Sample Answers to Exercises and Thought Questions: Chapter 19
EX 19.1
The tasks for preparing a dinner (along with the normal completion times) might include:
Prepare a DSM for these tasks.
(Based on a solution by Vijay Mehra)
The tasks for preparing a dinner (along with the normal completion times) might include:
- Wash and cut vegetables for the salad (15 minutes).
- Toss the salad (2 minutes).
- Set the table (8 minutes).
- Start the rice cooking (2 minutes).
- Cook rice (25 minutes).
- Place the rice in a serving dish (1 minute).
- Mix casserole ingredients (10 minutes).
- Bake the casserole (25 minutes).
Prepare a DSM for these tasks.
(Based on a solution by Vijay Mehra)
The DSM indicates task dependencies in the process of dinner preparation.
For example, it shows that in order to:
The DSM also shows which of the tasks can be completed in parallel, for example:
EX 19.2
Prepare a PERT chart for the tasks in Exercise 1. How fast can one person prepare this dinner? What if there were two people?
(Based on a solution by Pierre Brunet)
The first step to prepare a PERT chart is to understand how the different tasks interact with one another.
Sequential and Parallel Tasks:
The preparation of our dinner involves four sets of sequential tasks:
For example, it shows that in order to:
- Toss the salad you have to first wash and cut vegetables for the salad
- Place the rice in a serving dish you have to first cook the rice
- Bake the casserole you have to first mix casserole ingredients
The DSM also shows which of the tasks can be completed in parallel, for example:
- Any combination of tasks B, C, and D (toss the salad, set the table, and start the rice cooking) can be conducted in parallel
- Tasks F and G (place the rice in a serving dish and mix casserole ingredients) can be conducted independently
EX 19.2
Prepare a PERT chart for the tasks in Exercise 1. How fast can one person prepare this dinner? What if there were two people?
(Based on a solution by Pierre Brunet)
The first step to prepare a PERT chart is to understand how the different tasks interact with one another.
Sequential and Parallel Tasks:
The preparation of our dinner involves four sets of sequential tasks:
We also want the rice and casserole to be completed at roughly the same time. We therefore do not want to start cooking the rice too early: we have a sequential and time dependency of these two tasks.
Most of the tasks in the preparation of our dinner are exclusive: they cannot be undertaken at the same time as another task by only one person. Only two tasks allow for a simultaneous completion of other tasks by one person:
Tasks can be performed in parallel with these non-exclusive ones only. This is what will be done to save time.
The analysis enables us to draw a PERT chart for our dinner preparation. Each box represents a task and the associated time to complete it.
Most of the tasks in the preparation of our dinner are exclusive: they cannot be undertaken at the same time as another task by only one person. Only two tasks allow for a simultaneous completion of other tasks by one person:
- Bake the casserole.
- Cook rice.
Tasks can be performed in parallel with these non-exclusive ones only. This is what will be done to save time.
The analysis enables us to draw a PERT chart for our dinner preparation. Each box represents a task and the associated time to complete it.
The critical path is the preparation of the casserole (bold lines on the graph): the two sequential tasks require 35 minutes. Note that the PERT representation does not embody any assumptions about resource constraints. A single person cannot complete the dinner in 35 minutes, because all of the other tasks cannot be completed within the 25 minutes the casserole bakes. A single person would require 39 minutes to complete the dinner.
Two people can prepare the dinner in 35 minutes, because available resources no longer constrain the project; the critical path does. The preparation would also be much more fun!
EX 19.3
What strategies could you employ to prepare dinner more quickly? If you thought about dinner 24 hours in advance, are there any steps you could take to reduce the time between arriving home the next day and serving dinner?
Some of the strategies for preparing (this) dinner more quickly include:
The actual preparation time before eating could be reduced by:
EX 19.4
Interview a project manager (not necessarily from product development). Ask him or her to describe the major obstacles to project success.
