14
Trouble Health System Case Analysis
By
Haoying Zhang
To
Dr. Kamyar Shahrooz
Northeastern University
Nov 20, 2017
Introduction
With the exit of the former project manager, the team has failed to work together as planned which has resulted in lagging behind the preset schedule. The management and all other stakeholders within the company have expressed distaste about how the project is going on so far. Some of the factors that have contributed to this situation include inadequate staff- most of the team members are also working in other departments, misunderstanding between the architect and the database administrator and the rapidly changing user requirements which have made it hard for our programmers to follow a constant line of development. However, this project is necessary for the company and there is need to complete the tasks before our competitors launch their products and skew the market share in their favor.
Team Dynamics
Preview
The team dynamics have been affected by various human, technical and interpersonal factors. The main players who have contributed heavily to the team dynamics include the architect, database administrator, former project manager and the programmers on the ground themselves. The technical aspects of the team, which have had profound effects include the introduction of a new programming language and the general structure of the company as is at the moment. The interpersonal factors have included the lack of or inadequate communication about the project progress among the team members themselves and the management in its entirety. Broad categories of the team dynamics include the following:
The Architect and the Database Administrator
These two individuals have had in-fights which have terribly derailed and demoralized our team. Their failure to agree on basic protocols in regard to how the database supports the vendor reports have made it hard to progress comfortably as it should ideally be.
The former Project Manager
The sudden exit of Peter has left a huge responsibility gap in the team. By far, he was the most experienced manager around: - with a massive experience gained from managing similar projects for a very long period of time. This has partially contributed to the kind of disarray that is being witnessed today among the team members.
Legal Team
The company lawyers have been unable to draft a policy document. This is because they were not given enough information about the project early enough.
Interpersonal Factors
Our project sponsor rightly stated that she was deeply disappointed in Peter’s actions of not soliciting for project team members on a full-time basis. The lack of communication for this critical component led to the current state whereby the team members are usually working in various departments within the company, hence unable to dedicate enough time to the project as is needed. The team has also failed to communicate with the concerned managers about the lack of clear cut trajectory and plan for the project.
Miscellaneous Dynamics
The team has experienced various challenges ranging from the absence of a concrete risk plan, conflict about roles within the team, over budgeting and an absence of a clear testing strategy among other factors.
Stage
The team is currently in the performing stage. This is where all action is supposed to be happening and is actually happening to a great extent (Baughman, 2008). Most of the active team processes are happening at this particular point. They include the continuous module and unit testing, responding to various comments and opinions from the end users and writing code for some components of the system. Although this is the stage whereby relationships should be flourishing, the working statuses among the team members and the relationship between the architect and database administrator has not been as productive as it was initially meant.
Skill Deficiency
Our team members have a background in Java with no skill in MS- oriented languages like the one being used currently. This has led to a loss in time since our developers need to consult with the product vendors on various aspects of the language being used. In addition, our developers have occasionally developed poorly performing systems since they are unable to optimize the code as they should in this particular environment.
Recommended Training
Due to the skill deficiency that has been noted, I recommend the following:
· Hiring of a VB Studio specialist and programmer in the team
· Subscription to online learning resources where our programmers can learn about the best practices in VB studio
The merit of hiring a VB Studio expert is because our own programmers will be able to learn about the best coding protocols for this particular framework. In addition, this will enable us to fix various bugs wherever they arise notwithstanding a reduction in the amount of time and money spent on soliciting the services of the software. With the access to an online learning portal, out programmers will have the chance of polishing their skills wherever they want.
Conflict Resolution
Cause
The major players of team dynamics are also the main causative agents of conflict within the team. However, some specific individuals have caused derailment in the project objectives much more than others. The aspect of “technical ignorance” in regard to the new programming language has considerably reduced the overall team efficiency.
Cause of Conflict between Database Administrator and Architect
The architect’s expansive skills and the database administrator’s “well-polished” political connections are an important recipe for the success of the team’s endeavors. However, the two have been unable to arrive at a single solution to address the way third party software interacts with the database which has led to conflict between the two.
Cause of Conflict among the Staff Members
The existences of multiple responsibilities of the staff who are working on the project have been the greatest cause of conflict among the team members. The previous project manager failed to request the various staff’s supervisors to allow them to work on the team full time. This resulted in the team members reporting to more than one supervisor and not dedicating fully to the team agenda. This divided responsibility and the inadequate communication between the members thereof led to the members not knowing exactly what modules they should be working on which further increased the conflict within the team.
Cause of Conflict between the User Pack and the Programmers
Constant redefinition of the requirements scope has seen the users proposing numerous changes to the programmers. Some programmers complained about this, but the management requested them to effect the changes that are being asked of them. However, it must be noted that developers usually spend a lot of time writing code and it would be beneficial if a thorough user requirements was documented so that they do not have to scrap every line of code written once there is a small change in user requirements.
Strategy for Resolving the Conflict
Some of the strategies that are going to resolve the conflicts include holding subject discussions, channeling proper written communication, mediation and holding a ballot among the team members over sensitive areas of decision making (Davidson & Wood, 2004). The following table illustrates how these strategies are going to be used.
