American Shogun Case Study When a high-profile project is implemented, there needs to be a lot of planning, research, and flexibility. When a high-profile project also includes a very aggressive deadline, there is little room left for error. In the American Shogun case, they had only eleven months to create a brand new product that meet their main client’s needs, the general consumer’s needs, and rivaled their competitor’s similar product. Overall, through a thorough management system, the project met its deadline and was a success for the company.
Lessons Learned There were many obstacles involved in this project. First of all, there were no seasoned project managers available and a novice was brought in to handle this project. In order to set the project manager, Melanie Lehr, up for success, she was given a mentor. Through this mentorship, she was able to seek counsel with a veteran project manager and avoid making mistakes that could cost the project its deadline. Lehr stated that “his mentoring and support taught me all of the small tricks and tips that helped during the start up phase, which was the toughest for me,” (Bierl & Hayes-Matinelli, 2010, p. 343). By setting up the project with a thorough work breakdown structure and being able to consult her mentor, Lehr was able to ensure the project closed without delay. Through this project, the company learned just how influential a mentor can be and how mentors can positively impact projects. Another lesson that was learned through this project was the importance of research and thinking about the bigger pictures. The project was initiated by RisingSun’s request and large order for monitors with an audio feature. Therefore, the project was created with many of RisingSun’s wants and needs in mind. Mid-project it was determined that one of RisingSun’s specifications, a mobility function, wouldn’t be met within the deadline. A tough choice had to be made on weather the deadline or keeping their client was happy was more important. At the end of the day, the Shogun project deemed it was more important to meet the deadline than to include a mobility feature. They did this by doing research. While RisingSun was a major consumer for the product, the product wasn’t solely created for them. There were other consumers who would order the product. After reaching out to other consumers, it was deemed that the general marketplace didn’t require a mobility feature (Bierl & Hayes-Matinelli, 2010, p. 346). Projects need to take into account the entire marketplace prior to making a finite decision on a project outcome. Without thinking of the big picture, a project risks only appealing to a niche group and not expanding the company’s market share (Hu, Chi, & Demeulemeester, 2015). Qualities of Well-Managed Programs By researching successful programs and projects, there are common themes and qualities found. …show more content…
Communication is one of the most important assets to any program or project. Without open communication, there cannot be a cohesive program. “For project managers, the evidence is clear that developing, learning from, and refining their decoding and encoding communication competencies, through training and/or professional development activities, can have a positive impact on their team members’ satisfaction and productivity,” (Henderson., 2008, p. 56). In the Shogun case, it was clear that open communication helped the project align deadlines and eventually have a successful project closure. In the very beginning, each department created a specific work breakdown structure and then took that work breakdown structure to the project as a whole to create a master structure. Through open communication with the different departments, it was clear how each team’s role would impact another team and therefore lead to meeting the deadline or not. Another quality of successful projects is flexibility. No project will run completely as planned. There will always be delays and unforeseen issues. If a program is not able to take obstacles in stride and work to overcome and change their original work structure, then they will never be able successful. That can lead to termination of a project by extinction because the project wasn’t able to adapt and eventually failed. The Shogun case noted how important flexibility was in completing the project on time. Lehr
Lessons Learned There were many obstacles involved in this project. First of all, there were no seasoned project managers available and a novice was brought in to handle this project. In order to set the project manager, Melanie Lehr, up for success, she was given a mentor. Through this mentorship, she was able to seek counsel with a veteran project manager and avoid making mistakes that could cost the project its deadline. Lehr stated that “his mentoring and support taught me all of the small tricks and tips that helped during the start up phase, which was the toughest for me,” (Bierl & Hayes-Matinelli, 2010, p. 343). By setting up the project with a thorough work breakdown structure and being able to consult her mentor, Lehr was able to ensure the project closed without delay. Through this project, the company learned just how influential a mentor can be and how mentors can positively impact projects. Another lesson that was learned through this project was the importance of research and thinking about the bigger pictures. The project was initiated by RisingSun’s request and large order for monitors with an audio feature. Therefore, the project was created with many of RisingSun’s wants and needs in mind. Mid-project it was determined that one of RisingSun’s specifications, a mobility function, wouldn’t be met within the deadline. A tough choice had to be made on weather the deadline or keeping their client was happy was more important. At the end of the day, the Shogun project deemed it was more important to meet the deadline than to include a mobility feature. They did this by doing research. While RisingSun was a major consumer for the product, the product wasn’t solely created for them. There were other consumers who would order the product. After reaching out to other consumers, it was deemed that the general marketplace didn’t require a mobility feature (Bierl & Hayes-Matinelli, 2010, p. 346). Projects need to take into account the entire marketplace prior to making a finite decision on a project outcome. Without thinking of the big picture, a project risks only appealing to a niche group and not expanding the company’s market share (Hu, Chi, & Demeulemeester, 2015). Qualities of Well-Managed Programs By researching successful programs and projects, there are common themes and qualities found. …show more content…
Communication is one of the most important assets to any program or project. Without open communication, there cannot be a cohesive program. “For project managers, the evidence is clear that developing, learning from, and refining their decoding and encoding communication competencies, through training and/or professional development activities, can have a positive impact on their team members’ satisfaction and productivity,” (Henderson., 2008, p. 56). In the Shogun case, it was clear that open communication helped the project align deadlines and eventually have a successful project closure. In the very beginning, each department created a specific work breakdown structure and then took that work breakdown structure to the project as a whole to create a master structure. Through open communication with the different departments, it was clear how each team’s role would impact another team and therefore lead to meeting the deadline or not. Another quality of successful projects is flexibility. No project will run completely as planned. There will always be delays and unforeseen issues. If a program is not able to take obstacles in stride and work to overcome and change their original work structure, then they will never be able successful. That can lead to termination of a project by extinction because the project wasn’t able to adapt and eventually failed. The Shogun case noted how important flexibility was in completing the project on time. Lehr