Major Mistakes Made by Corwin

This article discusses the major mistakes made by Corwin in a project assignment. It explores the acceptance of the assignment, the risks of bidding on projects based on rough-draft specifications, and the importance of active top management involvement. It also examines the attitude of key individuals involved in the project and provides insights on how the situation could have been handled better.

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What were the major mistakes made by Corwin?
The first mistake that Corwin made was accepting the order, as they had previous
experience of working with Peters Company which was not pleasing enough. As, many of the
officials were on vacation, the acceptance was done at wrong terms and in a rush which led to a
lot of miscommunication between the officials of Corwin. Besides, while allowing a supervisor
to get into their work was their second mistake. They did it considering work ethics but in
between, they should put the clause in the agreement of being entirely autonomous with their
work and outside influence will be not encouraged. Any changes will be done at Corwin’s
discretion.
Should Corwin have accepted the assignment?
Corwin should not have accepted the project at all. Considering the previous experience
with Peters, and their market reputation of not easy to work with, such delicate work that has no
assurance to be successful at all and without the supervision of the experts, the acceptance of the
assignment was not right from the first place.
Should companies risk bidding on projects based on rough-draft specifications?
To be practical, rough draft specifications are not at all acceptable for an assignment like
this, rather for any assignment. Until, all the specifications are clear enough, no assignment
should be accepted, as that would risk both the parties associated. Every work sector requires
practical approach and accepting tasks based on rough draft specifications is not at all related to
such kind of approach. Hence, under such circumstances risking by bidding on the project should
not be done unless the accepting party is confident enough and has realised the requirements
entirely.

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Should the shortness of the proposal preparation time have required more active top
management involvement before the proposal went out of house?
Before the proposal leaving the house, there should have been more active top
management involvement. This approach would be beneficial for Corwin.
Are there any risks in not having the vice president for manufacturing available during the
go or no-go bidding decision?
The absence of the vice-president for manufacturing surely brings up a few risks while
taking go or no-go decisions. However, the absence could be managed by other personnel who
leads the projects from the front. It is because all the other people are appointed to deal with the
issues or project dealings. Hence, it will of no use to have these personnel if the vice president
have to interfere in between.
Explain the attitude of Dick Potts during the proposal activities.
Being totally unfamiliar with the situation of the dealings that West and Royce had been
doing, Potts felt himself to be not important at all in that particular situation. Being the contracts
man, who is the President’s representative showed no enthusiasm at all maybe because of the
fact that he had an idea of this project is not good for the company. As per the situation Dick
came to the meeting and provided with the necessary legal advices. Being not able to participate
into the dealings maybe, he felt a bit nonchalant towards the entire process.
None of the executives expressed concern when Dr. Reddy said, “I would never have
assigned him [West] as the project leader.” How do you account for the executives’ lack of
concern?

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It is clear from the executives not showing any concern when the above statement was
said by Dr. Reddy, that Dan was not the ideal person to be the project manager. Due to lack of
personnel at that point of time and one should be there to lead the team from the front, no other
option was left except making West the project manager.
How important is it to inform line managers of proposal activities even if the line managers
are not required to provide proposal support?
The importance behind making the line managers informed about the proposal activities
is that in case of any issues, as Corwin faced, the line managers would be able to provide support
to the team. They would have sufficient knowledge about the proposal that happened and they
would act likewise considering all the aspects.
Explain Dr. Reddy’s attitude after go-ahead.
Dr. Reddy was unwilling to take over the charge and quite diplomatically made his way
out of the project by letting West to take the entire charge and letting him at regular intervals
about the advancement of the project.
How should West have handled the situation where Pat Ray’s opinion of the test data was
contrary to that of Corwin’s engineering personnel?
West should have informed the higher authorities of the situation instead of handling the
whole thing on his own. When the contradiction arised, first approach from West should have
been assuring Ray about having successful results in the later course of time. As, the whole
project was proposed by the engineering personnel of Corwin, hence he should have said to Ray

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to let the engineers work on their own idea for a few tests more. If after that no satisfactory
results were established then Ray can take over the process of changing the test data.
How should West have reacted to Ray’s informing Delia that the first five tests were
failures?
After Ray informed Delia about the failures, West should have approached to Delia
informing him about the results that his team received so far. That would particularly clear the
miscommunication that was created by Ray himself. Tallying the results and the objectives, their
proximity towards the desired data could have been presented to the authorities of the Peters
Company.
Is immediate procurement of all materials a mistake?
The immediate procurement of all the raw materials was obviously a mistake. All the raw
materials were procured even before the signing of the agreement. This was a huge risk that
West made in the initial phase of the project.
Should Pat Ray have been given the freedom to visit laboratory personnel at any time?
The freedom to Pat Ray for visiting the laboratory at any time was surely something off
the list. It was the primary fault that let Ray get into the laboratory and make the reports as he
wished to. He did not wait for the later tests and when the results were approaching towards the
desired results, then also he did reported false statements from his side.
Should an in-house representative have the right to remove a functional employee from the
project?

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The in-house representative has no right to remove any functional employee of the
project. The personnel do have the right to inform the supplier authority about any
malfunctioning or undesired activity happening in the project, but surely it is the sole
responsibility of the company where the employee has been working to decide whether to make
the employee stay or leave from the project and every action should have to be done at the self –
discretion of the first party.
Financially, how should the extra tests have been handled?
The extra tests could have been handled in other ways rather taking up the whole
responsibility on own shoulders. The first thing can be convincing the other party to provide the
extra funds with the results they have approached to. Another way could be demanding for some
extra benefits from the client in order to provide the extra financing for the extra tests that are
proposed to be performed. As, the extra tests are planned by the in-house representative, hence it
will be easier for the server party to withdraw themselves from spending that extra money.
Explain Dr. Reddy’s attitude when told to assume control of the project.
Dr. Reddy turned out to be autocratic when entire charge of the project is handed over to
him. He made Ray out of every possible aspects of the project and took the entire charge by
himself and also rectified the first proposal.
Delia’s letter, stating the five reasons for canceling the project, was refuted by Frimel, but
with no success. Could Frimel’s early involvement as a project sponsor have prevented
this?

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The answer to this question could not be precise but maybe Frimel’s early involvement as
a project sponsor could have prevented the situation. Frimel could have made a continued
contact with the client to prevent the consequences.
In retrospect, would it have been better to assign a marketing person as project manager?
Assigning marketing person as a project manager would not have been beneficial at all
for the project.
Your company has a single methodology for project management. A powerful customer
offers you a special project that does not fit into your methodology. Should a project be
refused simply because it is not a good fit with your methodology?
Not matching with the methodology may arise some issues in the first, but refusing the
project will not be beneficial for the company. Market demands variety and one with varied
strategies survives the best in the market.
Should a customer be informed that only projects that fit your methodology would be
accepted?
If the regulation of the company restricts such acceptance then the customer have to
informed mandatorily so that no miscommunication arises in future.