...Background M&M is a well-established regional accounting firm with 160 employees located across six offices in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Their primary services are corporate audits and tax preparation. Over the last two years the partners decided to move more aggressively into the consulting business. M&M projected that consulting would represent 40 percent of their growth over the next five years. M&M operated within a matrix structure. As new clients were recruited, a manager was assigned to the account. A manager might be assigned to several accounts, depending on the size and scope of the work. This was especially true in the case of tax preparation projects, where it was not uncommon for a manager to be assigned to 8 to 12 clients. Likewise, senior and staff accountants were assigned to multiple account teams. Ruby Sands was the office manager responsible for assigning personnel to different accounts at the Green Bay office. She did her best to assign staff to multiple projects under the same manager. This wasn’t always possible, and sometimes accountants had to work on projects led by different managers. M&M, like most accounting firms, had a tiered promotion system. New CPAs entered as junior or staff accountants. Within two years, their performance was reviewed and they were either asked to leave or promoted to senior accountant. Sometime during their fifth or sixth year, a decision was made to promote them to account manager. Finally, after 10 to...
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...RUNNING HEAD: MOSS AND MCADAMS Assignment #1: Moss and McAdams Accounting Firm Strayer University Dr. Lucinda Blue Bus 517 October 23, 2011 Explain how you would respond if you were Palmer at the end of the case Bruce Palmer was a good guy looking to make a difference. He was lead to believe that Zeke Olds was going to be available to him throughout the project and that was not the case. He was led astray and betrayed by Ken Crosby, a new guy to M&M. Crosby knew if he made the case to Sands early, that he would get his way. The client was one that M&M was competing to get with two other big 5 accounting firms and since Crosby came from a Big 5 accounting firm, M&M was going to give him whatever he needed to complete the project. Crosby was recruited specifically to manage special projects and this qualified as such. Even though Olds was already slated to work on the Johnsonville audit, Sands was persuaded by Crosby to let Olds work on his team due to the expertise that was essential to the Springfield project. If I was Palmer I would have talked to management about how the process is being handled and offer up a suggestion so that no other project manager would be misled by another. Palmer should have stood firm with Crosby from the beginning and maybe there would not have been a major issue along the way. He waited too long to talk with Sands and it proved that Palmers passive way was his demise in dealing with Crosby and ultimately lost him Olds on his...
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...1. Explain how you would respond if you were Palmer at the end of the case. It appears as though Palmer was operating in a weak matrix structure where he had indirect authority to expedite the project and very little influence over the staff assigned. If I were him in this situation, I would express to Ruby Sands the office manager that this situation was beyond my control as a result of Olds being assigned to a task that was very demanding of his time and him not being able to balance that with the expectations of the Johnsonville audit. I would confirm awareness of the importance of the Springfield consulting project to the company’s strategic objectives i.e. to grow its consulting services by 40 percent within 5 years however, I would suggest that for a venture as important as Springfield the team should be chosen carefully and a compromise worked out by management in the event staff must be shared. I would also bring to her attention that the Johnsonville audit was behind schedule as a result of the decision to assign Olds to Crosby’s project which resulted in him being consistently late due to the demands of the Springfield project. I would inform her of the times that was wasted when Olds should have been working on the Johnsonville audit and instead worked on Crosby’s assignment. I would recommend that Sands communicate with management to make them aware of the new developments so that the situation is not used against me for future promotions in the event I...
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...Explain how you would respond if you were Palmer at the end of the case. It is obvious that everyone involved could have handled things differently in order to maximize time and resources while maintaining a healthy and product work environment for all involved. From the beginning it was evident that Olds skills were definitely in demand. It’s not question that due to his background, Olds talent was quite possibly the best that the Moss and McAdams Accounting Firm had. Because his expertise was so in demand, when met with an organizational structure that had an obvious weak matrix structure, it caused hardship. A weak matrix closely resembles the functional approach, which among other things gives functional managers responsibility over the project manager (Gray & Larson, 2009). In this case Ruby Sands had the role of functional manager and therefore ultimately made a decision that affected Palmer’s account. From the onset of the situation, Palmer should have voiced his concerns regarding spreading his project members to think across other accounts. Due to the weak matrix environment, it may not have mattered. As soon as Palmer recognized the problems he should have addressed the issue. At the end of the case, Palmer should accept that the decision made by management was the best decision for all parties involved. Valuable employees leave projects all the time for one reason or another. The only reasonable thing to do is find a suitable replacement and continue on with...
