Implementation Planning

Implementation Plan Concepts Worksheet

Strategic project management and the corporate strategy-Implementing strategies through projects

Harrison-Keyes (H-K), Inc had a proven track record of success with its traditional publishing business but due to an industry-wide change in the way other publishing firms were conducting their business, the company had to realign its corporate strategy with its changing business environment. The company’s new CEO, Meg McGill, was experiencing the challenges faced by project advocates who do not align their initiatives with the current corporate strategy. H-K’s e-publishing project was the pet project of the new, tech-savvy CEO. Unfortunately, Ms. McGill was unable to demonstrate to all members of her upper management team how the e-publishing initiative was aligned to the organization’s corporate strategy. In this case, some major stakeholders at H-K, such as its A-list author Will Harper and the firm’s CFO and production, felt the project was an inappropriate choice.

Businesses use project management to manage projects and achieve outcomes typically in alignment with implementing a new corporate strategy. The focus of a corporate strategy is usually on the entire organization, while the focus of project management is on a specific objective. Strategic planning involves defining objectives and creating strategies to attain those objectives. A strategy is a long-term plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal, as opposed to a project which is a specific task aimed at satisfying a specific need. Projects are needed to implement strategy, but if the objective of the project conflicts with the overall corporate raison d’Ð"Єtre, it will be met with resistance by its team members and other stakeholders.

Reference to Concept in Reading

“The role of projects in organizations is receiving increasing attention. Projects are becoming the major tool for implementing and achieving the strategic goals of the organization” (Gray & Larson, 2005, p. 32).

“In some organizations, selection and management of projects often fail to support the strategic plan of the organization… An integrated project management system is one in which all of the parts are interrelated” (Gray & Larson, 2005, p. 32).

Implications of organizational culture on project selection

The reason for considering the e-publishing project was because there was a great need for innovation to combat the stagnation H-K was facing. Newly hired, Meg McGill did not take into account that an organizational culture was already established, and the effect of her proposal on the key constituents of the organization. The venture was met with resistance from three critical areas of the organization: employees, clients and technology. She failed to take into account how the staff would feel about operating with international counterparts due to time zone differences, language barriers and diverse work ethics. She failed to recognize that the introduction of an e-publishing platform would be a completely alien process for the employees and result in their negative outlook of the project. And most importantly, in all the research she had conducted, she failed to obtain the opinions of some of the key contributors to the company’s success вЂ" the authors.

Change is not easy, and therefore, it is necessary for advocators of change to ensure the change they are implementing is not counter-productive. Ms McGill will need to take this opportunity to get everyone board by appealing to the stakeholder’s loyalty to the firm and convincing them that new strategy is for the greater good and growth of all. When people in an organization recognize that their current organizational culture needs to transform to support the organization's success and progress, change can occur. But change is not easy. It is imperative that the sponsors of the change communicate why a project was undertaken and how the stakeholder’s of the organization will be affected. “Organizational culture is the basic pattern of shared assumptions, values and beliefs considered to be the correct way of thinking about and acting on problems and opportunities facing the organization” (McShane & Von Glinow, 2004, p. 2).

Reference to Concept in Reading

“It is important for project managers to be

“culture sensitive” so that they can develop strategies and responses that are likely to be understood and accepted as well as avoid violating key norms that would jeopardize their effectiveness within the organization” (Gray & Larson, 2005, p. 100).

“Every project should contribute value to the organization’s strategic plan, which is designed to meet the future needs of its customers… organizations that have a coherent link of projects to strategy have more cooperation across the organization, perform better on projects, and have fewer projects” (Gray & Larson, 2005, p. 41).

The importance of identifying the elements of a project:

The project scope

H-K failed to acknowledge the importance of identifying all the elements of a project. The project scope was not fully explored and the priorities were not clearly defined, and the WBS of the project was clearly not thought through thoroughly. Though the facade was laid for the e-publishing project it was obvious that details and contingencies were overlooked in the process.

As a global publisher of print products, the company traditionally conducted its business in-house. A more in-depth look at the project scope would have identified that the e-publishing venture was not a shared vision. The e-publishing project required that firm outsource a key aspect of the project to Asia Digital Publishing, an Indian based firm, much to the dismay of some members of the senior leadership team. This option to outsource meant that some parts the project now hinged on outside sources which did not share the work ethics of the company. Another fact which should have been identified in the defining the scope would be the effect of e-publishing on the client’s of H-K. One of the major contributing authors was anti-e-publishing and alleged that the initiative had no merit in the literary world. This type of negative publicity did not do well by the company’s