Quasar Communications Inc. Case Study

Quasar Communications Inc. CASE

A. What are the major problems reported by small customer project managers?

Throughout the case, there were many problems that were reported by small customer project managers. The first major problem is that the project managers feel that the small customers suffer in regards to time commitment and priority from the business. The project managers feel as if it is impossible to organize themselves to effectively manage several projects at the same time. Another major problem is that when the project managers have small projects, they seem to stay in just one functional department. This in turn, really makes the project manager feel as if he/she is not in charge but the line manager is. This leads to many problems with guaranteeing things to customers.

B. Should a company be willing to let some large projects fail?

When I look at the size of a project and how important it is, I feel that QCI should allow some large projects to fail if the projects is costing a lot of money and seems to be failing. It is better for QCI to make sure other projects continue to be on schedule and of high quality than to remove people on other projects to try to salvage one large project.

C. What are the major problems in the management of R&D projects?

The major problems of the R&D projects are that group needs and the marketing department. The group needs has to deal with how project managers have a tough time working with the many groups in the company to make a timeline and what parts of the project are the most important. When the project manager feels as if the timeline he/she knows is what it is going to take gets cut partially, it really leads to the project suffering. The other problem dealt with the marketing department. While the project managers work had to finish the project, the marketing people would demand early implementation of the product, and also cancels projects whenever they wish. This is bad, because it leaves the project managers with a sense of helplessness. This also leads to project managers having difficult times to feel dedicated to projects.

D. What is the difference between project management, product management, and

Management?

The