Corwin Corporation Analysis Essay

EXECUTIVE SUMMARYThe purpose of this of register is to analyze the factors that led to the Corwins leap out failure. Corwin Corporations relationship with a good customer, Peters participation was strained because of Corwins failure to adopt their management policies. A fixed-price recoil was signed without kosher fortune analysis, the was no evidence of a support plan and the situation was made worse by the want of support from management. This report discusses the failures in thrust selection, drop of executive support and communication breakdown, all of which head up to the take in being terminated by the client.INTRODUCTIONCorwin Corporation pass judgmented a excogitate which was by and by-school(prenominal) their scope of reckon from Peters Company to develop a specialty product. They accepted the producement based on a rough draft and without analyzing the chances and henceleading to the thrust being later terminated by Peters Company and jeopardizing thei r long-standing good relationship with the client. The ejection started before the contract was signed. Corwins failure could be attri buted to a number of errors that were made on evaluate this assignment. A number of essential factors like the management policy, were exclusively ignored. Corwin agreed on a fixed-price 5-year contract based on a rough draft, no becoming analysis was d mavin and the scope was unclear. This meant that Corwin would be responsible for any personify oer plays incurred. It is never advisable to accept a fixed-price contract without determining the clients of necessity and whether or non they ar achievable. Corwin failed to assign the right person to manage the project. An inexperienced regard Manager was tasked to lead the project and although one of the aged(a) passenger vehicles had doubts nearly the project charabancs capabilities to lead such a project, his concerns were ignored.Effort Corwin allowed an in-house representative command a ccess to the lab which ultimately left the employees unhappy and disgruntled. The lack of management support also vie a major character in the projects failure. Management was dealing with the issues raised by the project private instructor passively and hoped the situation would correct itself. The requirements were poor and the schedule was unrealistic. Poor project selection, lack of support from top management, non-existent diversity management control and communication issues were identified as areas of concern in spite of appearance the Corwin Corporation. For the purpose of the case study, the researcher leave behind be discussing how these project management principles/concepts, if followed properly could extradite prevented Corwin from accepting this project.CASE ANALYSIS1. Project SelectionProject Selection should not be perceived to be a tedious and surplus exercise but as an important exercise that would be respectable for the customer and the contractor. A numb er of factors such as production term, marketing consideration, financial consideration, personnel consideration and administration consideration, need to be taken intoconsideration to ensure that the project is in line with the compositions strategic objectives.1.1 Poor Project SelectionCorwin established a management policy that governed the project selection wreak for the evaluation of specialty product requests. (Burke 67) states that The selection of the right project for future enthronisation is a crucial decisiveness for the long-term survival of a company. Frimels failure to follow the management put the companys reputation at risk. Following the project selection process attends companies in deciding which projects to pursue and which to let go. Most of the executives were away on vacation which means that the project was not evaluated using the companys selection method and without the executives consultation.It is important to note that during the evaluation process, individuals with diverse with backgrounds and athletic field-matter expects should been involved to make an informed decision whether or not to take on Peters Company offer. In this case, the major decision-makers were away on holiday. Peters Company came across as bullying and threatening in their requests and so this might have led to Corwin accepting the project to save their business relationship. This project was outside Corwins scope and should have never been accepted. It answered NO on the first criteria of the management policy therefore it wasnt viable.1.2 Proposal PreparationA proposal is a response document to the RFP (Request for Proposal), it includes a plan of action, states why the action is necessary and persuades the customer to approve the implementation of the recommended action. The proposal should also include a plausible management plan and technical approach. To create winning proposals, it is important to have resources with relevant skills and expertis e e.g. subject matter expects, to help prepare a quality proposal. Royce used inappropriate and unskilled resources to prepare the proposal.He had reservations about selecting West despite his lack of experience in dealing with external projects, as the ProjectManager without Dr. Reddys (R&D Manager) input but he ignored his instincts. The proposal preparation was conducted by contracts man who was not familiar with fixed-price contracts. Royce was overly upbeat in estimating the equal and didnt include misfortune to cover unexpected situations that may arise during the project. (Clements & Gido, 5th fluctuation 69) states that if the