‘She began by asking for problems people were encountering while working on the project [Although participants were reluctant to be first for far of being perceived a¢ a complainer, it ‘was not long before accusations and tempers flared out of control. was always some group ‘complaining about another group. Several participants complained that others were sitting fn decisions that resulted in their work being held up. One consultant ssi, It is impossible to tell who's in charge of what.’ Another participant complained that although the group met eparately on small problems, it never met as @ total group to assess new risk tuations thet developed. Kerin felt the meeting had decenerated into an unrecoverable situation. Commitment to the project and partnering appeared to be waning. She quickly decided to stop the meeting and coo! ‘things down. She spoke tothe project stakeholders: Its dear that we have some serious problems and the project is in jeopardy. The project must got back on track and the backstabbing must stop. | want each of us to come to.a meeting on Friday morning with concrete suggestions of what it wil tske to get the project back on track and specific actions of how we can make it happen. We need ta recognise our mutual interdependence and bring our relationehipe with each other back to@ win/win environment, When we do get things back on track, we need to figure authow to stay ontrack 11 Why does this attempt at project partnering appear to be falling? If you were Karin, what would you do to get tht project back on track? 3. What action would you take to keep the project on track? Chad Cromwell, head of university housing, gazed up atthe tower at Buxton Hall and sriled as he Walked towards the landmark building, Buxton Hall was built in 1927 as 2 residential complex for over 350 students st State University. At the time Buxton was the tallest building on campus and its tower hed a penoramic. view ofthe athletic fields anc coastal range. Buxton quickly became a focal point at State Un Students perched on the tower dominated the campus during the annual spring water fight with their huge slingshots and catapults. The first intranet on the coast was created at Buxton, which linked students’ computers and allowed ther to share printers. Some student arate began the tracition of painting their room doors. Whether a Rolling Stones logo ar Bugs Bunny on & skateboard, these calcuriul doors wore an artistic legacy that caught the attention of students and faculty Buxton Hall sorved 2s a resilance hall forthe university for many years, but time was not kind to the stately building. Leaks destroyed plaster in the interior. Wiring and! plumbing bacame ‘outdated and so dangerous thet the building was deemed unsafe. Buxton Hal's doors were closed to students and windows boarded up atthe ond of the 1996 spring semester. For 10 years Buxton sat lent and overtime became a symbol of the general decine of State University. Now thanks to enecnanes 407 ®Lamon enies ee ‘government grants and generous private donations, Buxion Hall wes about to be reopened after 2 $60 milion renovation. 18 months ago (Chad and key representatives from university facilities were engaged in the second of a two day parmeting workshop. Also in attendance were managers from Crawford Construction, the chief contractor for the Buxton renovation project, 2s well as several key subcontractors ‘and architects from the company Legacy West. During the first day a consultant ran through = series of team-bullding and communication exercises that accentuated the importance of open communication, principle negotiation and win/win thinking. Today's session began with tho ‘project fram hell! exercise, with each group describing the worst projec: they had ever worked ‘on. Chad was surprised that the people from Crawford and Legecy West gave descriptions very timilar te his own, For example, each group talked about how frustrating it was when changes ‘were made without proper consultation or costs were hidden until it was too late to do anything about them. This wes followed by a discussion of the best project they had ever workad on. ‘The consultant then asked the groups which of tha two they wanted the Buxton projact to be. A genuine sense of common purpose emerged and everyone became actively engaged in spelling ‘ut in specific terms how they wanted to work together. The session concluded with all of the participants signing @ partnering charter followed by a pienie and a friendly beach volleyball game. 12 months ago ‘Chad was on his way, with Nick Bolas, to meet Dat Nguyen, the Crawford Project Manager, on the third laor at Buxton Hall Dat had contacted him to discuss 2 problem withthe tile work in one of ‘the communal bathrooms. Dat’s people had completed the work, but Nick, who was a university ‘acilties manager, refused to sign off oni, claiming thet itwas not up to specification. After 2 26-hour impasse, the Crawford foreman exercised the escalation cause in the partnering agreement end passed the issue up to management level to be resolved. Dat end Chad ingpected the work, While both agreed that the job could have bean tir, t cic! meot specification and Chad told Nick to sign off on ‘Chad met Dat again later in the day atthe weeldy Buxton status report meeting. Tha meeting kicked off wth a brief review of what had been accomplihed during the past week. Discussion canied on the removal of oak tees. Alternative strategies for dealing with the ely inspector, who had reputation of being a atckler for dates, were considared. The project was two weeks Leehind schedule, which