|
Strategy |
Impact/Approach |
|
Inclusion of proper written communication |
Some of the biggest challenges which are facing the team include a conflict as a result of lacking in a clear definition of responsibilities among the team members. There needs to be a proper way of sending memos to the various departmental heads so that they can become privy with the engagements of their staff thus allowing them to dedicate their time fully on the project. The team members also need to express their challenges to the management in writing instead of just keeping quiet and expecting the management to somehow figure out what they want achieved. The test pack needs to document their proposals and the pertinent version in order to provide a clear set of goals for the programmers. We will develop a version control mechanism so that all team members can integrate into a common branch and monitor the tasks being performed by various programmers to avoid task conflicts. |
|
Mediation |
The architect and the database administrator are always at war about how the database should interact with the third-party software. The architect has vast technical skills while the administrator’s representative feels like the subject is his own area of expertise, hence should have the final say in regard to how the software interfaces with the local database. Since these conflicts are stemming from the technical know-how, it will be important to call the two parties in a meeting with senior management and have them agree about who is going to be in charge of what, and the other party should be ready to respect all decisions made by the chosen leaders so that there can be a single source of authority about the matter. |
|
Compromise |
The team comprises individuals with a background in Java programming. Working on a VB studio project has been demanding for the members which have sometimes led to performance issues with the code that they are producing. However, the team should be allowed to deliver a working prototype even if they are not using the best classes/ methods for the various functionalities. With good project documentation, later versions of the software can be upgraded to incorporate optimized source code. In addition, the vendors are attending other companies as well, which has reduced the amount of usable support that they can offer to our team. Therefore, the need for software with the best big O will not be the cause of a lag in delivering the project- this needs to be compromised. |
|
Voting |
Instead of holding endless debates about who should be responsible for various aspects about the project, a simple voting system will be devised to enable the team members make a selection about various distributions in regard to the project. For example, the war between the architect and the database administrator hinges on the technical capabilities of the two individuals. Since the team consists of programmers who are relatively well versed with the technical aspects of the whole platform, they will hold a vote on whom they feel is best suited for the job and spell out the duties of the elected leaders to avoid wrangles involving the scope of responsibility. The rationale behind voting is exhibition of democracy and the derived satisfaction about the individual mandated with taking charge. |
Proposal for Laissez-faire for the Current Team Structuring Stage
Laissez-faire should be the leadership style in use (Sayyadi, Soosay, & Reaiche, 2015). This decision has been informed by the following observations: - given that it involves giving the worker full autonomy and all the necessary power to make decisions as they deem necessary.
Skill level and Experience of the Team Members
The team consists of individuals who have an extensive experience in programming and the general software development lifecycle (SDLC) practices. This gives them the ability to formulate working schemes on their own since they are outright professionals in what they are doing. The team leaders such as the architect are well experienced in the operation of the whole project having overseen similar project before.
The use of Outside Staff
The team has been relying on external VB staff studio for support. This is because the team does not have an expert in the Microsoft language packs. As a leader, it is very difficult to manage and oversee what the consultants and specialists from the vendor are doing to support the project. Therefore, this makes the use of Laissez-faire most appropriated for this particular scenario. The existence of an already laid down project timeline means that the team is capable of working on their predetermined tasks and submit deliverables without having to be tied down by frequent feedbacks. This further makes the chosen leadership style the most appropriate for this project.
The following table summarizes the fundamental paradigms of this leadership style in regard to the ongoing project.
|
Paradigm |
Consequence |
|
Autonomy |
Critical decisions made by programmers |
|
Self-Rule |
Programmers will create their own schedules |
|
Guidance |
There will be room for consultation |
Motivation and Confidence
Presently, the team is largely demoralized. The exit of the project manager and subsequent disarray witnessed among the team members has almost killed the motivation to keep going. The programmers are no longer certain that the code they are writing will not be thrashed aside by the ever-changing requirements from the user pack. Moreover, the team members are being answerable to more than one team leader since they are still working on their side projects in their various departments. Programming and integrating user requirements is a generally daunting task which calls for a lot of patience from the side of the developers. These individuals have had to put long hours into the course by staying up late into the night while debugging the source code for various modules.
The low level of technical know-how among the team has necessitated for the inclusion of the VB Studio specialists in our team. However, some of these consultants have been busy attending to other companies which have resulted in inadequate support to our programmers. This in itself has been a demotivating factor since our members have to wait for a relatively long period of time for various blockers to be resolved. The legal team does not seem to be in sync with the project that is being undertaken. In fact, they have stated there was inadequate communication in the preparation for drafting policy documents which are vital in the launch of the project. The user pack is breaking for thanksgiving holiday which will considerably hinder the progress that the team wants to make. Therefore, it is evident that there is a need to establish cohesion within the team and motivate every stakeholder involved in the exercise in order to realize the desirable progress.
Cohesion Motivation Strategy
The following strategies will be used in building the team cohesion:
· Reselection of team members
· Restatement of the project objective and identification
· Promotion of open communication
· Increase in trust among project stakeholders
· Promoting conflict resolution
· Encouraging feedback and
· Dedicating time for fun
Reselection of the Team Members
The reconstitution of the team members is going to be one of very first initiatives towards achieving cohesion among the team members. Staffs who feel like they no longer believe in the course of the project will be excused to leave. Individuals who are dedicated to different projects within their departments will also be given an opportunity to decide whether they want to onboard full time into our time or remain under their respective supervisors. If extra budget is approved as promised by the project sponsor, we will hire a full time instructor who is conversant with the MS programming environments and integrate him as one of the team members. This will reduce the time wasted in seeking vendor consultation time.
Restatement of the Project Objectives and Identification
The goals of the team and various individual responsibilities towards its realization have become vague with time. Therefore, there is need to hold a meeting and have the project sponsor and other management teams restate the importance of the project to the company in general.
Promotion of Open Communication
The barriers that have hindered effective communication between the team members and the managers will need to be addressed so that every stakeholder knows about the immediate progress of the team. Managers will be encouraged to visit the programmers more often and foster personal communication which will ease the tension between the two parties.
Increase in Trust among Stakeholders
This will particularly be important in establishing cohesion between the project architect and the database administrator. The need for appreciating the competencies and specialties of each professional will be stressed so that they can respect each other’s decision about how the database should interact with third party software.
Promoting Conflict Resolution
Just like every other team, there is always the probability of various types of conflicts arising within the team members. However, there has been an “infinite” change from the user pack with regard to the kind of specifications they would like to see resolved. As such, getting the two sides to agree on a common base of requirements will go a long way in establishing cohesion in requirements.
Encouraging Feedback
There is need to avail feedback about various reports from the team members. To achieve this, each developer will be required to develop a plan which outlines the work intended to be done for each day, the blockers encountered, deliverables and projections for the next day. This will make it possible for the project manager to respond to various blockers in a timely manner, hence promoting a mutual understanding among the concerned parties which will ultimately foster cohesion.
Dedicating Time for Fun
Having fun is a great way of promoting inter-personal relationships. Game events and outdoor camping will be used to promote cohesion between the management and other employees of lower ranks. Participating in these activities is crucial towards building an easy rapport which will indeed promote other important virtues within the work environment.