estimated costs are overly optimistic and approximately unexpected expenditures arise, the contractor is likely to either lose money (on a fixed-price contract) or dislike to suffer the embarrassment of going back to the customer to request additional funds to cover cost overruns. Corwins final proposal to Peters was a technical document as it co ntained engineering intent and cost summaries which were also not properly done. This later in the project resulted in scope creeps which saw Corwins profit on the project diminish.1.3 Contract NegotiationFixed-price contracts are beneficial to the customer but not the contractor. Before signing this font of contract, the customer should have a detailed scope work from the customer. There are risks associated with this type of contract for contractors, i.e. the customer is liable for any cost overruns should the project run beyond schedule, budget and time. Agreeing to a fixed-price contract was also one of the contributing factors that led to the projects failure. Although the profit margins sounded appealing on the phone during Delia and Frimels conversation, they looked different on paper. The disadvantages of such a contract for Corwin far outweighed the advantages for Peters Company. (Clements & Gido, 5th pas seul 76) states that Fixed-price contracts are most appropriate fo r projects that are well gear upd and have in mind little risk. It is good practice to start working on a project after the contract has been signed. Corwin worked first and signed later.1.4 Risk Management IgnoredRoyce made a commitment to pass judgment the risks once he got hold of the specification sheets. Looking at the Cost Summary in the proposal, one set upconclude that he never kept to his commitment since it didnt even include the possibility amount. Some aim of risk planning should be done during the initiation phase of the project demeanor cycle to make sure, for example, that the contractor understands the risks involved with bidding on a proposed project (Clements & Gido, 5th Edition 270). Risk assessment therefore is an important aspect of project initiation because it helps the contractors make better decisions, treat fair contracts and create risk mitigation methods. A good risk assessment takes into consideration anything that could go wrong with the project and determines what it would cost. Accepting a project outside Corwins scope area of expertise was a risk, appointing an inexperienced scientist from the R&D department was a risk, agreeing to a fixed-price contract was a risk and procurement of all materials was a risk. Corwin resorted to risk aversion.1.5 Project Kickoff MeetingWest solicited support from separate groups after sending the proposal to the customer. This left his colleagues unhappy because of the lack of communication about the project objective. It is the project managers duty to involve the project team at the early stages of the project to all the way define the project objective, gather support from the departments affected by and involved in the project and define from each one members role and responsibility. The project manager spearheads development of a plan to strive the project objective.By involving the project team (Clements & Gido, 5th Edition 303) in developing this plan, the project manager ensu res a more comprehensive plan than he or she could develop alone. Project first base meetings provide a good platform for the project manager to deliver a presentation about the meeting and its importance to the organization. Clear roles and responsibilities of each project team member must be discussed. An instinct of each members role in a team reduces communication issues and late deliverables. This leave behind not only help him gain commitment from the team but it will also assist in accomplishing the project objective on time, within budget and of the right quality.1.6 Change ManagementAt the start of the project, a change control system needs to be established to define how changes will be documented, approved and communicated (Clements & Gido, 5th Edition 320). The project manager did not have proper change control procedure in place. The in-house representative made changes to the scope, which resulted in scope creep. His changes were not documented and communicated and were not within the budget. When he requested an additional five tests beyond the agreed scope, the project manager should have evaluated the request and provided Peters Company with a proposal outlining the costs to add the tests to the scope. Uncontrolled change exposed Corwin to unnecessary risk. A change control process is significant to the successful delivery of a project and ensures that each change introduced to the project environment is appropriately defined, evaluated and approved. The project manager in this case struggled to control changes in the project because he didnt have proper process in place and that he lacked project management experience.1 Lack of Management SupportTop management support is the most important critical success factor for project success. Many projects fail because they have only passive major(postnominal) management support. In mature organisations, executives act as project sponsors. In this case, Royce (VP of Engineering) should have been t he project sponsor. The role of a sponsor is to ensure that the correct information from the contractors organisation is reaching executives in the customers organisation, that there is no filtering of information from the contractor to the customer, and that someone at the executive level is making