Project Execution and Control

This document discusses project execution and control, including common mistakes, best practices, and challenges. It provides insights on how to handle issues and ensure project success. Expert advice and tips are provided by Desklib.

Running head: PROJECT EXECUTION AND CONTROL 1
Project Execution and Control
Name
Institution Affiliation
Date

PROJECT EXECUTION AND CONTROL 2
Project Execution and Control
1.
i) One major mistake Corwin made was losing control of the in-house representative,
Patrick Ray. The troubles of the company were started by Patrick Ray through the
interference of the lab tests and the disgruntling of lab employees.
ii) Another mistake made by the company is poor planning. There was a mismatch
between the project manager’s plans and that of the in-house representative.
iii) Poor coordination was also another problem that the company faced. There was an
utter disagreement between the in-house representative and the project manager. All
their plans over lapped. The top management was apprehensive of choosing West as
the project manager, as demonstrated by Reddy being pessimistic of the whole project
and the choice of West being the project manager.
2.
Cowen should not have accepted the assignment because the project had a rough draft
specification and a short deadline in the review of the specifications. The deadlines for the
assignment were very short and Cowen was mainly interested and attracted by huge profits
(Joslin & Müller, 2016).
3.
Since there is a high risk of failing in a project with rough draft specification, companies
should not risk to bid on projects that do not have clear specifications (Milosevic &
Martinelli, 2016). The failure of Cowen to finish and have control on the project was based
on the fact that the specifications of the project were not clear enough.

PROJECT EXECUTION AND CONTROL 3
4
Most of the top managers were on vacation and the timeframe of making the decision to proceed
or not was also short. Therefore, the shortness of the time for preparing the proposal should
require active involvement of the top management. That is because the proposal planning process
normally provides the direction for the project (Maylor & Turner, 2017).
5
There are risks in the absence of the vice president of manufacturing in the decision of no-go
bidding. One of the risks that present itself is the issue of feasibility. The Cowin and Peterd
Company had the marketing vice presidents decide on the bidding, Gene Frimel and Dr. Frank
Delia. A problem arose because they only viewed the monetary part and not the feasibility part
(Glukhov et al., 2015).
6. Attitude of Dick Potts
Dick Roy, being the contracts man, was expected to be the official representative of the
president. However, he took a passive role in the proposal preparation, allowing Royce to make
all the decisions. He therefore exercised negligence on his role. He was supposed to provide
legal advice to the team. Another attitude that he portrayed was that of ignorance. Being part of
the team preparing the proposal was a huge role with huge responsibilities.
7.
The executive’s lack of concern for the appointment of West as the project leader
The decision for the appointment of project leader was a rush one, especially with the absence of
Dr. Reddy, the R&D director. The executive was also lax in supporting the project in any
manner. They never wanted to take an active role in the project process (Milosevic & Martinelli,
2016). That is evident by the fact that whenever West asked for support, the party of whom he

PROJECT EXECUTION AND CONTROL 4
asked for help would tell him that there was a lot of work ahead of him/her. Also, the vacation
they had just come from had a huge impact on the activity of the involvement in the project’s
process.
8.
Line Managers play an important role in the direct management of the business operations and
the employees of a business. Relating with the case, the employees of the lab would not have had
problems with the in-house representative interfering with the work of lab employees. The
supervision and management of the employees would have been done by a line manager.
Another important role that the line managers would have played is ensuring understanding of
the departmental and functional goals by providing clear communication (Hu et al., 2016).
9.
After the commencement of the project, Dr. Reddy became reluctant in the activities of the
project. That is evidenced by the fact that after West sought his help and support, Reddy mere
praised the schedules of West and said that he was so busy with other work. He expressed that he
was willing to provide support in the background. He made efforts to distance himself from the
activities of the project.
10.
As the project manager, West had all the powers in the decision making process of the project.
He also had powers in managing all the project’s employees. Therefore, he should have made a
direct order as the project leader to Ray, to align all his test data to align to the company’s.
11.
West should have prepared a comprehensive report on the journey of project from the beginning
to point where the project had reached. The report should highlight the series of events that took

