Question

SA Adventures Unlimited was formed four years ago, by Michael and Jill Rodriguez. Michael was a trained geologist, while Jill had a master’s degree in Spanish. They were both avid outdoor enthusiasts and fell in love while trekking across the Andes in Chile. Upon graduation, they seized upon the idea of starting their own specialized tour business that would focus on organizing and leading “high-end” adventure trips in South America. Their first trip was a three-week excursion across Ecuador and Peru. The trip was a resounding success, and they became convinced that they could make a livelihood doing something they both enjoyed.
After the first year, Adventures Unlimited began to slowly expand the size and scope of the business. The Rodriguezes’ strategy was a simple one. They recruited experienced, reliable people who shared their passion for South America and the outdoors. They helped these people organize specific trips and advertised the excursion over the Internet and in travel magazines.
Adventures Unlimited has grown from offering 4 trips a year to having 16 different excursions scheduled, including trips to Central America. They now have an administrative support staff of three people and a relatively stable group of five trip planners/guides whom they hired on a trip-by-trip contract basis. The company enjoyed a high level of repeat business and often used their customers’ suggestions to organize future trips.
Although the Rodriguezes were pleased with the success of their venture, they were beginning to encounter problems that worried them about the future. A couple of the tours went over budget because of unanticipated costs, which eroded that year’s profit. In one case, they had to refund 30 percent of the tour fee because a group was stranded five days in Blanco Puente after missing a train connection. They were also having a hard time maintaining the high level of customer satisfaction to which they were accustomed. Customers were beginning to complain about the quality of the accommodations and the price of the tours. One group, unfortunately, was struck by a bad case of food poisoning. Finally, the Rodriguezes were having a hard time tracking costs across projects and typically did not know how well they did until after their taxes were prepared. This made it difficult to plan future excursions.
The Rodriguezes shared these concerns around the family dinner table. Among the members in attendance was Michael’s younger brother, Mario, a student at a nearby university. After dinner, Mario approached Michael and Jill and suggested that they look into what business people called “project management.” He had been briefly exposed to project management in his Business Operations class and felt that it might apply to their tour business.
Case Question
1. To what extent does project management apply to Adventures Unlimited?
2. What kind of training in project management should the Rodriguezes, the administrative staff,
and tour guides receive to improve the operation of Adventures Unlimited?
3. Identify major topics or skill sets that should be addressed.

Answer 1

1. To what extent does project management apply to Adventures Unlimited?

Students should be encouraged to relate Adventures Unlimited to the concepts and ideas in the chapter. For example, each tour has an established objective, a defined life span, is unique, and is constrained by time, cost, and performance requirements. Likewise, each tour follows the project life cycle. When viewed from this angle, students recognize that Adventures Unlimited is in the business of managing projects.

2. What kind of training in project management should the Rodriguezes, the administrative staff,
and tour guides receive to improve the operation of Adventures Unlimited?

An alternative teaching strategy would be to have students access the PMI PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge) from the Web site mentioned at the end of the chapter and ask them to relate the core knowledge areas (for example, Project Integration Management, Project Scope Management) to the Adventures Unlimited. This would be a good way to expose students to the core elements of project management and see how the core elements help them relate to a less conventional project management business.

Another alternative strategy would be to simply present an overview of PMBOK by displaying TP 1-1 and using it to guide the discussion. Students can identify a specific activity that would apply to each of the nine core processes. Use this as an opportunity to identify which core processes will be covered in your course and which will not.

3. Identify major topics or skill sets that should be addressed.

At first students may struggle to identify major topics and skill sets due to their lack of familiarity with project management. They should be encouraged to identify different tasks and decisions that have to be made to organize and lead a tour as well as manage a tour business. For example, in leading a specific tour the tasks would include defining the scope of the tour, scheduling the itinerary, developing a budget, negotiating contracts, and identifying and reducing risks. The Rodriguezes also have to manage a project organization which involves selecting which tours to sponsor, hiring and training guides, marketing tours, and controlling costs.