sure that the customers money is being spent wisely (Kerzner, 7th Edition 475). The project failed to achieve an enthusiastic approval from the president, there was little hope of it being successful.Projects need some involvement by executive management to allocate needed resources appropriately to the projects. The executives set strategic last for organization and uses projects to meet those goals. They need to provide guidance to project managers that is in line with the organisations strategic objectives and track the alignment of those objectives to theproject objectives. Frimel, after initiating the project, distanced himself when he handed full responsibility over to Royce and w ent on vacation. Frimel had experience in these types of projects because his department was the decision maker for the specialty products. He should have acted as project sponsor and supported Royce but instead, left him to fail. During the first meeting in which the project was discussed, Dr. Reddy (R&D Manager) expressed his dissatisfaction about the choice of project manager Royce had made.2.7 Organisational Structure and CultureThe organizational finis, style, and structure tempt how projects are performed (PMBOK, 4th Edition 27). Corwin has maintained a functional organisational structure for more than 15 years. In functional structures, project managers do not full control over the project teams. One of the disadvantages with this type of structure is the competition among functional departments. Corwins Marketing department made almost all the decisions, project managers for specialty products came out of marketing. The Engineering department as stated in the case study, w as considered merely as a support group. The Vice President for engineering mentioned at some point that his voting never appeared to carry any wait. The morale was very low in some departments as they matt-up that they were not as valued as the other departments. Reddy did not give much support to the project manager and later contradicted himself that the project manager kept him in the dark. His unbecoming behaviour can be attributed to the fact that the Vice President failed to heed his call about his reservations towards the choice of the PM thus, he became so reluctant to assist the PM. A healthy organizational culture encourages accountability and personal responsibility. Denial, pluck and excuses harden relationships and intensify conflicts.2 Poor CommunicationThe presidents reluctant authorization was construe as the boss gave his blessing. phone conversations allow the listener to hear the tone,inflection, speed, volume and emotion of the verbalise (Clements & Gido, 5 th Edition 371). A reluctant voice sounds differently from an enthusiastic voice on the phone. The project manager failed to communicate timely to the executives about the representatives interfering behaviour, he thought he could handle it. The situation spiraled out of control when the representatives started giving orders to the project manager about removing functional employees on the team.Providing the customer with progress reports frequently, keeps the customer in the loop and informed about the status of the project. Communication skills are one of the most important skills every project manager should possess, it very important that the project manager communicates with the stakeholders and project team. The project manager should have escalated problems as they occurred and scheduled meetings to resolve them. He should know what needs to be communicated to who and when. CONCLUSIONSCorwin Corporation failed to follow its own management policy, took on a project, and neglec ted to apply the proper management principles. The executives were not part of the contract acquisition and failed to develop and nurture the project manager. The organizational culture was such that all departments were equal but some were equal more than the others were. This resulted in people wanting to prove themselves worthy by taking on big projects even though they lacked experience. The project manager was set deliberately set to fail, the manager knew his strength and weaknesses but was unavailable to assist until the last minute. Corwin did not have a house rules in place with regards to in-house representatives. Corwin didnt work the plan and therefore couldnt plan the work.RECOMMENDATIONS* Top management need to educate employees on the management policy regarding new projects. operating(a) managers need to lead this drive. * The Engineering department plays as much a role in decision making as the Marketing and Manufacturing department. The R&D bring innovation of th e products in the organization and thus should not be seen as a support group. * The project managers mistakes were attributed to his lack ofexperience. The PM should continue to lead small projects and the organization must provide Project Management training for shoot for project managers within the company. * The staffs morale is low at this point, management needs to uprise team-building to boost confidence and foster and repair relationships * Create cross functional teams to function as self-governing respond to specific directivesREFERENCESJames P. Clements & Jack Gido. 2007. Effective Project Management. 5th Edition. South-Western Cengage Learning. Harold Kerzner, PHD. Project Management A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling. Seventh Edition. USA John Wiley & Sons Inc. PMBOK Guide . 2008. A Guide to the Project Management eubstance of Knowledge. Fourth Edition. USA Project Management Institute.