Concept Application of Concept in the Scenario Reference to Concept in Reading contingency reserve
The issue at Harrison-Keyes is the result of a lack of planning. While issues arose regarding vendors, the issues only pointed to Harrison-Keyes failure to truly grasp the necessity of building in contingency plans. The disaster of those around the company should never have an equally devastating impact on the company. While Harrison-Keyes has thought about contingency planning, their lack of solidifying plans is truly their biggest error.
It is imperative to note that some plans should have been more involved than others. A simple list and communication with alternative suppliers would have been a relatively easy and low cost method to prepare for the disaster that crippled Harrison-Keyes’ Asian supplier. While a much more involved and detailed contingency plan should have been in place for the risk of failure of the entire e-publishing project. The back-up plan for the e-publishing needed to be larger than simply replacing the CEO with someone who is less favorable to e-books than their predecessor. The plan needs to be broader in the sense that it could change an entire line of production, but it also needs to be specific enough, including great attention to detail, that it can lead the company to success. As “the size of the contingency plan should be related to the uncertainty and risk involved,” (Gray & Larson, 2006)
Project control process
Project Controls would be essential in recognizing, and hopefully solving, a situation such as this. When sales were floundering in comparison to the projected goal, a proper measurement of such poor results would have identified this early on. Further investigation could have pointed to the poor advertising campaign, and misdirected efforts of the marketing department. Sales came in at less than 25% of projected results; $3M versus $16M. This is