MAN6303 - Program Management - American Shogun Case Study - Management Assignment Help

Assignment Task:

MAN6303: American Shogun Case Study 

GETTING STARTED
It was in late May 2002 when Jan Vesely, sales manager for Southeast Asia and the Pacific region at International Instruments, Inc., received a call from RisingSun, one of
its key accounts in Japan. “They told us that they were interested in our 1001 series monitors if we were able to provide audio capability —a feature that our competitor
already had implemented in their product,” Jan said. “Additionally, RisingSun wanted us to deliver the product in 11 months, which was an aggressive time- t o- market goal. Since RisingSun was one of our most important customers, we jumped into action.” International Instruments, Inc. was a global market leader in the field of monitoring systems, and the 1001 series was their main product line of monitors addressing the biggest segment of the overall market.

The audio capability for the 1001 series monitors was previously discussed because, as mentioned, a major competitor had already brought a monitor with audio capability to the market. But Manuel Scriba, the segment manager for the 1001 product line, found the market too small to justify adding the audio feature, but the telephone call from RisingSun changed everything. As recalled by Manuel, “Suddenly the program, named Shogun, would help us to meet our financial, market share, customer relationship, and competitive business goals,” he said. “First and foremost,” he commented, “a new program had to fulfil our business goals. That’s what it is all
about— the business goals.” As for the financial goal, the order was large enough to cover the development and research cost associated with the program and make the desired contribution to the company bottom line. But it was more than that. International Instruments, Inc. was focused on market share and customer relationship as key strategic goals. It was clear that Shogun would support the achievement of these strategic goals. “We had excellent customer relationships before this program, and if an important customer wanted to have the new feature — and the program was financially viable — what else could we do but satisfy them?” asked Manuel. “On top of that,” Manuel added, “Shogun would also provide gain in market share for this monitor product line. Not only could we increase our market share, but we could attain our competitive goal, which was to pre-empt our competitor from gaining more market share in Japan.”

Manuel proposed the new program to Robin Weiland, vice - president of International Instruments, Inc. “We had the chance to increase our market share,” recalled Robin.
“It was tough, but feasible. So, the question was no longer, does it make sense? but rather, can we get this done in only 11 months?” The next steps were to assign a
program manager and set up the program as soon as possible.

COORDINATED PLANNING
Jumping into action, Melanie worked out a rough plan with the program core team. Each project was addressed with initial budget and timeline identified. Cross -
project interdependencies were identified in a very rough manner. These outlines were then given to the program core team members, who, because
they represented their functional projects, had the best insights. Each of the projects was then broken down into detail by the responsible project managers. They added
their insights on scheduling and resources, and their experience of how to complete a program of this scope.

“I was given the outline for the broader marketing function,” remembered Christian Foyer, who was the marketing project manager. “I had to address steps like
customer validation and continuous screening for market requirements. The way to achieve these goals was up to me and my extended team. Melanie only needed to
know our results, deliverables, and risks. I sat down with my team and we developed our project work breakdown structure (WBS) to deliver our part of the program.
My extended team could thus focus on the marketing jobs, while I supervised the work and ensured alignment with the other projects.” After the project managers had created the detailed WBS for their individual projects, the program core team, under the guidance of Melanie, assembled a complete WBS for the program. The WBS outlined the specific tasks for each of the functions in respect to other projects, or more precisely, cross - project dependencies. Only those work packages that had an impact on other projects were considered important on the program level. More detailed outlines and scheduling were the responsibility of the program core team members.
 

FINISHING WITH FLYING COLORS
Bringing the product to launch was still a challenge due to considerable pressure from upper management. The team had an opportunity to prove whether or not the
communication and, more importantly, the informal networks were working. “The end was brutal,” recalled Melanie. “We needed to get everything out as quickly as
possible, and although I did as much as I could, I couldn’t have managed on my own. The project teams worked well together, and everybody headed in the same
direction. We wanted to meet our goals. The program was finished within the 11 - month target, with higher product performance, and within the given development
budget. That was the easier, more tactical part of the goals. We had to wait an additional nine months after the product launch to see if we had achieved what we
strategically planned in the business case: increase profits, achieve gains in market share, and pre-empt a competitor. We did.”

Learning Portfolio Entry 1 Questions
1. Comment on the overall success of the program in terms of its tangible benefits.

2. What aspects of the program were done well (when related to program management theory).

3. What are the lessons learnt in this case study?

4. What would your recommendations be to improve the program if done again in the future?

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