...Introduction AtekPC is a company that was founded in 1984 and it operates in the IT industry. It has 210 full-time employees and 200 part-time employees. In 2006 it had sales of $1.9 Billion. In the case the company is dealing with the fact that the industry is moving from Growth stage to Maturing stage. To face those changes, AtekPC established a Strategic Planning Office to try to help the business keeping up with their fast growing competitors. Before AtekPC started implementing the PMO the IT projects were handled internally by the current staff members carrying project management responsibilities. The changes and new challenges within the IT industry forced AtekPC to focus on IT improvements, efficiency, how they use their resources, cost management, consulting, and training. The project goal was to have the PMO help the company executives string together their strategic planning process and the project management across the company. The goal was also to provide IT improvements in project performance, efficiency, and resource utilization to enterprise improvements in cost management and corporate capability to launch products. Strider was also trying to gain support of all senior executives by the explaining the value the PMO services. Not all of the senior executives seemed to understand what their new role would be after the PMO was implemented, and that is an issue. When people do not know their roles it is hard to keep everyone within the organization on the same...
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...obstacles in implementing a project management office (PMO)? At AtekPC, in early 2007 IT projects were mostly of operational and maintenance nature and IT department handles these project on the specific request of concerned business unit or functional area. Most of them are small to medium in terms of both length of project execution and size and they were handled informally without any standard practice. As per the Director of applications, they do have lot of operations project but very less number of enterprise applications. As per him, when they began to take a look at what they needed to do in the future, they realized that they had to really hone our skills to be able to move more aggressively and sure-footedly...
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...The AtekPC Project Management Office Case Study was assigned for this class to provide an overview of the challenges faced by management in the development and deployment of a PMO in an existing company. Based on the case study respond to the questions below incorporating not only the course reading materials, but any outside research that may be relevant. Be sure to cite the authority for any research included in your response. What were the changes in AtekPC’s business environment that caused the company to introduce a PMO? Based on your assigned readings and research, do these appear to be appropriate reasons for developing a PMO? Why or why not? “One might be cost reduction. Another motivation to get better on projects would be that we have to get more creative, adaptive, and agile in launching new products. “ [1] “The PC industry was changing, and AtekPC was engaged in dealing with dramatic pressure from larger competitors such as HP, Dell, and Lenovo. To compete in a changing industry in which consolidation was occurring, AtekPC had implemented a corporate Planning Office. Recognizing the role that IT would likely play in enabling AtekPC to respond to the industry pressures, the senior vice-president had supported the creation of a PMO within IT. “ [1] Somewhat true but not sufficient Here are some other reasons of why we should have PMO. (of course it cannot represent everything) In mature organizations, the PMO is the focal point for improvement and...
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...company to introduce a PMO? Based on your assigned readings and research do these appear to be appropriate reasons for developing a PMO? Why or why not? 2. What are the changes that will be necessary in order for AtekPC to effectively implement a PMO? Consider among other factors the program management performance domains from your Week 1 readings found in Chapter 2 of The Program Management Standard which include: (1) Program Life Cycle Management; (2) Program Benefits Management; (3) Program Stakeholder Engagement; (4) Program Governance; and, (5) Program Strategy Alignment. 3. It is clear that AtekPC never really had a Charter to guide them in developing its PMO. Draft a Program Charter for AtekPC (no longer than 3 pages) that incorporates the basic elements of a program charter discussed in your lecture materials for Week 2. Remember, the Charter is a high level document so it does not require the detail of your project scope and specifications and other project documents. Please note that there are important differences between project charters that focus on the iron triangle (scope, cost, schedule) and program charters that focus on the Program Management Domains and Program Benefit Delivery. The Project Management Office was introduced to AtekPC because of the continuous changes and stresses that were on the personal computer industry. The industry was in transition with falling profit margins. “The PC Industry was experiencing tremendous cost pressure and was...
