EDEL FLORENCE

7/11/14

Q1 : What are some of the major problems facing the management of

Hyten in accepting Formalized Project Management ?

There are many problems faced by Hyten Corporation due to

accepting Formalized Project Management.

One of the problem is trying to decide whether to hire from within or

outside the organization. As mentioned by Jason Finney (Assistant
Director of Presonnel), Hyten should stop hiring from outside the
organization as there are many competent people within the
organization who possess MBA degrees in System or Project
Management and the familiarity with the company. In his opinion, this
would actually be an advantage to the organization.

Also, if Hyten continues to hire outsiders, it would create some

distention from the current employees. Competent people at Hyten will
start filtering to places of new employment.

Sue Lyons (Director of Personnel) agreed with Jason that filtration will
take place if personals from outside the organization were hired to
manage Projects. Also, Hyten can expect backlash from people who have
to teach employees their new roles .

According to John Rich (Director of Engineering), there is no need to

“change a winning combination” as the implementation of Project
Management would “mess things up”. In his view, the current system at
Hyten has a good chain of command and the new matrix would only
create problems.

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The main problem addressed by John is that the Engineering

Department is a very technical and they cannot take directions from
someone outside the department. In addition, bringing someone from
outside the organization would only make it worse.

Also, the Engineering Department took charge in previous projects and

do not want to lose the control of power. Many employees like the way
the company is being run now and do not like change.

Bob Gustwell (Scheduling Manager) agrees that it is a natural reaction

for employees to fight against the change in management style.

Another problem that could arise is there will be conflict between

Functional and Project Managers. They would be at the same grade level
and neither one has authority over the other. However, if there is a
situation where the two disagree on to either direction or quality of work,
this will leave the functional employee in an awkward position.

There is a tendency for any employee to bend towards the individual

who signs his or her promotion and evaluation form. This can influence
the project manager into recommending an evaluation below par
regardless of how the functional employee performs.

There are also circumstances where the employee is on the project

for only a couple of weeks, and spends most of his or her time working
alone, without getting a chance to know the Project Manager. This may
result in the Project Manage giving the functional employee an average
rating when in fact he or she did a brilliant job on site.

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Problems will also arise if Project Managers allow personal feelings to

influence his or her evaluation of a functional employee. A project
manager who knows the functional employee personally might be
tempted to give a strong or weak recommendation regardless of
performance.

According to another personal, Fred Kuncl (Plant Engineering), Project

Management would hinder their day to day activities as the added
responsibilities of the new implementation would burden manpower with
additional tasks. Fred believes that this is not in the best interest of Hyten.

In addition, an example of situation that might occur is the Project

Manager makes an excellent recommendation to the Functional Manager
bout a functional employee who is aware of the appraisal and feels he or
she should be given an above average pay increment to match the
excellent job appraisal, but the Functional Manager fails to do so.

Sue shared that one Personnel Manager from another company

incorporating Project Management ran into problems when the project
manager gave an employee of one grad level responsibilities of a higher
grade level. However, the functional manager gave an average evaluation
and argued that the Project Manager had no business giving the
functional employee added responsibility without first checking with him.
This resulted in a disgruntled employee who was ready to seek
employment elsewhere.

Also, there are some Functional Managers who will only give above
average pay increases to those employees who stay in the functional
department and make that manager look good.
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Other than that, there will be problem in handling evaluation of

employees who work on several projects simultaneously. This could be a
problem if employees are really enthusiastic about one project over
another. They could do a terrific job on the project they are interested in
and slack off on another projects.

Despite all the problems mentioned, it is crucial to understand that

Project Management is designed for industries which have complex (as
opposed to simple) tasks and which operate in an ever changing,
dynamic (as opposed to static) environment, like Hyten. Companies which
have highly repetitive tasks, such as low technology manufacturing
companies, do not need Formal Project Management but can use
Informal Project Management.

Furthermore, project management works best in an organization like

Hyten where activities require the involvement of more than one
functional group.

Q2 : Do any of the managers appear to have valid arguments for their

beliefs as to why Formal Project Management should NOT be considered
?

A number of personals from Hyten appear to be against the idea of

changing from an Informal to Formal Project Management and they do
have a valid argument from a perspective.

The person with the strongest disagreement would be John Rich

(Director of Engineering). According to John, Project Management will
“mess things up”.

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He feels that Hyten currently has a good flowing chain of command in

the organization and the new matrix will create problems. Speaking on
behalf of the Engineering Department, John is of the opinion that they
are very technical. Hence, they cannot take direction(s) from anyone
outside the department as they might not have the technical knowledge
and familiarity with the product they work with. Bringing in someone
from outside only makes it worse.

Also, he believes the Project Office would skimp on specification to

save time and money. Hyten’s products are too technical to allow
schedules and project costs to affect engineering results. Besides, the
Engineering Department was directing previous projects and John
believes that they should keep it that way.
Quoting John, “We shouldn’t change a winning combination.”

