Problem Solution: Harrison-Keyes

Problem Solution: Harrison-Keyes Inc.

Meg McGill, Harrison-Keyes CEO has levied a new challenge upon his company leaders who has flared several issues throughout the organization. The book publishing process has undergone some repaid changes and in order to stay competitive, Harrison-Keyes has to transform from a just hard back book to e-publish books. While initiating the new business strategy to increase revenues, HK is experiencing several challenges. To grasp a better understand of project management issues, problem solution analysis was conducted, which reviled numerous mistakes in the project management plan. The solution to the project management challenges is to define the project scope, identify the key players, identify the resources and communicate the plan to everyone understanding in order to accomplish the same end stated vision.

Describe the Situation

Issue and Opportunity Identification

Harrison-Keyes does not have a company wide implementation strategy for its new plan. The implementation plan will need to saturate throughout all parts of the organization. This creates an opportunity for setting short term wins, developing a rewards system and gaining company wide consensus on the strategy. Harrison-Keyes failed to define its project scope of becoming a digital publishing company to all the personnel involved to include its major players like the writers, so they can clearly understand what was to be delivered and the future goals. Harrison-Keyes did not establish an organizational culture awareness/training with its local personnel to properly develop or understand the norms and values to bring together the Asia Digital Publishing to work together under the shared system to achieve the company's mission. The managers of Harrison-Keyes did not set priorities which to include the software department to establish a program to sale books directly from their web site which could handle the project load. This process of failing to prioritize the project priorities will set the end state behind meeting the market schedule. Harrison-Keyes failed to establish a Strategic Management Process to identify the steps and assign actions on how they were going to transform from a hard back publishing company to a digital publishing company when they over looked the publishing agreement which the corporate lawyers. The project managers failed to establish a clear and precise responsibility metric to all the key players that have roll in achieving the company goal of becoming a digital publishing company and now the company is experiencing complications between collogue.

Stakeholder Perspectives/Ethical Dilemmas

McGill, CEO, plans to update Harrison-Keyes's strategy for the new millennium hinges on e-book publishing. Joyce, EVP of Global Strategy, is in charge of seeking and developing global expansion opportunities for the company. McGill and Joyce are grouped together. They have a strong interest in all things digital and the global market and have an ethical dilemma with the challenge of going to a digital publishing company using the global market to reduce overhead.

Smith, the CFO, is focused on the company's bottom line and is a bit worried with the financial projections for the e-books strategic initiative. Pete Ross, Project Manager, is creative and cooperative, but he has little tolerance for dealing with people from overseas. Robert and Pete are not strong supporters of e-publishing or the global market. Their ethical dilemma is not being a strong supporter of e-books strategic initiative and the international supporters.

Jan Peter, the President, Business Development and Head of the Implementation Team, has been with the company for two years and is ready to be promoted. Marsha Goldfarb, the Senior Vice President of Marketing, is a talented, creative marketer who has been with the company for five years. Mack Evans, the CIO, has been with the company 10 years, has no formal education in technology and now, it appears that the skill set he does have is slightly outdated. Jan, Marsha, and Mack are looking for their next promotion or hoping to keep their job. Their knowledge of the company is limited. Their ethical dilemma is competing values is limited to the future market of the company.

Will X. Harper, a well-established and well-known author on the "A" list who has reservations about e-books and is leading what has become known as the "author's opposition group." Mark Simmons, the Executive Vice President, has been responsible for all legal operations and is also particularly involved in digital rights management. Will and Mark are grouped as author and legal consultant. Their ethical dilemma deals with digital publishing rights and royalty rights. Venkat and Radhika of the Asia Digital Publishing company deals with Asian culture and values and has ethical dilemma in the different time zone of the United States and Asia.

Frame the "Right" Problem

Harrison-Keys Inc. aspires to become an e-book industry leader and an organization with a culture that is adaptive to change by following a systems thinking approach that will enable the company to consider and make decisions based on various factors.

Describe the "End-State" Vision

Harrison-Keys Inc. will become an electronic publishing company that offers a variety of literature that is easily and readily accessible using a computer. It will be a sought out publishing company and through the principle of negotiation, the needs of authors, the needs of management, and stakeholder needs are being met. Sales as well as revenues will continually increase.

Identify the Alternatives and Benchmarking Validation

Harrison-Keyes can definitely follow Astrium's project process. EADS Astrium North America provides an array of products and services to meet the needs of the aerospace and spaceflight market. The company was incorporated in Delaware in 1973 and enjoys a strong history of serving its customers in the United States. Astrium is a small company with five employees located in Houston, Texas, four employees at the Kennedy Space Center and 10 employees in Bremen, Germany and this approach has always proven to be successful. (Astrium, 2008)

Astrium's normal process of initiating a project, regardless of the magnitude, is to appoint a program manager to identify all the major players and define the scope of the project. This will establish the authority to oversee the entire implementation plan. The project scope is defined as the end results of the mission. The project scope must define as clearly as possible what is to