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Selling Executives on Project Management

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Assignment 3: Selling Executives on Project Management
Deborah Miller
Strayer University
Project Management BUS 375
Professor George Dollar
May 22, 2015

1. Analyze the fundamental reasons why the executives in the case refused to listen to their own employees but were willing to listen to a consultant. Discuss the main reasons why the executives still seemed apprehensive even after the consultant’s presentation. 2. Imagine that you are the consultant from the case study. Speculate on three (3) strategies that you could employ to get the executives to understand your point of view and thus support your project management recommendations. I believe there are three fundamental reasons why the executives in the case refused to listen to their own employees but were willing to listen to a consultant. The first is the belief that the consultants possess top-level expertise in the field, whereas employees possess only average knowledge in the field. In other words, executives were receptive to the consultant because of their status. They were able to call on someone who they believed combined excellent management skills…with high-level industry-specific expertise (MBA & Company, 2014).
The second reason is the belief that employees are looking out for own interests, rather than the company's interest (i.e. management’s interest). In noncooperative cultures, employees are more concerned about their well-being and personal interests than that of their team, organization or stakeholders (Kerzner, 2013). This is evident in the case by the executives’ selfishness and insecurities in putting their personal needs above that of the company. At present, they are willing to sacrifice the company’s growth and success in order to retain control of their respective areas.
The final reason is the desire or need for an outside perspective. External consultants have a

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