PROJECT EXECUTION AND CONTROL 5
place and the roles that each individual played. That would assist in providing the background of
the problem for Delia’s proper understanding of the whole situation. The next course of action
would be to meet with Ray to have an open dialogue and understanding. If the dialogue would be
successful, Ray and West would collectively meet with Delia to explain the grievances and the
common understanding between them (Martens & Carvalho, 2016). That would create success in
salvaging the project.
12
The immediate procurement of all materials is a mistake because of the following reasons;
i) Plans are always bound to change and the budget needs adjustments
From the case study, Ray requested more tests contrary to the cost overrun it could lead to. It
later became the cause for argument because Ray insisted that the contract was firm-fixed.
ii) The project could undergo changes or termination which could render losses for the
company
Delia sent a letter to Frimel to indicate that the contract had been terminated. Owing to that, the
materials and costs of the tests that had been done was all futile.
13.
Pat Ray should not have been given the permission to enter the laboratory because of the fact
that it was not part of his role. Being an in-house representative never provided the leeway for
entering the laboratory and interfering with the employees’ work. The direct management of
employees should have been the work of line managers instead (Calvo-Mora, Navarro-García &
Periañez-Cristobal, 2015).
14.

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An in-house representative has no right to sack any employee. The responsibility of
remuneration is under the human resource department (Chen et al., 2016). With the project in the
case, the in-house representative was supposed to move across the companies to provide
direction and updates for project’s progress.
15.
The extra lab tests should have been handled through the following process.
i) Find the necessity for carrying out the extra tests. First review the tests that have
already been done and if the extra test will be necessary.
ii) Look for alternative ways of achieving the results apart from carrying out the tests.
iii) If there is no reason for carrying out the test, it will be necessary to begin from
scratch after the plan has been properly reviewed for quality.
16
Dr. Reddy immediately changed his attitude towards the project by developing interest to the
extent of taking charge of the project. In fact, he was arranging for a 10.00 am meeting with
several R&D people for the construction of a new test matrix. That is a complete contrast with
the past when he told West that he would only offer assistance in the background.
17
Frimel’s early involvement as a project sponsor is not a reason why her request for the
prevention of the contract’s cancellation was refuted. The reason is that the reasons for the
cancellation of the contract was well stipulated and listed by Delia. The cancellation of the
contract brought more serious consequences like affecting relationships between the two
companies (Nicholas & Steyn, 2017).
18.

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The main work of the project was to undertake a research towards the development of a new
product material. Therefore, the leader of the project needs to have expertise and skill on the
research process. Therefore, it would not be better to have a marketing person as the product
manager.
19
Any company must have the element of flexibility in carrying out project executions. That is
inclusive of taking on a project with a single methodology. However, adequate time must be
provided for the planning, adjustments and organization of the project execution (Padalkar &
Gopinath, 2016). However, in the case that the deadline and time frames cannot be adjusted, the
company would then not take on the project.
20
Customers should only be informed that the accepted projects are those that fit the company’s
methodology if that is the policy of the company. However, it would not be the best practice
because it will affect the marketability and scope of the business.

PROJECT EXECUTION AND CONTROL 8
References
Calvo-Mora, A., Navarro-García, A., & Periañez-Cristobal, R. (2015). Project to improve
knowledge management and key business results through the EFQM excellence
model. International Journal of Project Management, 33(8), 1638-1651.
Chen, H. L., Chen, W. T., & Lin, Y. L. (2016). Earned value project management: Improving the
predictive power of planned value. International Journal of Project Management, 34(1), 22-29.
Glukhov, V. V., Ilin, I. V., & Levina, A. I. (2015). Project management team structure for
internet providing companies. In Internet of Things, Smart Spaces, and Next Generation
Networks and Systems (pp. 543-553). Springer, Cham.
Hu, X., Cui, N., Demeulemeester, E., & Bie, L. (2016). Incorporation of activity sensitivity
measures into buffer management to manage project schedule risk. European Journal of
Operational Research, 249(2), 717-727.
Joslin, R., & Müller, R. (2016). The impact of project methodologies on project success in
different project environments. International Journal of Managing Projects in
Business, 9(2), 364-388.
Martens, M. L., & Carvalho, M. M. (2016). The challenge of introducing sustainability into
project management function: multiple-case studies. Journal of Cleaner
Production, 117, 29-40.
Maylor, H., & Turner, N. (2017). Understand, reduce, respond: project complexity management
theory and practice. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 37(8),
1076-1093.

PROJECT EXECUTION AND CONTROL 9
Milosevic, D. Z., & Martinelli, R. J. (2016). Project management toolbox: tools and techniques
for the practicing project manager. John Wiley & Sons.
Nicholas, J. M., & Steyn, H. (2017). Project management for engineering, business and
technology. Routledge.
Padalkar, M., & Gopinath, S. (2016). Are complexity and uncertainty distinct concepts in project
management? A taxonomical examination from literature. International Journal of Project
Management, 34(4), 688-700.