Macon inc was a 50-year-old company in the business of

Assignment Help Other Subject
Reference no: EM13382720

Macon Inc. was a 50-year-old company in the business of developing test equipment for the tyre industry. The company had a history of segregated departments with focused functional line managers. The company had two major technical departments: mechanical engineering and electrical engineering. Both departments reported to a long-serving Vice President for engineering, whose background was mechanical engineering. For this reason, the company undertook all projects from a mechanical engineering perspective. The significance of the test equipment's electrical control system was often minimized when, in reality, the electrical (not the mechanical) control systems were what made Macon's equipment outperform that of the competition.

Because the two technical departments operated in a highly autonomous way, there was much internal competition between them. Line managers from each department frequently competed with one another rather than focusing on the best interests of Macon Inc.. Each would hope the other would be the cause for project delays instead of working together to avoid project delays altogether. Once dates slipped, fingers were pointed, blame assigned and the problem would worsen over time.

One of the company's customers had a service department that always blamed Macon Inc.'s engineering for all of their problems. If the machine was not assembled correctly, it was engineering's fault for not documenting it clearly enough. If a component failed, it was engineering's fault for not designing it correctly. No matter what problem occurred in the field, customer service would always put the blame on Macon Inc.'s engineering.

As might be expected, engineering would blame most problems on production claiming that production did not assemble the equipment correctly and did not maintain the proper level of quality. Engineering would design a product and then push it on to production without ever going down to the manufacturing floor to help with its assembly. Errors or suggestions reported from production to engineering were being ignored. Engineers often perceived the assemblers as incapable of improving the design.

Production ultimately assembled the product and shipped it out to the customer. Often times during assembly the production people would change the design as they saw fit without involving engineering. This would cause severe problems with documentation. Customer service would later inform engineering that the documentation was incorrect, once again causing conflict among all departments.

The President of Macon Inc. was a strong believer in project management. Unfortunately, his preaching fell upon deaf ears. The culture was just too strong. Projects were failing miserably. Some failures were attributed to the lack of sponsorship or commitment from line managers. One project failed as the result of a project leader who failed to control scope. Each day the project would fall further behind because work was being added with very little regard for the project's completion date. Project estimates were based upon a "gut feel" or intuition rather than upon sound quantitative data.

The delay in shipping dates was creating more and more frustration for the customers. The customers began assigning their own project managers as "watchdogs" to look out for their companies' best interests. The primary function of these "watchdog" project managers was to ensure that the equipment purchased from Macon Inc. would be delivered on time and complete. This involvement by the customers was becoming more prominent than ever before.

The President decided that action was needed to achieve some degree of excellence in project management. The question was what action to take.

Questions:

1. Identify and analyse the main Project Management Issues (both organizational and management) at Macon Inc. Draw upon your knowledge of the Project management Body of Knowledge (PMBoK) to help you analyse the case. Do NOT simply re-state the case facts.

2. Prepare a report card on Macon about the problems they are facing in applying project management principles to their projects. Select a set of specific project management factors against which you will measure their performance in new product development projects. Rate Macon Inc. against these factors explaining why you gave them this rating based on the evidence presented in the case and your knowledge of best practice principles of Project Management.

3. You have been hired by the President to advise him/her on how to help Macon achieve project management excellence. What recommendations will you make to him/her based on your rating in question 2 of this case study? Write out a brief scope statement for a consultancy project that you are planning to propose to the President to help Macon Inc. achieve project management excellence. You need to justify your scope recommendations.

Reference no: EM13382720

Questions Cloud

Bullbased on your experience as a project manager outline : bullbased on your experience as a project manager outline what you think are the most important characteristics of a
Selecting the best supplierinterview a senior project or : selecting the best supplierinterview a senior project or program manager in your organisation and ask them to walk you
Obtain a copy of the evaluation criteria used when you : obtain a copy of the evaluation criteria used when you acquired a product or service for each project you are currently
Develop a contracting and procurement planwhat documented : develop a contracting and procurement planwhat documented procedures do you normally follow in your organisation for
Macon inc was a 50-year-old company in the business of : macon inc. was a 50-year-old company in the business of developing test equipment for the tyre industry. the company
Risk management outcomesyou will need to produce a brief : risk management outcomesyou will need to produce a brief report reviewing the effectiveness of risk management policies
Risk monitoring and control demonstrate the processes and : risk monitoring and control demonstrate the processes and procedures you used to conduct risk monitoring and control
The risk register nbspcreate a risk register for the risks : the risk register nbspcreate a risk register for the risks you have identified in each project you have managedare
Outline of risk management planprovide a brief description : outline of risk management planprovide a brief description of the projectdescribe what tools techniques and processes

Reviews

Write a Review

 

Other Subject Questions & Answers

  Childrens emotional reaction

In second part of this assignment, analyze the children’s emotional reaction to the situation. By using the James-Lange Theory,

  Identify and critically evaluate vision statements

Identify and critically evaluate vision statements, mission statements, strategic objectives, and organization-level strategies.

  Cultures on substance abuse and addiction

Provide a comparison (similarities and differences) of the impact of two different cultures on substance abuse and/or addiction.

  Attendance policy

Mel judges her professor's strict class attendance policy to be an indication of his over-controlling personality rather than a necessity dictated by the limited number of class sessions in a course that meets only once a week. Her judgment best illu..

  Peoples conscious experience

When a psychologists study personality they may focus their efforts in various ways. The approach that focuses on people's conscious experience of their world is known as the __________ approach.

  1991 civil rights act

List three areas of employment that the Fair Labor Standards Act covers. What is sexual harassment? What are two kinds of sexual harassment?

  Government sanctioned discrimination v/s affirmative action

Putting aside the question of how effective affirmative action is, is it logical for government to sanction some discrimination and prohibit other discrimination?

  Health problem by general public

Why do you think obesity is such a major problem in the United States? And why do you think it is still viewed more as a cosmetic rather than a health problem by the general public?

  Marketing mobilty products in developing countries

As the VP of International Sales, you are responsible not only for sales but also for sales strategy. Prepare a preliminary report to the CEO identifying which three countries you think would most likely be interested in The Company's mobility pro..

  Evaluate the chinese behaviors of canada

Evaluate the Chinese behaviors of Canada with respect to ethnic background.

  Why is marketing important

Your roommate, a non-business major, sees you reading your marketing text. He or she asks, "Why is marketing important?

  Services we have to use when we will use segmentaion

How the segmentaion has benn done in the edi document using the webmethods how can we validate it against the services and what are the services we have to use when we will use segmentaion.

Free Assignment Quote

Assured A++ Grade

Get guaranteed satisfaction & time on delivery in every assignment order you paid with us! We ensure premium quality solution document along with free turntin report!

All rights reserved! Copyrights ©2019-2020 ExpertsMind IT Educational Pvt Ltd