References Baughman, S. (2008). Assessment of Teams and Teamwork in the University of Maryland Libraries. Libraries and the Academy, 293-312. Davidson, J., & Wood, C. (2004). A conflict Resolution Model. Theory into Practice, 6-13. Executive Project Status Summary. (n.d.). Medical IS Vendor - Project Charter. (n.d.). PJM 6140 Troubled Health System Project Case Study. (n.d.). Sayyadi, M., Soosay, C., & Reaiche, C. (2015). The emerging role of transformational leadership. The Journal of Developing Areas, 459-467. The Case of the Troubled Health System Implementation at Healthcare Unlimited, LLC. (n.d.).
Assignment 3: Vice President of Operations, part 3
Cary Grant
Bus 515
December 7, 2017
HOME DEPOT
Statistical Technique
Six Sigma Approach
Statistical technique
Organized around five-step plan, DMAIC
Define
Measure
Analyze
Improve
Control (Reid, 2012)
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC
Statistical Tools for Control Quality
Controlled by taking statistical samples
Sampling used for detecting and correcting faults
Provides:
Standard of desired action or result
Means of measuring or comparing the actual action or result
Corrective action when the result deviates from acceptable standard
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND
Just in Time
Faster customer response and reduced waiting time
Improves productivity
Reduces waste and excess inventory
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND
Factors for Location Decision
Proximity to customers
Proximity to labor source
Proximity to suppliers
Community considerations
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA
Three Step Process
Identify dominant location factors
Develop location alternatives
Evaluate location alternatives
Key Concepts
Key concepts related to capacity planning and facility location for the new location
Current Work System Design
Feasibility in the job design
Work Designs Competitive Advantage
Running head: VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS, PART 1 1
VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS, PART 1 6
Vice President of Operations, Part 1
name
Bus 515
Strayer University
Professor Phyllise Parise
October 23, 2017
Introduction
With the intentions of providing one-stop shopping for do-it-yourselfers, Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank founded The Home Depot in 1978. When the founders opened the first two Home Depot stores in Atlanta, Georgia on June 22, 1979, they did not realize how revolutionary the newly designed hardware store would be for both the home improvement and retail industry. The company has grown over the past thirty-eight years to be the world’s largest home improvement retailer with more than 2,200 stores and more than 400,000 employees in Canada, Mexico and the United States (The Home Depot, 2016). The closest competitor to The Home Depot is Lowe’s, which was founded in North Carolina in 1946. The culture and success of The Home Depot is built on the eight values or guiding principles. The values that are upheld are creating shareholder value, entrepreneurial spirit, taking care of employees, respect for all people, doing the right thing, building strong relationships, giving back and excellent customer services. The Home Depot uses a unique three- legged stool operating strategy based on customer experience, product authority, capital allocation driven by productivity and efficiency, and interconnected retail that drives lasting customer and shareholder value (The Home Depot, 2016).
Key Elements of Operational Efficiency with its Operational Strategy
A company’s organizational strategy consists of all the actions they plan to take to achieve long-term goals. The strategy arises from the company’s mission statement, which tells why the company is in business and its vision statement which is what the company will be achieved when it achieves its mission (Johnson, 2012). According to Furguson (2017), The Home Depot’s mission statement is “to provide the highest level of service, the broadest selection of products and the most competitive prices”. The mission statement identifies The Home Depot’s key elements of its operational strategy as high-quality service, broad product selection and competitive prices. The Home Depot’s vision statements identify several more key factors that define the company’s operations. The vision statements are to provide “one-stop shopping for the do-it-yourselfer” and “to create a company that would keep alive the values that were important to us. Values like respect among all people, excellent customer service and giving back to communities and society” (Ferguson, 2017). The statement shows that The Home Depot desires to be a one stop shopping venue that offers a wide variety of products to do-it-yourselfers and suggests values and corporate social responsibility that the company is pursuing.
Tasks Out of Alignment with Operational Strategy
Operational efficiency has been a crucial part of achieving low prices while still offering high levels of customer service, however, some tasks do not align with the operational strategy. One task is the hiring of outside services to complete projects for consumers. This process takes away from the mission and vision of the store. Another weakness is that e-commerce has taken away from the customer service that The Home Depot strives to provide. Because more people are shopping online and having items shipped to store, The Home Depot is reducing the amount of staff in store to reduce cost. This gives the brick and mortar location a disadvantage because consumers have higher expectations of a physical store. A third weakness would be timely identifying and effectively responding to consumer needs, expectations ad trends (The Home Depot, 2016).
New Operations Strategy
A new operations strategy can be created for The Home Depot based on competitive priorities. The four competitive priorities to be used are cost, flexibility, quality, time and innovation. Competitive priorities represent different areas of focus by which a firm can achieve a competitive advantage. Home Depot can improve its operations strategy by continuing to not only focus on low costs and quality products but also on the flexibility of getting products and the amount of time it takes to get products to customers. They have already started to head this way by allowing products ordered inline to be picked up in store or delivered to the customers home. It is also possible to buy a product at one store and pick it up at another store (The Home Depot 2016).
Enablers
In general, organizations can compete in five key competitive priorities - cost, quality, time, flexibility and innovation. Operation’s managers help to support a firm’s strategy to be a low-price leader through good design and by eliminating costs. Most of the costs are endured from the supply chain. Many operations managers focus on improving the quality of goods and services provided. Enablers of
design flexibility include outsourcing, empowering employees as decision makers, information technology, and close relationships with customers to understand the needs and wants that are emerging. Innovation is supported by operations managers by introducing new goods and services.
The Home Depot has equipped many relevant, instructive, and extrapolative features to its system which will act as enablers to guarantee the long-term achievement of their method. Three facilitators that are used are inventory visibility, predictive customer analytics, and fulfillment strategy. Inventory visibility allows consumers to search online for products they need and receive feedback to the availability at local stores. The pro of this enabler is that consumers know if the store has what they need prior to driving to the store. A con of this enabler is that when the inventory is wrong, customer service has to deal with unsatisfied customers. Another con is that if the product is seasonal, it shows as being in stock even if it is not.
The use of data mining through social data, product reviews, search trends and purchase patterns to forecast and direct consumer purchasing options is predictive customer analytics. The con of this enabler is the elevated level of data breaches, which are causing fewer consumers to use e-commerce, restricts the amount of data available. A pro is the personalized shopping experience of consumers in comparison to the bond with sales associates within the store. Fulfillment strategy must provide numerous options to catch the attention of consumers. Retailers are concentrated on building in-store, online, and direct-to-consumer options and many are leveraging current and new organization in creative ways. A con here is that product that have already been inventoried into a store cannot be repackaged and shipped to a consumer. A pro is that storefront locations can be used as distribution centers making it possible for consumers to buy products online and receive delivery quicker.
