CASE STUDY 1 Factory Expansion Project Jacob Clemson is the owner of Digitsig, Inc., a growing Canadian electronics company. The company has been receiving orders from customers worldwide, and sales have been expanding rapidly. The factory is now working three shifts and is at capacity. Jacob had to lease additional space in a building several miles away. He knows he must expand his factory to keep up with growing demand, to increase efficiency, and to reduce the costs associated with trucking materials and product back and forth between his factory and the building he is leasing. The cost of the lease was very high because there just was not much good available space in the area and Jacob was desperate to get additional space right away, or he would not be able to keep up with demand and customers would go to his competitors.

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Jacob met Andy Gibson, part-owner of AG Contractors, at a recent business networking event. He told Andy about his expansion needs. Andy said, We can do that for you, Mr. Clemson. Weve done many similar projects. As you may know, business is booming in the region, and getting a contractor wont be easy. But it could be lucky we met because we are just finishing up another project and could probably get working on yours if we can get an agreement soon. Ive got four other proposals pending, and if they come in, we wont be able to handle any other projects. And like I said, I understand all the other contractors are just as busy. It sounds like you really need to start on this factory expansion right away, and I think we can help you out. Jacob became worried that he might not be able to get another contractor, and he did not want to waste any more time. So he signed a contract with AG Contractors, for what he thought was a reasonable price, to design and build the expansion to his factory. The expansion space would be used primarily for inventory storage of incoming materials and finished goods. He agreed to a bonus clause in the contract to pay AG Contractors a 10 percent bonus if it completed the building in 12 months rather than the 15 months Andy told him it would normally take. It is now 14 months later. Andy Gibson and Gerri Penk, a recently hired project manager for AG Contractors, walked into Jacob Clemsons office. The receptionist asked, May I help you? Andy asked, Is Jacob in? Yes, he is. Do you have an appointment? responded the receptionist. Andy hurried by the receptionist, saying, I dont need one. This will only take a minute. A surprised Gerri followed after him. He knocked on Mr. Clemsons door once, opened it, and walked in without waiting for a response. Astonished, Jacob Clemson looked up and said, Im right in the middle of this important. Andy interrupted. This will only take a minute. I just wanted to say that we got your factory expansion project completed on time and within budget. We finished in 12 months, just like I knew we, I mean, like I hoped we would. I had to kick butt with some of our subcontractors, but thats the way it goes in this business. Sometimes youve got to be an SOB to get the job done. Im sure youre the same way, Jacob, or you wouldnt be where youre at. Jacob Clemson spoke up. Well, there were some problems. But Andy interrupted again. In a big project like this, there are always problems, and some peoples feathers get ruffled. But that always happens. Dont be concerned about that. In the end, it all worked out. I thought maybe we could go to lunch to celebrate, but we have another meeting across town. Give me a call sometime, and maybe we can get together and see if I can help you with any other projects you might have. Andy then turned and quickly left Jacobs office, walking right past Gerri, who ran to catch up with him. After they left, Jacob was somewhat stunned and became furious. He thought to himself, Another project? Over my dead body. An SOB? What kind of person does he think I am? Getting the project done on time and within budgetdoes he think that is all that its about? This project was a nightmare. It finished up costing about 50 percent more than AGs original price because of all the changes they came back with. They never asked, never listened, never told me what was going on, and never returned my phone calls. What a bunch of jerks! Ill never do business with them again.

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As Andy and Gerri walked to Andys car, he told Gerri, There you go, another satisfied AG customer. And a pretty naive one too, Andy chuckled. I knew we could get the project done in 12 months. But I knew he was desperate, and I told him it would take 15 months, and then got him to agree to a bonus payment if we got it done in 12 months. Gerri asked, Andy, isnt that unethical? Hey, business is booming for Digitsig; they have plenty of money. Besides, its his problem for waiting so long before deciding on doing the expansion anyway. He was lucky we helped him out of a bind. But Ive got to tell you, Gerri, I wondered why he was building all that warehouse space for inventory when most other businesses are going to just-in-time deliveries. But I wasnt about to tell him that. Its amazing hes in business at all. Oh, well, youll find out its a dog-eat-dog world out there, Gerri. Gerri responded, Andy, I got a sense that maybe Mr. Clemson wasnt totally satisfied. I mean he really didnt say he was. He didnt say he wasnt either, snapped Andy. Besides, he never seemed interested in the project, he never asked to have any meetings, and when I tried to schedule a meeting, he was too busy. And then his payments were always latelike he was anal or something. Believe me, hes tickled with what AG did. He was desperate to get the project done, and we did it for himon time and within budget. And made a bunch of money on the project. So we both came out winners. In fact, Ill use old Jacob as a reference with the new customer well be meeting this afternoon to review their RFP. Customers always ask for references from previous projects, but quite frankly, they hardly ever call them. Hey, Gerri, youll learn that youve got to focus on the next customer and not worry about the old ones. It works, believe me, or I wouldnt be driving this Porsche. Maybe they didnt teach you that in MBA school, Gerri, but I learned from the school of hard knocks when I took this business over from my father. He was well liked in the community, and Im just following in his footsteps. CASE QUESTIONS 1. What should Andy Gibson have done differently in his meeting with Jacob Clemson in Jacobs office? 2. What are some things Andy could have done differently in his initial contact with Jacob and during the project? 3. What are some things Jacob could have done differently from the time he met Andy Gibson initially and during the project? 4. What should Gerri do? GROUP ACTIVITY Divide the course participants into groups of three or four to develop responses to the case questions. Each group must choose a spokesperson to present its responses to the entire class.

