1

Running Head: SHORT PAPER

Module 1: Short Paper

Katrina Descaro

Arizona State University

OGL 320

October 3, 2021
2
SHORT PAPER
Part 1 – Principles and Practices

In the beginning of my journey in Foundations of Project management, I held a greatly

varying opinion of what it takes to be effective at managing projects. In order for me to learn, I

must fully submerge myself in a subject and find interest. I cannot just read and digest

information as fact. I did just that for this course. When we were asked questions for discussions

or papers, I fully related everything I was learning to my current state. Now, because this is

indefinitely a business class, I related it to mostly situations I had or was experiencing at work.

For some situations it really helped to gain a better understanding of key features we were

missing as an organization. The course came as a double-edged sword. On one end, I am

learning all this new and critical information. Specifically, I am learning the principles and

practices of effective project management. Then on the other end of the spectrum, learning all

this information I have developed a slight animosity toward my organization I currently work

for. The animosity comes from now being able to identify discrepancies in healthy principles and

practices in an organization.

Let’s start from the beginning of my rudimentary knowledge of effective practices and

principles prior to completing the course Foundations in Project Management. I want to

emphasize, which may be rhetorical, I am a novice in this area. But, through this course, I feel I

have developed a solid foundation to go forward in project managing. We began the course with

a phenomenal article written by Calvin Sun. I am a “sucker” for analogies, metaphors, and

comparisons. For some reason it really helps me grasp a better understanding of the world

around me and new information. Calvin sun related the famous story of the sunken ship named

“The Titanic” to project management. He discussed discrepancies in how they managed the

Titanic project and explained best practices to avoid these failures. He outlined a few, but if I
3
SHORT PAPER
could only take one thing from that article and this course, it is that stakeholders play a crucial

role in project management. And even more importantly, stakeholders should be informed. The

article shares the story of one family who drowned with the Titanic. The writer explains the

mother and two children drowned in the sinking ship waiting for news of where her child was.

What the mother had not known is that her son had made it safely off the boat with their family

nurse. This makes you wonder if possibly her family’s fate could have been different if she had

been informed. Of course, there was still a chance the child and mother made it to a lifeboat, the

grim truth is that the Titanic did not have enough lifeboats per passenger to suffice everyone is

safe. Apparently in this era, lifeboat numbers were not determined by the amount of people

needed to be saved but the weight of the boat. Stakeholders are influential in determining a

projects victory. As described in our module two PowerPoint, the project manager is doing their

job when they are building stakeholder trust, which happens through exercising good

communication, staying on schedule, and within budget (p. 17).

I want to reemphasize stakeholders hold a very influential role in projects. This crucial

role equates to include your relationship with them in your list of best practices. Their

significance comes from their high interest and risk in the project they are involved with.

Productive project managers create communication arrangements for stakeholders in order to

ensure there are no issues while completing a project. An emphasis on good communication

keeps stakeholders informed and satisfied. We see a similar challenge faced in a later module

regarding poor communication. In the case study of Quasar Communications Inc.,

communication between departments was lacking due to disgruntled employees. The first project

manager expressed his concern with projects repeatedly being canceled without him being

informed. If team members are struggling to communicate internally, external communication

4
SHORT PAPER
with stakeholders is going to pose as a possible issue in future projects. To avoid issues with

stakeholders, it is imperative project managers keep them informed. Successful projects are those

who keep stakeholders informed through good communication for good principles and practices.

Module three brought us an intriguing story by Yves Behar on “Designing Objects that

Tell Stories”. This story held an influential role in identifying the importance of personal

principles and organizational values play a huge role in the development of projects. Yves Behar

approached his career with personal influences which catered to his future successes in

designing. Inspiration began in his youth through experiences of a remembered piece of family

furniture that told a story and another experience of a ski board he designed in his teenage years.

He learned through his experience that the furniture he was once fearful of as a child, created a

moment or memory that predisposed his thoughts in the future. When he looked at the piece of

furniture, it told him a story of his youth and that story, added value. Having personal value and

care in a project is a key principle to effective project management. Value should be the

fundamental emphasis in any project, whether working in sustainability or the beauty industry.

Yves Behar believes designers add value to projects and I attest. The role of a project manager is

to facilitate, manage, and organize a project from start to end. Lack of value may impact project

success. One of our writing prompts wrote something that I will never forget. The writing

prompt said; attached to every project are people who likely have both personal and professional

interests in those projects. Personally, I agree with this outlook Yves Behr has in regard to value

resulting in project successes. Each individual person has a different set of morals and values that

inspires to be involved or complete our work. When a person has a special interest in something,

they will undoubtedly put forth more effort into that specific piece of work rather than a person

who shows no interest or value. When you do not have care, interest, or value, it shows in the
5
SHORT PAPER
final product. It does not matter whether the interest or value is personal or professional. Value is

a key principle and practice in effective project management.