Conclusion
The Home Depot must remain aware of the operational efficiency with its operational strategy and determine what tasks are not in alignment with the company’s operational strategy. After each determination, another operations strategy can be developed using the competitive priorities of cost, quality, time, flexibility and innovation. The company can also develop new enablers that are aligned with the long-term strategies. The pros and cons of the new enablers must be evaluated as well. The Home Depot will continue to be an industry leader as long as it continues to ensure operational efficiency with its operational strategy and makes necessary changes as needed.
References
Ferguson, E. (2017, February 3). Home Depot’s Vision Statement & Mission Statement - Panmore Institute. Retrieved from http://panmore.com/home-depot-vision-statement-mission-statement
The Home Depot. (2016). The Home Depot | About Us. Retrieved from https://corporate.homedepot.com/about
The Home Depot. (2016). The Home Depot 2016 annual report. Retrieved from http://ir.homedepot.com/~/media/Files/H/HomeDepot-IR/reports-and-presentations/annual-reports/annual-report-2016.pdf
Johnson, S. (2012, December 18). What Is the Meaning of Organizational Strategy? | Chron.com. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/meaning-organizational-strategy-59427.html
Running head: VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS, PART 2 1
VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS, PART 2 8
Vice President of Operations, Part 2
name
Bus 515
Strayer University
Professor Phyllise Parise
November 16, 2017
Weaknesses in Home Depot’s Product Life-Cycle
Home Depot being a home improvement retailer in the American, Canadian and Mexican communities, it has developed a supply chain which helps to supply and distribute products in these markets. It has developed rich community with a strong brand and customer loyalty. Although it has achieved over 270% growth, its product life cycles have different weaknesses which influence the operations of the company the market. These weaknesses include a drop in sales due to the seasonality of its markets (The Home Depot, 2016). Consumers do not use its products during the bad weather, especially during the 1st quarter. It becomes a challenging aspect affecting the Depot's products and services. There is also pricing changes and fluctuations due to increased competitions in the community. At the introduction stage the product has market due to the loyalty of consumers, but at the growth stage, there is a stiff competition from other companies such as Lowe's. There are the weaknesses due to market trending changes especially during the different seasons of the year. This influences how consumers value the product and use the retailer’s products.
New product and Design
As a home improvement retailer, there is the need for diversity due to the nature of its strong brands and market share. Home Depot should focus on the global niche and introduce new products to tap the gap between home improvement and housing fashion. For instance, it can focus on developing new products such as housing fashion from improved and installed cloth wear. This should new a new brand and style for the company to improve its reach into the community and its markets (Hill, Jones & Schilling, 2014). The nature of the new fashion such as from home or in-house wear to bedroom comfort. Bedroom clothing and home comfort should target home builders and designers in the community. As a new product, the Home Depot community should focus on developing the growth of its market share and base. This will ultimately increase profitability and provide a new redesign to the culture of its consumers in the market.
Strategies to Strengthen the Operation
There are different strategies the company can use in strengthening the new products and brand. This is to directly introduce the products in its stores and market them directly through a vertical business model. The aim is to improve, increase and maintain a common edge especially under producing and providing the necessary resources to improve the expectations of the new consumers. More importantly, the company should also hold and introduce promotion through gift vouchers on the first come serve basis (Hill, Jones & Schilling, 2014). The home clothing blended with an insight into home improvement will help and introduce the value, resources, and operational effectiveness. It is also a measure focusing on the role and responsibility of the company's new brands and which is through quality assurance for its consumers. This is through the introduction in the markets through marketing and improving consumer customization to meet the demands of its consumers. This has worked for different companies in the clothing industry such as Nike and Under Armour Inc.
Key Components of Home Depot’s Supply Chain
The components of the Home Depot's supply chain include an effective inventory management system which helps in tracking the company's stocking, consumer demands, and distributions in the store across its international and local markets. The application of the online stores has helped the company to improve its consumption accessibility to consumers and revamping its stores. It also helps in the reduction and management of physical spaces in its stores nationwide (Adobor &McMullen, 2007). More importantly, there is the integrating of information technology solutions which have increased consumer checkout at stores, inventory-taking, customization and consumer order processing. There is the generation of value through the development of improved distribution networks in the markets (The Home Depot, 2016). This has helped the company to overcome challenges of lack of products in the market, poor distribution and improving operational effectiveness in terms of performance, allocation of orders and distribution to suppliers.
Major Issues Affecting Structuring, Sourcing, Purchasing and Supply Chain
There are different issues affecting structuring of the company and this include issues such as leadership in the contemporary organization of the company. The structure of the Home Depot organization is affected by poor leadership culture which does not help in the integration of its employees and distribution of its resources (Ferguson, 2017). There is also poor market research and trends which affects the ability of the company to maintain its sales during low demand seasons such as the 1st quarter of the year. Thirdly, there are differences in supplier diversity policies which sometimes hinders the development of a better sourcing platform for the company. Combined with increased operational costs and rates affects the company’s supply chains (Hill, Jones & Schilling, 2014). The supply chain also needs a better platform to engage in operational effectiveness such as increasing and improving the effectiveness of the company towards maintaining a profitable trend and a higher market share.
Solutions
The potential solutions to overcome leadership in the Home Depot is focusing on the organizational goals and making the necessary decisions which focus on the organizational values and operations. This will help in aligning the operations of the company with its objectives, mission, and values. There is also the aim of influencing market research to understand the consumer trends especially through the online surveys and its stores (Ferguson, 2017). It will help the company in understanding the importance and resources for meeting operational effectiveness. It is also important and essential to use supplier diversity programs in meeting to improve and increase operational effectiveness in terms of projecting, financing and managing resources such as operational effectiveness. Also, there is the need for investing in supply chain developed through the integration of technological solutions (Ferguson, 2017). This will ultimately increase costs, but it is a logical solution to improve and focus on meeting and allocation of resources through the attraction of potential investors.