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...PMO Challenges The AtekPC Project Management Office Case Study was assigned for this class to provide an overview of the challenges faced by management in the development and deployment of a PMO in an existing company. Based on the case study respond to the questions below incorporating not only the course reading materials, but any outside research that may be relevant. Be sure to cite the authority for any research included in your response. What were the changes in AtekPC’s business environment that caused the company to introduce a PMO? Based on your assigned readings and research, do these appear to be appropriate reasons for developing a PMO? Why or why not? “One might be cost reduction. Another motivation to get better on projects would be that we have to get more creative, adaptive, and agile in launching new products. “ [1] “The PC industry was changing, and AtekPC was engaged in dealing with dramatic pressure from larger competitors such as HP, Dell, and Lenovo. To compete in a changing industry in which consolidation was occurring, AtekPC had implemented a corporate Planning Office. Recognizing the role that IT would likely play in enabling AtekPC to respond to the industry pressures, the senior vice-president had supported the creation of a PMO within IT. “ [1] Somewhat true but not sufficient Here are some other reasons of why we should have PMO. (of course it cannot represent everything) In mature organizations, the PMO is...
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...An Analysis of AtekPC Howard Kleinberg, Mark Grover As we walk through our analysis of this case, please keep the following questions in mind: 1. What mistakes did AtekPC make in implementing its PMO? 2. What should AtekPC have done to successfully implement its PMO? Industry Background Proliferation of mobile phones, PDAs and web-based applications slowed PC popularity. Industry was undergoing a wave of Director Application Development consolidation as cost control and scale Richard Steinberg became more important. Chief Information Officer John Strider Director Technology & Operations Company Background Established in 1984, 210 full-time employees, 200 part-time employees. 2006 sales = $1.9 Billion. Dealing with an industry moving from Growth stage to Maturing stage. Strategic Planning Office established to propose business changes. SPO initiated PMO effort, focused on IT projects, with plans to become Enterprise PMO. Sales Systems Manager Lead Analyst Linda Starr Manufacturing Systems Manager Steven Gardner Lead Analyst Financial Systems Manager Lead Analyst Workgroup Communications Manager Adv. Systems Replacement Project Manager Director Project Mgmt. Support Larry Field Lead Analyst Lead Analyst IT at AtekPC - PMO was introduced to provide standardization in managing IT projects. Project Manager Pre-PMO (2007) IT projects are managed by development staff (Lead Analysts). Used informal approach to projects = rapid response...
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...1. Purpose and mission for the PMO • The purpose of PMO was comprised of two categories: Project-focused and enterprise-oriented • Project-focused responsibilities strived to provide consulting, mentoring and training. These were the primary means for AtekPC to implement PMO in their organization. • Enterprise-oriented responsibilities focused on portfolio management, PM standards and project performance. • To derive the benefits (It performance in project performance, efficiency and resource utilization) from consistent project practices. • Providing mentoring and support project management for key projects identified by the IT executives. • To better prioritize what we work on, and taking a lead from that idea for building a business understanding of whatever the idea comes along. 2. Challenges of implementing PMO Intro: CIO faced with a lot of difficulties when implementing a PMO in AtekPC. Regardless of the technical challenges during the implementation, the core problem was of the PMO lacking organization support, from the top to the bottom. • There was not enough executive stakeholder support. • There was no visibility of the program. • There was a conflict of interests within departments. • People were reluctant to change the ways they had been doing things. Challenges to overcome: Light or heavy? • PMO vision and role were not clearly defined. There was no complete consensus regarding...
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...Project Management MGMT E-5030 Critical Steps to Launching Successful Initiatives Syllabus Harvard Extension School Winter Session January 4, 2011-January 20, 2011 2:00-5:00pm Location: 1 Story Street, room 306 Faculty: David A. Shore, PhD Associate Dean Director Project Management in Health Care Programs Harvard School of Public Health dshore@hsph.harvard.edu 617-998-1090 Christina Thompson Lively, EdM Research Associate Center for Continuing Professional Education Harvard School of Public Health chthomps@hsph.harvard.edu 617-998-1087 Office hours: 1:30-2:00pm on days when the class meets. Faculty are also available via phone and email throughout the course. Snow Cancellations: 617-495-4024, 617-496-NEWS, Harvard Extension Website http://extension.dce.harvard.edu SYLLABUS OUTLINE I. Course Description II. Course Purpose III. Teaching Methodology IV. Assignments V. Course Material VI. Evaluation and Grading VII. Class Schedule VIII. Detailed Class Schedule I. Course Description This course introduces the tasks and challenges fundamental to project management, the vital function of managing complex projects across multiple functions. Successful project managers possess the skills necessary to manage their teams, schedules, risks, and resources to produce a desired outcome. Students learn the skills and tools of project management with a practical, hands-on approach. A key and often overlooked challenge for project managers...
