Case Study - Corwin Corporation
March 13th 2013

Written by
Andreas Sandnes

The project going on at Corwin Corporations developed into a disaster. The project is an excellent example of how a project will fail if critical success factors are not stated from the beginning and how easily things can get out of hand. I will first explain how I would have done things differently if I was the project leader of this project and then I will end the discussion by giving a suggestion of how to salvage the relationship between Corwin and Peters.

A different approach
The project leader, Mr. Dan West, had a bad approach to the way of doing things on the project and his choices and actions along the way resulted in project failure. Already from the beginning of the project it became clear that success would be extremely difficult for this project. Three major factors which were not involved in the project should have been involved. First, the project contract should have been signed and agreed upon before the project planning started. Second, Mr. West should have gathered everyone working on the project for a kick-off meeting to discuss everything from project objectives to project working policies. Last, a weekly meeting between every stake holders should have taken place. I believe that if these tree actions had taken place there would have been a much larger possibility for success.
Mr. West was facing a challenge that was almost impossible to overcome, considering his lack of experience in being a project leader. He did not handle the situation with the in-house representative, Mr. Patrick Ray, very well. This is a situation that could have been avoided if the contract and the kick-off meeting had taken place before any planning or testing started up. The in-house representative, Mr. Ray, was originally there to observe the project progress and report back to the