1. From case study - We do not need standard methodology - Q1 - To what extent do the following items play a role in implementing a standard methodology: project characteristics, project organization, and readiness of project managers?
2. From case study - We do not need standard methodology - Q2- Suggest an approach to alleviate the resistant to use a standard methodology.
3. From case study - We do not need standard methodology - Q3 - List the benefits and shortcomings of having a standard methodology.

We Do Not Need Standard Methodology Peerasit Patanakul, Sabin Srivannaboon, and Dragan Z. Milosevic Since the organization's restructuring, the project management department of Zeus Inc. has been struggling to implement standard methodologies across all of its directorates. Some directorates have a formal way of managing their projects and require their project managers to be certified. The first thing I say to someone who wants to be my project manager is: go study, take the exam, become certified, and then, you can come work for me," said Tim Darby, the director of product deployment directorate. Other directorates, on the other hand, are more flexible in their project management approach. Project man- agement certification is not mandated. This case discusses how they reached a common ground. PROJECT MANAGEMENT VETERAN Tim's product deployment directorate is among the four directorates under the program management department. James Higgs is Tim's peer, who is also the director of product deployment directorate. The difference is that James deploys new products related to Zeus's new strategic initiative. Tim's products are those of the existing business initiatives, a bread-and-butter kind. Tim started his career as an engineer, then project manager, and is now the director. As a project management veteran, Tim has developed a standard proj- ect management methodology for his organization. It is a web-based tool called PDX, which includes the five-step product deployment process. Templates, tools, and techniques were created to support the project management activity in each phase. Tim requires his project managers to update the project document, status, and issues every Monday. This web-based tool is also used as a project repository. So far, Tim has the information of over 500 projects that have been implemented. 400 Standardized Methodologies 401 DON'T YOU WANT TO USE PDX? Tim is very proud of his PDX. He owns it. He has a full-time staff allocated to monitor and upgrade the system. His boss also sees the benefits of PDX and encourages the other directors to use the system. However, it is not mandatory. Tim does not understand why other directorates do not fully adopt PDX. Tim: James, have you checked out PDX? What do you think about it? James: Yes. It is great. You have all the project history, all the checklists, and tools. I also like the fact that it provides us a means to check the status of projects 24/7. You even have a function to print out the project status report. This is all great stuff. But I am not sure how much this will apply to my projects. I am not sure if I should require my project managers to do all of that. Tim: Why? James: My projects are unique. They are different. Some of those forms may not be applicable to us. My project managers and I look at this and to tell you the truth, we are overwhelmed by it. We decided that we should not commit to this at this time because we should focus on getting the projects done. Tim: But James, if you guys follow the process in PDX, wouldn't it help you jump-start your projects? James: Probably not. With the entire document that we have to create, we will focus too much time in documentation rather than leading the projects. My goal for them is to focus the least amount of time on creating the document. It does not mean that we do not do our job. We just go for the necessity. Plus, I do not need to look at PDX to get the status update. My project manag- ers are collocated. I can go and talk with them, review the project document, check the project status whenever we want. They can come and talk to me when issues arise. You are my office neighbor but your project managers are all in different locations. I think PDX suits your needs perfectly. Tim: All the excuses, James. You just do not want to try. I cannot see the real reason why PDX is not applicable to you guys. Your product may be unique but it does not mean that the standard deployment process doesn't apply to it. Don't tell me that your project managers are lazy or not capable of using the system James: Hey Tim. That's not nice. Even though my project managers are not certified like yours, I can guarantee that they are capable. I know that you are proud of your PDX. Don't take it personally if we don't use it. I told you that in my opinion it is a real good system but it is just not what I need my project 402 CASE STUDIES managers to focus on at this time. Plus our boss never complains about whether I use it or not. I provide the documents he needs, in timely fashion, and I am on top of all my projects without using PDX Tim: Sorry, I did not mean to offend you or your project managers. I just think that you and your project managers will benefit from using PDX. All the forms, templates, checklists, guidelines, tools, and techniques are there in PDX, arranged per phase. You guys don't have to create anything new. They are there for you to use. I think our organization will benefit from this, too. All of the past project records are there. In fact, when we start new projects, I require my project managers to search for similar projects in PDX, read all the documents, critical issues, lessons learned, etc. So far, this helps them jump-start the new projects. The system makes it legitimate for me to set a goal of a 90 percent success rate for my project managers. I know that you are struggling with setting up a 90 percent success rate goal. PDX has a lot of benefits: Efficiency, effectiveness, project success, personal learning, and organization learning are among them. COMMON GROUND James knows wholeheartedly that what Tim says makes sense. He agrees to implement PDX slowly. The overall five-phase process is applied to all of James's projects, however, not all the documents, templates, tools, and techniques in each phase will be used. They agree that James's projects are more dynamic and not all cookie-cutter projects, like the majority of Tim's projects. However, having a common place for project repository is very important. Discussion items 1. To what extent do the following items play a role in implementing a standard methodology: project characteristics, project organization, and readiness of project managers? 2. Suggest an approach to alleviate the resistant to use a standard methodology. 3. List the benefits and shortcomings of having a standard methodology