Another personal with a strong view against Formal Project

Management would be Fred Kuncl (Plant Engineer). Fred has a good
argument as he said that his department canters around highly
unpredictable circumstances, which sometimes involve rapidly changing
priorities related to the production function.

Fred is worried about the trade-offs involved in implementing Formal

Project Management at Hyten and feels that Plant Engineering cannot
live with them.

In his opinion, Formal Project Management would hinder their

activities because Project Management responsibilities would burden
manpower with additional tasks.

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Also, Fred is against project management because he feels that it is not

“in the best interest of Hyten”. Project management would weaken the
Plant Engineer’s functional specialization because it would require cross-
utilization of resources, manpower, and negotiation for the services
critical to plant engineering. Which means, there would be change in
priorities.

Other personals were supportive of the idea however, they each had
their own concerns about the implementation of Formal Project
Management. Among the concerns are as follows.

Bob Gustwell (Scheduling Manager) said it is “natural for employees to

fight against changes in the Management’s style”. As the employees are
‘used to’ and are content with the way things are in the organization.

Herman Hall (Director of MIS) does not believe it will be possible to

provide the reports needed by the management for several years as staffs
are already deeply involved in other projects which have already been
delayed. In his opinion, unless current project teams are broken up and
time is overdue, it will be difficult to put together another team.

Lastly, Harold Grimes (Plant Manager) thinks those who are within the
organization should be promoted or given the new positions. It will give
them more work than long term benefits. His argument is, they are
already “experiencing backlash from people who are required to teach
new people the ropes…”. Also, Harold believes that the system would
work fine if people are hired within the organization.

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In conclusion, even in the best companies, deferring view of Project

Management are possible.

Q3 : Are there any good reasons why Hyten should go to formal Project
Management ?

Introduction of a more formal type of project management has been

used in the past and is a proven success.
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Formal Project Management will help stop the unproductive internal

competition in Hyten as there will be less competition between Managers
and the Company. Employees can instead focus on the main project goal
collectively.

Managers within the Business Development Department (BDD) who

perform Informal Project Coordination will not have to take on the duties
such as calling meeting and keeping everyone informed of their work
status, etc on top of their own work. This would mean, these important
tasks can have sole focus. Therefore, the management of the
organization would be more efficient and effective.

Communication will increase between departments if there is a Formal

Project Management which will help highlight and solve problems for
employees. Formal Project Management will mean that all departments
can actively participate in the planning cycle of the Project. That way, they
will remain aware of how they affect the function of other departments
and prevent overlapping of work in departments, etc.

Also, the implementation of Formal Project Management should enable

Hyten to stay on schedule and get better cooperation. For an example,
the Product Design group starts making changes that require new cost
figures and lead times. These changes result in cost overruns and in not
meeting schedule dates. Typically, these changes continue right up to the
production start date. Manufacturing appears to be the bad guy for not
meeting the scheduled start date. Moving forward, similar circumstances
can be minimalized or avoided entirely.

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Hyten has very diversified product lines. Therefore, the introduction of

an Official Project Manager would mean all resources can be allocated
efficiently. Also, there is a reduction of all products being treated the
same. The organization needs someone to coordinate the work of various
departments to prevent this continuous redoing of various jobs. We will
at least have a chance at
meeting the schedule, reducing cost, and improving the attitude of my
people.

Among the personals in the organization who were in favour of the

transition are :

Frank Harrel (Quality and Reliability Manager), “Formal Project

Management would increase communication between departments”.

George Hub (Manager of Manufacturing Engineering) ,“… under the

current system there so many product changes that it creates cost
overrun and meeting schedule dates are not met”.
Bill Knapp (Director of Marketing), “…..the organization needs focus on
more than one direction and that Formal Project Management would be
good for them”

With the implementation of Formal Project Management, there would

be better coordination between various Projects, departments and
products. Formal Project Management would be advantageous and
would help to efficiently allocate resources to those projects, products
and markets that would optimize output (profit, productivity, etc)

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Q4: Will formalized Project Management make it appear as though

Business Development has taken power away from other groups ?

Manpower for the Business Development Department was taken from

both outside the company and from within the division. This was done to
honour the Corporation’s commitment to hire people from the outside

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only after it was determined that there were no qualified people internally
(an area that for years has been a sore spot to the younger managers
and engineers).

When the Business Development Department was organized, its level

of authority and responsibility was limited. However, the Department’s
authority and responsibility have subsequently expanded, though at a
slow rate. This was done so as not to alienate the functional managers
who were concerned that project management would undermine their
“empire.”

The Business Development Department are already in charge of six (6)

different tasks for the company.

Those tasks are:

 The company’s long term and short term business plans;

 Current sale forecasts;
 Economic and Industrial indicators;
 Profit potential;
 Internal capacities; and
 What customers are willing to pay versus estimated cost

The Business Development sectors (as mentioned) take up much of

the company’s working area as it is. With the new formalized Project
Management implemented, other sectors may feel that Business

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Development is doing more of their work as they now have more control
in organizing and planning.

