Atek Case Study
Potential Solutions
Timeline
Key Problems
Cultural Resistance
Many employees view project management as administrative overhead and prefer the informality of their practices.
Significant cultural resistance to formal project management practices.
Lack of experience with formal project management and refusal to adopt new processes will challenge to PMO implementation.
Records of cost weren't tracked
No records for performance were tracked
No accountablity
PMO Heavy vs. Light
Higher ups can't decide
Two different for PMO approaches wanted
Nelson supports an PMO - heavy model
Fields supports an PMO - light model
How did it happen?
Impact
Have to maintain doing extra work which is not needed
Informal approach was started when market growth started
Main Problem
Consumers and businesses aren't buying PCs
Why/Cause?
Mobile Phones, PDAs, and web-based applications have become adequate, eliminating the need for expensive, local, high processing power machines; consumers mostly just want to check email.
Consequence
Surplus of PCs
Prices must be reduced
Impact
Larger organizations acquiring smaller organizations
Assumption: Layoffs
Who is responsible?
Organization leaders for not adapting quicker
Industry leaders who innovated
organization leaders got complacent in the 90s.
- Recognized need to adapt to market, John Strider, CIO for Atek, approves Project Management Office (PMO) to handle changes.
- 2006, established strategic planning office to work with PMO in managing changes.
- 2000s, less demand for PCs due to PDAs, mobile phones and web apps.
- Atek hired experienced project management professionals
- 1990s, rapid growth in PC industry
- 2007, IT project were typically managed by allocating PM responsibilities to lead analysts (Linda Star)
1.1984, Atek became a mid-sized, U.S pc maker
Potential Problems
Hired individuals have PM experienced but new to PC business
Don't understand Atek's culture
Relevant Facts
click to edit
click to edit
click to edit
click to edit
click to edit
click to edit
IT project managed by adding pm responsibilities to development staff
- Project became more complex and needed more than a single work group. Informal system could no longer support complex project.
9.PMOs purpose, responsibilities, and authority unclear; duties divided into two categories
This informal "order taker" method was great at first in communication, building trust, and meeting business needs.
Until IT was needed to focus on completing the project, rather than hashing out the requirements and taking the order.
- Organizational models are considered. PMO-heavy and PMO-light.
- PMOs continue to work to be accepted others within the organization and adapt to the culture.
Project Focused: consulting, mentoring and training. Used to prove the merits of the PMO.
Enterprise-Oriented: portfolio management, PM standards, methods, tools, and project performance archives.
AtecPC trying to implement PMO in a non PM environment which is challenging.
In order to keep up with larger competitors AtekPC implemented a Planning office
Hard time measuring PMO performance
challenging to get the IT department to start using formal project management appproaches due to them not knowing the software and methododlogies
Stakeholders
Atek customers
Atek employees
Atek Investors
Others within the PC industry
there are two different models to choose from in terms of the PMO light and heavy
click to edit
Implementation of PMO Light
Implementation of PMO Heavy
Con
Pro
Pro
Con
Pro
Con
What needs to be done
Let the current PMO leadership know that their slow approach is better for the company's long term survival and that retaining their employees and being agile to their needs has got them this far
How Does it Compare
PMO Heavy support is harder to gain than PMO light support but can be gained by reaching out to the people it effects directly and showing them how having a PM will positively affect their workflow like they did in the Manufacturing and Sales divisions
Implementation would be extremely resource intensive in AtekPC's immediate future and would be against their current culture potentially leading to turnover
PMO Light ensures the company would survive in the short term, with minimal business impact like the name implies (less turnover and appeasment to the current office culture).
With a PMO light mindset you might fall behind your competition that embraces a PMO Heavy mindset faster than you and realizes its gains sooner eventually forcing your company to fall behind.
If implementing PMO Light works then over time you could transition into a culture that favors a PMO Heavy mentality more harmoniously
If implemented a PMO Heavy mindset would keep the company competitive for years to come through
PMO has to prove it's value before it can have upper managements full support but is hard to measure its value because the results are subjective and anecdotal.
What Needs To Be Done
Creating metrics that are trackable to prove the value that the PMO creates rather than relying on anecdotal evidence
How Does It Compare
PMO Light is less divisive than PMO Heavy and more aligned with AtekPC's current culture but might have less measurable benefits compared to a PMO Heavy mindeset