Some typical responses include:
TQ 19.1
When a task on the critical path (e.g., the fabrication of a mold) is delayed, the completion of the entire project is delayed, even though the total amount of work required to complete the project may remain the same. How would you expect such a delay to impact the total cost of the project?
(Based on a solution by Sridhar Venkatesh)
The critical path defines the shortest amount of time required to complete a set of tasks, some of which may be performed in parallel and some of which depend upon the completion of other tasks. If a task in the critical path of a project were delayed, the completion of the project would also be delayed. However, the actual amount of work required to complete the tasks would remain unchanged. Although there may be no additional work performed, because the total project completion time is increased, the total cost of the project is definitely impacted.
An increase in project completion time will result in an increase in the following costs:
• Payment to workers: As project completion time increases, workers must be kept for a longer duration. For example, if the design of a mold is delayed by one week, all workers specific to the fabrication and debug of the mold, certification of the cartridge, and other tasks further along the pipeline will be needed for an extra week. In addition, workers specific to these tasks may not be able to perform any useful tasks while waiting on the delay. Therefore, there is also a decrease in productivity.
• Rental of equipment: The costs required to maintain and operate certain equipment will be increased as a result of a delay in the critical path. Again, with the example of a delay in the design of a mold, any equipment or machinery required after the design stage will have to be maintained for an extra week. This may include not only the rental costs of the equipment itself, but also the payment of workers or other support systems to maintain and operate the equipment. Also, as most equipment is specific to one task, any equipment required after the delay is of little use during the delay.
• Rental of space: An increase in the time of the critical path will also require more time spent in the working area. If a space has been rented for a project, extra rent will have to be paid for any delay in the completion of the project.
• Loss of Competitive Edge: A severe delay in the completion of a project could result in a competitor releasing a similar product earlier. In this case, the potential sales and a competitive edge are lost which could be very costly. Although this is not a direct cost of the project, it is ultimately a key consideration. Loss of sales means a loss in revenue, which might have been necessary in order to justify the project.
It is unrealistic to believe that a project will reach completion without some form of delay. Hence, precautions may be taken to ensure that minimum additional costs are incurred. This can be done by hiring workers who are skilled in more than one task. Thus, if there is a delay at one stage of the development, workers at later stages can move in to help reduce delay. Managers must first realize that delays in their schedules are likely to occur, and then they must take active steps to ensure that a small delay does not cripple the system.
TQ 19.2
This chapter has focused on the "hard" issues in project management related to tasks, dependencies, and schedules. What are some of the "soft," or behavioral, issues related to project management?
(Based on a solution by Michael Callahan)
In my experience, interpersonal relationships and behavioral issues can dominate a team's ability to complete a new product development project successfully. While achieving good interpersonal relationships may not be sufficient to guarantee the success of a new product development project, poor interpersonal relationships will almost certainly preclude such success. Thus, managing group behavior is fundamental to a new product development process.
Many of the problems I have seen stem from competing individual interests in the project. While the firm's interests may be well understood and explicitly espoused by everyone involved in the project, there are always individual motivations that must be considered when diagnosing a group's interpersonal dynamics. Individual personality styles, varying levels of experience and competence, and shortfalls of leadership ability can also inhibit group performance. In my experience, conflicting individual motivations have been the most prevalent sources of difficulty and also the most difficult ones to resolve.
Individual motivations arise from two basic sources: the individual's personal needs, and the individual's departmental needs. Personal needs can stem from an individual's desire to maximize the quality (or reduce the risk of failures) of their work. Personal needs can also originate from an individual's desire to demonstrate their competence, expand their skills, and increase their stature within the organization. Departmental needs can stem from senior management's evaluation of a department's performance. The success of new product development efforts will constitute some, but usually not all, of the performance criteria for a department. Cross-functional teams, by definition, consist of individuals whose work must serve multiple constituents.
