Activity 1: Read and discuss the following case: Tom Walters recently accepted a new

position at his college as the Director of Information Technology. Tom had been a
respected faculty member at the college for the past 15 years. The college—a small,
private institution in the Southwest—offers a variety of programs in the liberal arts and
professional areas. Enrollment includes 1,500 full-time traditional students and about
1,000 working adults attending evening programs. Many instructors supplement their
courses with information on the Internet and course Websites, but they do not offer
distance-learning programs. The college’s niche is serving students in the region who like
the setting of a small liberal arts college. Like other institutions of higher learning, the
use of IT at the college has grown tremendously in the past 10 years. Wireless access is
available everywhere on campus. Only a few classrooms on campus have computers for
the instructors and students, and most other classrooms have only instructor stations and
projection systems. Tom knew that several colleges throughout the country require that
all students lease laptops or tablets, and that these colleges incorporate technology
components into most courses. This idea fascinated him. He and two other members of
the IT department visited a local college that had required all students to lease laptops for
the past three years, and they were very impressed with what they saw and heard.
Because tablets were becoming more popular, they thought it would make more sense to
require tablets instead of laptops. Tom had heard how easy it was for faculty members to
create interactive course materials that would run on tablets; these materials also could
help reduce the cost of textbooks, a concern expressed by many of his students. Tom and
his staff developed plans to start requiring students either to lease or purchase tablets at
their college the next year.
Tom sent an e-mail to all faculty and staff in September, and briefly described his plans.
He did not get much response, however, until the February faculty meeting. As he
described some of the details of his plan, the chairs of the History, English, Philosophy,
and Economics departments all voiced their opposition to the idea. They eloquently
stated that the college was not a technical training school, and that they did not have time
to write their own course materials to run on tablets. They liked the books they used, and
students could already buy books in an electronic format, but most preferred the print
versions. Members of the Computer Science department voiced their concern that almost
all of their students already had state-of-the art laptops and would not want to pay a
mandatory fee to lease less-powerful tablets. The director of the adult education program
expressed her concern that many adult education students would balk at an increase in
fees or required technology. Tom was in shock to hear his colleagues’ responses,
especially after he and his staff had spent a lot of time planning how to implement tablets
at their campus. Now what should he do?
Questions for discussion:
Who is Tom Walter?
Tom Walters recently accepted a new position at his college as the Director of
Information Technology. Tom had been a respected faculty member at the college for the
past 15 years
What is the project about?
 The project is about students and instructors will change using laptops into tablets
What did Tom do with the project? Did those activities bring good results?
Tom and his staff developed plans to start requiring students either to lease or purchase
tablets at their college the next year. Tom sent an e-mail to all faculty and staff in
September, and briefly described his plans. Those activities bring bad result because the
instructors opposite to the idea due to not having time to write their own courses
materials to run on tablets
What should he do in this situation?
He should go step by step to convince people and give more advantages of that project.
He should spend more time and patience to change their mind in a long time
Activity 2:
Answer questions In this workshop, you are to prepare answers to the following
questions. You can discuss with your peers, research on the Internet, or use the textbook.
Answer:

Type of Waterfall Iterative Incremental

lifecycles
Advantages -simple and easy to understand
and use.
- easy to manage due to the
rigidity of the model – each
phase has specific deliverables
and a review process.
- In this model phases are
processed and completed one
at a time. Phases do not
overlap.
-Waterfall model works well
for smaller projects where
requirements are clearly
defined and very well
understood.
- create a high-level design
of the application
- building and improving the
product step by step. Hence
we can track the defects at
early stages. This avoids the
downward flow of the
defects.
- get the reliable user
feedback
- iterative model less time is
spent on documenting and
more time is given for
designing.
-Generates working software
quickly and early during the
software life cycle.
-This model is more flexible –
less costly to change scope and
requirements.
-It is easier to test and debug
during a smaller iteration.
-In this model customer can
respond to each built.
-Lowers initial delivery cost.
-Easier to manage risk because
risky pieces are identified and
handled during it’d iteration.

