High Tech Case Study
Project Management Case Study
Read the following case and provide a minimum of three reasons why problems occurred on this project, and what should have been done to prevent these occurrences.
Problem and Associated Reason #1. _______________________________________________
Action(s) to prevent Problem #1.__________________________________________________
Problem and Associated Reason #2. _______________________________________________
Action(s) to prevent Problem #2.__________________________________________________
Problem and Associated Reason #3. _______________________________________________
Action(s) to prevent Problem #3.__________________________________________________
HI-TECH RESEARCH LABORATORY
On a Friday morning in late December, 2002, Sam Lacy, Head of the Physical Sciences Division of Hi-Tech Research Laboratory (HRL) thought about two letters which lay on his desk. One, which he had received a few weeks before, was a progress report from Robert Kirk, recently assigned project leader of the Exco Project, who reported that earlier frictions between the HRL team and the client had lessened considerably, that quality research was under way, and that the prospects for retaining the Exco project on a long-term basis appeared fairly good. The other letter, which had just arrived in the morning’s mail, came from Gray Kenney, a Vice President of Exco, and stated that the company wished to terminate the Exco contract effective immediately.
Lacy was puzzled. He remembered how pleased Gray Kenney had been only a few months before when the Exco project produced its second patentable process. On the other hand, he also recalled some of the difficulties the project had encountered within HRL which had ultimately led to the replacement of project leader Alan North in order to avoid losing the contract. Lacy decided to call in the participants in an effort to piece together an understanding of what had happened. Some of what he learned is
Read the following case and provide a minimum of three reasons why problems occurred on this project, and what should have been done to prevent these occurrences.
Problem and Associated Reason #1. _______________________________________________
Action(s) to prevent Problem #1.__________________________________________________
Problem and Associated Reason #2. _______________________________________________
Action(s) to prevent Problem #2.__________________________________________________
Problem and Associated Reason #3. _______________________________________________
Action(s) to prevent Problem #3.__________________________________________________
HI-TECH RESEARCH LABORATORY
On a Friday morning in late December, 2002, Sam Lacy, Head of the Physical Sciences Division of Hi-Tech Research Laboratory (HRL) thought about two letters which lay on his desk. One, which he had received a few weeks before, was a progress report from Robert Kirk, recently assigned project leader of the Exco Project, who reported that earlier frictions between the HRL team and the client had lessened considerably, that quality research was under way, and that the prospects for retaining the Exco project on a long-term basis appeared fairly good. The other letter, which had just arrived in the morning’s mail, came from Gray Kenney, a Vice President of Exco, and stated that the company wished to terminate the Exco contract effective immediately.
Lacy was puzzled. He remembered how pleased Gray Kenney had been only a few months before when the Exco project produced its second patentable process. On the other hand, he also recalled some of the difficulties the project had encountered within HRL which had ultimately led to the replacement of project leader Alan North in order to avoid losing the contract. Lacy decided to call in the participants in an effort to piece together an understanding of what had happened. Some of what he learned is