Conflicts between individual motivations will almost certainly arise at some point in the new product development process. It is my belief that successful project managers will "inoculate" the group to these conflicts by bringing them to the surface sooner, rather than later in the process. If there are "irreconcilable" differences between group members, it would be best to find them out before investing a lot of the project's time into the team members. Bringing in a new engineer or marketing person halfway through the project will not only slow this particular function, it will probably slow down all of the team members.
Another reason to surface conflicts early is that pressure on the group will be lowest early in the project. Managing interpersonal conflict has a much higher likelihood of succeeding if the group (and the project manager) do not feel the pressures that arise at the end of the development project.
TQ 19.3
What would you expect to be some of the characteristics of individuals who successfully lead project teams?
(Based on a solution by Paul Nelson)
This is a very broad and open question. It certainly has been the subject of hundreds of books and studies. It would not be surprising to find academic departments at military academies devoted to identifying and teaching what makes a good leader. Perhaps some of the characteristics of good leaders are "natural," arising from genetic make-up or early development. Others can be taught and learned through practice and experience. In no way is this list comprehensive nor can it be absolute as the final blend of leadership characteristics will be different in every individual. I will try to highlight some of the traits that I believe are very important for successfully leading a project team.
One of the most important characteristics of a good leader is the ability to communicate well with others. Communication is the key to any successful project and it must start from the top. The team leader needs to be able to communicate a vision and a direction to the team to understand. It is very important to have each member of the team understand the goals of the project and the paths to be taken to arrive at those goals in order for the team to be effective and efficient. The leader also needs to communicate well with people outside of the project team. This ensures that the team is receiving proper support within the organization and that the team is informed of any direction changes that need to take place because of changing market conditions.
The leader should also be a good motivator of people and be able to identify the strengths and weaknesses of each of the team members. He/she needs to understand what is important to the people on the team and what will cause team members to excel in order to provide the best conditions for the success of the team. At the same time, a good leader should be able to make the tough decisions that may be unpopular but are in the best interests of the project. To this end, if the leader demonstrates a strong track record for making fair and just decisions, the acceptance of the unpopular decisions will be much greater.
A good leader also needs the ability to step back from the every-day activities and take a system view of the project in order to identify where things are going well and where changes need to be made. These changes include changing personnel, bringing in outside resources, refocusing efforts as well as modifying the project scope or schedule. The ability to detach oneself from the work group is very difficult to do. A strong leader is typically well versed in many subjects and thus has a broad background in areas such as financial management, human resource management, and information systems. He/she also benefits from strong technical skills such as an engineering or science background. This broad understanding will allow the leader to take a systems view as previously discussed.
Finally, the successful leader is proactive in the manner in which the project is led. He/she displays good problem solving skills as well as a willingness to assume responsibility. A good leader is self-confident and energetic and is willing to do routine tasks such as budgeting and reports in addition to the exciting tasks that go along with project leadership.
TQ 19.4
Under what conditions might efforts to accelerate a product development project also lead to increased product quality and/or decreased product manufacturing costs? Under what conditions might these attributes of the product deteriorate when the project is accelerated?
When a project is poorly run, an effort to accelerate product development may bring with it a measure of discipline and planning that will have a positive impact on the quality of execution of the development tasks. However, when a project is already very well managed and highly optimized for rapid completion, further compression of the schedule may give rise to comprom
Two people can prepare the dinner in 35 minutes, because available resources no longer constrain the project; the critical path does. The preparation would also be much more fun!
EX 19.3
What strategies could you employ to prepare dinner more quickly? If you thought about dinner 24 hours in advance, are there any steps you could take to reduce the time between arriving home the next day and serving dinner?
Some of the strategies for preparing (this) dinner more quickly include:
- Increasing the oven temperature and/or pre-cooking the casserole ingredients in the microwave.
- Mixing the casserole ingredients in the baking dish (assuming a bowl would be used).
- Assuming the casserole time is reduced, the rice time could be reduced by using quick-cooking rice or perhaps substituting couscous or a thin pasta.
