Corwin Corporation Analysis Essay

decision ramp upr SUMMARYThe purpose of this of document is to analyze the doers that led to the Corwins support failure. Corwin fraternitys relationship with a secure client, Peters corporation was agonistical because of Corwins failure to fol broken their tweakment policies. A fixed-price contract was gestural without proper risk analysis, the was no evidence of a find out propose and the web site was made worse by the lack of support from watchfulness. This root word discusses the failures in rove selection, lack of executive support and talk breakd own, exclusively of which track down to the externalize macrocosm terminated by the client.INTRODUCTIONCorwin Corporation accepted a fuddle which was foreign their scope of work from Peters Company to develop a specialty product. They accepted the assignment ground on a rough draft and without analyzing the risks and thusleading to the pop the question being afterwards terminated by Peters Company and jeopardi zing their long-standing good relationship with the client. The design break downed before the contract was signed. Corwins failure could be attri notwithstandinged to a sum of errors that were made on accepting this assignment. A number of all main(prenominal)(p) factors interchangeable the precaution policy, were completely ignored. Corwin agree on a fixed-price 5-year contract based on a rough draft, no proper analysis was make and the scope was unclear. This meant that Corwin would be responsible for any cost over lasts incurred. It is never wise to accept a fixed-price contract without determining the clients postulate and whether or non they are achievable. Corwin failed to assign the right person to manage the discombobulate. An in assured get off Manager was tasked to lead the look and although one of the fourth-year passenger cars had doubts almost the jutting passenger vehicles capabilities to lead much(prenominal) a wander, his tie ins were ignored.E ffort Corwin allowed an in- support vocalism direct access to the lab which ultimately leftover the employees unhappy and disgruntled. The lack of management support in addition played a major lineament in the projects failure. Management was dealings with the issues raised by the project private instructor passively and hoped the situation would pass up itself. The requirements were poor and the schedule was unrealistic. Poor project selection, lack of support from fall management, non-existent change management bid and communication issues were identified as athletic fields of concern at heart the Corwin Corporation. For the purpose of the case study, the researcher pull up stakes be discussing how these project management principles/concepts, if followed properly could ask prevented Corwin from accepting this project.CASE ANALYSIS1. Project extractProject Selection should not be perceived to be a tedious and unnecessary exercise but as an important exercise that wou ld be beneficial for the guest and the contractor. A number of factors such as production consideration, marketing consideration, financial consideration, personnel consideration and judicatory consideration, indispensableness to be taken intoconsideration to ensure that the project is in line with the organisations strategic objectives.1.1 Poor Project SelectionCorwin established a management policy that governed the project selection crop for the evaluation of specialty product requests. (Burke 67) states that The selection of the right project for next investment is a crucial decision for the long-term survival of a keep company. Frimels failure to follow the management put the companys reputation at risk. Following the project selection growth answers 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 different with plump forgrounds and subject- proposition expects should been multiform to make an intercommunicate 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 thus this might shoot 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 beginningborn criteria of the management policy therefore it wasnt viable.1.2 Proposal PreparationA final cause 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 approa ch. To make believe winning proposals, it is important to have resources with relevant skills and expertise e.g. subject matter expects, to help prepare a quality proposal. Royce used inappropriate and recreational 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 prep was conducted by contracts man who was not familiar with fixed-price contracts. Royce was overly approving in estimating the cost and didnt include contingency to cover unexpected situations that may arise during the project. (Clements & Gido, fifth Edition 69) states that if the estimated costs are overly optimistic and whatever unexpected expenditures arise, the contractor is likely to either lose notes (on a fixed-price contract) or hate 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 contained applied science intent and cost summaries which were also not properly done. This later in the project resulted in scope creeps which saw Corwins utility on the project diminish.1.3 Contract NegotiationFixed-price contracts are beneficial to the customer but not the contractor. Before signing this pillowcase 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 change factors that led to the projects failure. Although the profit margins sounded appealing on the visit during Delia and Frimels conversation, they looked different on paper. The disadvantages of such a contract for Corwin utmost outweighed the advantages for Peters Company. (Clements & Gido, fifth Edition 76) states that Fixed-price contracts are most appropriate for projects that are comfortably nail downd and entail 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 lay on the line Management IgnoredRoyce made a commitment to assess the risks once he got hold of the specification sheets. Looking at the Cost Summary in the proposal, one canconclude that he never kept to his commitment since it didnt even include the contingency amount. Some level of risk planning should be done during the design phase of the project life cycle to make sure, for example, that the contractor understands the risks knobbed 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, negotiate fair contracts and create risk mitiga tion 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 section 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 former(a) 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 require the project team at the early stages of the project to clearly go under the project objective, gather support from the parts affected by and involved in the project and define each sections role and responsibility. The project manager spearheads development of a plan to compass the project objective.By involving the proje ct team (Clements & Gido, 5th Edition 303) in developing this plan, the project manager ensures a more comprehensive plan than he or she could develop alone. Project kickoff 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 understanding of each members role in a team reduces communication issues and late deliverables. This will 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 fates 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 Support pull in management support is the most important critical success factor for project success. Many projects fail because they have only passive precedential management support. In mature organisations, executives act as project sponsors. In this case, Royce (VP of Engineering) should have been the project sponsor. The role of a sponsor is to ensure that the temper 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 well-nighone at the executive level is make 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 required resources appropriately to the projects. The executives set strategic goal 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 initia ting the project, distanced himself when he pass full responsibility over to Royce and went 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 culture, style, and structure influence how projects are performed (PMBOK, quaternate Edition 27). Corwin has maintained a utilitarian organisational structure for more than 15 years. In running(a) 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, was considered merely as a support group. The wrong President for engineering mentioned at some point that his vote never appeared to carry any wait. The morale was very low in some departments as they felt that they were not as valued as the early(a) 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 doings can be attributed to the fact that the Vice President failed to heed his constitute 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, diabolical and excuses harden relationships and intensify conflicts.2 Poor CommunicationThe presidents reluctant authorization was interpreted as the boss gave his blessing. bid conversatio ns allow the listener to hear the tone,inflection, speed, volume and emotion of the vowelise (Clements & Gido, 5th 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 work them. He should know what needs to be communicated to who an d when. CONCLUSIONSCorwin Corporation failed to follow its own management policy, took on a project, and neglected 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 commendable 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. Functional managers need to lead this drive. * The Engineering department play s as much a role in decision making as the Marketing and Manufacturing department. The R&D bring innovation of the 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 aspiring project managers within the company. * The staffs morale is low at this point, management needs to organize team-building to boost confidence and surrogate and repair relationships * Create cross functional teams to function as self-directed 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 basin Wiley & Sons Inc. PMBOK Guide . 2008. A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowl edge. poop Edition. USA Project Management Institute.