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...“Moss and Mcadams Accounting Firm” Explain how you would respond if you were Palmer at the end of the case. It is obvious that everyone involved could have handled things differently in order to maximize time and resources while maintaining a healthy and product work environment for all involved. From the beginning it was evident that Olds skills were definitely in demand. It’s not question that due to his background, Olds talent was quite possibly the best that the Moss and McAdams Accounting Firm had. Because his expertise was so in demand, when met with an organizational structure that had an obvious weak matrix structure, it caused hardship. A weak matrix closely resembles the functional approach, which among other things gives functional managers responsibility over the project manager (Gray & Larson, 2009). In this case Ruby Sands had the role of functional manager and therefore ultimately made a decision that affected Palmer’s account. From the onset of the situation, Palmer should have voiced his concerns regarding spreading his project members to think across other accounts. Due to the weak matrix environment, it may not have mattered. As soon as Palmer recognized the problems he should have addressed the issue. At the end of the case, Palmer should accept that the decision made by management was the best decision for all parties involved. Valuable employees leave projects all the time for one reason or another. The only reasonable thing to do...
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...order to complete projects on both ends. In addition, the parties involved could have handled things differently in order to maximize time and resources while maintaining a healthy and productive work environment. At the end of the case I believe that Palmer felt as if he was cheated because he did not receive the full potential of Olds. However, this issue could have been avoided with the project screening process, which should have been assessed when Sands was delegating team members based on their credentials and responsibilities (Gray, 2008). Based on Olds credentials it was evident that his skills were definitely in demand for those particular projects. In fact, it was obvious that his talent was quite possibly the best that the Moss and McAdams Accounting Firm had. In this case Ruby Sands had the role of functional manager and therefore ultimately made a decision that affected Palmer’s account. Initially her job encompassed the responsibility of the project manager which is to balance the project type, risk and resource demand, if expertise individuals were to be used (Hobbs, 1993). Once Palmer was presented with the issue of sharing, he should have addressed the issue and requested that Sands find him another individual with credential similar to Olds. As Palmer, I would have been dismayed by the decision of management; however, I would have accepted the decision and understood that valuable employees leave projects for varies reasons. In result of this situation the only...
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...Moss and McAdams Accounting Firm Tyrone Adaway BUS 517 Project Management Dr. Flores April 20, 2012 1. Explain how you would respond if you were Bruce at the end of the case. I would be furious beyond belief; I would feel very disrespected and unappreciated by the company at the end of this case. To be forced to work with a subpar team member for several months who had shown poor performance and cause my project to run behind, only to then be told that not only were they going to remove him from my project and leave me shorthanded it was him who got to make the decision. My response to Sands would be one that expressed my concern for the image that may be presented by allowing this to be the way that business is conducted. Since it is standard practice to have junior associates assigned to more than one project as at a time, by allowing him to choose the project that he’s “more interested” in may lead to other jr. associates to put forth less than stellar work in the projects that they are not interested in doing in the hopes that they will be able to not do that work. Also I would advise them that while Springfield account is important the Johnsonville account is equal as important and we are sending the wrong message to the client that we do not value their business as much since we are taking people off their account to put them on other accounts. Thirdly I would remind her that he was initially assigned to work on the Johnsonville account and that his participation...
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...1. Explain how you would respond if you were Palmer at the end of the case. It appears as though Palmer was operating in a weak matrix structure where he had indirect authority to expedite the project and very little influence over the staff assigned. If I were him in this situation, I would express to Ruby Sands the office manager that this situation was beyond my control as a result of Olds being assigned to a task that was very demanding of his time and him not being able to balance that with the expectations of the Johnsonville audit. I would confirm awareness of the importance of the Springfield consulting project to the company’s strategic objectives i.e. to grow its consulting services by 40 percent within 5 years however, I would suggest that for a venture as important as Springfield the team should be chosen carefully and a compromise worked out by management in the event staff must be shared. I would also bring to her attention that the Johnsonville audit was behind schedule as a result of the decision to assign Olds to Crosby’s project which resulted in him being consistently late due to the demands of the Springfield project. I would inform her of the times that was wasted when Olds should have been working on the Johnsonville audit and instead worked on Crosby’s assignment. I would recommend that Sands communicate with management to make them aware of the new developments so that the situation is not used against me for future promotions in the event I am...