The actual preparation time before eating could be reduced by:
- Preparing the salad vegetables in advance.
- Pre-mixing the casserole.
- Using an oven timer to begin baking before arriving home.
- Pre-bake the casserole, then heat it before serving.
- Stopping on the way home for take-out food.
EX 19.4
Interview a project manager (not necessarily from product development). Ask him or her to describe the major obstacles to project success.
Some typical responses include:
- Lack of a clear project mandate.
- Meddling by senior managers.
- Team members with dual allegiances (as sometimes arises in matrix organizations).
- Inadequate resources.
TQ 19.1
When a task on the critical path (e.g., the fabrication of a mold) is delayed, the completion of the entire project is delayed, even though the total amount of work required to complete the project may remain the same. How would you expect such a delay to impact the total cost of the project?
(Based on a solution by Sridhar Venkatesh)
The critical path defines the shortest amount of time required to complete a set of tasks, some of which may be performed in parallel and some of which depend upon the completion of other tasks. If a task in the critical path of a project were delayed, the completion of the project would also be delayed. However, the actual amount of work required to complete the tasks would remain unchanged. Although there may be no additional work performed, because the total project completion time is increased, the total cost of the project is definitely impacted.
An increase in project completion time will result in an increase in the following costs:
• Payment to workers: As project completion time increases, workers must be kept for a longer duration. For example, if the design of a mold is delayed by one week, all workers specific to the fabrication and debug of the mold, certification of the cartridge, and other tasks further along the pipeline will be needed for an extra week. In addition, workers specific to these tasks may not be able to perform any useful tasks while waiting on the delay. Therefore, there is also a decrease in productivity.
• Rental of equipment: The costs required to maintain and operate certain equipment will be increased as a result of a delay in the critical path. Again, with the example of a delay in the design of a mold, any equipment or machinery required after the design stage will have to be maintained for an extra week. This may include not only the rental costs of the equipment itself, but also the payment of workers or other support systems to maintain and operate the equipment. Also, as most equipment is specific to one task, any equipment required after the delay is of little use during the delay.
• Rental of space: An increase in the time of the critical path will also require more time spent in the working area. If a space has been rented for a project, extra rent will have to be paid for any delay in the completion of the project.
• Loss of Competitive Edge: A severe delay in the completion of a project could result in a competitor releasing a similar product earlier. In this case, the potential sales and a competitive edge are lost which could be very costly. Although this is not a direct cost of the project, it is ultimately a key consideration. Loss of sales means a loss in revenue, which might have been necessary in order to justify the project.
It is unrealistic to believe that a project will reach completion without some form of delay. Hence, precautions may be taken to ensure that minimum additional costs are incurred. This can be done by hiring workers who are skilled in more than one task. Thus, if there is a delay at one stage of the development, workers at later stages can move in to help reduce delay. Managers must first realize that delays in their schedules are likely to occur, and then they must take active steps to ensure that a small delay does not cripple the system.
TQ 19.2
This chapter has focused on the "hard" issues in project management related to tasks, dependencies, and schedules. What are some of the "soft," or behavioral, issues related to project management?
(Based on a solution by Michael Callahan)
In my experience, interpersonal relationships and behavioral issues can dominate a team's ability to complete a new product development project successfully. While achieving good interpersonal relationships may not be sufficient to guarantee the success of a new product development project, poor interpersonal relationships will almost certainly preclude such success. Thus, managing group behavior is fundamental to a new product development process.
Many of the problems I have seen stem from competing individual interests in the project. While the firm's interests may be well understood and explicitly espoused by everyone involved in the project, there are always individual motivations that must be considered when diagnosing a group's interpersonal dynamics. Individual personality styles, varying levels of experience and competence, and shortfalls of leadership ability can also inhibit group performance. In my experience, conflicting individual motivations have been the most prevalent sources of difficulty and also the most difficult ones to resolve.
