Petrie's Electronics Case Study
Chapter 3
1. What qualities might Jim possess that would make him a successful project manager? Management, leadership, technical, conflict management, and customer relationship. Jim needs to be able to manage the responsibility for initiating, planning, executing, and closing down the project. His environment will be full of continual change and problem solving so understanding the project management process is a critical skill for his success.
2. How do you think Jim should respond to Ella’s implied pressure about the importance of the project to her? When Ella said “so I expect him to keep me informed about your progress.” Jim should have responded that he acknowledges how important this project is to Ella and that he will provide …show more content…
regular updates and definitely keep her informed. As the project sponsor she could turn out to be his biggest champion or his biggest challenge depending on if she trusts his judgment and the projects benefits. It is important at this point to establish work standards and communication procedures.
3. What strategies might Jim employ to deal with a very busy team member, such as Juanita Lopez? Keep her engaged, find out what her expertise and level of commitment is for the project and work within her constraints if at all possible. Another option would be to find out who is her right hand person that can provide some of the insight needed for the areas she can lend the most value. It is critical to define clear, discrete tasks and the work needed to complete each task.
Chapter 4
1.
Look over the scope statement Figure 4-1. If I was an employee at Petrie’s Electronics would I want to work on this project, why or why not? The project scope statement is to describe a high level overview of the project size, duration, and outcomes as a summary of the baseline project plan (BPP) information. A project scope statement and a baseline project plan are created during project initiation and planning. The project scope statement is a short document prepared for the customer (internal or external) that describes what the project will deliver and outlines all work required in order to complete the project; it ensures that both you and your customer gain a common understanding of the project. The baseline project plan contains an introduction, a high-level description of the proposed system or system change, an outline of the various feasibilities, and an overview of management issues specific to the project. Before the development of an information system can begin, the users, management, and development group must review and agree on the specifications. This particular scope statement doesn’t clearly identify the size of the project. The duration and objectives or outcomes are included but if I was asked to work on this project I would need to know more about the scope or timeline requirements for my areas of responsibility.
2. If I was part of the management team at Petrie’s Electronics, would I approve the project outlined in the scope statement in Figure 4-1? What changes, if any, need to be made to the document? The timeline is listed for the project but there are no details on what the proposed system or system changes are and I do not see an outline of the various feasibilities, and an overview of management issues specific to the
project.
3. Identify a preliminary set of tangible and intangible costs I think would occur for this project and the system it describes. What intangible benefits do I anticipate for the system? A tangible cost refers to an item that you can easily measure in dollars and with certainty. This may include items such as hardware costs, labor costs, and operational costs from employee training and building costs or equipment. The intangible cost refers to what you cannot easily measure in terms of dollars or with certainty. This could be any loss of customer goodwill, employee morale, or operational inefficiency. If people are not able to work because they are training on the new systems this would be intangible cost but the business loss you could incur because you are improving systems that a customer can’t use for the duration of the project would also be intangible costs.
1. What qualities might Jim possess that would make him a successful project manager? Management, leadership, technical, conflict management, and customer relationship. Jim needs to be able to manage the responsibility for initiating, planning, executing, and closing down the project. His environment will be full of continual change and problem solving so understanding the project management process is a critical skill for his success.
2. How do you think Jim should respond to Ella’s implied pressure about the importance of the project to her? When Ella said “so I expect him to keep me informed about your progress.” Jim should have responded that he acknowledges how important this project is to Ella and that he will provide …show more content…
regular updates and definitely keep her informed. As the project sponsor she could turn out to be his biggest champion or his biggest challenge depending on if she trusts his judgment and the projects benefits. It is important at this point to establish work standards and communication procedures.
3. What strategies might Jim employ to deal with a very busy team member, such as Juanita Lopez? Keep her engaged, find out what her expertise and level of commitment is for the project and work within her constraints if at all possible. Another option would be to find out who is her right hand person that can provide some of the insight needed for the areas she can lend the most value. It is critical to define clear, discrete tasks and the work needed to complete each task.
Chapter 4
1.
Look over the scope statement Figure 4-1. If I was an employee at Petrie’s Electronics would I want to work on this project, why or why not? The project scope statement is to describe a high level overview of the project size, duration, and outcomes as a summary of the baseline project plan (BPP) information. A project scope statement and a baseline project plan are created during project initiation and planning. The project scope statement is a short document prepared for the customer (internal or external) that describes what the project will deliver and outlines all work required in order to complete the project; it ensures that both you and your customer gain a common understanding of the project. The baseline project plan contains an introduction, a high-level description of the proposed system or system change, an outline of the various feasibilities, and an overview of management issues specific to the project. Before the development of an information system can begin, the users, management, and development group must review and agree on the specifications. This particular scope statement doesn’t clearly identify the size of the project. The duration and objectives or outcomes are included but if I was asked to work on this project I would need to know more about the scope or timeline requirements for my areas of responsibility.
2. If I was part of the management team at Petrie’s Electronics, would I approve the project outlined in the scope statement in Figure 4-1? What changes, if any, need to be made to the document? The timeline is listed for the project but there are no details on what the proposed system or system changes are and I do not see an outline of the various feasibilities, and an overview of management issues specific to the
project.
3. Identify a preliminary set of tangible and intangible costs I think would occur for this project and the system it describes. What intangible benefits do I anticipate for the system? A tangible cost refers to an item that you can easily measure in dollars and with certainty. This may include items such as hardware costs, labor costs, and operational costs from employee training and building costs or equipment. The intangible cost refers to what you cannot easily measure in terms of dollars or with certainty. This could be any loss of customer goodwill, employee morale, or operational inefficiency. If people are not able to work because they are training on the new systems this would be intangible cost but the business loss you could incur because you are improving systems that a customer can’t use for the duration of the project would also be intangible costs.