The Harold Kerzner’s Project Management book of case studies presented us with some

thought-provoking studies. Two case studies really stood out to me personally. The first case

study that I can relate to effective practice and principles is the case study regarding Ducor

Chemical. In this case study we are presented with a project manager who focuses only on the

best interest of their project. It is specifically their project because the text left evidence stating a

promotion solely relies on the current project. On the other hand, we have a line manager who is

attempting to make unbiassed decisions on the company's behalf. A line manager should be an

extension of a project manager. Both partner roles should be cohesive and fluid in all aspects of

their project. The dynamic emulated from this group is neither. At one point in this module, we

were asked if we should remove a low performing team member. I think this question provokes a

very crucial principle to adhere to when managing projects. Instead of removing any employee

or in this particular case study, a chemist from the team, we should consider mutual

accountability for team members. Mutual accountability was a suggested best practice in our

Harvard Guide and I think it is one of the most important practice. According to our assigned

textbook HBR Guide, most teams have a basis where the total group outcome is based

specifically on individual input. This promotes a culture that every man is for themselves. How

lonely? Rather, the idea with this practice focuses on mutual accountability. This idea

emphasizes a collaborative working environment that we cannot see Ducor Chemical providing

for its employees and organization. Dealing with conflict is a main job duty for project

managers. We can relate this conflict to the idea of removing underperforming team members.
6
SHORT PAPER
It is crucial to have principles and practices we have that will lead us in our future

careers. I thought another best practice I found in our text in relation to Ducor Chemical. The

HBR guide states to embrace those mixes in complementary skills. In a society where difference

is usually shunned, our guide is saying to embrace it. This acknowledges that not each individual

in the group will come into the group with all favoring characteristics of what is necessary to get

the job done. We need to change our mindset as a manager. Instead, we should be

acknowledging what challenges each member and adjust our focuses to assist them on how to

better face these challenges. So, instead of Ducor Chemical removing the unfavored chemist,

they can take accountability and work as a team to grow everyone. Ducor Chemical is a great

example of how project managers should incorporate these best practices to be a successful

manager and a key idea I will take away from this course.

Part 2 – Reflection

These case studies and stories presented above in which I just discussed, brought me so

much growth and a greater understanding of project management. These articles and videos

added color to what was once a grey subject. When discussing with my partner the course, it

came up that I struggled in the beginning with the group project. It was the only thing I felt that I

could define as trying. I interpret this as I am still a novice in managing projects. Although I have

all this vital information, I have never physically had to execute a project or work on a team

where I played a crucial role. This group project showed me how important an outline is or work

breakdown structure and defined group member roles. I believe a group project presents a

difficult situation when defining a work breakdown structure and roles. The hierarchy in a

workplace is already determined. That person who is project manager would take the lead in

breaking down the work into packages. But, in a group setting, no one really wants to be “that”
7
SHORT PAPER
person to step up and tell everyone what they are doing. I am not against group projects.

Although they make me uncomfortable, I have seen great personal growth when participating. I

think they are so important to help facilitate that connection and turn words into things/give you

experience. But it would be beneficial if the roles were randomly selected prior to projects and

all group members can take turn being the leader or project manager. Then at the end they can

come together and collaborate on how they felt, what they struggle with, and advice from an

outsider’s perspective.
8
SHORT PAPER
References

Bailey, C. (2018, October 29). 4 Strategies for Overcoming Distractions. Harvard

Business Review. https://hbr.org/2018/08/4-strategies-for-overcoming-distraction.

Bulriss, R. (2021, August 30). Project management fundamentals [PowerPoint slides].

Leadership and Integrative Studies, Arizona State University.

https://canvas.asu.edu/courses/82828/files/29205969/download?wrap=1

Bulriss R. (2021, August 30). Quasar Communications, Inc. Leadership and Integrative

Studies, Arizona State University.

https://canvas.asu.edu/courses/92273/pages/module-2-to-read?

module_item_id=6057162

Harvard Business School Press. (2004). Managing projects large and small: The

fundamental skills for delivering on budget and on time.

Sun, C. (2012, April 14). 10 project management lessons from the Titanic disaster.

TechRepublic. https://www.techrepublic.com/blog/10-things/10-project-

management-lessons-from-the-titanic-disaster/.

TED conference. (2008). TEDTalks: Yves Behar--Creating objects that tell stories.

https://www.ted.com/talks/yves_behar_designing_objects_that_tell_stories.