Individual motivations arise from two basic sources: the individual's personal needs, and the individual's departmental needs. Personal needs can stem from an individual's desire to maximize the quality (or reduce the risk of failures) of their work. Personal needs can also originate from an individual's desire to demonstrate their competence, expand their skills, and increase their stature within the organization. Departmental needs can stem from senior management's evaluation of a department's performance. The success of new product development efforts will constitute some, but usually not all, of the performance criteria for a department. Cross-functional teams, by definition, consist of individuals whose work must serve multiple constituents.
Conflicts between individual motivations will almost certainly arise at some point in the new product development process. It is my belief that successful project managers will "inoculate" the group to these conflicts by bringing them to the surface sooner, rather than later in the process. If there are "irreconcilable" differences between group members, it would be best to find them out before investing a lot of the project's time into the team members. Bringing in a new engineer or marketing person halfway through the project will not only slow this particular function, it will probably slow down all of the team members.
Another reason to surface conflicts early is that pressure on the group will be lowest early in the project. Managing interpersonal conflict has a much higher likelihood of succeeding if the group (and the project manager) do not feel the pressures that arise at the end of the development project.
TQ 19.3
What would you expect to be some of the characteristics of individuals who successfully lead project teams?
(Based on a solution by Paul Nelson)
This is a very broad and open question. It certainly has been the subject of hundreds of books and studies. It would not be surprising to find academic departments at military academies devoted to identifying and teaching what makes a good leader. Perhaps some of the characteristics of good leaders are "natural," arising from genetic make-up or early development. Others can be taught and learned through practice and experience. In no way is this list comprehensive nor can it be absolute as the final blend of leadership characteristics will be different in every individual. I will try to highlight some of the traits that I believe are very important for successfully leading a project team.
One of the most important characteristics of a good leader is the ability to communicate well with others. Communication is the key to any successful project and it must start from the top. The team leader needs to be able to communicate a vision and a direction to the team to understand. It is very important to have each member of the team understand the goals of the project and the paths to be taken to arrive at those goals in order for the team to be effective and efficient. The leader also needs to communicate well with people outside of the project team. This ensures that the team is receiving proper support within the organization and that the team is informed of any direction changes that need to take place because of changing market conditions.
The leader should also be a good motivator of people and be able to identify the strengths and weaknesses of each of the team members. He/she needs to understand what is important to the people on the team and what will cause team members to excel in order to provide the best conditions for the success of the team. At the same time, a good leader should be able to make the tough decisions that may be unpopular but are in the best interests of the project. To this end, if the leader demonstrates a strong track record for making fair and just decisions, the acceptance of the unpopular decisions will be much greater.
A good leader also needs the ability to step back from the every-day activities and take a system view of the project in order to identify where things are going well and where changes need to be made. These changes include changing personnel, bringing in outside resources, refocusing efforts as well as modifying the project scope or schedule. The ability to detach oneself from the work group is very difficult to do. A strong leader is typically well versed in many subjects and thus has a broad background in areas such as financial management, human resource management, and information systems. He/she also benefits from strong technical skills such as an engineering or science background. This broad understanding will allow the leader to take a systems view as previously discussed.
Finally, the successful leader is proactive in the manner in which the project is led. He/she displays good problem solving skills as well as a willingness to assume responsibility. A good leader is self-confident and energetic and is willing to do routine tasks such as budgeting and reports in addition to the exciting tasks that go along with project leadership.
TQ 19.4
Under what conditions might efforts to accelerate a product development project also lead to increased product quality and/or decreased product manufacturing costs? Under what conditions might these attributes of the product deteriorate when the project is accelerated?
When a project is poorly run, an effort to accelerate product development may bring with it a measure of discipline and planning that will have a positive impact on the quality of execution of the development tasks. However, when a project is already very well managed and highly optimized for rapid completion, further compression of the schedule may give rise to comprom