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Blue Spider Project

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Iniciação ao Projeto II

Assignment #2 “The Blue Spider Project”

1. If you were Gary Anderson, would you have accepted this position after the director stated that this project would be his baby all the way?
Na posição de Gary Anderson teríamos aceitado a proposta de Henry Gable. PRÓS:    A ambição de Gary Anderson de querer subir na Empresa, melhorar a sua carreira e passar a ter um papel mais importante era correspondida com a promoção ao cargo oferecido por parte do seu superior; O conhecimento necessário para exercer esta função era comprovado com o MBA que Gary tinha no seu currículo; Vasta experiência e papel de relevo, por parte de Gary, no Departamento de I&D. CONTRAS:   Falta de experiência de Gary em gestão de projetos. Esta promoção ao cargo de Gestor de Projetos seria o seu primeiro contributo para a empresa nesta função; Projeto demasiado importante para a Empresa e para o seu superior Gable. Gable teria uma palavra a dizer sobre as acções de Gary resultando numa perda de autonomia e controlo sobre a gestão de projetos. Este projeto era encarado como o “bebé” de Gable;

2. Was Gary qualified to be a project manager?
Gary era qualificado para cumprir a função de gestor de projetos, porque tinha uma vasta experiência na empresa, na qual se destaca a sua excelência na produção consequente promoção a cientista sénior, responsável pelos projetos de I&D ligados à área da engenharia mecânica. Além disso, como é referido no caso de estudo, Gary tinha realizado um MBA, no qual adquiriu competências de gestão. Gary apresentava currículo e competências para o cargo, contudo a falta de experiência na gestão de projetos apresentou-se como um entrave. Gary deveria ter sido alocado a projetos mais pequenos para adquirir experiência na sua gestão. Um projeto da dimensão do Blue Spider revelou-se demasiado complexo. As evidentes qualificações técnicas foram apagadas pela sua deficiente organização, gestão de tempo, gestão de equipas e liderança. Durante o desenrolar do projeto há vários exemplos destas competências em falta, sobretudo a falta de comunicação, má distribuição de tarefas e visão deficiente sobre os processos.

3. Is it possible for an executive to take too much of an interest in an R&D project?
O papel de Henry Gable, enquando diretor do departamento de engenharia, é ter o seu foco no funcionamento e objetivos do departamento. Assistiu-se, com a chegada do novo projeto, a uma tentativa de se posicionar como responsável do mesmo. Este aspeto, aliado à incapacidade de Elliot Grey, diretor de gestão de projetos, na coordenação dos diferentes gestores de projetos, a uma confusão de responsabilidades e reportes de informação. Elliot Grey parece ser de facto o elo mais fraco, visto que aparenta ser quase inexistente na organização. O único momento em que intervém acontece quando o projeto já está com uma percentagem de execução elevada e numa crise profunda. Henry Gable tinha uma ligação emocional forte com o projeto, o que resultou em decisões menos claras e uma partilha de responsabilidade dúbia com o gestor de projeto. A organização estrutural da empresa era consistente, mas não estava a passar do papel para a prática.

4. Should Paul Evans have been permitted to report information to Gable before reporting it to the project manager?
Paul Evans deve submeter toda a informação ao gestor de projeto, visto ser ele o seu reporte direto.

Henry Gable assume-se como o sponsor do projeto, na medida em que se posiciona muito próximo do mesmo. No entanto, na ótica da estrutura que a empresa tem montada, a sua responsabilidade dentro do projeto é limitada. Paul Evans, como chefe de engenharia do projeto e número dois do mesmo, tem sob sua alçada a componente de desempenho técnico. A sua partilha de informação com o diretor de engenharia, Henry Gable, é um canal indireto, havendo a necessidade de discussão das matérias, em primeira instância, com o gestor de projeto.

5. Should functional employees of the customer and contractor be permitted to communicate with one another without going through the project office?
A comunicação entre o cliente e a Parks deve passar sempre pelos encarregados pelo projeto. A função do gestor de projetos é fazer a comunicação entre cliente e os vários departamentos. A exigência do cliente em ter um departamento próprio na Parks para monitorizar a evolução do projeto resulta da deficiente estratégia de comunicação do gestor de projeto, incapaz de controlar o fluxo de informação entre as partes. O que se observou ao longo do tempo foi uma constante comunicação fora de tempo tanto para o cliente como para os vários departamentos. O resultado foi uma crescente desconfiança por parte do cliente, que passou a exigir mais documentação e maior frequência de reuniões para colmatar a falta de informação.