Total Quality Management Tool
There is the need of developing a cause and effect diagram as a tool for focusing on quality and potential. There is the need for focusing on the company's processes. The aim of the processes is to fully understand, plan and fulfill the nature, affiliations, and concern on different levels such as processing, planning, budgeting, supply diversity and control on monitoring its inventory. A cause and effect will help in determining the necessary issues affecting its core operations (Makridakis, Wheelwright, & Hyndman, 2008). It will also highlight wastage in the company's supply chains. This will help in conversing to meet the demands of the community, especially when controlling the flow of inventory, customization of consumer orders and determining the possible costs to reduce or increase spending.
Just-in-Time Philosophy for Home Depot
Toyota was the first company to implement the just-in-time inventory and production management philosophy. As a philosophy, it helped in managing and increasing the necessary processes such as increasing and processing the demands of consumers. The allocation of the potential needs helps to improve and increase operational effectiveness by reducing wastages especially in the production, customization and manufacturing products which exceeds consumer expectations. There is the need for developing and planning to meet the expectations of the community (Hill, Jones & Schilling, 2014). It helps to overcome, raise and improve the necessary services, plans and operational effectiveness in terms of reducing inventory stocks and this will help to curb the differences in operational costs and revenues generated. It will be a tool to increase effectiveness and logical organizations of Home Depot’s operations.
Impact of the Philosophy on Quality Assurance
Considering the benefits of the just-in-time philosophy for Toyota and MacDonald's, Home Depot will ultimately focus on the quality of products for home improvement and how the allocation of the products will help steer the company's quality. The philosophy will change the company's supply chain from stocking and keep inventory to production based on demands and orders. This is a focus on the general resources as obtained and developed through effective planning (Hill, Jones & Schilling, 2014). The culture of the company will also change from diversity developed through quality in value and timely development to order as available and customization. It will increase quality and pricing while changing the pricing of the company’s products to meet the value of the consumers in the market.
Quantitative and Qualitative Forecasting Methods
|
Qualitative Method: Market Research |
Quantitative Method: Life Cycle Modelling |
|
· Conduct market research through conducting online surveys. · Using the online systems, it is also possible to view consumer reviews through feedback boxes in the stores. · There is a positive way of conducting research through increased customer purchasing trends in the community and through department stores. (Makridakis, Wheelwright, & Hyndman, 2008) · Generation of feedback through giving back to the community and focusing on the value generated by the company towards increasing consumer value and satisfaction. |
· Focusing on the introduction of the product in the market. This will monitor the marketing strategies and rates the effectiveness of the market in terms of consumers retained (Makridakis, Wheelwright, & Hyndman, 2008). · Through the growth of the products in the market, it will also take the surveying and take into consideration the profitability of the product in the community and its potential retention in the market. · The rates of sales and products will also help in motivating the understanding of the sale rates. |
|
Strengths · Offers considerable insight into the company’s’ consumer preferences. · It is easily achievable and inexpensive since it does not require skilled personnel. |
Strengths · It offers real-time information and facts on product performance in the market (Makridakis, Wheelwright, & Hyndman, 2008). · It is easily determined by qualified and experienced personnel in the community. |
|
Weaknesses · It does not relate to the real-time facts since surveys can be hindered based on different seasons (Makridakis, Wheelwright, & Hyndman, 2008). · Also, a challenge in the performance and attributions of the necessary products to meet the expectations of the market research method. |
Weaknesses · It is expensive to develop and planning on a new product which has not already met the growth and lifecycle of the product. · It will time to understand the real-time facts and processes as pertained to sales. |
References
Adobor, H., & McMullen, R. (2007). Supplier diversity and supply chain management: A strategic approach. Business Horizons, 50(3), 219-229.
Ferguson, E. (2017, February 3). Home Depot’s Vision Statement & Mission Statement - Panmore Institute. Retrieved from http://panmore.com/home-depot-vision-statement-mission-statement
Hill, C. W., Jones, G. R., & Schilling, M. A. (2014). Strategic management: theory: an integrated approach. Cengage Learning.
Makridakis, S., Wheelwright, S. C., & Hyndman, R. J. (2008). Forecasting methods and applications. John wiley & sons.
The Home Depot. (2016). The Home Depot | About Us. Retrieved from https://corporate.homedepot.com/about
The Home Depot. (2016). The Home Depot 2016 annual report. Retrieved from http://ir.homedepot.com/~/media/Files/H/HomeDepot-IR/reports-and-presentations/annual-reports/annual-report-2016.pdf
Medical IS Vendor Medical IS Vendor Medical IS Vendor Medical IS Vendor –––– Project Project Project Project CharterCharterCharterCharter
Project Name: Health System ImplementationProject Name: Health System ImplementationProject Name: Health System ImplementationProject Name: Health System Implementation
PJM 6140 Troubled Health System Project Case Study
Background
Healthcare Unlimited, LLC a leading health services company, embarked on a new product development
project. Healthcare Unlimited needs to expand its clinical data warehouse (CDW) to ingest third-party
data feeds from medical IS vendor and onsite clinic data to incorporate this information to downstream
employer group analytics and reporting processes. This expansion will also be used to develop new
activity reports to message value on these products.
The nature of the company’s business is that it operates in an extremely competitive environment that
necessitates fast delivery to market so as to prevent competitor companies from gaining dominant
market share with similar competitive products. Therefore, the key success factors of the project were
time to market and quality. Cost of delivery was not a major concern.
Scope
The scope of the project was to create a modular software package to handle medical IS vendor data to
ensure appropriate preventative care is being tracked for members, including the systems changes, the
vendor medical IS database tables, and medical IS vendor reporting. The project was divided into
modules consisting of: medical IS DB tables, promote tables, and medical IS vendor reporting. A project
manager was appointed, but has since left due to personal reasons.
Time Scales
The launch date was set as December 1, 2015. The product had to be ready for launch on this date, as all
the marketing material would reflect this date and the launch had to precede the launch of similar
products from competitors. The project kickoff was May 5, 2015. The tasks that had been completed
prior to May 5, 2015 were the business case compilation and approval and the project team
establishment.
Technology
The systems development was to be done using the MS Visual Studio programming language and SQL
environment, which was new to the development team. The developers were sent on MS Visual Studio
programming training two weeks prior to the project start. The developers were used to working in a
Java programming environment and had not worked with any MS-oriented languages before. The new
medical IS vendor reports will integrate into the existing system located behind the intranet. These new
reports, unlike the existing reports, will utilize both SQL Server and Teradata. SQL Server will control the
security access and parameter selection for the reports. The application will then send the selected
parameters to Teradata in order to populate the body of the report.
