Ducor Chemocals

1.How do we create a partnership between the project manager and line managers when project manager focuses only on the best interest of his/her project and the line manager is expected to make impartial company decisions?

2.Who should have more of a say during negotiations for resources: the project manager or the line manager?

3.How should irresolvable conflicts over staffing between the project and line managers be handled?

4.Should an external customer have a say in project staffing?

5.How do we remove an employee who is not performing as expected?

6.Should project managers negotiate for people or deliverables?

Answers:

Though in the case of Ducor, where partnership between the line manager and the project manager was not achieved, there was a discussion highlighting major concerns of both the parties involved. That is usually the first step in building a partnership: Discussion of constraints. The project manager pointed out that working with Thornton was hard due to his attitude. In return the line manager said that Thornton is the only one that can be spared for 1 year. Although this was a good start, the individuals worrying about their own lines of work instead of looking at the project as a profit-booster for Ducor (the lab manager more so), lead to bigger problems.

In my opinion, these were the lab managers thoughts:

How is the success or failure of this project directly going to affect me?

Will I be in the line of fire if something goes wrong within the project team?

Why must I bend over backwards to provide the Project Manager with the best people I’ve got ? Will my gesture be recognized if I follow-up his request?

And probably… Will it not be a lot easier to get rid of Thornton for at least a year instead of putting up with his arrogance everyday?

All these concerns can be addressed by making the lab manager a stakeholder. By doing this, his/her dedication and efforts toward the success of the project can be enhanced drastically.

In general, partnerships are hard to achieve in a corporate scene if both parties involved are not profiting equally from it. In this case, recognition and an incentive for the efforts placed in by the lab manager could have lead to better consequences.

2. Negotiations often fall in the favor of the individual who has nothing, or very little to lose from the discussions. In this case, the project manager did not have anything to offer in return to the lab manager. One might say that it is the lab manager’s job to provide project managers with personnel and that