Disadvantages - difficult to go back and
change something that was not
well-thought out in the concept
stage.
- No working software is
produced until late during the
life cycle.
-High amounts of risk and
uncertainty.
- Each phase of an iteration
is rigid with no overlaps
-Costly system architecture
or design issues may arise
because not all requirements
are gathered up front for the
entire lifecycle
-Needs good planning and
design.
-Needs a clear and complete
definition of the whole system
before it can be broken down
and built incrementally.
-Total cost is higher
than waterfall
 -Not a good model for
complex and object-oriented
projects.
-Poor model for long and
ongoing projects.
-Not suitable for the projects
where requirements are at a
moderate to high risk of
changing.
Used - Waterfall projects are driven
techniques from the top of a project’s
hierarchy
Suitable -This model is used only when -Requirements of the
projects the requirements are very well complete system are clearly the requirements of the complete
known, clear and fixed.
-Product definition is stable.
-Technology is understood.
-There are no ambiguous
requirements
-Ample resources with
required expertise are available
freely
-The project is short.
when we when we
work iteratively we create work incrementally we are
rough product or product adding piece by piece but expect
piece in one iteration, then that each piece is fully finished.
review it and improve it in Thus keep on adding the pieces
next iteration and so on until
until it’s complete. Then he
it’s finished. As shown in started building it and in the first
the image above, in the firstiteration the first module of the
iteration the whole painting application or product is totally
is sketched roughly, then in ready and can be demoed to the
the second iteration colors customers.
are filled and in the third in the second iteration the other
iteration finishing is done. module is ready and integrated
Hence, in iterative model thewith the first module. Similarly,
whole product is developed in the third iteration the whole
step by step. product is ready and integrated.
Hence, the product got ready
step by step.
-This model can be used when
defined and understood. system are clearly defined and
-When the project is big. understood.
-Major requirements must be -Major requirements must be
defined; however, some defined; however, some details
details can evolve with time. can evolve with time.
-There is a need to get a product
to the market early.
-A new technology is being used
-Resources with needed skill set
are not available
-There are some high risk
features and goals.
Useful Agile and Waterfall Iterative and incremental
combinations development is any
combination of both iterative
design or iterative
method and incremental
build
model for development.
Iterative and incremental
development is any combination
of both iterative
design or iterative
method and incremental build
model for development.

2. What does it mean to take a “systems view” of a project? Why is it important to

take such a view of a project in project management?
Answer: taking systems view means looking at the big picture of how a particular project
fits into the rest of the organization. It is important for project managers to understand the
broader organizational environment to ensure their projects meet organizational needs.
3. List the four frames of organization. Give a possible scenario to show how a
project manager (with an understanding of the four frames) will have a better
chance of succeeding in the project he or she manages.
Answer:

-goals - social - skill - align

- policies - architecture - relationships
- technology - technology - empowerment
- environment - environment -organizational & human needs
Structural Human

Political Symbolic
-power - advocacy - culture - stories

- conflict - meaning - heroes

- competition - ritual - inspiration

-organization politics - ceremony

4. Describe how organizational culture is related to project management. Based on

your research, provide an URL that points to an article that talks about how
organization culture can affect the success of a project.
Answer:
Things like the culture and structure of an organization can influence the way projects are
managed and executed.
 Along the same lines, the level of maturity of project management within an organization
and the management processes in place can also impact how smoothly a project is carried
out.  
As soon as a project involves multiple third parties such as partners, sub-contractors or
even clients, the success of the project quickly becomes dependant on the contributions of
each stakeholder. Also, with teleworking, it can be more difficult to interpret a partner’s
maturity, which makes it all the more important to have a strong corporate culture.
For example, if a project depends upon the active participation of a sub-contractor whose
project management processes are less mature, the progress of the project could slow
down significantly, which in turn would prevent it from being delivered on time.

5. Explain the differences between functional, matrix, and project organizations. If

you are a program manager with Microsoft, which structure would you use in the
development of Microsoft’s Windows Operating System?
Answer: project manager (PM), functional manager (FM)
Balanced
Functional Weak matrix Strong matrix Projectized
matrix
Projects do not
The PM and FM The PM and FM
The PM and FM exist under
share share
Traditional share functional
responsibility, responsibility,
Description organization with a responsibility, departments.
with the FM with the PM
direct supervisor. with each having The PM has sole
having more having more
equal authority. management
authority. authority.
authority.
Authority of
project Very low Low Low to medium Medium to high High
manager
Resource
Very low Low Low to medium Medium to high High
availability
Project
manager Part time Part time Full time Full time Full time
involvement
Staff
Part time Part time Part time Full time Full time
involvement
The PM gets The PM has full
The PM gets The PM and FM
The FM holds more authority to authority to
some authority to share the
Advantages accountability for assign resources staff and
manage the responsibility of
the project. and manage the manage the
project. the project.
project. project.
The FM can see The PM and FM
The PM holds
Disadvantage The PM holds little the PM as a can be confused The FM may feel
accountability
s or no authority. threat and cause about who out of the loop.
for the project.
conflict. manages what.