Infrastructure
Database Servers
• MS SQL Server 2008 R2
• Teradata 14
Reporting Servers
• The system will use an SSRS deployment server.
Development Tools
• MS Visual Studio 2008 Shell
• SQL Server Business Intelligence Development Studio
• SQL Server Management Studio
Business Requirements
The current application will display the medical IS vendor reports. The system generates SQL Server
Reporting Services (SSRS) reports based on user-selected parameters. Users can choose to view reports
in three formats: Excel 97-2003 (XLS), Portable Document Format (PDF), or Comma Separated Value
(CSV).
The exported data within Excel or CSV files will contain “user-friendly” headers and not
database column headers.
Scripts will execute on a weekly basis to import the following vendor sources into the target system:
• Chip Rewards
• Spire
Scripts will execute on a monthly basis to import the following vendor sources into the target system:
MDLive.
Case Study Summary of Events
Business Case Development
The product development department developed the business case for the proposed new product,
including projected cost/benefit analysis based on previous similar products and current market share.
The business case was reviewed by executive management and approved.
Requirements Definition
The product development department developed the requirements specification for the new product.
These requirements were specified based on the understanding level of the project team, which had
many years of experience in the company and an extremely good understanding of the systems. Some
of the finer details of the requirements, such as the reporting requirements and the final policy
document wording, were not defined at this initial stage. The outstanding requirements would be
agreed upon during the project, once the users had decided exactly what they wanted in this regard.
Project Team Appointment
Peter was appointed as the overall project manager. Peter had been with the company for 15 years and
been involved in numerous projects for new product developments in the past. He knows the existing
systems intimately and had good working relationships with all the various departments involved in
product development and launch. The project team appointed consisted of people from various
departments, all of whom had been involved in previous product development projects. Their
knowledge of the systems and applications is extensive. After delivery of Module Two, Peter left due to
personal reasons.
Project Kick-off
The product development executive, the sponsor of the project, chaired the project kick-off meeting,
held on May 5, 2015. She emphasized the importance of the project to the company, as it would ensure
good returns by getting the new product to market before its competitors. She stressed that the delivery
date must not be compromised in any way, as this would open the doors for competitive products and
the opportunity would be missed. The project manager and the team were asked to get busy
immediately with their planning, and a follow-up meeting was set for August 5, 2015 to review the
project plans.
Project Plan Development
The project manager had been involved in many similar projects in the past, and thus knew exactly what
the project entailed. For this reason the plans were based on previous historical information of past
projects. The project plans included only the systems-related work. The interfacing to other areas, such
as the legal department, marketing, and operations, would be handled by the project manager at the
specific time required for their input. Project plans were drawn up using a scheduling tool. The phases
and tasks were detailed, but resources were not allocated to the tasks. Task dependencies were not put
into the plan.
Project Plan Management
Management of the project plan consisted of updating tasks with their percentage complete on a
weekly basis. Record of actual hours spent on specific tasks was deemed not necessary. Each resource
gave an estimate of the percentage complete for each task, which was used to update the plan.
Resource availability was handled in an informal manner whereby each resource gave feedback on a
weekly basis regarding his or her workload on the project and other non-project work responsibilities,
such as systems maintenance.
Progress Reporting
Progress reports were produced every two weeks. These consisted of a progress summary, deliverables
attained, percent complete, risks, issues, and cost information. (See the most recent Medical IS Progress
Report below.) Minutes were kept for some meetings. (See the most recent Meeting Minutes below.)
Progress for Period May 5, 2015 – August 5, 2015
Initial progress was good, with all team members working well together. Programming started almost
immediately, since the team knew the systems so well that they were able to make some of the
required changes immediately. Some issues were identified with the user requirements, since not
enough detail was in the requirements document. These issues were resolved between the
programmers and the users. Some of the programmers experienced problems when they discovered
they were working on the wrong version of the user requirements. This was resolved when the users
printed out the current version of the requirements for all the team members to make sure they were
all working on the current version.
Progress was not as fast as desired, due mainly to users changing their minds about the requirements.
The programmers were very accommodating with such changes and tried their utmost to keep the users
satisfied. Unfortunately, the number of changes and additional requirements requested by the users
caused the work to fall behind schedule. When some of the programmers complained to the project
manager, he said that it was essential that users received what they wanted, so their changes must be
accommodated, even if it meant having to work extra hours to catch up.
The programming was also delayed from time to time due to technical problems experienced with the
new development environment. The company did not have anyone experienced in the new
development software, thus had to rely on vendor support, which was a bit lacking due to their
commitments at other companies.
Progress for Period August 5, 2015 – October 5, 2015 (two months before live date)
The sponsor became concerned with the project progress, since she felt there was a risk of not meeting
the required delivery date. The programmers were working long hours to try catch up on the project
work, as well as doing their required maintenance and problem fixing of the live systems. The legal
department said that they may not be able to provide the policy document wording in time for the live
date, due to other priorities. They said they may have been able to if they had known about it sooner.
The user department said they may have a problem getting the test packs ready for user testing, as
some staff were going on leave over the Thanksgiving period.
Initial testing revealed that the performance of some of the modules was very slow. This was resolved to
some extent when it was found that some of the programmers had used inefficient coding, as they were
new to the programming language being used. There were also a number of bugs reported, one of
which causes the product to crash at least once a week. There are numerous change requests submitted
by users for enhancements to the product.
Peter, the project manager, has left, and the project team is in complete disarray, and there seem to be
issues between the architect and database administrators on just how the database supports the vendor
reports. As of now the two areas are not working together to develop solutions for the issues. There also
seems to be a loss of a defined testing strategy, which has cropped concerns with development and user
acceptance. There is no existing method of capturing reported issues, or how to handle changes.
Management is unhappy about the project and there is no established communications method to
inform them about the project status. The project is over budget by 20%. The vendor is asking for pre-
payment in order to deliver the third and final module for the final payment of $75,000, which was 75%
of the total vendor cost. The module has not been tested yet. There is no communications plan, no risk
plan, no systems implementation plan (to define how system implementation testing is handled), and no
total cost of ownership (TCO) fee schedule. There is a conflict within the project team (e.g., team
members have conflicting roles, or experience time pressure as a result of working in two positions
within the organization simultaneously).
