In: Operations Management
Question:
Prepare a preliminary PickPOCIT project management organization chart and show how it interfaces with the ISI organization structure. In 300 to 350 words describe a) The primary roles and responsibilities of the key project management staff, b) The expectations the project manager has of project staff, c) The expectations the project manager has of functional managers and d) The methods of communication that would be employed with each. Be as specific as you can with names of people and organizational units in ISI.
|Article:
Inventory Specialists, Inc (ISI)
Introduction:
Inventory Specialists, Inc (ISI) is a high-technology company,
privately owned and operated for profit. The company was founded
about ten years ago by Sid Jones and a small group of experienced
software designers who left the Southern Software Co. to set up a
small company to produce leading edge inventory management
software. The software produced by Jones and his associates are at
the high end in quality and advanced design, and have become well
known for being very stable, user friendly, and intuitive. The
company's highly responsive and effective customer support has
earned an increasing demand for its products. The company gradually
expanded to include hardware, and three years ago decided to change
its name to ISI and enter the inventory management market in areas
where innovative engineering, rapid response, and affordable
products are required. This venture succeeded beyond Jones’
expectations, and at this juncture the company has a staff of 250
employees and has recently acquired new quarters with space for
further growth. Operations The company's gross business is about
$95 million per year, one-half of which is expended in-house and
the other half goes for subcontracted services. About 80% of the
company's work is for commercial concerns, with the remaining 20%
involving state and local government contracts. Commercial programs
are generally acquired by competitive bidding in response to a
published Request for Proposal (RFP). The contracts ISI has won
have been generally of the Fixed Price, Cost Plus Fixed Fee, or
Cost Plus Incentive Fee types, depending on the degree of risk
involved. ISI is a fully integrated operation including
hardware/software development and test laboratories, computing
facilities, technical information services and administrative
support. Personnel Sid Jones is President and Chief Executive
Officer of ISI. His early associates, Rich Reynolds and Gerald
Garcia are Vice President for Engineering and Vice President for
Business, respectively. Three years ago, Victoria Valley joined the
company as Vice President for Programs after 15 years of program
management and marketing experience with General Software, Inc.
Jean Stapleton, Director of Product Operations, is involved in most
management decisions because of her seniority and key function. Of
the company's 250 employees some 200 are software and hardware
developers and skilled technicians. About 50% of the personnel are
engaged in hardware and software development engineering
operations; 25% in product integration and test operations; 5% in
technical program management; 15% in administrative support and 5%
in staff functions. The company is a matrix organization. Program
managers are primarily responsible for the accomplishment of the
technical work and delivery of the product within budget and
schedule, and for interfacing with the customer. Software
Development and Product Operation managers are responsible for the
actual development and production of the product and for its
technical capability and integrity. General Organization The
top-level organization of ISI, showing the principal staff and
operating functions that report to the Office of the President, is
depicted in Figure 1. Because the company is relatively small, the
management and staff operations are correspondingly limited. Top
management consists of the President and three Vice Presidents,
responsible for engineering, business operations, and programs,
respectively. At the staff level, the Directors of Quality Control
and Human Resources report directly to the President. The Programs
Office, managed by Jim Sams, houses the program managers for
current major tasks, and reports to the VP for Programs. The
marketing function, which in larger organizations is handled by a
Director of Marketing and staff, is the responsibility of the VP
for Programs. There is no Chief Counsel at the staff level; legal
advice is obtained when needed from a consulting legal firm. At the
operating level, the VP for Software doubles as the Director of
Software Development, while the VP for Business serves as Director
of Administrative Operations. These ‘duplicate listings’ are
indicated by an asterisk (*). The Director of Product Operations
reports to the President. The majority of ISI stock is held by the
officers of the company. The President, Vice Presidents and the
Director of Product Operations serve as the Management Committee,
shown in Figure 1a, which meets semi monthly to report on their
respective operations and to advise on program areas. Figure 1.
