Performance Management: Human Resource Course, Case Study Example

Project management, as a managerial approach, integrates multifaceted efforts through management restructuring and adoption of PERT, analysis of tradeoff, and management of risk methods to obtain better use of resources and control. Communication within the organization is fostered in across-functional among the operational department across function gaps and management. Within the context of supply chain management, scheduling is a low activity level, but policies adopted need to match with the customer’s interest measures. In this study, the measure of interest is order lateness, which is directly linked to measures of customer service (Armstrong& Baron,2005). Therefore, a performance management ideal for this situation within the organization drives to elaborating metric performances relevant that ensure effectiveness. This means proper processes of implementation and algorithms.The tradeoff in this case, encompasses dependencies as risk tradeoffs, which include time and cost.

In a convenience store, supplies are made from different suppliers, but one supplier who makes his delivery late and makes no call to assure that goods will be delivered. Many a times when customers need the goods, but due to lateness in delivery from the suppliers’ side, more and more customers give negative feedbacks on the way the store is not meeting their demands and deadlines. This has build pressure between the human resource management and the top executive management, which later spills down to the customer service desk. On the part of the customer service docket, communication between the suppliers enhanced, but the organization has not been able to pull-in more resources to cover the unlimited resources and curb the menace of order lateness. In this case, it is evident that the top executive management of the organization is not able to spend in order to promote customer satisfaction, which increases both efficiency and productivity in the store. Cost as a tradeoff needs elimination by the management and human resource department. Additionally, time tradeoff needs promotion between supply of goods and delivery to minimize lateness. Consequently, the supplier can decide to use other means of supplying the goods. This will foster good communication, efficiency and productivity for both parties.

The unique stakeholders and elements for this case include parent organization, client, the public and project team. The main dimensions of project management are time, cost and performance. A milestone in a schedule is time and cost, which is profiled by allocation of money in a budget and should be minimized in order to promote customer satisfaction benefits. The public and project team are peripheral stakeholders who at any given point, can decide to seek for services in competing companies. The client (store) needs all deliveries adhered to in order to meet customer needs and demands and thus, the parent organization needs to provide the store with sufficient resources. In order to reduce the chances of having competitors taking over their clients, they should be ready and willing to use all their resources in achieving success and maintaining the status in the community.

The project is called order delivery. This ascertains problems encountered by convenient store managers and human resource personnel in seeking for prompt delivery by suppliers. Time and cost tradeoffs need investigate in order to mitigate the problem of inadequate resources on the suppliers end in scheduling and delivery of goods. In this case, the project team brainstormed ideas that will curb the menace and promote efficiency in supply by considering SMART techniques. The goal is to reduce lateness of order delivery and scheduling time by raising awareness, which reflects on cost and time tradeoffs. At the end, the scheduling of goods delivered should reflect a different time from previous and thus, deliverables are published in reports.  The strategy applied in achieving the objective is arranging the means and time of delivery by both parties,and this will be done under an umbrella of committee. This will enable all members in the group play a distinct role to foresee that all objectives, goals and mission of the organization, customer satisfaction, are met. The customers in this setting are people from all groups,and it is imperative to seek their views and opinions on how the scheduling and delivery of items in the store conducted. All their grievances and suggestions directed towards the suggestion box, customer care desk enables managers, and human resource managers meet their pleas in a professional manner.The store manager will head this project and team leaders will be, in direct communication with him, to deliver on parts contributed by team members and reduce conflicts (Hull, 2008).The research and development department of the store also liaises with the front desk in ensuring that all issues raised during meetings are dealt with. Since the issues of delivery is of importance to the store, managers allocate longer time periods to foresee that all issues raised by the suppliers are investigated to foster good working relations, which meets customer needs.Time and costs constraints are bound to bring this project down, but by pulling all resources together, the store aims at curbing the problem. The limited authority of team leaders is discouraging and pulls the project down since they have limited capacity of making sound decisions in the absence of senior managers.

A Project Sponsor is the individual at the higher level who initiates, supports and defines the project while the Project Manager drives the details of the project on a daily work basis. Therefore, the Project Sponsor has very little or no experience with concepts of project management. As a result, the Project Manager needs to work closely with the Sponsor closely for the project to be successful. The difference between the two is that the Sponsor owns the business case and ensures that delivery of the project is in terms of money (Rad &Levin,2003). Additionally, the Sponsor has authority to direct the manager with respect to decision-making and makes a business charter. In relation to the case, the project sponsor can decide to shut down the project if he sees that the cost and time of completing theproject is not sufficient and realistic.

In any project, managers and sponsors deal with strengths and weaknesses of varying degrees, but in order to achieve success, all issues need addressing.It is evident that there is a communication breakdown between managers and suppliers, which needs correcting in reducing lateness and scheduling milestones in supply chain managerial functions. Reports and internal memos need to be written and delivered to all personnel in the organization to communicate new strategies applied in combating the menace. The weakness of working in groups is power sharing, but having a manager caters for this option and thus, projects work, in a chronological manner, to reduce conflicts.Each team member needs to play their role at all period in order to make certain that all sections are catered for,and this increases efficiency and effectiveness in production and delivery of merchandise and services. As a customer representative, my role is to ensure that all individuals visiting the store are satisfied with the goods and services provided. This information is a report written and delivered to the management and sponsor for review on areas that need emphasis.

References

Armstrong, M & Baron, A. (2005).Managing Performance: Performance Management in Action.London: CIPD Publishing.

Hull, C. (2008). PM Workshop – Explanation of Project Charter elements. Retrieved 16 October, 2012 from <http://www.climatechangeconnection.org/Getconnected/documents/ProjectManagement-Charter.pdf>

Rad, F. &Levin, G. (2003).Achieving Project Management Success Using Virtual Teams.New York, NY: J. Ross Publishing.