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    Acorn Industries

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    RaisulIslam
    Acorn Industries previously lacked project management capabilities but has since undergone reorganization to implement project management. This included establishing a program management office and appointing a director of project management. The marketing department now must include input from these project management functions when preparing contract proposals. Additionally, the roles of line managers and project managers must be clearly defined to facilitate collaboration, as both have authority over project resources and outcomes. The company's existing performance management system also needs adjustment to align incentives with organizational goals under the new project management approach.

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    Acorn Industries

    Uploaded by

    RaisulIslam
    3K views3 pages
    Acorn Industries previously lacked project management capabilities but has since undergone reorganization to implement project management. This included establishing a program management office and appointing a director of project management. The marketing department now must include input from these project management functions when preparing contract proposals. Additionally, the roles of line managers and project managers must be clearly defined to facilitate collaboration, as both have authority over project resources and outcomes. The company's existing performance management system also needs adjustment to align incentives with organizational goals under the new project management approach.

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    Acorn Industries previously lacked project management capabilities but has since undergone reorganization to implement project management. This included establishing a program management office and appointing a director of project management. The marketing department now must include input from these project management functions when preparing contract proposals. Additionally, the roles of line managers and project managers must be clearly defined to facilitate collaboration, as both have authority over project resources and outcomes. The company's existing performance management system also needs adjustment to align incentives with organizational goals under the new project management approach.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    3K views3 pages

    Acorn Industries

    Uploaded by

    RaisulIslam
    Acorn Industries previously lacked project management capabilities but has since undergone reorganization to implement project management. This included establishing a program management office and appointing a director of project management. The marketing department now must include input from these project management functions when preparing contract proposals. Additionally, the roles of line managers and project managers must be clearly defined to facilitate collaboration, as both have authority over project resources and outcomes. The company's existing performance management system also needs adjustment to align incentives with organizational goals under the new project management approach.

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    of 3

    1.

    The strengths of Acorn Industries include the following:


    a. Superior technological capabilities
    b. A successful marketing strategy that depends on three factors including knowledge of

    customers preference, market situation and the state of competition.


    c. A strong commercial product line to fall back upon in case the adventure into

    weaponry failed.
    d. A separate marketing department within each division of the organization.
    e. A full time director of project management and setting up of project management

    office.

    Its weaknesses include:

    a. The lack of full implementation of project management previously.


    b. Nearly no interaction between the research and development and the production

    engineering departments.
    c. Absence of fully developed program management.
    d. Previously, the company had dealt with only a single product line and short term

    production cycle.
    e. Absence of individuals in the organization having experience of program

    management.
    2. Project management was slow in getting off the ground because of multiple reasons

    including the companys structure. The company needed lots of reorganization before

    project management could be fully and seriously implemented. The company had been

    virtually a decentralized manufacturing organization and each division also acted

    somewhat autonomously. Neither there had been any production planning in the

    organization previously which was because company was focused on a single product

    line and interacted with commercial contractors only. The company was now faced with

    long term contracts and long cycles but previously it had been dealing with short term

    contracts and production cycles.


    Overall, there was a significant gap which had made the implementation of project

    management difficult and it would need much planning and restructuring for

    implementation. (Kerzner, 2013) Moreover, hardly any individual in the organization had

    any experience of program management and the tasks now appeared very difficult and

    not easy to achieve. Therefore, implementation of project management and its

    integration with other divisions proved time taking.


    3. After the organizational structure had undergone several changes it was no more possible

    for the marketing department to prepare proposals without functional input. While

    preparing the project proposals it was now essential for the marketing department to

    include other factors. (Kerzner, 2013) Now Acorn had undergone several very important

    organizational changes including the setting up of a program management office and the

    appointment of full time director of project management. The program management

    office also had several sub-divisions of project managers who were responsible for the

    various government contracts.


    Till now, marketing had been solely responsible for contract proposals. But now with

    all the changes in place, a faction of the corporate management had decided that there

    was a need to utilize the expertise of the program director along with the marketing input.

    Now with the establishment of project management office, it also became necessary to

    include it in all the phases of contract proposals. Now, project management was a

    significant part of the organization and as such its inclusion in all aspects of contracts

    proposal became essential. So, project management could not any more prepare

    management proposals without functional input.


    4. It is always essential for the line manager and the project manager to understand they are

    roles and how they are related to that of each other. They have to collaborate together to

    manage projects, customers, contracts for everyones benefit. In Acorn Industries


    sometimes there are chances of clash related to role and authority. Their roles would need

    to be defined adequately to ensure harmony.


    There are significant parts where there collaboration is a must. In case of performance

    evaluation also, there will be required to be full collaboration between the two. In case of

    a strong matrix as the Acorn industries follows where there is full time project

    management, project managers have at least as much formal authority as the line

    managers if not more. There will need to be effective sharing of responsibilities between

    the two. For good project management, there is required to be a good working

    relationship between line and project managers. (Kerzner, 2013)


    5. Under the KMIP performance had been being measured against the attainment of annual

    goals. Therefore, most of the managers efforts were directed at the attainment of annual

    objective rather than towards the organizational goals. However, with the implementation

    of project management there have come significant changes. The need for future planning

    will increase which was not so previously. As a result the incentive scheme too will need

    to be altered.
    KMIP had other affects also like research and development remained way ahead or

    behind the other departments. With the implementation of full time projects management

    the objectives will change and the KMIP will also need to be aligned accordingly. Instead

    of benefiting from project management, KMIP will need to undergo alterations to suit the

    new structure and corporate philosophy.


    References:
    Kerzner, H. R. (2013). Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning,

    Scheduling, and Controlling. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Retrieved October 17,

    2013, from books.google.co.in/books?isbn=111841585X

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