PROJECT MANAGEMENT

CASE STUDY

Computer viruses and malware software have been a quality concern for years. In a new

twist, consumers are now being warned that e-cigarettes, though better for health, can be

bad for computers.

According to the social media forum Reddit, an executive at a large corporation found a malware infection on his computer. His IT staff investigated the problem, and after looking at all traditional means of infection, they started looking at other possibilities. The executive said he had recently quit smoking and started using an e-cigarette made in China. IT found that the e-cigarette charger had malware hardcoded on it that phoned home and infected the computer after it was plugged into the USB port. Technical security experts confirmed that anything, including e-cigarette chargers, can infect your computer if it can be inserted into a USB port.

Dennis Zulu, cofounder and chief technology officer of Crowd Strike, a cyber threat research firm, said the malware can then steal your files, capture your keystrokes, or turn on your web cam. He also said that if possible, use an electrical outlet instead of a USB port to charge devices, because you cant infect an outlet.

Although it is difficult to find reputable sources that confirm the problem-cigarette charger story, there are many other quality concerns with new consumer products. For example, several news agencies ran stories showing smart phone users that their whereabouts were being tracked if they did not turn off a certain feature. Owners of smart TVs are advised to turn off the voice recognition feature so manufacturers cannot eavesdrop on them. As you can see, IT can be used to create many innovative products that people want, but as the saying goes, Let the buyer beware!

Questions:

a) Top management is primarily responsible for the high cost of nonconformance in IT. Top

managers often rush their organizations to develop new systems and do not give project

teams enough time or resources to do a project right the first time.

Although the issue of e-cigarette does not appear as an IT project issue, it inevitable became one, bordering on quality. Discuss how culture and top management caution could have avoided the quality problem that occurred.

b) Many industries tolerate a very low cost of nonconformance, but not the IT industry.

Discuss.

c) In Information Technology, Project Management is widely used with innovation

development and thus may entail incurring various costs when the innovation does not work to expectations. Costs may thus be incurred in respect to nonconformance, that is means taking responsibility for failures or not meeting quality expectations. The e-cigarette was a typical IT innovation to which nonconformance could be said to have applied.

Discuss the five major cost categories related to quality in the light of e-cigarette as a project.