The approach adopted by Megatronic in defining programs and projects

Discuss about the Project Management for Personal Learning Portfolio.

Mike Fritz, the director of program/project management at Megatronic has adopted a different approach in defining the concepts of programs and projects for the organization. The approach is totally different from the conventional approach that is used for defining the two concepts.

The approach adopted by Mike is good to a great extent. He has simply categorized the programs and projects on the basis of their contribution to the company’s business. According to Mike, any activity that is targeted towards the production of the new product in the market is to be treated as a program, whereas any activity other than the program, that is, which does not lead to the production of new products is to be categorized under project head.

This is a simple and effective definition of the concepts provided by Mike. It becomes easier for the company’s employees to quickly determine whether an activity is a program or project. The concept of bounding box to explain the elements of the program is yet again an effective tool to make the program and project managers understand the significance of association of stakeholders and sponsors in a program (Milosevic, Patanakul & Srivannaboon, 2010).

However, for any person who has worked somewhere else and where the conventional definition of project and program was used, it might be difficult for him to grasp the new definitions. It might be confusing for him due to his earlier understanding and way of doing work in the project and program management department.

The current approach adopted by the company in explaining and differentiating between projects and programs is quite effective. It has clearly laid out the differences in terms of importance, their definition, the elements that are to be considered, alignment with the strategy, the significance of milestones, and other factors (Milosevic, Patanakul & Srivannaboon, 2010). The director of program/project management has even explained different aspects of projects and programs by giving examples to new project manager.

It has even differentiated the terms on the basis of the autonomy that is being provided to the project managers and program managers. The project managers are simply to get the required outcomes for a project within the time, cost and performance constraints. This is due to the fact that it is a part of the cost center and would not directly contribute to generating revenues for the company.

Understanding Megatronic’s differentiation between programs and projects

However, the expectations from a program manager are higher, the program is expected to be completed considering the elements specified in the bounding box, the company can afford to sacrifice the scope and cost of the project, but not these elements. The nature of the success accomplished on the completion of programs and projects have also been effectively explained in the differentiation.

The success of programs is considered to be important as it is actually a business success which is likely to bring more revenues for the company. This also gives it a priority in getting the resources and budgets allocation (Milosevic, Patanakul & Srivannaboon, 2010). Moreover, many of the basis of differences is similar to the conventional point of differences, making this approach more agreeable. The approach adopted by the company for differentiation is wholesome and does not require any changes at least in the case of Megatronics.

James should select Early Birds, Ltd offer for installing the fire extinguishing systems. There are four concerns that James has to consider while placing the order, namely- total cost of an extinguisher, including installation cost, purchase cost, and maintenance cost, the safety features, ease of use, and ease of maintenance. The costing for the offer made by each company has been computed below:

From the computation made above, it is apparent that the offer made by Xtra Care, Ltd is the optimal solution for the company, Mega security, followed by Early Birds, Ltd, Fire Extinguisher, and Zebra Limited. However, the project manager is required to consider the other factors also which includes the safety features, convenience to use, and maintenance.

The safety features of the solutions offered are not provided for which it is assumed that all the fire extinguishing systems are safe while using the new premises. It is observed that the system by Xtra Care, Ltd is very difficult to use which rules out the option even if its costing is the lowest. Fire Extinguishers provides an easy option of using its system but with a higher total cost in comparison to Early Birds, Ltd (Milosevic, Patanakul & Srivannaboon, 2010).

In the context of maintenance cost, even though the cost would be a slightly higher in the upcoming years (605) for Early Birds, Ltd, the offer made by the company should be selected as the total cost is low, the system has a moderate degree of ease to use, and is safe for the installation.

Optimal solution for selecting fire extinguishing systems for Mega Security

James can further negotiate the costs as Mega Security already has business relations with Early Birds, Ltd. Moreover, it would be delivered and installed with 30 days as a delivery lead time. Therefore, considering all the factors, it is suggested that James should opt for the offer made by Early Birds, Ltd.