Este trabalho adicional retirou tempo e foco a Gary noutras questões essenciais do projeto.

6. Did Gary demonstrate effective time management?
Gary não demonstra eficiência na gestão do tempo. No caso de estudo podem-se visualizar vários episódios em que a gestão de tempo falhou. A falta de comunicação e organização torna todo o projeto mais demorado e com maior incidência de erros. O gestor de projeto deveria ter definido a priori as atividades, o seu sequenciamento e recursos necessários estimados. A partir daí poderiam ser escalonadas as operações e processos do projeto, inputs que seriam transmitidos a cada departamento. As alterações ao projeto foram constantes e as suas consequências nunca foram analisadas detalhadamente. Foram vários os momentos em que se observou uma gestão de tempo deficiente:    Gary inicialmente preocupou-se demasiado com a I&D desligando-se das atividades administrativas, sendo que posteriormente fez o inverso. Aqui percebe-se a inexperiência de Gary e a sua falta de visão global do projeto. A falta de planeamento e as alterações frequentes que se verificavam impediam que houvesse uma coordenação entre departamentos. Durante as reuniões de equipa percebia-se que nenhum dos diretores de departamento parecia saber quais os prazos e informações sobre o projeto. Um exemplo em que se consegue visualizar facilmente a confusão presente na gestão de Gary, por não ter um plano definido, é o momento de realizar a primeira mistura de verificação para estabelecer as especificações finais para a seleção de matérias-primas. Gary decidiu fazer ele próprio a bill of materials, com o objetivo de diminuir custos com pessoal, causando atrasos na entrada em produção. Este atraso na produção significou um aumento de custos para o projeto e para a empresa no global. A produção, além de ter de alterar o mix, recorrendo a novas ordens de produção, teve também de trabalhar em overtime. A engenharia, caso tivesse sido envolvida com tempo, tinha os recursos necessários para desenvolver a bill of materials. Caso Gary tivesse optado por esse cenário, além de ter tempo para gerir outros processos, teria permitido que o projeto não sofresse atrasos. Os atrasos levaram também fossem utilizados lotes de matérias-primas errados na mistura de verificação de produção. O cliente ficou insatisfeito com os resultados queixando-se a Gary, exigindo mais informação e apertando a inspeção aos produtos e processos. A imagem e reputação da Park foi também afetada.

7. Are functional employees authorized to make project decisions?
Os responsáveis dos departamentos não podem ter controlo sobre as decisões do projeto. O projeto é liderado pelo gestor de projeto e este é o único responsável pela tomada de decisões. O raio de ação e distribuição das tarefas de cada projeto deve estar bem delineada, sendo o gestor de projeto o orientador máximo do rumo das ações. A evolução da estrutura da empresa para uma estrutura matricial teve como objetivo a separação de poderes entre projetos e departamentos. A implementação deste modelo ainda não está completamente concluída. Isso foi observável ao nível das decisões estratégicas, para o projeto, tomadas à revelia do gestor do projeto, aquando da introdução de um novo material. A incapacidade de exercer as funções administrativas e estratégicas, por parte de Gary, foi um handicap que contribuiu para dar aso a que decisões importantes para o projeto fossem tomadas por pessoas não habilitadas para o fazer.

8. Should a project manager ever censor bad news?
O gestor de projeto deve partilhar sempre a informação, seja boa ou seja má. É de extrema importância que a informação esteja sempre disponível para que todos possam ter acesso a ela. Quanto melhor documentado e planeado estiver o projeto, melhor irá correr o processo. A falta de transparência leva a que surjam erros cada vez mais gravosos a jusante na cadeia. Caso seja necessário introduzir alterações, estas devem seguir procedimentos protocolados. Esta prática irá permitir analisar consequências das alterações e reduzir os riscos associados. Estas alterações farão parte da timeline geral do projeto e do seu sequenciamento de atividades. Esta forma de trabalhar irá permitir que toda a cadeia de operações se ajuste de forma mais eficiente às alterações.