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...Explain how you would respond if you were Palmer at the end of the case. If I were Palmer, I would have mixed emotions with Ruby Sands’s decision to move Olds to Crosby’s team at the end. On one side, I will be glad to see the change in management stance towards Olds time share among multiple projects. On other hand, I will be disappointed to lose good resource like Olds. I would have taken this opportunity to explain how difficult it is for senior accountants in the company to share their time between multiple projects. I would have requested management to investigate deeply into current situation and how the organization culture is the responsible for it. M&M is a result-driven organization and promotions are based on meeting deadlines, retaining clients, and generating revenues. Also, the promotion team makes its decision based on relative performance of the account manager in comparison to his or her cohorts (Gray & Larson, 2009, p. 83). This approach has discouraged teamwork and cooperation and has led to conflict and negative culture among the project teams. I would have taken this opportunity to discuss the delay caused by Olds to Johnsonville Audit project and to negotiate with management to allocate an extra resource along with Olds replacement. This extra resource will allow me to make up for the delays and meet the project deadline. I would have asked management to report this incident to promotion team and make it count in evaluating performance. Discuss...
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...1. Explain how you would respond if you were Peter at the end of the case. If I were Peter I would feel very disenchanted with the company at the end of this case. To be forced to work with a subpar team member for several months who had shown poor performance and cause my project to run behind, only to then be told that not only were they going to remove him from my project and leave me shorthanded it was him who got to make the decision. My response to Sands would be one that expressed my concern for the image that may be presented by allowing this to be the way that business is conducted. Since it is standard practice to have junior associates assigned to more than one project as at a time, by allowing him to choose the project that he’s “more interested” in may lead to other jr. associates to put forth less than stellar work in the projects that they are not interested in doing in the hopes that they will be able to not do that work. Also I would advise them that while Springfield account is important the Johnsonville account is equal as important and we maybe sending a message to the client that we do not value their business as much since we are taking people off their account to put them on other accounts. Thirdly I would remind her that he was initially assigned to work on the Johnsonville account and that his participation in the Springfield account was consented to with assurance that it would not be an issue, and that I would like them to take in this...
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...Explain how you would respond if you were Peter at the end of the case. Peter should have addressed the issue much sooner instead of waiting until the project was so far behind before he decided to take action. Although Peter did not get the outcome he desired, it is evident that the move the out Olds on Crosby’s project full time was better for the company and better for Olds. The consulting project that Crosby was in charge of sounds like it is a bigger deal for the firm than the audit so it in the company’s best interest to have their best people on that project. Since Peter was getting substandard work from Old’s he should make the concession to give up Olds in return for a suitable replacement and could ask for some type of compensation for the concession. Discuss what Palmer could do, if anything, to avoid losing Olds. Since the Olds has to shift his focus from consulting to auditing when he shows up for work in the afternoon it is causing him to produce lower quality work. It may be better for Palmer to change the work schedule so that Olds isn’t switching functions from morning to night but instead split up his work week so that he is working on one project on certain days and then working on the other project on the rest of the days. This would result in a less stressful situation for Olds since he won’t have to stop what he is doing to change projects midway through the day. Palmer may also find a way to provide more incentives for Olds so that Olds feels valued...
