Multi Projects, Inc., is a well established consulting firm with 400 employees. It has many projects going on at the same time for various clients. Multi Projects has a good reputation , and nearly 30 percent of its business is from previous clients. It targets growing companies for future business and has been successful in this, too. Because of the growth, things have been quite hectic, with employees trying to keep up with the work, keep old clients satisfied, and bend over backward to accommodate new clients. Multi Projects has been hiring new employees-in fact, it has grown from 300 to 400 employees over the past two years.

Multi Projects has a matrix organizational structure. As new projects come in, a project manager is assigned. One project manager may be assigned to several projects at a time, depending on the sizes of the projects. Projects range in value from $20,000 to $1 million and can be from one month to two years in duration. Most projects are about six months in duration and worth about $60,000 to $80,000. The firm performs a range of consulting services, including market research, manufacturing system design, and executive recruiting. Its clients are medium to large corporations and include banks, manufacturers, and government agencies.

Multi Projects just got a call from Growin Corporation, which wants to go forward with a project that Multi Projects proposed nearly six months ago. Partners at Multi Projects are surprised by the good news. They had thought the project was dead. They are also very interested in carrying out a first project for Growin Corporation because it is a rapidly growing company. Multi Projects sees an opportunity to do several projects with Growin Corporation in the future.

Jeff Armstrong has been assigned as project manager for the Growin Corporation project. He has been with Multi projects far about a year and has been anxious to get a challenging project to manage. He worked on the proposal for the Growin project.

Tyler Bonilla is a senior systems engineer. He has been with Multi Projects eight years. He has an excellent reputation, and previous clients with whom he has worked usually request that he be assigned to their projects. He enjoys his work, even though he is extremely busy. He is currently working full time on a project for Goodold Company, a previous client. Goodold said that one of the reasons it does business with Multi Projects, rather than with another consulting firm, is the great work Tyler does on their projects.

Jennifer Fernandez is the manager of systems engineering. She has been with Multi Projects about 15 years. Tylet reports to Jennifer, but because of his heavy workload and associated travel, he does not get to see Jennifer very often, other than at her monthly staff meetings.

Julie Capriolo is the project manager for the Goodold Company project. She has been with Multi Projects for about two years. Tyler is assigned to her project full time. The project has a tight schedule, and everyone is putting in extra hours . Julie feels a lot of pressure, but she has a good project team--she relies heavily on Tyler. She had heard from a friend who used to work with Jeff that Jeff is very ambitious and will do whatever it takes to make himself look good. This had not been of concern to Julie because she and Jeff have separate projects and do not run into each other very often.

The day Jeff is assigned to be project manager on the Growin Corporation project, he runs into Tyler in the hallway. "We got the Growin project," he tells Tyler.

"Great," responds Tyler.

Jeff continues, "You know, one of the big reasons they gave the project to us rather than another consulting firm is because we promised you'd be the lead systems engineer on the project, Tyler. They were impressed with you when we met with them to present our proposal. When do you think you can start work on the project:"

"Unfortunately, I can't. I'm tied up on the Goodold project, and things are really hectic. I'll be on the project for another four months," says Tyler.

"No way!" exclaims Jeff. "This Growin project is too important to me--I mean, to us. I'll take care of it."

"You'd better talk to Jennifer," Tyler tells him.

Jeff stops by Jennifer's office. She's busy, but he interrupts her. "I gotta have Tyler Bonilla on my Growin project. He wants to work on it, but he said I should talk to you."

"Thats impossible," says Jennifer. "He's assigned to Julie Capriolo's Goodold project for the next four months."

"Julie? Who's she? Never mind. I'll find her and work it out. You probably have somebody else you can assign to her project." replies Jeff, as he quickly bolts out of her office in search of Julie.

"Thats my decision , not yours or Julie's!" shouts Jennifer. But by that time Jeff is gone and does not hear what she says.

Julie is meeting with her project team in the conference room. Jeff knocks on the door and opens it. "Is there a Julie in here?" he asks.

"I am Julie," she responds.

"I need to talk to you ASAP. It's important. Oh, by the way, sorry for interrupting." Looking forward Tyler, who's in the meeting, Jeff says, "Hey, Tyler, catch you later, buddy, after I talk with Julie." Jeff then shuts the door and goes back to his office. Julie is noticeably disturbed at the interruption.

After her meetin, Julie calls Jeff. "This is Julie. What did you want to talk to me about that was so urgent?'

"About reassigning Tyler to my project. He's interested, and I've already talked to Jennifer about it," answers Jeff.

"Thats impossible," declares Julie. "He's critical to the Goodold project."

"Sorry," says Jeff, "but if the Growin project is successful, we'll get more business from them than we ever got form the Goodold Company."

"It's already after 6 o'clock and I have to be out of town for a week, but I'll discuss this with Jennifer as soon as I get back," snaps Julie

"Yeah, sure, whatever," responds Jeff.

The next day Jeff calls a meeting with Jennifer and Tyler. He starts by telling them, "I called this meeting to figure how soon Tyler can begin working on the Growin project and how you [looking at Jennifer] can get somebody to take his palce on what's-her-name's project."

"I think Julie should be here for this discussion," says Jennifer.

"She couldn't make it. Apparently she's out of town for a week, and we need to get going on the Growin project." Jeff tells her. "We need to prepare for a meeting with them next week. Besides, Tyler is the one we're talking about, and he'd rather work on the Growin project. Right, Tyler?'

"Ah, well, now that you have asked, I am getting tired of working on the Goodold projects," replies Tyler. "I'm not learning anything new. I mean, it's okay, but I'd like a change.

Jennifer is astonished. "You never mentioned that to me, Tyler."

Jeff breaks in, "Well, I guess it's settled. Jennifer, you assign somebody else to the Good old project who'll feel a little more challenged and tell Julie when she gets back. In the meantime, I and my buddy Tyler have got a lot of work to do to look good for our meeting with the Growin people next week."

1.- Why is Jeff so anxious to get started on the Growin project??

2.- What is wrong with Jeff´s approach to handling this situation??

3.- What should Jennifer do to resolve this situation??

4.- What advantages and disadvantages of the matrix organization are apparent from this story??

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

1 Jeff has been allocated as project manager for the Growing Corporation project He has been with Mu... View the full answer