9. Could the above mentioned problems have been resolved if there had been a singular methodology for project management in place?
A definição de uma metodologia é essencial pois garante a existência de um conjunto de regras e procedimentos que asseguram o cumprimento e registo de cada uma das fases definidas para o projeto. Esta rigidez reduz o risco associado, por exemplo, à inexperiência de um gestor de projeto, como aqui aconteceu. O aproveitamento das boas práticas de outros projetos realizados internamente permite poupanças de tempo no planeamento e mais eficiência no processo. Procedimentos tão simples como a definição de milestones iria permitir perceber ao longo do tempo como o projeto estava a evoluir, tanto internamente como para o cliente. A indefinição objetiva de metas causou alterações constantes ao projeto. Para o cliente também seria importante ver que havia o cumprimento e registo de objetivos traçados para cada uma das fases do projeto. A credibilidade e confiabilidade percebida pelo cliente iriam aumentar, diminuindo a necessidade de carga burocrática e tempo despendido em reuniões.

10. Can a singular methodology for project management specify morality and ethics in dealing with customers?
A metodologia deve conter os procedimentos e conjunto de regras que definem todos os projetos. A moral e ética dependem acima de tudo do gestor de projeto, pelo que a sua formação é essencial na definição dos seus valores. Os valores da empresa podem ser também influências positivas nesse sentido. No caso presente, em que a empresa apresenta uma estrutura matricial, o diretor da gestão de projetos, sendo o reporte direto de todos os gestores de projeto, poderá ter também quota parte da responsabilidade na garantia da moralidade e ética. A metodologia pode conter procedimentos que promovam a moral e ética, assentando sobretudo na definição dos canais de comunicação com vista a uma partilha constante de informação entre todos os agentes envolvidos. Este tipo de prática irá permitir minorar informação escondida ou falsa durante o processo.

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...Blue Spider OM761 Zhiyun(Kevin) Kuang Problem: Gary was given the opportunity to be the Project Manager because of his R&D background, but he doesn’t have the experience or skills to manage a project. Technical background itself will not make an efficient project manager. Major Issues: 1. Gary focused too much on R&D works or administrative paper works without a balance. 2. Error on financial planning. 3. No standby schedule when the formal one was interrupted by predictably possible changes. 4. Lack of communication with the Lord since the beginning which leaded to cost more than double time on communication after that. 5. Gary can not find Gable when he needed support. And Gable intervene the project several times without noticing Gary, which makes the project management works more chaos, it leaded to reschedule or re-do works at the last minute. Recommendations: 1. Paul’s job is to take most responsibility for the R&D works. Additional staff can take responsibility for additional administrative paper works. Gary can spend most of his time on managing the whole project through managing other people. 2. Discussion with Elliot will be useful before submitting any plan to top managers. 3. Make a standby schedule for different stages and hand out to every department with the formal schedules. Standby schedule can be made based on slack time or different time for specific task. 4. Meet with Lord at every stage of the project. Can use electronic detailed schedule and task sheets...

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...THE BLUE SPIDER PROJECT Q1. If you were Gary Anderson, would you have accepted this position after the director stated that this would be his baby all the way? Ans. I was Gary Anderson, I would have also accepted the position of project manager. Although the director mentioned that the project would be his baby all the way, but the success of the project, which was no doubt very challenging, would have given the boost to my career for which I have pursued MBA. Q2. Do engineers with MBA degrees aspire to high position in management? Ans. Yes, engineers with MBA degrees do aspire for higher position in management. The reason for this is * MBA provides you with a bigger picture of business. * MBA is considered to be an expensive education so students try to maximise their return on investment. * MBA is very much theoretical and it is important to work in a bigger role to put those theories to practice. * The basic need for an MBA is learning and sometimes the desire to rise up the management ladder. Q3. Was Gary qualified to be a project manager? Ans. Gary was well educated with an MBA degree in is portfolio. He was one of the best engineers that his company had but he didn’t had any experience of working in projects. He was technically very good at his work but his skills in managing people and performing under pressure was not tested. Some previous experience of working in small roles in projects or important roles in smaller projects may have helped...

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