Medical IS Progress Report
Client VP Operations Project Number W1005
Project Medical IS Vendor Type of Project Development
Project Manager Peter Johnson Reporting Period Start:
End:
1 Progress Summary
Programming work is almost complete and testing has begun. Unfortunately, it is going to take longer than planned to complete the programming due to changes requested by the users and errors made by the programmers using the new programming language. We are hoping that this time
will be caught up by working overtime and reducing the testing time planned.
2 Major Activities Completed before Reporting Period Commenced
2.1 Business case approved
2.2 User requirements document completed
2.3 Programming underway
2.4 Unit testing underway
2.5 Test pack compilation started
3 Major Activities during Reporting Period
3.1 Programming continuing
3.2 Unit testing underway
3.3 Test packs complete
3.4 Implementation plan started
3.5 Changes made per user requests to date
4
Deliverables and Milestones
No Description Baseline End
Date
Forecast or
Actual End Date
%
Complete 4.1 Initial project plan
4.2 Approved project charter 4.3 Program code
4.4 System testing
4.5 User acceptance testing
4.6 Go live
4.7 Post implementation audit
4.8 Project acceptance sign-off
5
Risks
Contingency Plan/Actions
Impact
(1-10)
Probability
(1-10)
Score
(I * P)
Actionee
Status
5.1 Delivery date may be
missed due to changes in
user requirements
Work overtime to catch up 8 5 40 PJ Open
5.2 Project team members
may take leave over the
Thanksgiving holidays
Plan leave into project
schedule
7 5 35 PJ Open
5.3 Other departments may
not have resources to do
the policy docs and
testing when required
Agree tasks with other
departments
8 6 48 PJ Open
6
Issues
Impact
(1-10)
Actionee
Due Date/
Status
Action
6.1 Changes to requirements requested by the users are
causing delays in project delivery
9 PJ Agree final requirements
with the users
6.2 Currently behind schedule with some tasks, but should be
able to catch up without affecting the scheduled delivery
date
9 PJ Work overtime
6.3 Get final policy document wording from legal
department
8 PJ Agree date with Legal Dept.
6.4 Make sure Testers are available for required testing dates 8 PJ Agree resources and dates for
testing with user departments
7 List of Scope Change Requests
No Date Description Client Approval
Impact
7.1 No official change requests to date
8 Major Activities for Next Period
8.1 Complete programming
8.2 Complete and get approval for project charter
8.3 Start system testing
8.4 Start planning for user acceptance test (compile test plan)
8.5 Fix errors and omissions identified during testing
8.6 Compile and agree implementation plan
8 Budget Tracking
Task/Phase Planned Cost
(Baseline)
Actual Cost to
Date
Remaining
Cost
Estimate at
Completion
Percent
Variance
Medical IS Vendor 441,650 230,892 210,758 529,980 20%
Meeting Minutes
MEETING DATE: May 15, 2015
PROJECT: Medical IS Vendor
SUBJECT: Weekly Progress
ATTENDEES: James Weary (JW), Peter Johnson (PJ), Tim Drew (TD), project team members
APOLOGIES: Wanda Jackson (Sponsor)
Outstanding from Previous Meeting’s Minutes
Item
Minute
Actionee
Status / Due Date
1. PJ to discuss user requirements changes impact with sponsor PJ PJ could not get
meeting with sponsor
Meeting Minutes
Item
Minute
Actionee
Status / Due Date
1. Testing plan to be drawn up and testers allocated by the user department PJ
2. Leave schedule to be drawn up for all project staff to assess project schedule impact PJ
3. Legal department to give expected completion date for new policy document wording PJ
4. Machine needs to be booked and set up for training of testers and running of the user
acceptance test
JW
5. Testers to be identified by user departments and allocated for testing period required TD
6. Current problems with system performance of the Java code to be escalated to vendor for
urgent resolution
PJ
Scope Change Requests
Item
Change request description
Actionee
Due Date
Status
1. No official scope change requests to date
Next meeting: 06/01/2015 (3pm. – 4pm) - Meeting Room 2.3
The Case of the Troubled Health System Implementation
at Healthcare Unlimited, LLC
The Confidential Memo
Along with you welcoming papers, you received the following confidential memo from the PROJECT
SPONSOR:
From: Project Sponsor, Healthcare Unlimited, LLC
To: IT Project Manager (you)
Date: September 4, 2015
Welcome to Healthcare Unlimited, LLC and congratulations on accepting the project manager
position for the Medical IS project. It is my sincere hope that your tenure with Healthcare
Unlimited, LLC will be both productive and rewarding. In this letter you will find a list of several
critical barriers you need to consider and address as you take charge of this troubled project.
1) Both your Architect and the Database Administrator representative on your team
are very competent employees. Unfortunately, during the past two months they
have created a difficult environment on the team that spurred higher level of
conflict.
2) Senior management is quite unhappy with the dynamics of the team and its
inability to address the internal conflict. The rest of the organization has already
expressed concerns over the lack of motivation and tangible results with the
team. As a result, you must take this into account if you choose to restructure the
team.
3) The strategic plan for our company highlights the importance of quality and time-
to-market of all our services. The board of directors is anxious to see results with
the Medical IS project since it will have a large impact the strategic direction of
the company.
My door is always open and I look forward to a productive relationship.
Regards,
Your PROJECT SPONSOR
After reading the memo, you contact the PROJECT SPONSOR’s administrative assistant to request your
first meeting with her as the new project manager of the Medical IS project.
Meeting the PROJECT SPONSOR
During your meeting with the PROJECT SPONSOR you realize that her job security hinges on your success
with the project.
You also find out that your team is not fully dedicated to the project, but team members still spend half
of their time working on other duties in their departments. Moreover, each one reports to a separate
manager in addition to you. The PROJECT SPONSOR notes:
“The first project manager never considered negotiating with the various managers to acquire
additional team members from the legal, marketing, and operations departments to be assigned
full time. He also didn’t consider the early warning signs that the team conflict was escalating as
a result of their other duties. Projects do not start as ‘red’ and if they do, they are doomed from
the start. I have to admit, I expected a lot more from him, but instead felt mislead. At this point,
the board of directors is really unhappy with the lack of progress on the project. We all need
someone who can take charge, motivate the crew, make any changes necessary to set this
project on the correct path and ensure its success. I know this will be a difficult task, but I am
confident in your ability to resolve the conflict on the team.
