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MANAGING PROJECTS IN ORGANIZATIONS

THE EDUCATION OF JERRY

Jerry was delighted when he was made manager of a project to explore

the possibility of integrating his companys purchase order processes
into the supply chain management (SCM) system his company,
Globus Enterprises, was developing. The SCM project was the largest
that Globus had ever implemented. The order processing subproject
was one component of the larger SCM project.
Once developed, the SCM system would enable Globus to establish
seamless connections with its vendors. Although Globus already
incorporated computers in its order processing system, the bulk of
transactions entailed manual interventions. This caused the order
fulfillment function to operate slowly and led to errors because the
manual interventions were error prone. With the new SCM system, customers would enter orders using the Internet. Once captured by the
SCM system, the orders would be processed entirely by the computer.
This project provided Jerry with his first real management experience. He had received his M.B.A. degree directly after finishing college
and then was hired right out of business school by Globus Enterprises,
where he spent two years as special assistant to Max Weiner, vice president of operations. The job gave him plenty of exposure to high-level
decision making, but was somewhat frustrating because he was a spectator in the decision-making process, not a performer. Now, with the
order processing subproject, he could do something tangible and have
real responsibilities.
Jerry put together a list titled Things to Do. At the very top of the
list was the item Assemble Project Staff. He approached his boss,
Max, and asked how big a staff he would have and who would be on
it. Use anyone you need, Max responded. The important thing is to

Operating Within the Realities of Organizational Life

give me a report on your findings within a month. Your preliminary

investigation will give us an idea of how we should go about computerizing the order processing function at Globus, and we need that information in time for our next quarterly executive meeting.
Jerry determined that to do a good job on his project, he needed
the following people: a secretary, an assistant, a logistics expert, an Internet expert, an accountant, and a representative from each of the
companys five divisions. He reckoned that he, the secretary, and an
assistant would be the only full-time workers on the project. Nonetheless, the other members of the project team would have to make a
fairly substantial commitment to the project if it was to be completed
in a month; each would have to dedicate about 25 percent of his or her
time to the project.
According to Jerrys plan, the five divisional representatives would
each write a section of the study, detailing the impacts of the order processing system on their operations and defining whatever order processing needs they have. His assistant would write the technical portions of
the report. Jerrys chief function would be to coordinate the efforts of
the others and to integrate all the pieces into a cohesive whole.
As Jerry started to put his team together, he immediately ran into
trouble: he was unable to get a secretary assigned full time to the project. Because his division was in the midst of a reorganization, all secretarial staff were already overcommitted. When Jerry went to Max with
his problem, Max nodded sympathetically and told him that he would
just have to make do with whomever was available on a given day.
Jerrys luck in obtaining a full-time assistant was a little betteror
so it seemed at first. After spending half a day trying to find someone
who was free to work on the project, he came across the name of Bob
Roulette, who worked in the contracts and procurement department.
Bob, it was reported, was two months from retirement, so his workload was being reduced. A one-month assignment would dovetail
nicely with the plans to ease him into retirement.
The easiest team member to recruit was the Internet specialist. Jerry
approached the information resource management chief (IRM is located
in the information technology division) and told him of his need for an
Internet expert. The IRM chief immediately assigned Margaret Block to
help Jerry with Internet matters. Unfortunately, the company had little practical experience with e-commerce systems, so Jerry was told
that he would have to go to an outside consultant for the e-commerce
expertise he might need.

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MANAGING PROJECTS IN ORGANIZATIONS

Jerry met with varying degrees of success in recruiting representatives from the different divisions. He had a good reception from the
finance division; the vice president of finance, Mary Garrett, announced that it was about time Globus Enterprises entered into the
twenty-first century and said she would be glad to assign someone
from her office to help Jerry on the project. In contrast, his reception
at the information technology (IT) division could not have been
cooler. His request for assistance from the divisions vice president,
Sam Ruff, was met with an uncomfortably long silence. Finally, Sam
said, I dont fully understand why you and Max are playing the lead
role on something like this. Building an order processing system is basically an information technology chore and should be left to the IT
experts. As it turns out, Ive had a couple of our people looking into
the matter of automating the order processing system for several
months. He dismissed Jerry without promising cooperation and said
something vague about having to look into things personally.
Jerry was unnerved by his encounter with the IT vice president.
Until now, all of his experiences at Globus had been quite friendly. He
was still brooding about his meeting with Sam when he was accosted
outside his office by Bob Roulette, his new assistant on the project.
Listen, Jerry, Bob said. As you know, Ill be retiring in just under
two months. Id like to help you on this project of yours, but let me
say that I really dont know anything about computers or order processing. To tell you the truth, I hate computers and think order processing is horridly dull. Frankly, I think somebody did both of us a dirty
trick putting me on this project. Ill gladly work with you, but dont
expect too much from me.
All these things happened by the third day of the project, a Thursday. To get the project moving quickly, Jerry tried to arrange a kickoff
meeting of all project staff for nine oclock the following Monday
morning. Sam Ruffs office (IT) still had not assigned a representative,
so it would not be represented at the meeting. The finance division
representative said he thought it was a great idea to get moving so
quickly, but unfortunately he would be out of town throughout the
week. The other project staff members said that they would attend the
meeting, but they sounded less than eager. The only individual who
sounded interested in the meeting was Margaret Block, the Internet expert. Jerry wasnt sure what he would do about getting an e-commerce
expert. He would talk to Max Weiner about it next week.

Operating Within the Realities of Organizational Life

Jerry spent all day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday preparing for the
meeting. He put together a five-page preliminary position paper, identified milestones the team members would have to meet, created
guidelines for the activities to be undertaken, and read several journal
articles on Internet technology. On Monday, at nine oclock, Jerry arrived at the conference room and found it empty. By nine-thirty, only
two other project team members had shown up. Conspicuously absent were his assistant, Bob Roulette, and Margaret Block.
When a much-discouraged Jerry returned to his office, he found a
message asking him to call Margaret. He called her. She apologized for
missing the meeting and explained that her boss in the information
resource management department (part of the IT division) had told
her that he was pulling her off the project. She wasnt sure why.
At one-thirty, Max Weiner called Jerry into his office to tell him that
he was putting the order processing automation project on hold. All
hells broken loose, he explained. Sam went to the big guy and complained that you and I, a couple of amateurs, were running amok,
doing things we had no business doing. Sorry, Jerry. You win some and
lose some. Next time well do better, right?
Sure, said Jerry in a daze. He didnt really understand what all this
meant. All he could think of was that someone had told the company
CEO that he, Jerry, was some kind of amateur. Jerry wondered about
his future at Globus.

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