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...Gray Case: Moss and McAdams Accounting Firm 1. If you were Palmer at the end of the case, how would you respond? If I were in Palmer’s position, I would accept Sands and Olds choice and move on as the bottom line is to work towards accomplishing the organization’s goals. Considering the toll the situation had on Olds, it would be only fair to grant his wish and ensure that things get back right on track. In addition, I would also persuade Sands to find someone who has a skill set close to Olds, so that the slipping schedule can be brought back on track and ensure that the project is completed successfully. I would also convey my message that I did not appreciate a key resource being pulled mid way to work on another project to the senior management so that this situation can be avoided if possible in future. 2. What, if anything, could Palmer have done to avoid losing Olds? Palmer should have engaged in a conversation with the Project Sponsor to explain the importance of having Olds on the Johnsonville Project, which may have encouraged Crosby to look for another suitable employee. Considering the basic nature of the Johnsonville project and the high profile status of Crosby’s project, it makes more sense for Olds to move to Crosby’s project keeping the company’s goals in mind. In addition, Crosby seemed to be relationship oriented, indeed he gave his team some rewards such as lunch at a good restaurant, game of golf, tickets to the baseball games. In contrast, Palmer...
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...Semester X, 20XX BSMAN3005 Project Management Student Number __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ Family Name _______________________ First Name _______________________ Federation Business School EXAMINATION Semester X, 20XX BSMAN3005 Project Management Examination Duration: 150 minutes Reading Time: Total Marks: 30 10 minutes EXAMINATION RULES Exam Conditions: 1. Do not detach any portion of the examination paper. This is a THEORY examination This is a CLOSED BOOK examination. Materials Permitted In The Exam Venue: Normal writing materials Materials To Be Supplied To Students: 1 x FedUni Standard Answer Booklet Instructions To Students: In Section A: Short Answer Questions, answer only five (5) of the thirteen (13) questions. Each answer should be at least half a page in length. 2. Listen for all instructions from venue supervisors. 3. Do not begin writing until reading time has ended. 4. Ensure that you print your name and student number on all exam papers, answer booklets and multiple choice sheets. In Section B: Case Study Questions, answer all the questions. The total answer should be at least 2 pages in length. DO NOT REMOVE ANY PART OF THIS PAPER FROM THE EXAM ROOM. Page 1 of 4 Semester X, 20XX BSMAN3005 Project Management Section A: Short Answer Questions (20 Marks) Answer only five (5) of the thirteen (13) questions below. Each answer should be at least half a page in length. ___...
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...27 collective effectiveness. This finding illustrates how the impact of social ties on individuals’ perceptions manifests itself in different ways. Moreover, it shows that there is a privileged path (highlighted with bold arrows in Figures 1 and 2) leading to strong participation in social movements. Of all perceptions, individual effectiveness is the factor in the decision process that most closely influences the level of participation in both the Bern Declaration and the WWF. Prospective members with a strong feeling that if they engage in protest, their participation will serve at least to a certain extent to bring about social change will actualize their potential for mobilization at the highest level of involvement. Individual effectiveness is also one of the perceptions of the model that is most influenced by social networks, directly but also indirectly via interest in the political issue and the perception of the organization’s effectiveness . This last result highlights the close interweaving between social ties and individual effectiveness. In other words, it stresses the interconnectedness of relational factors and human agency, and demonstrates that both structuralist and rationalist accounts are indispensable to explanation of individual participation. Conclusion Social networks matter, but they do so by performing various functions in the process of individual participation. They intervene at least three different ways. First, they intervene in the socialization...
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...1. Explain how you would respond if you were Palmer at the end of the case. The Moss and McAdams (M&M) Accounting Firm has six offices located across Minnesota and Wisconsin. They are prominent in the community and staff over 150 employees. The main office is located where the story takes place in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Often in companies with a smaller staff there may be one person responsible for multiple tasks. This can have both negative and positive effects on the organization. For example people may feel comfortable going to the same person for something but what do they do that person is unavailable or may not have the answer? Bruce Palmer is a newly promoted account manager for M&M who was assigned to lead an audit of Johnsville Trucks. Palmer was impressed with the team assigned to work with him but one particular individual stood out. Zeke Olds is an accountant on the Palmer’s team who received a double major in accounting and computer sciences making him more than qualified. After account manager Ken Crosby joined the M&M team he also noticed the great knowledge and strengths Olds had to offer. Since Palmer and Crosby are players for the same team M&M they agreed to use Olds on both projects although this is against usual protocol. Ruby Sands is the office manager responsible for assigning personnel to different accounts amongst the company. She does her best to make fair and logical decisions but sometimes she has to assign accountants to work on projects led by...
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