Top-Level Organization of ISI Figure 1a. ISI Management Committee
Administrative and Product Operations The organization of the
Administrative Operations Department, headed by Gerald Garcia, is
shown in Figure 2. It consists of two groups: Financial Services,
managed by Ruth Simms and Support Services, managed by Stephen
Lota. The former is responsible for contracts and purchasing,
accounting, payroll and management information, while the latter
handles shipping and receiving, office services, plant services and
computer support services. All operations are integrated by
extensive use of information networking, with a tradition of
teamwork and service. purchasing, accounting, payroll and
management information, while the latter handles shipping and
receiving, office services, plant services and computer support
services. President and CEO Sid Jones VP Software/Hardware
Development Rich Reynolds * Director, Software/Hardware Development
Rich Reynolds Systems Test Group ETG Quality Control Group ETQ
Software Development Group ETS Product Improvement Group ETI
Hardware Group ETH Chief Architect ECA Architecture Group ECAG VP
Business Gerald Garcia * Director, Administrative Ops Gerald Garcia
Financial Services Group AFG Support Services Group ASG VP Programs
Victoria Valley Manager, Programs Office Jim Sams Director, Product
Operations Jean Stapleton Integration and Test Group PIT
Installation Group PFF Customer Service (PCS) Director, Quality
Control Dana Deming Director, Human Resourses Alli Apple President
and CEO Sid Jones Director, Product Operations Jean Stapleton VP
Programs Victoria Valley VP Engineering Rich Reynolds VP Business
Gerald Garcia purchasing, accounting, payroll and management
information, while the latter handles shipping and receiving,
office services, plant services and computer support services. All
operations are integrated by extensive use of information
networking, with a tradition of teamwork and service. Figure 2. ISI
Administrative Operations The Product Operations Department
organization is illustrated in Figure 3. The Planning, Scheduling
and Documentation Staff plans and oversees the flow of work in the
department. The Integration and Test Group, managed by Priyanka
Moorjani, is responsible for testing components built in-house or
contracted out, assembling them, conducting system tests and
performing the appropriate quality assurance functions. Director,
Administrative Ops Gerald Garcia Financial Services Froup (AFG)
Contracts and Purchasing Accounting Payroll Management Information
Ruth Simms Support Services Group (ASG) Shipping and Receiving
Office Services Plant Services Computer Services Stephen Lota
Figure 3. ISI Product Operations Hardware and Software Engineering
Department The Hardware and Software Engineering Department is the
largest operating unit of the company with a staff of 130. As seen
in Figure 4, it is organized into six groups under the leadership
of the Software Development Director, Rich Reynolds. Figure 4. ISI
Engineering Department Director, Product Ops Jean Stapleton
Integration and Test Group (PIT) Integration Quality Control
Software/Hardware Test Installation Group (PFF) Product
Installation Product Training Customer Service (PCS) Planning,
Scheduling, and Documentation Staff Director Software/Hardware
Development Rich Reynolds Systems Test Group (ETG) Quality Control
Group (ETQ) Software Development Group (ETS) Product Improvement
Group (ETI) Hardware Group (ETH) Chief Architect (ECA) Architecture
Group (ECAG) The Architecture Group (ECAG) is comprised of 10
people and is led by Pete Handle. They are responsible for choosing
a standard way of pursuing application development and creating,
defining, or choosing an application framework for the
applications. They are also responsible for recognizing potential
reuse in software and hardware applications by observing and
understanding the broader system environment; creating component
designs; subdivide a complex application, during the design phase,
into smaller, more manageable pieces; grasp the functions of each
component within the application; understand the interactions and
dependencies among components; and communicate these concepts to
developers. They also lead the development of functional
requirements, interface definitions, and preparation of technical
proposals. The 20-member Systems Test Group (ETG), led by Estelle
Aker, conducts testing on a complete, integrated system to evaluate
the system's compliance with its specified requirements. ETG
testing takes, as its input, all of the "integrated" software and
hardware components that have successfully passed integration
testing and also the software system itself integrated with any
applicable hardware system(s). The purpose of integration testing
is to detect any inconsistencies between the software units that
are integrated together (called assemblages) or between any of the
assemblages and the hardware. The eight four person Quality Control
Group (ETQ), led by Hector Zapata, is responsible for software and
hardware quality control to check whether the project follows its
standards processes, and procedures, and that the project produces
the desired internal and external (deliverable) products. The
Software Development Group (ETS) is led by Robert Burns. This group
of 60 people develops the SUS software products which involves
writing and mainlining source code and is involved between the
conception of the desired software through to the final
manifestation of the software. The Product Improvement Group (ETI)
is led by Susan Bettersome. This 19-person group is involved in
research, new development, prototyping, modification, reuse,
re-engineering, maintenance, and other activities that result in
new software products. The Hardware Group (ETH) is led by Dave
Morrill. This 10-person group is involved in research, new
development, prototyping, modification, reuse, re-engineering,
maintenance, and other activities that result in new products that
require hardware.
ISI () is following Matrix Organisational Structure, which is mixture of Functional and Project-based organisation, where the President, Sid Jones is the CEO and he has 3 Vice Presidents under him. Vice Presidents have leads of diffrerent departments operating under them. Each employee reports to their Functional Manager. The Functional Manager assigns and manages the employee's work.
In project-based organisations, most of the resources are involved in the project work. Organisation is highly dependent on the project Managers for authority and control of the project.
The key challenge an employee faces in Matrix Organisational structure is that every employee has to report to two or more members,
The key responsibilities of the project management staff are:
1-delivering the final product to the customer within budget and schedule.
2-Interacting with the end customer.
3-Accomplishment of the technical work.
Expectations of project manager of project staff:
1-Program manager expects all the project management staff to be transparent within the organistion.
2-The staff should be efficient enough to maintain organisational goals and help to reach those goals.
3-The project managers should be able to communicate with the end customer in a way to expand the business.
Expectations of Project Managers of the Functional Managers:
1-Functional Managers should be supportive, helpful and have team management skills.
2-They should get in touch with the client to expand the business.
3-They should raise concerns to higher management if Project Managers raises to them.
4-Project Managers will be concerned about the way of allocating resouces within the organisation.
The Non-Verbal Communication method is being followed in the Organisation. Each department has their own specified responsibilities and they complete those along with the help of their sub-ordinates.
The Functional Managers and the Vice-Presidents will definitely take regular meetings on the progress of the project. Considering the small size of the organisation, the President will too call for a meeting with the Vice Presidents.
Concludingly, the organisation follows both methods of communication: Verbal and non-verbal.