60 chapter 2 organization strategy and project selectionla

1. 60 Chapter 2 Organization Strategy and Project Selection
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Case 2.1
Hector Gaming Company
Hector Gaming Company (HGC) is an educational gaming
company specializing
in young children’s educational games. HGC has just completed
their fourth year of
operation. This year was a banner year for HGC. The company
received a large influx
of capital for growth by issuing stock privately through an
investment banking firm.
It appears the return on investment for this past year will be just
over 25 percent with
zero debt! The growth rate for the last two years has been
approximately 80 percent
each year. Parents and grandparents of young children have
been buying HGC’s prod-
ucts almost as fast as they are developed. Every member of the

3. 56-person firm is
enthusiastic and looking forward to helping the firm grow to be
the largest and best
educational gaming company in the world. The founder of the
firm, Sally Peters, has
been written up in Young Entrepreneurs as “the young
entrepreneur to watch.” She has
been able to develop an organizational culture in which all
stakeholders are committed
to innovation, continuous improvement, and organization
learning.
Last year, 10 top managers of HGC worked with McKinley
Consulting to develop
the organization’s strategic plan. This year the same 10
managers had a retreat in Aruba
to formulate next year’s strategic plan using the same process
suggested by McKinley
Consulting. Most executives seem to have a consensus of where
the firm should go
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Chapter 2 Organization Strategy and Project Selection 61
in the intermediate and long term. But there is little consensus
on how this should be
accomplished. Peters, now president of HGC, feels she may be
losing control. The fre-
quency of conflicts seems to be increasing. Some individuals
are always requested for
any new project created. When resource conflicts occur among

4. projects, each project
manager believes his or her project is most important. More
projects are not meeting
deadlines and are coming in over budget. Yesterday’s
management meeting revealed
some top HGC talent have been working on an international
business game for college
students. This project does not fit the organization vision or
market niche. At times
it seems everyone is marching to his or her own drummer.
Somehow more focus is
needed to ensure everyone agrees on how strategy should be
implemented, given the
resources available to the organization.
Yesterday’s meeting alarmed Peters. These emerging problems
are coming at a bad
time. Next week HGC is ramping up the size of the
organization, number of new prod-
ucts per year, and marketing efforts. Fifteen new people will
join HGC next month.
Peters is concerned that policies be in place that will ensure the
new people are used
most productively. An additional potential problem looms on
the horizon. Other gaming
companies have noticed the success HGC is having in their
niche market; one company
tried to hire a key product development employee away from
HGC. Peters wants HGC
to be ready to meet any potential competition head on and to
discourage any new entries
into their market. Peters knows HGC is project driven; however,
she is not as confident
that she has a good handle on how such an organization should
be managed—especially
with such a fast growth rate and potential competition closer to

5. becoming a reality.
The magnitude of emerging problems demands quick attention
and resolution.
Peters has hired you as a consultant. She has suggested the
following format for
your consulting contract. You are free to use another format if it
will improve the
effectiveness of the consulting engagement.
What is our major problem?
Identify some symptoms of the problem.
What is the major cause of the problem?
Provide a detailed action plan that attacks the problem. Be
specific and provide
examples that relate to HGC.
Case 2.2
Film Prioritization
The purpose of this case is to give you experience in using a
project priority system
that ranks proposed projects by their contribution to the
organization’s objectives and
strategic plan.
COMPANY PROFILE
The company is the film division for a large entertainment
conglomerate. The main
office is located in Anaheim, California. In addition to the
feature film division, the
conglomerate includes theme parks, home videos, a television
channel, interactive
games, and theatrical productions. The company has been
enjoying steady growth over

6. the past 10 years. Last year total revenues increased by 12
percent to $21.2 billion.
The company is engaged in negotiations to expand its theme
park empire to mainland
China and Poland. The film division generated $274 million in
revenues, which was an
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College of Administrative and Financial Sciences
Assignment 1
Project Management (MGT323)
Deadline: 04/03/2021 @ 23:59
Course Name: Project Management
Student’s Name:
Course Code:MGT323
Student’s ID Number:
Semester: II
CRN:
Academic Year:2020-21, II Term
For Instructor’s Use only
Instructor’s Name:
Students’ Grade:
Marks Obtained/Out of 5
Level of Marks: High/Middle/Low
Instructions – PLEASE READ THEM CAREFULLY
· The Assignment must be submitted on Blackboard (WORD

7. format only) via allocated folder.
· Assignments submitted through email will not be accepted.
· Students are advised to make their work clear and well
presented, marks may be reduced for poor presentation. This
includes filling your information on the cover page.
· Students must mention question number clearly in their
answer.
· Late submission will NOT be accepted.
· Avoid plagiarism, the work should be in your own words,
copying from students or other resources without proper
referencing will result in ZERO marks. No exceptions.
Assignment requires references.
· All answered must be typed using Times New Roman (size 12,
double-spaced) font. No pictures containing text will be
accepted and will be considered plagiarism).
· Submissions without this cover page will NOT be accepted.
Assignment Workload:
· This Assignment comprise of a Case Study.
· Assignment is to be submitted by each student individually.
Assignment Purposes/Learning Outcomes:
After completion of Assignment-1 students will able to
understand the
1. Demonstrate a deep understanding of project management
concepts and theories as well as approaches to project
management (L.O-1.1)
2. Demonstrate an understanding of the project budgeting and
cost control in project management (L.O-1.6, 4.1)
3. The ability to write a coherent report on project management
case studies or new themes. (L.O-4.5)
Assignment-1-Case Study

8. Assignment Question: (
Marks 5)
Please read the Case-2.1 “Hector Gaming Company.” from
Chapter 2 “Organization strategy and Project Selection” given
in your textbook – Project Management: The Managerial
Process 8th edition by Larson and Gray page no: 61 also refer to
specific concepts you have learned from the chapter to support
your answers. Answer the following questions with 500 Words
limit.
Peters has hired you as a consultant. She has suggested the
following format for your consulting contract. You are free to
use another format if it will improve the effectiveness of the
consulting engagement.
Provide a detailed action plan that attacks the problem. Be
specific and provide examples that relate to HGC.
1. What is our major problem? (1.5 Marks)
2. Identify some symptoms of the problem. (1.5 Marks)
3. What is the major cause of the problem? (2 Marks)
Answers:
1.
2.
3.