Leadership in Project Management: HBR Case Study and Analysis

This assignment presents an analysis of an HBR case study focusing on leadership within project management, specifically addressing the question of whether Van Sant should push for a renegotiated contract for REACH. The analysis emphasizes the significance of effective leadership approaches and their influence on organizational operations. The student explores the impact of MacDonagle's shortcomings in planning and execution, highlighting the importance of efficient scheduling and communication to mitigate employee-centric issues. The paper argues that the combination of leadership and managerial roles is crucial for successful project management, acknowledging the challenges in balancing these roles. The student references Chiu, Balkundi, and Weinberg (2017) and Maqbool et al. (2017) to support the argument that both leadership traits and managerial experience are essential for driving project success and achieving objectives. The document offers valuable insights into the complexities of project management leadership.

Running head: HBR CASE STUDY
HBR CASE STUDY
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

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Discussion on the question: Should Van Sant push for a renegotiated contract for REACH?
The changes in the organizational operations are reliant on the effective leadership
approaches while influencing the operations of the people. In this relation, MacDonagle’s lack of
proficient planning and execution of the complex project in Retractable Extended-Arms
Compatible Holder (REACH), affected the project outcome drastically (Hbr.org 2011). The lack
of efficient scheduling also affected the rate of operations of the venture while focusing on the
achievement as per the objectives. On the other hand, the managers develop efficient
communication with the employees with the objective of identifying the issues that are being
faced by the same and mitigating the restrictions. In this relation, mitigation of the employee
centric issues in an organization and proficient scheduling activities enables an organization in
upholding the efficiency of the project operations.
However, Sant’s incapability of proper analysis also affected the rate of operations of the
project as per the objectives (Hbr.org 2011). While I believe that being a leader, Sant faced
significant issues in identifying the capability of the people. On the other hand, when in act as a
manager, the people simply feels irritated by the different performance related discussions that I
undertake, as they believe I am not empathetic. I also observed that at different points of time the
scheduling and cost management related operations are best understood by the manager than a
leader who is profit oriented and have less knowledge on the process. Therefore, I believe that
the combination of the role of a leader and a manger is necessary for effective project
management initiatives. However, there are different issues that are faced by the individuals
while undertaking a combined role of a leader and a manager.
The role requires an excellent knowledge on the different processes and the manner in
which the different conflicts relating to different cultural and functional units might be dealt

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with. The combination of strategies of a leader and the operational knowledge of the managers
enhance the scope of success in a project. It has been noted that an effective project manager
must have the skills of a leader and a business manager which would enable in influencing and
persuading the activities that are initiated by the workforce for meeting the common goal of the
project. The attributes of a leader and a manager contradicts with one another as there is a
difference in the motif of the people. Chiu, Balkundi and Weinberg (2017) opined that is many
cases, the project leaders have incomplete knowledge on the processes which might affect the
outcome. In this relation, I believe that the leadership traits and the managerial experiences on
the operational procedures are important for bringing forth changes in the scope of the projects.
On the other hand, Maqbool et al. (2017) stated that the involvement of practical knowledge on
the projects is enabled through an effective manager. The development of the projects are
specifically based on the long term vision of the leaders and the experience of the managers who
can guide the project towards its estimated target. Therefore, I believe that the combination of
both the attributes are necessary for developing the operations in a project while addressing the
objective of success.

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References
Chiu, C.Y.C., Balkundi, P. and Weinberg, F.J., 2017. When managers become leaders: The role
of manager network centralities, social power, and followers' perception of leadership. The
Leadership Quarterly, 28(2), pp.334-348.
Hbr.org, 2011. HBR Case Study: A Rush to Failure?. [online] Harvard Business Review.
Available at: https://hbr.org/2011/04/hbr-case-study-a-rush-to-failure [Accessed 24 Aug. 2019].
Maqbool, R., Sudong, Y., Manzoor, N. and Rashid, Y., 2017. The impact of emotional
intelligence, project managers’ competencies, and transformational leadership on project
success: An empirical perspective. Project Management Journal, 48(3), pp.58-75.