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pany in question was organized into different directorates. These were Operations (fabrication, assembly and test), Engineering [i.e., Electronic design, Mechanical design, Test (not production equipment), Production engineering], Commercial, Procurement, Projects, Product Support, Business Development, Quality, and Personnel. |
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Before the major changes (detailed below), the role of the project manager varied from being a liaison between engineering and the customer to being in total charge of the business. The major change gave the project manager the responsibility to: |
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delegate authority from and answerable to the company managing director |
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direct the work of all other functions on project business |
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decide project policy, strategy, methods of reporting and managing |
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authorize all expenditure and changes to the program to maximize the business |
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hold the project contingency and to manage the profit and loss account |
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be the prime business and customer focus |
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manage the project business to achieve the deliverables on time, on budget, and to the correct technical and quality standards |
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manage the project business to ensure short-term cash flow, medium-term profitability, and long-term business growth. |
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The functional directorates were in charge of the staff who were not project specific and they were more concerned (eventually) with how to do it rather than what to do. The project manager was the person who delegated what to do and when. |
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A.
Background and Situation Status |
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The need for the major change was created by a change in Defense procurement policy from cost plus (where any time spent on the project was chargeable to the customer with profit addedconsequently delays and problems were more profitable than achieving on time!) to fixed price (where the industry took the risk). |
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This change came at a time of a shrinking marketplace with serious overcapacity in Europe and the U.S.A. The increased competition with the new penalties of fixed price and liquidated damages started to focus the |
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