From a program perspective, this issue of selecting the best offer of fire extinguishing systems for Mega Security is likely to have a long-term impact on the entire organization (Springer, 2016). The primary base for taking this decision is to cater to the needs of all the departments in the company and ensure that the investment made by the company in the systems is profitable. It is advised that while taking any decision where different options are available, the managers are required to consider the major factors that can be the deal breakers.

The managers need to prioritize the factors, on the basis of which the decisions are to be taken. The managers should make a log where all the considerations, alternative solutions, their costing and other essential factors should be recorded (Verzuh, 2015). This would help the management in making a comparison as to which alternative is serving the maximum considerations and would be most profitable for the company.

The case deals with the decision regarding the adoption of new TKS program for General Public Hospital (GPH). The company has to adopt new TKS program as the existing vendor for TKS sold his business to someone else. A new proposal has been presented by Julia Skown and her team which provides an estimated cost of the program as one million dollars and an estimated schedule of eighteen months (Milosevic, Patanakul & Srivannaboon, 2010).

However, with further research, her team came with an additional feature of new transaction inquiry feature. Incorporating the new feature is likely to further increase the cost of the project by $100,000 and delay in the installation of the TKS program by two months. The core values of the company revolve around providing quality products and services to its customers and focusing on the customers.

It is advised that the executive team of the company should take the decision of implementing the new TKS program incorporating the new feature. Even though, the new feature would add to the cost and schedule of the program, but it would ensure more accuracy and better quality to the different customers (Milosevic, Patanakul & Srivannaboon, 2010).

Factors to consider while making decisions in a program

Adoption of this advanced and improved TKS program would also bring other benefits for the company. This program is one of the advanced programs that the company would employ if decided. The new program with the transaction inquiry feature would have an advantage over the previously implemented TSK programs in terms of scheduling capability, reporting capability, robustness and various other additional features.

From the viewpoint of the cost involved, as the program is a new generation product, it is likely to increase the efficiencies, which in turn, would decrease the part-time employees. It would be a user-friendly interface, which the customers can easily access (Milosevic, Patanakul & Srivannaboon, 2010).

Although it would be difficult for the management of the company to announce the decision of implementing the new program and convincing the customers for the delay in schedule, it is likely that the benefits that the customer would get with the usage of TSK program would outweigh the issues and resistance on the part of customers. It is, therefore, recommended that the executive team should take the decision for adopting the new feature in the TSK program and implement it in the organization.

The concept of program strike zone relates to the implementation of a tool that is used by the managers in determining the progress of a program towards the accomplishment of expected results. This is done by identifying the key factors that are essential for the success of a program (Milosevic, Patanakul & Srivannaboon, 2010).

In terms of benefits, the program strike zone serves as an effective management and communication tool that enables the project managers to keep the project aligned with the project’s goals and objectives throughout its lifecycle. It ensures that there is a proper and relevant flow of information between the executive management and the project team so that there is no surprise behavior and the contingencies are minimized (Milosevic, Martinelli & Waddell, 2009).

With the proper flow of information, the results indicate that the barriers and critical issues which may cause a delay in resolution and decision-making are eliminated. A program manager can identify at any point whether a program is aligned to the overall goals and objectives or not, if any misalignment is found, the manager can stop a program.

Adopting the program strike zone brings a lot of advantages for the program managers and the organization for which it is implemented. The program strike zone makes use of the graphs and basic factors for indicating the progress of a program. It holds a high visual appeal and is simple in use, thereby making it user-friendly. 

Adoption of new TKS program for General Public Hospital

It is flexible in terms of usage and is therefore considered as an effective control and management tool by both the program managers and senior managers (Milosevic, Martinelli & Waddell, 2009). It is useful in bridging the gaps and differences that may arise in the program planning, strategic planning efforts and its execution within an organizational setting. It helps the program and senior managers to focus only on the key factors that are essential and would result in the success of the program.

One of the most important advantages of program strike zone is that it allows an autonomy to the project team, especially the program managers to get the desired results. So far the results are achieved, the senior managers do not interfere with the working and management of the project; only the issues which are significant or are beyond the control of the team are brought to the notice of the senior management.