was an imporant issue since it was imperative thatthe building be ready for students to move in a the 2008 autumn semester The project wes also on a very tight budget ‘and the menagement reserve had to be carefully administered. Renovation of existing buildings was always bit of a gamble, since you never knew wiat you would find once you began tearing down walls, Fortunetely only small amounts of asbestos were found, but rot wes much more severe than anticipated, ‘The meeting included a partnering assessment, The results of @ web survey filed out by al the principals were cstibuted. The results revealed a dip inthe ratings between the Crawford foremen and university officials regarding timely collaboration and effective problem solving,yeaa (One of Chad's people sai that the primary source of frustration was Crawiord foremen fling to respond to email and telephone messages. Dat asked forthe names of his people and sald he ‘would talk to each of them. The Craword foramen complained that the university officials were being too nitpicky. ‘We don't have the time or money to do Al werk on averything,’ argued 2 foreman. Chad told Dat and his people that he would talk to the university's files ream and ask ‘thom to focus on whst was really important. Six months ago “The project status report meeting started on time. Crawford had been able to make up for lost ‘ime and itnow locke ike the building would open ont. Chad was glad to see thatthe partnering assessment hac been postvo and steady over the past month. The big isue was the surge in costs consuming all but $50000 of management reserve. With six months to go everyone ‘neu that his would not cover all the change orde's needed to have the builing ready, Afterall, ‘there were already $24000 worth of change orders pending. ‘Chad looked across the table and saw nothing but grim faces. Then one of the Crawford ‘oremen proposed postponing treating alof the exteie walls Instead of cleaning and preserving the entre brick building, let's only do the front entrance {nd the north and south walls thatthe public sees. We can ust refurbish the interior court walls 2s well as the west side. This would be adequate for at least eight years, in which time and money should be available to complete the jb, At first Ched didn’t ike this idea, but eventually he realised thet this was the only way they ‘could have the buileing ready for the students, Friendly arguments broke out over which exterior segments needed the full treatment and which ones cid’. The whale team ended up touring the ‘outside of the building identifying what kind of work needed to be done, In the end, only 70 per cent of exterior brick walls were reconcitioned according to plan with a seving of over $250000. ‘While this boost to the reserve would stil make things tight, everyone felt that they now had a fighting chance to complete the project on time. Today ‘As Chad mingled with a glass of champagne, no one talked about the walls that stil needed 10 be rafurbished—tonight was a night to celebrate, All of the major participants and their spouses ware atthe party end the university was hosting a five-course meal at the top of the ‘tower. During the toasts, jokes wore exchanged and stories told about the ghosts in the west, wing and the discovery of a dead possum in the south basement. Everyone talked about how proud they felt about bringing beck to life the grend old building, More than one person ‘mentioned that tis was much more satisfying than tearing down an old rele end constructing 2 new building, The vice chancellor of the university concluded the festivities by thanking everyone for their hard work and proclaiming that Buxton would become @ bright, shining icon for State University. 1 How successful wes this project? 2. What best practices were evident in the case? How did they contribute to project objectives? Lonmin oor zatseeuise! Objective ‘The purpose ofthis case isto provide you with an opportunity to practise negotiations. Procedure Step 1 ‘The clas is dvided ino four groups, each comprising the project management group for one of four projects at Goldaush Electronics. Stop 2 Read the Goldrush Electronics ‘Background information’ section given below. Then read the instructions forthe project you represent, Soon you will meet with the management ofthe other IN EComen eenenens projects to exchenge persennel. Pian how you want to conduct those meetings. Backgroun information Goldrush Electronics (GE) produces a range of electronic products. GE asa strong commitment +o project management. GE operates as a projectised organisation with each project orgenised 28 fully deciceted team. The compensation system ie based on 2 40+ 30+ 30 formule. Forty por cents basad on your base selary, 30 per cent on your project performance and 30 per cent on ‘overall performance of the company. Four new product development projacts have been authorised. They are code named Alph, Bets, Theta and Zeta. The preliminary assignment of staf is listed below. You are assigned to cepresent the management of one ofthese projects ‘The policy at GE is that once praliminary assignments are mado, projact managers are free ‘© exchange teamn members as long as both panies agree to the transfer. You wil have the ‘opportunity to adjust your team by negotiating with other project managers. Software engineer il John Software engineer Jake Jennifer Software engineer Jack Johan Alphe project Beta project Hardware engineer Casey cig ‘Theta project Hardware engineer Chuck Chery! Design engineer ite Mershe Design engineer Mike Maria Design engineer Monika Mark