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Suburban homes - assignment

MARKETING STRATEGY AND IMPLEMENTATION (Sullivan University)

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Read the Suburban Homes Construction Project case study found at the end of chapters 1 through
4, CPM 4e and answer the following questions in a paper formatted using a question-response
format:

Question 1 (from Unit 1) – What advice would you offer to Adam Smith on improving the
performance of project management and increasing project success rate? Minimum 250
words.

Firstly, since Suburban Homes Construction Project Company (SHCPC) is venturing into a new
geographical area it has to do its due research. The topographic down south is way different from
the Midwest so firstly that possess construction challenges in clay soil. Adam having years of
construction experience may be the right fit to take up this daring task headfirst. My advice to Adam
would be as follows, study the market in the southern states, educate oneself about the civic body
guidelines, rules and regulations. Also gather information about the competing companies. Adam
being the new employee to SHCPC, should at first assimilate himself into the company’s culture,
establish good communicative relationships with his new colleagues, make sure he fully understands
his role and authority level. He should focus on most of the knowledge areas like Integration
management, Time & Cost management, Quality management, Human resources & Risk
management. It would be also necessary for him to make identify his constraints and be ready to
sacrifice in areas making use of the tradeoff matric. He has to make sure though SHCPC’s vision,
policies and portfolio are not put at risk whilst using the tradeoff matrix.

Adam is been given a monumental task of taking a medium sized company and expanding its
horizons. Launching a pilot project phase is not a bad idea, making sure his assumptions and initial
strategies work. Sharing and delegating work would also help in focus on the larger goal and gets a
good teaming spirit going. To even study if the project is success firstly Adam needs to brainstorm
along with his team mates on what success means to SHCPC; is it purely financial growth,
establishing a brand by delivering quality end product, etc.

Question 2 (from Unit 4) - Describe the organizational structure that might best suit Suburban
Homes. Ensure that your discussion includes all possible structures and why each is ruled
out. Minimum 250 words.

I strongly believe a matrix organization structure will best suit the Suburban Homes Construction
Project Company (SHCPC). Based on discussions had in chapter 1,2,3 & 4 so far you can deduce
that the company is trying to grow and based on the Chapter 3 example its venturing into the
southern states with single-family homes development. To make a full scale c=house construction
the various departments in the organization need to work in unison and an open channel of
communication needs to exist both laterally and vertically. This is one of the advantages of matrix
structure. Since each house development is an individual project with an assigned project manager
we still want to make sure the quality and practices that SHCPC is well known for are not
compromised upon, this can so happen in projectized structure over time. Each project needs to be
allocated resources from various departments like finance, operations, procurement, human
resources, etc.

Having a good visibility to monitor each stage of the project cycle and making up for deficiencies in
practice is a big advantage of the matrix system. Since the functional manager and project manager
both oversee teams the integrity, discipline and focus is maintained. The legal department, the Right
of way that come into play during land acquisition and construction by-laws will be quick to
communicate laterally with project managers if any risk of county approval or taxes hike is
underway, this give the project manager a chance to go back and re-evaluate the risks and

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constraints associated with the project. This way he can make alterations to schedules and orders
but still making the stake holders aware of the reasons and not being caught off guard.

Question 3 (from Unit 4) - Describe the type of lifecycle best suited for their emphasis on
high-quality construction. Ensure that your discussion includes at least 3 possible lifecycles
and why two of them are ruled out. Minimum 250 words.

A DMAIC life cycle model in my opinion, will be well suited for the construction company’s goal to
deliver a high quality product. In the DMAIC cycle, there are a stages of control and improve. This
stages can make sure any lapses in quality can be captured and remedial steps can be set in place.
Although the CPM 4e states showcases a generic construction project cycle, I believe with the
current objectives of the Construction Project Company (SHCPC), we might have to implement a
DMAIC cycle. The company is looking to expand in a new area, it already has years of experience in
the field, so it does not need a R&D life cycle model for itself. The need to invest time and resource
into understanding the constraints and risks about venturing into a new market. Once a lean
progress cycle is established and vetted we can standardize it and switch over to the generic model.

The R&D cycle is more suited for pharmaceutical companies which have very strict regulatory
bodies governing all cycles of the project and even greater stake holder expectations in the process.
Being the established company SHCP is we would think it already has a generic life cycle in place.
Only if it uses some principles from the DMAIC like Improve & Control we can make sure that the
construction is always of very high standard even with if the constraints, size and complexity of the
project change. I honestly think a more hybrid project cycle if any between DMAIC and Generic
would be the right choice, especially when quality control is of great importance to the company.

References:

[1] Timothy Kloppenborg (2014). Contemporary Project Management 4e, Cengage Learning

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