However, the Business Development Department have NO authority

over either Functional Managers or Functional Employees. Although the
Business Development Department is in charge in keeping the Project
moving and giving reports of problem(s)

The duties of the Business Development Department was to

coordinate a Project or Product from Design to Marketing so that there is
no need for Formal Project Management. Sue Lyons (Director of
Personnel) said that whoever is chosen to be the Project Manager MUST
be qualified.

Project Manager Qualifications should include:

 Possessing technical knowledge

 Able to work with people
 Able to work in a dynamic environment
 Concern for team members
 Provide work challenge
 Implement change
 Able to live with change
 Provide leadership to implement that change
 Develop an atmosphere which allows people to adapt to the
changing work environment

Other personals within the organization who had the opinion that
transition from an Informal to Formal Project Management would cause
problems within the organization are :
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Bob Gustwell (Scheduling Manager), said that some people around

the organization like the way they do things now and it’s natural for
employees to fight against changes in Management styles.

Frank Kuncl (Plant Engineering) said that Project Management would

burden our manpower with additional tasks and hinder our activities

And lastly, John Rich (Director of Engineering) said that Project

Management will only ‘mess things up’. This new matrix will only create
problems. Engineering has always directed the projects and we should
keep it that way.

In conclusion, although it may appear that Business Development has

taken power away from other groups that is far from reality. Their role is
mainly to coordinate the different lines, groups and departments to
achieve maximum output for the organization.

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Q5. What recommendation would you make to Hyten Corporation?

The challenge in implementing Formal Project Management in Hyten

Corporation is bigger than just telling everyone on the team to do things
a certain way. People who aren’t used to working within a formal
structure and framework can sometimes rebel when they are asked to do
it for the first time. These people will first tend to negatively view the new
processes before starting to (grudgingly) see their value.

If Hyten Corporation were trying to help implement a project

management discipline throughout the entire organization, the job would
be much more complex and time-consuming. In that kind of initiative,
Hyten Corporation would be trying to perform a culture change with
project managers, team members, functional managers, and clients.

I would make the following recommendation(s) to Hyten Corporation

before the implementation of a Formal Project Management:-

• Leadership

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Hyten Corporation would first of all have to appoint a Project

Manager, someone who is the primary person to lead this change. This
Project Manager will have to set the priorities and the tone for how the
project is run. It would be better if a capable candidate is chosen from
within the ranks of the present qualified staff. If the Project Manager
defines and plans the project well, and then executes and control the
project using good techniques, the other team members should follow
his lead.
If project team members see that the project leader is not
communicating well, or if they see the Project Manager accepting new
scope requirements on his own, or if they see confusion on team
members’ roles, they’ll obviously question what they’re doing. This should
not be allowed to happen. A project manager should talk the talk and
walk the walk.

• Project management advocate

The project team leader or project manager would have to find

someone on every team at Hyten Corporation who can be an inside
partner. The teams at Hyten Corporation would accept the new processes
more quickly if there’s another team member on their side. This person
should be a senior individual whom the rest of the team respects. The
person doesn’t have to be a cheerleader but will set a good example and
encourage the rest of the team to follow the work processes established
for the project team

• Communication

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Introducing a culture change without a frequent, ongoing, and

consistent message is difficult. Hyten Corporation and the project
manager in particular should make sure the team is aware of what is
being done and why. The perceived value and benefit of the project
should be explained the teams and this message should be repeated
often. This type of communication can take many shapes over time.
For example, if any team members does something right regarding
the project management procedures, they should be praised for their
effort. The project manager should also track and publicize how the team
is doing in terms of meeting commitments for schedule, cost, and quality.

• Management fears the loss of control

If Hyten Corporation really want to effectively implement a project

management discipline at their company, they must give a level of
control and authority to the project manager. Some management, middle
managers especially, don’t want to lose that control.
They may want people to coordinate the projects, but they want to
make all the decisions and exercise all the control themselves. Project
Managers should and have to change the attitudes of these people.

• Processes and procedures

Hyten Corporation cannot successfully introduce a good project

management discipline without implementing a set of processes that
everyone can see and understand. This starts off with the planning
processes. With a project their size, I think it should be understood that

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Hyten Corporation need, for example, a Project Definition and a work

plan.
Hyten Corporation also need to have processes for managing issues,
scope, risk, and communication. These don’t have to be long, tedious
procedures, but they have to be at a level where people understand what
is expected of them and how the project management processes work.

• Training

Finally, after Hyten Corporation have dealt successfully with the staff
dynamics and the required processes, make sure that no one has
difficulty understanding project management skills. Hyten Corporation
must invest in a long term training regimen.
They must think about providing short training to the entire team to
familiarize them with project management processes, and then sending
Hyten Corporationr team leaders or other project managers to more
formal project management training

CONCLUSION

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Although there are many different views about the introduction of

Formal Project Management to Hyten, with most workers supporting the
idea. However, the General Managers are less optimistic as they believe it
may disrupt the current working system.

On a personal note, I believe that the organization would greatly

benefit with the introduction of Formal Project Management as it can
bring different areas of the company together and will create an overall
work structure that is for more efficient.

THANK YOU

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