I also have to be honest with you. The previous project manager complained about not having
control over the decision-making process in the team, because of the conflict between the
Architect and the Database Administrators’ representative. In fact, he mentioned that their
competitive and stubborn attitudes about who should actually make decisions on the project
were ‘out of control.’ As a result, the morale of the team is low. There is no sense of belonging.
I will support any changes you decide to make, but I want you to be cautious and think several
moves ahead as to how each of your decisions will impact your team and our organization. Also,
keep in mind, if you need to train any of your staff, I will approve the training budget. You just
need to act soon.”
You ask about the skills of your team members. Your PROJECT SPONSOR informs you that:
1) The Architect has the most technical expertise among the rest of the team and has
been on several prior system integration projects. He was on the original Medical IS
project team;
2) The Database Administrators’ representative has well established political
connections in the organization, but lacks credibility among the rest of the team
members. He has background in project management, but this is his first technology
project at our company and he is the most recent addition to the team;
3) The Operations representative has great initiative and ambition to be on the project,
but her availability is very limited. She is well respected in the organization for her
ability to round-the-troops behind a common vision. She was on the original team
that procured Medical IS system contract and knows the most common issues that
can occur with modifications to such systems. Her current direct supervisor is flexible
when it comes down to ‘loaning’ her full time to the project, but he needs to be
informed;
4) Your Marketing representative has great problem-solving skills and an excellent
attention to detail. She was on several prior system integration projects with our
company. She has previously worked in the Legal team for 3 years before moving to
the Marketing team.
You ask what immediate changes would you like your PROJECT SPONSOR to see. She reflects:
“One of the most important things is to make sure that before the project starts, you have a
good plan since a project that is off track costs more to recover than later. At the present time,
the company is not capable if designating any more resources. The way I see this, the number
one challenge is the team. You won’t be able to start this project in isolation. The team is the
key! Yet, since the morale is low that by itself can kill the project.”
You thank her and promise to provide her with status as soon as you meet with your team and make a
decision. Next, you schedule a meeting with your team.
Meeting the Team
At your first team meeting, the Database Administrators’ representative show up late. Before you even
start the meeting, the Architect comments how important it is for all to show up on time.
Database Administrators’ Representative:
“From the start, I know this is going to be a team-roast meeting for me. Before you even start, I
have to say one thing, how do you expect me to make it on time when yesterday I was handed
ten new requests and had four back-to-back meetings since 8AM this morning? I can’t clone
myself and you know we are understaffed. This isn’t my first team meeting and I understand the
importance of being here on time. Perhaps, you can speak with my Manager next time and ask
him to take away some of these requests.”
Architect:
“We all have other responsibilities, but if we are not here on time, we can’t finish on time and
then we are late for our other tasks. You were aware that the meeting starts at 10AM. You knew
about it since yesterday. Also, this is not the first time you are late-”
The Marketing Representative cuts the Architect short:
“I think we should hear what our new project manager has to say. So perhaps you two can table
this discussion for later.”
The Database Administrators’ Representative:
“I am getting really tired of this. I can’t stand each time either of you two (the Architect and the
Database Administrator’s Representatives) come into my office and tell me what I should or
shouldn’t do. We already had this discussion once and I don’t want to repeat myself. When I
have a priority request, all else is set aside. I don’t think this is going to change, considering how
important some of these requests are for the future of the company.”
The Marketing Representative:
“I have to say that without many of the software initiatives, the company will have a hard time
retaining qualified staff to assist with the work on the requests. The same is true for the
architecture design and for functional units such as Marketing and Legal. Now, the Medical IS
project is not less important than your requests. In fact, it is strategically aligned with our fiscal
year’s growth projections and if it fails, none of us will be around to have this discussion again.
Architect turns to the Database Administrators’ Representative:
“The Design department is in the middle of system design for an application to assist them with
the software roll-out process. I have been involved with it from the start and can tell you that no
other member of that team is as problematic and as self-centered as you. In fact, when the
schedule began to slip on that project, all team members hunkered down and worked extra hard
to meet the established deadlines. We all pitched in and acted as one unit. No other task was
more important than the project-”
Database Administrators’ Representative interrupts the Architect:
“Wait a minute! You are misleading the rest of us again. ‘We’ on that project was you, the
Architect, and a member of the Documentations department plus the complexity of that system
was so low that it hardly mattered to the company. It certainly is nowhere near the caliber of this
project. Besides, if you knew anything about project management, you’d know that the intent is
to break down the work into smaller packages and estimate it properly. Your project manager
had no experience with this and he underestimated the work. As a result, you all had to work
crazy hours to meet the deadline. I can’t stand incompetence when it comes to project
management.”
At this point the Database Administrators’ Representative turns to you and smirks.
The report should include the following:
A. Recovery Project Scope Planning: Establish the recovery project scope plan and controls. What are the business requirements? What are the system requirements (software and hardware)? In establishing your project scope plan, you might consider these aspects:
1. Requirements (requirements traceability matrix)
2. Existing work breakdown structure
3. Person responsible for each requirement (responsibility assignment matrix)
B. Recovery Project Cost Planning and Control: Establish a recovery cost control plan with strategies to help maintain prospective value of the new project with respect to expected expenditures and added business values. As you are developing your cost control plan, you could consider aspects such as these:
1. The cost–benefit analysis
2. The TCO（Total cost of ownership）
3. Budgeted vs. actual costs
4. The earned value of the recovery project
C. Recovery Project Quality Planning: Craft a recovery plan for ensuring quality of the recovery project outcomes that identifies acceptable performance standards and recommended recovery strategy. Ideas to consider may include:
1. Key performance indicators of quality
2. Important factors in defining quality
3. How to measure quality
D. Recovery Project Risk Planning: Craft a recovery plan for identifying and monitoring risk. In your recovery plan, you could consider:
1. The amount of uncertainty in the project and how to deal with it
2. The threats of greatest concern
3. How each threat should be dealt with
E. Recovery Risk Control: Determine corrective actions and controls to deal with uncertainty and its impact on the project, based on your risk plan. Ideas to consider may include:
1. Appropriate quantification of the risks (probability vs. impact)
2. Contingency funding or time buffers in place to handle threats
Rubric
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