Further investigation of project team members suggests they are not amused by thesign. One engineer shrugs and says, "That just their way of making sure we understandwhat we have been assigned to. Last week they put up another one that said'Purgatory'." When you ask him later in the day, the project manager confirms thisstory and adds some interesting information: "Around here, we use detached [meaningcentralized] project teams. I get no say as far as who will be assigned to the project, andlately the functional heads have been using our projects as a dumping ground for theirpoor performers." When you question him further, the project manager observes,"Think about it. I have no say in who gets assigned to the team. I can't even fill out aperformance review on them. Now, if you were a department head who was trying tooffload a troublemaker or someone who was incompetent, what could be better thanshipping them off to a project team for a year or so? Of course, you can imagine howthey feel when they hear that they have been assigned to one of our project teams. It's asif you just signed their death warrant. Talk about low motivation!" When you questionvarious department heads about the project manager's assertions, to a person they denythat this is an adopted policy. As the head of finance puts it, "We give the project teamsour best available people when they ask." However, they also admit that they have thefinal say in personnel assignment and project managers cannot appeal their choices forthe teams. When you suggest to the CEO that this could be a potential reason for thepoor performance of CIC's new product development projects, he ponders theimplications of how his organization has been staffing projects."Ok," he finally says, "What do you suggest that we do about it?"Answer the following questionsa) What are the implications of CIC's approach to staffing project teams?b) As a consultant, what advices would you give to the CEO to correct the problem?c) Discuss how issues of organizational structure and power play a role in the way inwhich project management has declined in effectiveness at CIC. Problems had been building at Columbus Instruments, Inc. (CIC) (not its real name) forseveral years now with the new product development process. The last six "highvisibility" projects had either been scrapped outright after excessive cost and scheduleoverruns or, once released to the marketplace, had been a commercial disaster. In thepast two years, CIC estimated that it had squandered over $15 million on poorlydeveloped or failed projects. Every time a new project venture fails, the companyconducts extensive post-project review meetings, documentation analysis, and marketresearch to try to determine the underlying cause. To date, all it has been able todetermine is that it appears that the problems lie with the project management anddevelopment process. Something somewhere is going very wrong.You have been called into the organization as a consultant to try to understand thesource of the problems that are leading to widespread demoralization across the firm.After spending hours interviewing the senior project management staff and technicalpersonnel, you are convinced that the problem does not lie with their processes, whichare up-to-date and logical. On the other hand, you have some questions about projectteam productivity. It seems that every project is running late, is over budget, and hassuboptimal functionality, regardless of how skilled the project manager in charge hasbeen. This information suggests to you that there may be some problems in how theproject teams are operating.As you analyze CIC's project development process, you note several items of interest.First, the company is organized along strictly functional lines. Projects are staffed fromthe departments following negotiations between the project manager and thedepartment heads. Second, the culture of CIC seems to place little status or authority onthe project managers. As evidence of this fact, you note that they are not even permittedto write a performance evaluation on the project team members: that right applies onlyto the functional department heads. Third, many projects require that team members beassigned to them on an exclusive basis; that is, once personnel have been assigned to aproject, they typically remain with the project team on a full-time basis for the term ofthe project. The average project lasts about 14 months. One morning, as you arewalking the hallways, you notice a project team "war room" set up for the latest newproduct development initiative within the company. The war room concept requiresthat project team members be grouped together at a central location, away from theirfunctional departments, for the life of the project. What intrigues you is a hand-letteredsign you see taped to the door of the project war room: "Leper Colony." When you askaround about the sign, some members of the firm chuckle, "Oh, we like to play jokes onthe folks assigned to new projects."

Question

Further investigation of project team members suggests they are not amused by thesign. One engineer shrugs and says, &#34;That just their way of making sure we understandwhat we have been assigned to. Last week they put up another one that said'Purgatory'.&#34; When you ask him later in the day, the project manager confirms thisstory and adds some interesting information: &#34;Around here, we use detached [meaningcentralized] project teams. I get no say as far as who will be assigned to the project, andlately the functional heads have been using our projects as a dumping ground for theirpoor performers.&#34; When you question him further, the project manager observes,&#34;Think about it. I have no say in who gets assigned to the team. I can't even fill out aperformance review on them. Now, if you were a department head who was trying tooffload a troublemaker or someone who was incompetent, what could be better thanshipping them off to a project team for a year or so? Of course, you can imagine howthey feel when they hear that they have been assigned to one of our project teams. It's asif you just signed their death warrant. Talk about low motivation!&#34; When you questionvarious department heads about the project manager's assertions, to a person they denythat this is an adopted policy. As the head of finance puts it, &#34;We give the project teamsour best available people when they ask.&#34; However, they also admit that they have thefinal say in personnel assignment and project managers cannot appeal their choices forthe teams. When you suggest to the CEO that this could be a potential reason for thepoor performance of CIC's new product development projects, he ponders theimplications of how his organization has been staffing projects.&#34;Ok,&#34; he finally says, &#34;What do you suggest that we do about it?&#34;Answer the following questionsa) What are the implications of CIC's approach to staffing project teams?b) As a consultant, what advices would you give to the CEO to correct the problem?c) Discuss how issues of organizational structure and power play a role in the way inwhich project management has declined in effectiveness at CIC. Problems had been building at Columbus Instruments, Inc. (CIC) (not its real name) forseveral years now with the new product development process. The last six &#34;highvisibility&#34; projects had either been scrapped outright after excessive cost and scheduleoverruns or, once released to the marketplace, had been a commercial disaster. In thepast two years, CIC estimated that it had squandered over $15 million on poorlydeveloped or failed projects. Every time a new project venture fails, the companyconducts extensive post-project review meetings, documentation analysis, and marketresearch to try to determine the underlying cause. To date, all it has been able todetermine is that it appears that the problems lie with the project management anddevelopment process. Something somewhere is going very wrong.You have been called into the organization as a consultant to try to understand thesource of the problems that are leading to widespread demoralization across the firm.After spending hours interviewing the senior project management staff and technicalpersonnel, you are convinced that the problem does not lie with their processes, whichare up-to-date and logical. On the other hand, you have some questions about projectteam productivity. It seems that every project is running late, is over budget, and hassuboptimal functionality, regardless of how skilled the project manager in charge hasbeen. This information suggests to you that there may be some problems in how theproject teams are operating.As you analyze CIC's project development process, you note several items of interest.First, the company is organized along strictly functional lines. Projects are staffed fromthe departments following negotiations between the project manager and thedepartment heads. Second, the culture of CIC seems to place little status or authority onthe project managers. As evidence of this fact, you note that they are not even permittedto write a performance evaluation on the project team members: that right applies onlyto the functional department heads. Third, many projects require that team members beassigned to them on an exclusive basis; that is, once personnel have been assigned to aproject, they typically remain with the project team on a full-time basis for the term ofthe project. The average project lasts about 14 months. One morning, as you arewalking the hallways, you notice a project team &#34;war room&#34; set up for the latest newproduct development initiative within the company. The war room concept requiresthat project team members be grouped together at a central location, away from theirfunctional departments, for the life of the project. What intrigues you is a hand-letteredsign you see taped to the door of the project war room: &#34;Leper Colony.&#34; When you askaround about the sign, some members of the firm chuckle, &#34;Oh, we like to play jokes onthe folks assigned to new projects.&#34;

Accepted Answer

Project management refers to the process of planning, managing, and leading a project or team for…