THE NATIONAL JAZZ HALL OF FAME

1. Mr. Rutland is attempting to take his project (the NJHF) from a small-localized
organization to a nationally recognized organization. His plan has changed
because his original project involved restoring the historic Paramount Theatre,
and he envisioned a project where he would incorporate the restoration of this
building with the founding of the National Jazz Hall of Fame. The original plan
would have seen the restored Paramount included in a revitalized downtown
district where the restored theatre would be reborn as a museum and
performance center while paying homage to the historic New York City jazz hall
of the 30s. Unfortunately, as is common in many projects, he discovered once
he had embarked on his plan that it was not all going to work as seamlessly as
he had previously envisioned and they had to drop the restoration plan of the
historic theatre from their project. In the end, I think he made a good choice, as
the other project would have been exorbitantly expensive and could have risked
causing the whole project to fail.
2. This case study had an interesting assortment of stakeholders. The primary
stakeholders are the board of directors of the NJHF. Mr. Rutland displays in the
closing paragraph of the story that he is not sure how to present this information
to the board. I also think that potential visitors to the museum, performance
center, exhibition hall are stakeholders because they are the revenue stream for
the organization. Because of this fact, their views or thoughts concerning format
changes is vital. If anything occurs that alienates them from the NJHF, the flow
of funds could slow down and they close down. A little farther down the
reasoning ladder, I also think that fans of jazz are stakeholders because the NJHF
represents them as the relevant subject matter expert on this genre of music.

Although they might not be direct contributors of money, I think that their
opinion matters. If they happen to take offense with something that the
organization does, they could cause the reputation of the organization to be
tarnished, which could discredit their stature.
3. The first essential skill of a project manager from this chapter of the book would
be acquiring adequate resources. This is an especially applicable one because
the organization is starting with such a small amount of money to work with, and
they need at least ten times what they have on hand to really get the
organization off to a good start. Another PM skill presented in the chapter is
dealing with obstacles. Not having enough money on-hand to complete the next
step that you need to take is another good example of dealing with obstacles.
Another skill highlighted in the story is making project goal trade-offs. Mr.
Rutland originally set out to save a historic building and create the NJHF
simultaneously, but learned that was not going to be feasible. He made the
decision that it was better to press forward with creating and building the
organization rather than letting the overambitious project cause the organization
to fail. I would say that this past example is also an example of maintaining a
balanced outlook. He did not get everything that he wanted, but he was still able
to achieve part of his original plan. Breadth of Communication is the final skill
required, as Mr. Rutland will have to communicate all of the information he has
gathered with his board of directors so that they can all make an informed
decision about the proper course of action for the organization.
4. The two types of credibility listed in Project Management: A Managerial
Approach (2012) is technical credibility and administrative credibility. Mr.
Rutland possesses a limited amount of technical credibility. He is a jazz
enthusiast and recognized as the founder of the NJHF. The rest of the board is

comprised of members that have equal levels of experience so I believe that he

is technically credible in this instance. He possesses the required amount of skill
and knowledge to lead the project. As far as his administrative credibility, I
believe that he made good use of this skill by bringing in the consultant to help
gather the facts that will allow the board to make informed decisions about the
future direction of the organization. He aided his overall credibility by making
the tough decision to abandon the theatre restoration project. Had he pressed on
with this project and allowed the restoration to pollute the progress towards the
NJHF, he would have lost credibility with the board and any other stakeholders.
Kouzes and Posner state, Credibility is the foundation of leadership (1993). I
believe that all of these facts demonstrate that he is being a leader to the
members of the organization.
5. In this case study, there is a jazz and music cultural influence occurring. As I led
into in the beginning of my summary, jazz originated as a sense of celebration
for a group of people that did not have a lot to celebrate at the time. As jazz
ventured out away from New Orleans and began to take hold in the different
cities, it continued to grow and gather influence from those new areas. This is
the reason that the different styles of jazz exist. Mr. Rutland is an educated
professional with a passion for history and jazz music, which leads him to
undertake the endeavor to establish the NHJF and try to restore a former
historical icon in the city that he loves.
6. In my opinion, Mr. Rutland has done a good job with compiling the research
necessary in order for the board to make a determination about which direction
to go in the future. He has also done a good job of keeping his emotional
attachment to the Paramount Theatre in check and not allowing it to cloud his
judgment. I believe this his next steps should include the following actions:

A. Budget-With the organization only have $2500 in the bank, he cannot

afford to put the plan in action to grow the organization without securing
an outside source of revenue. I would scour the local area and try to find
a business interested in philanthropy that would sponsor the organization
with enough capital to get the mailing list project rolling. I would explain
the plan to launch the mailing campaign, with the final goal of securing
funding to sustain operations and hire a full-time executive director to
focus on future activities. I would also start trying to find the perfect
noted jazz figure that would be the centerpiece of our campaign. With the
money in hand, I would execute the campaign. If I could not find a
sponsor, I would have a myriad of options including an aggressive
donation campaign in the local area, maybe a series of small jazz concerts
aimed at raising money for our cause.
B. Budget Expenditures-I would hold off on the project with the Paramount
until there was a surplus of resources and we had enough to cover
anticipated construction cost and annual upkeep. I know it is the center
point of his plan, but it is too expensive to jump into arbitrarily.
C. Performance-These areas require resources, so once the budget is set
and the organization has an idea of how much money they will work with
annually, I would analyze which services (museum, artifacts,
concerts/performances, and newsletters) provide the most return on our
investment and provide what we could to our public. It is imperative to try
to include a national means of recognition to member not in the local
area, so they feel like they are still involved with the organization;
otherwise, their donations are liable to dry up.
D. Competition-The consultant felt that the competing organizations were
not an issue if they operated like other previous attempts. I think that the

only way to remain in the forefront is to be the best. If there is always

somebody out there that is better at your job than you are, you are likely
not going to be around very long. The NJHF needs to focus on being a
national organization rather than a local one in order to outlive the
competition.
E. Schedule- Deadlines, windows and milestones are an important aspect
for any organization. As a regional organization that is trying to go
national, I would use the fire out of these milestones to help us achieve
our goals and build the organization. I would have a series of quarterly,
yearly and long-term goals that we were working towards at all times. I
think that this plan allows the organization to have a goal at all times that
they are working towards and keeps the group from being stagnant and
the members feeling like they are wasting time and not accomplishing
anything.