does not understand why programming and management are not in agreement. Additionally, without a statistical study about how desired this project will be, there is no guarantee that it will sell well, even if it is completed. For the secondary problem, Pat and Kelly are arguing, because there is no way to determine whose job it is to make decisions, because they have no new business model. Cliff does not see the problem, because there is poor communication, and Chris is afraid to step in, although he sees that the project may not be successful. The tertiary problem is the worst, because if a new business plan was in action, than there would be no communication issues. What is the underlying problem that is the base cause of the conflict within the company Present the underlying problem in one to four sentences. The underlying problem is that lack of communication between departments about how new projects should be put together and run. This lack of communication and plan for action makes it hard for people to know whose responsibility different parts of the project are. What alternative solutions would you propose for this situation Present a MIMINUM of two potential solutions in the format of two to four sentences each. For this situation, I recommend that each department put together a prospectus of what they believe needs to be done for the project, a timeline, and a developmental budget. That way, people can see where the communication gaps are, and work together to come up with a reasonable solution. Another solution would be to put the project on hold and develop a plan for new business before continuing. That way, everyone would know their job for new business, and the communication would be clearer. State the relative strengths and weaknesses of each alternative solution. Describe at least one strength and one weakness for each alternative solution. The first solution would allow the company to continue to work on the project, while fixing the communication gap. However, it does not fix any future problems about new projects and development, so it is only a short term solution. The second solution allows the company to improve communication for the long term, however it may sacrifice the current project, which could damage the company for the long term. Which solution will you recommend to the CEO and why In two to six sentences, fully articulate the exact solution you would propose and the reason(s) for that choice. I would recommend that the project be put on hold until there is a firm plan for new design and business. The communication errors are simply to costly to the company, and will in the end be more harmful to business than the project being delayed, since there is a chance a poor quality project will be released. Rather, a long term business and new development plan will allow the company to look into the future, and plan for longer term success. PART TWO: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Write an executive summary of the case for the CEO of the company. The executive summary should give readers the essential contents of the master document(s) in approximately two pages. It should preview the main points of your document, enabling readers to build a mental framework for organizing and understanding the detailed information you are presenting, and helping them determine the key results and recommendations reported in your document. Be sure to include the following: Purpose and scope of document Summary of the situation Key points relating to the situation Conclusions Recommendations and actions to be taken, and why Other supportive information The executive summary should be comprised of 700-1050 words in length. The following rubric will be used to grade the executive summary: Executive Summary Simply put, there is no simple solution to the problems with this project. This document should provide you with a brief breakdown of all the problems with the current project, including the profound breakdown of communication that we have seen. This situation has no winners at this point. While Pat's design seems like a wonderful addition to the current program line we have available, the programming department does not see the feasibility of the design. The lack of a plan for new business and design has created a communication breakdown between all of our departments, which has resulted in a stagnant project. Nobody knows whose job different parts of the project are, or how much of our resources should be devoted to this project. There is no set budget, and the timeline was not cleared with the programmers, who actually have to make the project work. Pat and Chris have done a good job coming up with new applications for our software, but also need to recognize that the programming department is the only group who will be able to tell us what is truly feasible. While this project is necessary to the further development and success of our organization, it is also necessary to recognize that there needs to be a plan in place for the continued success of the company, which needs to take into account the growth of new business. While I do believe this project is very important to the growth of the company, I can only recommend that at least temporarily it be put on hold, until we as a company have a plan firmly in place for new business. This project has the possibility of significantly improving our business, but we must make sure that it meets the high quality standards that we have set for this company. Therefore, I recommend the project be tabled until we have a plan in place to know whose job each part of the project is, and what the maximum budget is. We also need to talk to the design department (specifically Pat) about how programming works, and whether or not the entire project they have designed is actually feasible. I do not believe that Pat understands that programming does have limitations. Thank you. Read More