Question

CASE STUDY - Western Power

In response to the steady growth in southern California, Western Power decided to build an innovative $ 1 billion power plant near San Diego, as this new plant will not only generate high levels of clean electrical energy using new technology, but rather the energy generated by some cities will suffice. Nearby, enough energy could also be generated to sell to other utility companies in the rest of southern California and parts of neighboring states.

Therefore, the executive management of Western Power was keen to complete the project as soon as possible due to the large returns expected from these additional sales.

Nevertheless, as soon as news of the proposed power plant construction began to spread, the company found great opposition, especially from residents near the construction site of that station. Once construction began, many proceeded to institute several lawsuits in an attempt to halt construction, and the "Western Power" was only adopting an intensive campaign to build public relations through which the local population could be persuaded of the benefits of this project.

After several months of delay, work on the project continued and the marketing department of the company began contacting other public utility companies so that contracts could be signed to sell energy to them. Then it became clear that the returns resulting from electricity sales would not be as large as expected, and therefore the administration asked Rob Hedge, the project manager, to find ways to reduce the construction budget so that the expected level of profitability from that new plant could be maintained.

Unfortunately, Rob was unable to find different ways in which to reduce construction costs due to the presence of strict regulations from environmental protection organizations and many other government agencies regarding the foundations of building power plants, so he was only asked by architects and designers to suggest some changes in designs Through which construction costs can be reduced, the designers made a number of suggestions that would reduce costs significantly, but unfortunately construction engineers were unable to make the proposed changes due to the advanced technology used to generate power at that plant. In spite of this, they finally agreed to make some changes, which were implemented immediately. Rob called on architects and construction engineers to be present on the construction site permanently so that other ways to adjust design can be sought to reduce costs.

After one year of a five-year project, the head of the construction company requested an urgent meeting with the head of the "Western Power" company, where he complained about the numerous design changes that caused severe confusion to the workers as well as overtime. He explained that the building engineers make changes during construction on the site without informing the design engineers so that they can update the plans. Also, construction managers are often unaware of these changes, which means that some tasks were sometimes done in error. In addition, design engineers have made some inappropriate design changes without consulting construction engineers, causing them to be re-worked more than once.

Also, after extensive investigations, the Western Power administration received notifications from government oversight agencies that two essential parts of the first phase of the project did not meet government standards and had to be rebuilt. When the administration also learned that the project was six months behind schedule, and there was an additional 10% cost to the budget, it fired the project manager.

If you are appointed as a new project manager. What actions will you take to better address problems and control this project?

Answer 1

If I were appointed as the new peoject manager, I will take below actions to better address problems and control this project:

1. Increase the communication levels between the design engineers and the structural engineers so that they are able to convey the design changes and the structural changes to each other properly and make a long lasting project.

2. See to it that the project quality is not compromised and the flaws in the project are rectified on an immediate basis with proper supervision and control.

3. Address to the notification of the government and rebuild the two parts of the first phase of the project properly so that they meet the government regulations and are smooth in design and construction as well.

4. Make a plan to execute the project in a timely manner and also devise strategies to reduce costs without compromising on project quality and also compliance with government regulations as well.