ASSIGNMENT

Case Study Solution

Submitted To: Sir Asif Nawaz

Submitted By:
Fatima Zahra

Class:
Session:
Semester:

RMBA-Fall 12-048

MBA 3.5
2012
5

Q: 1 what is the critical issue?

Ans: The noncooperation between the marketing and the engineering team has affected
organization .Engineering wanted the freedom to design new products without the interference of
marketing team, whereas marketing wanted the final approval to make sure that what was
designed could be sold.

Q: 2 what can be done about it?

Ans: Looking at this case, it is clearly understood that it is a clear case of lack of
communications management. Judging by what the engineering team has to say, the marketing
team makes ton of changes after the initial input is given. This obviously has major implications.
If there was a more organized approach to this such as weekly status reports or weekly meetings
between the engineering and the marketing team, in the presence of the upper management.
Negotiations and discussions could have been made regarding new product designs. The
engineers could give the marketing team a clear status reports indicating how further along are
they into the project. This could avoid further conflicts and result in the smooth functioning of
the firm.

Q: 3 Can excellence in project management still be achieved and, if so,

how? What steps would you recommend?
Ans:

Following steps should be taken to achieve excellence in project management.

Continuous planning
Consistent communication practices
Team alignment
Good relationships with all team members, because you manage the person, performing
the task and not the task itself.
By applying these, excellence in project management can still be achieved as engineering
team is under pressure of work load so continuous planning can improve, on the other
hand the trend of non-cooperative culture in company can be removed by consistent
communication practices. Team alignment will help in getting the projects done on
specified time limit. Lastly Good relations with all team members will help in getting the
project done in the way you want it to be

Q: 4 Given the current non-cooperative culture, how long will it take to

achieve a good cooperative project management culture, and even
excellence?
Ans. I have found that weekly project meetings work best for any size project that is longer
than 2 months in duration. The normal progress items need to be discussed, including:

Progress made
Actions outstanding
What is due in the next week or two
Risks, issues or dependencies
Other matters relevant to the specific project

Regular team meetings, whether in person, or virtually, keep the project team informed and
committed to the outcome of the project. It also enables the project manager to receive adequate
feedback on a regular basis and to do proper progress reporting to stakeholders. By arranging
weekly project meetings they will interact with each other and the non-cooperative culture of
company will be minimized, the day they will start interacting in weekly project meeting a good
cooperative project management culture is automatically developed, and will excel in it when
they will become able to complete their each and every project on time!!!

Q: 5 what obstacles exist in getting marketing and engineering team to

agree to a singular methodology for project management?
Ans: Obstacles
Engineering want freedom in designing new product, they dont want interference of
marketing team.
Marketing team want the final approval to make sure that what was designed could be
sold, because they understand customer needs and wants better.
Nobody wanted to be the project manager due to conflicts.
Functional team members refused to attend team meetings, spend most of the time
working on pet projects rather than required work.
Line managers showed little interest in supporting project management, because of noncooperative culture and lack of communication.