It helps in setting the boundaries within which the team would work without the involvement of senior management (Milosevic, Martinelli & Waddell, 2009). However, there are certain disadvantages of this program also. For example- non-involvement of the senior managers can make the project team lose their focus on the project. There are chances that if the project manager is not capable and competent, it would be a wastage of the organizational resources and efforts. Moreover, if the program strike zone includes too many critical factors that define success, it is likely that it loses its simplicity.

From the perspective of program governance, the senior management may face challenges while implementing the program strike zone. Firstly, it is necessary that the boundaries and structure set by the program strike management meet with the processes and practices of the business. 

However, these processes are dynamic and require a constant change which makes it difficult to make changes in the program strike zone. Secondly, one of the major components of program governance is people who take up different roles in a program (Hanford, 2005). If such people are not skilled or competent, the zone system would not work.

In the practical scenario, even if it is difficult to clearly differentiate between programs and projects, the program management is considered to be a larger and scaled up form of project management. The programs are considered to cover those elements which are beyond the scope of individual projects consisted in a program. The statement mentioned above can be held true to a great extent.

Program management is a wider concept in comparison to the project management. It includes management of a series of projects that are undertaken in an organization with a certain set of objectives that vary in the scope and scale (Milosevic, Patanakul & Srivannaboon, 2010). It is basically management and control of a portfolio of multiple projects. It has a greater span in the project lifecycle, that is, it is an ongoing process that takes place in an organization.

Usually, the project management has a shorter duration in comparison to the programs; each project is likely to have a fixed deadline by which it is deemed to be completed, which is not in the case of programs (Levin & Ward, 2016). The program management requires strategic planning on the behalf of the senior managers and the project managers for setting the objectives and the course for achieving such objectives.

Under the project management, the results of programs are linked to the organization’s financial calendar. For example- the results of the programs are to be disclosed in the quarterly performances of the company. The projects are for a shorter duration and results of a single project are not likely to have an impact on the overall financial performance of the company.

However, if these projects are combined in form of programs, it becomes significant for the organization’s financial performance. Program management is a scaled up version of the project management and is governance intensive. As the results of programs are likely to impact the long-term financial performance of the company, they are usually governed by the senior management (Martinelli, Waddell & Rahschulte, 2014).

The senior managers are responsible for providing direction, objectives, overseeing the performance, and controlling the programs, which may not have been possible if individual projects were considered. The program managers ensure that the objectives framed by the senior board are achievable and any disputes occurring during the course of different programs are resolved.

It allows the projects to be more governance intensive by being a part of the program management. As a program is a portfolio of different projects, its management, control, and budgeting become complex processes. The project management is concerned with revenues and costs which are crucial for the financial results of a company, making its management a difficult task (Sanghera, 2008). Moreover, the program management is governed and driven by the overall strategy of the company.

Any changes in the market conditions, external environment, or the revision of business goals require changes to be incorporated in the program management process. Due to its large scale and wider scope, any changes that are proposed to be made requires executive leadership skills on the part of program managers as these changes would have to be made in individual projects also. Thus, it is appropriate to say that the program management is a scaled up form of the project management.

References

Hanford, M. (2005). Defining program governance and structure. Retrieved October 6, 2017, from https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/rational/library/apr05/hanford/

Levin, G., & Ward, J. L. (2016). Program Management Complexity: A Competency Model. Boca Raton: CRC Press.

Martinelli, R. J., Waddell, J. M., & Rahschulte, T. J. (2014). Program Management for Improved Business Results. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.

Milosevic, D. Z., Martinelli, R. J., & Waddell, J. M. (2009). Program Management for Improved Business Results. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.

Milosevic, D., Patanakul, P., & Srivannaboon, S. (2010). Case studies in project, program, and organizational project management. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.

Sanghera, P. (2008). Fundamentals of Effective Program Management: A Process Approach Based on the Global Standard. New York: J. Ross Publishing.

Springer, M. L. (2016). Project and Program Management: A Competency-Based Approach, Third Edition. West Lafayette: Purdue University Press.

Verzuh, E. (2015). The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.