CASE STUDY 2 Market Research Report Project Meghan has been a project manager for more than 10 years for Effective Market Research. The president of the company, Allison, is very pleased with Meghans careful attention to detail on every project. The portfolio of projects for Effective Market Research has more than tripled since Meghan was hired as the project manager. Meghans project team is composed of eight members, each with a specialty for market research. In addition to doing excellent market research, the teams customer comments on the project evaluations usually have included a statement specifically related to how well informed they were during the course of the project. Meghan is very careful about the communication plan for each project. She gathers information from the client and makes sure the client is satisfied with the project at each project update meeting. Christine, a director for the Upper Region Workforce Development Group, was at a meeting and saw a copy of one of the reports for market research completed by Meghans team. Funding was available for Christine to contract with a group to do market research in her region. Several proposals that Christine wanted to write to get funding for workforce development required the same type of information that was in the market research report. Christine contacted the sales department for Effective Market Research to inquire about purchasing a market research report for her region. The sales department confirmed a face-to-face meeting time for Allison and Meghan to meet with Christine to discuss the project requirements. At the meeting, Christine described her information needs. Meghan listened carefully and crafted a list of project deliverables. At the conclusion of the meeting, Allison and Meghan developed a project proposal and sent the document to Christine for her review and authorization. The Effective Market Research finance team worked with the Upper Region Workforce Development Group finance group to secure a fixed-price contract for the work. Meghan and her team attended the first meeting with Christine and Christines new project manager, Sarah. At the meeting, Christine stated, My duties at Upper Region have increased, and I am putting Sarah in charge of the market research project. Sarah is the contact person for you and should receive all the communications. I just dont have time to deal with this project now. Meghan updated the communication plan to have all communications with Sarah for the remaining scheduled project time. Three weeks before the final report was due, Meghan sent a copy of the draft report to Sarah to review. Three days later, Meghan received a note that said, Meghan, the report looks great! Christine and I talked about having a few more of the pictures from the region that you took included in the report and having a short two-page summary document that we could share with the region commissioners and local supervisors. I think that is all that they will review. Meghan updated the project schedule and set a meeting with Sam, the graphic specialist on the team, for the next day. Sam, I received feedback from Upper Region to include more of the images into the report. What do you think is best? The two-page summary was already being completed as one of the project deliverables. It was not part of the three-week prior review documents. In the file, there are seven graphics that we havent used in the report. We can include them as a collage on the cover and put each one on the page that shows the data for the type of work being performed in the image. The report is being distributed electronically according to the project communication plan, so the additional graphics will not raise the production costs, suggested Sam. Meghan and Sam agreed on the technique.

Meghan sent Sarah the two-page summary and the new report for the final approval. Sarah confirmed that all was good to go. The final report was sent to Sarah for distribution within the Upper Region Workforce Development Group more than a week before the due date. The finance team for Effective Market Research sent the final invoice for the last 25 percent of the project costs. Meghan sent the project evaluation form to Sarah and met with her project team members. Two days later, Meghan received the following e-mail, Meghan, I did not approve this report, and it cannot be distributed. I see all kinds of problems in the report that must be corrected before the report is OK. The e-mail was from Christine. Meghan was very careful to follow the directions of Christine and had approval from Sarah for the final report. Meghan sent a note, Christine, Please let me know the problems that are in the report so that we can make corrections. Meghan was a bit concerned that Christine had responded in such a manner when the communication from Sarah had suggested that Christine had approved the report. Sarah was supposed to be Meghans contact. CASE QUESTIONS 1. Did Meghans team satisfy the customer? Why or why not? 2. How should Meghan respond to the comments from Christine after Sarah had given feedback and approval for the final report? 3. The project team had gone through the steps of closing this project. They have one week of slack in the schedule before they would be causing another project to be delayed. What should Meghan do with her team? 4. What should Meghan have done differently in the project? GROUP ACTIVITY Divide the course participants into groups of three or four to develop responses to the case questions. Each group must choose a spokesperson to present its responses to the entire class.