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...By reading the case of AtekPC project management office, people will find many problems related to project management for the CIO when he built a project management office in the enterprise. There are problems with the lack of stakeholder support and department management, no complete consensus regarding project management office’s purpose and responsibilities, and so on; however, in my opinion, the biggest problem is the limitation of past corporate culture. From this case, one can see that the company has informal project management without disciplined process and standards. The change of project management methods should not be too rigid, because it will fail. In other words, company employees are hard to treat the project management office and the project management processes formally, and it is bad for the development of the project management office and the whole company. The Project Management Body of Knowledge wrote that “A PMO may have the authority to act as an integral stakeholder and a key decision maker throughout the life of each project, to make recommendations, or to terminate projects or take other actions, as required, to remain aligned with the business objectives.” This sentence means that project management office should have authority to decide and manage every detail in each project. Although the past corporate culture should be changed for competing in a changing industry, it should not be too forced. Because that culture is what people are accustomed...
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...BUS 691 CASE STUDY The AtekPC Program Management Office (P MO) 1) What is the purpose and mission of the PMO? PMO strives to standardize and introduce economies of repetition in the execution of projects. The PMO is the source of documentation, guidance and metrics on the practice of project management and execution. The purpose and mission of the PMO can be summarized as follow; • Establishing and “standardizing” project management processes, which can reduce the upfront time and cost of initiating each project • Providing the Quality Assurance for all projects – from the assessment of project deliverable quality to auditing the progress and compliance of individual projects against objectives and processes • Supplementing project resources for specific projects activities, such as initial Project Planning; Project Monitoring and performance measurements; and review of project deliverables • Coaching and mentoring of Project Managers and project team members • Fulfilling a need for a “centralized” repository of Project Management knowledge, best practices, lessons learned, and resources 2) What are the main challenges and obstacles in implementing PMO? The main obtacles in implementing PMO as follows; • Rigid corporate culture and failure to manage organizational resistance to change • Lack of experienced project managers (PMs) and PMO leadership • Lack of appropriate change management strategy 3) What structures and governance...
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...MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS (MIS) Term 1; ECTS: 10 (July 2-22, 2015) Prof. D P Goyal, Ph.D. Management Development Institute Gurgaon-122001, New Delhi, INDIA dpgoyal@mdi.ac.in;dpgoyal23@gmail.com 1 INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROFESSOR Dr. D P Goyal is Professor at Management Development Institute, Gurgaon, New Delhi, India (www.mdi.ac.in/faculty/detail/28-d-p-goyal/). • • • • • • • • Post Graduate in Business Management; Doctorate in MIS Over 29 years of experience in teaching, research, consulting & executive training Published more than hundred research papers in national / international journals of repute Published 18 books including three well acclaimed text books one each on MIS from Macmillan; ERP from McGraw-Hill; and IT project Management from Macmillan Have supervised 13 Ph.D. research scholars Completed many sponsored research projects On the Board of Governors; Advisory Board; Academic Council; Board of Studies of many business Schools/Universities Member of editorial board and review panel of several referred journals OBJECTIVES OF THE COURSE The main objectives of the course are to provide the management student a broad understanding of: • • • • • Information Systems (such as Transaction Processing Systems, Management Information Systems, Decision Support systems, etc) from a Business Perspective Information Systems Planning Key IT Technologies, and the implications of these technologies for managers Identifying...
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...Bentley University McCallum Graduate School of Business Administration GS601-100 Strategic Information Fundamentals Spring 2012 Syllabus & Schedule as of January 3, 2012 Professor: Dennis Anderson Office: Smith 402 Email: danderson@bentley.edu Office Phone: 781 891 2238 Class Times: Section 100: Monday, 7:30 - 9:50 pm Office Hours: For quick/easy questions, send me an email. For tough questions, career advice and other matters, face to face is better, and I’m happy to meet with you by appointment. Description: GS601 provides an enterprise-wide perspective on the management of information technologies (IT), software applications and the operational processes they support, and the data and knowledge that inform business processes and decisions. The course focuses on how IT professionals and non-technical managers work together to ensure that applications and data are aligned with organizational strategy and business processes. The cases and readings examine how companies in various industries use IT to serve customers well, manage operations efficiently, coordinate with business partners, and make better business decisions. A key theme -- IT as a double-edged sword -- reflects a central challenge: how to maximize the strategic benefits of investments in hardware and software, while minimizing accompanying technical and business risks. The course places equal weight on technical and managerial skills. Our primary objective is to...
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