BAHIR DAR UNIVERSITY

ETHIOPIAN INSTIUTE OF TEXTILE AND FASHION

TECHNOLOGY (EITEX)
COURSE: Project formulation, appraisal and mill management

Project Management case studies

Prepared by : Kibrom G/her

1st year MSc fashion technology

May 7 ,2019
RADIANCE INTERNATIONAL (RI)

Case study
 Introduction

Radiance international background

Outline Case overview

Questions

Reference
 PROJECT MANAGEMENT CULTURES
• Introduction

• Organizational culture describes the personality of a company and influences how

employees work and interact with each other. Culture helps an organization to
reach strategic goals by encouraging desired behaviors, attitudes, and ways of
working.

• Although difficult to define, organizational culture typically includes:

• Consistent, observable behaviors
• Work ethics
• Codes of conduct
• Habits and emotional responses
 RADIANCE INTERNATIONAL (RI)
• Background
• Radiance International (RI) had spent more than half a decade becoming a
global leader in managing pollution, hazard, and environmental protection
projects for its worldwide clients.
• It maintained 10 offices across the world with approximately 150 people in
each office
• Project capacity from a few hundred thousand to a few million dollars
• Time of the project from six month up to 2 years
 Case over view
• Radiance International (RI) facing DOWNTURN in 2008 so the growth of the
company stagnate

• REASONS
• Line managers who previously spent most of their time interfacing with various project
teams were now spending most of their time writing reports and memos trying to justify
their position in case downsizing occurred.

• Project teams were asked to generate additional information that the line managers needed
to justify their existence. This took a toll on the project teams and forced team members to
do “busywork” that was sometimes unrelated to their project responsibilities
REORGANIZATION PLAN
• Management decided to reorganize the company primarily
• project management had matured to the point where senior
management explicitly trusted the project managers to make
both project-based and business-based decisions without
continuous guidance from senior management or line
management.
• The role of line management was simply to staff projects and then
“get out of the way.” Some line managers remained involved in
some of the projects, but their interference actually did more harm
than good.
• Executive sponsorship was also very weak because the project
managers were trusted to make the Right decisions.
 Improvement of RI

• The decision was made to eliminate all line management and go to the concept of pool
management

• one of the line managers was designated as the pool manager and administratively
responsible for the 150 employees who were now assigned to the pool.

• Some of the previous line managers were let go while others became project managers or
subject matter experts within the pool. Line managers who remained with the company
were not asked to take a cut in pay.
 What is pool management ?

• In the center of the pool were the project managers. Whenever a new project came into the
company, senior management and the pool manager would decide which project
manager would be assigned to head up the new project.

• The project manager would then have the authority to talk to anyone in the pool who had
the expertise needed on the project. If the person stated that he or she was available to
work on the project, the project manager would provide that person with a charge number
authorizing budgets and schedules for his or her work packages.
 Cont.

• If the person overran the budget or lengthened the schedule unnecessarily, project
managers would not ask this person to work on his or her project again. Pool workers who
ran out of charge numbers or were not being used by project managers were then
terminated from the company.

• Project managers would fill out a performance review form on each worker at the end of
the project and forward it to the pool manager. The pool manager would make the final
decision concerning wage and salary administration but relied heavily on inputs from
the project managers.
 RADIANCE INTERNATIONAL (RI) organizational culture after pool concept

• The culture fostered effective teamwork, communication, cooperation, and

trust. Whenever a problem occurred on a project, the project manager would
stand up in the middle of the pool and state his or her crisis, and 150 people
would rush to his aid, asking what they could do to help.

• The organization prided itself on effective group thinking and group

solutions to complex projects. The system worked so well that sponsorship
was virtually eliminated.
Cont.
• After two years, the concept of pool management was working better than
expected. Projects were coming in ahead of schedule and under budget.

• Teamwork abounded throughout the organization and morale was at an all-

time high in every RI location.

• Everyone embraced the new culture, and nobody was terminated from
the company after the first year of the reorganization.

• Business was booming even though the economy was weak.

Cont.
• By the middle of the third year, RI’s success story was reported in business journals
around the world.

• target by large construction companies that saw the acquisition of RI as an opportunity.

• By the end of the third year, RI was acquired by a large construction firm.

• The construction company believed in strong line management with a span of control of
approximately 10 employees per supervisor.

• The pool management concept at RI was eliminated;

• several line management positions were created in each RI location and staffed with
employees from the construction company. Within a year, several RI employees left the
company.
 Questions
1. Is it a good idea to remove all of the line management
slots?
• For this case study and for Radiance International it was a good
idea to remove all line management slots. Because
• in order to set up the new concept of pool management
• was an effective trigger mechanism for them to perform the
reorganization.
• line management is not an effective way of running a business.
In fact, moving from line management to pool management
could be viewed an extremely risky move. In order for pool
management to be successful you have to have mature, confident
and trusted leaders.
2. If pool management does not work, can line
management slots then be reinstated
• The move from line management to pool management is a risky move.
In the case of Radiance International they began reducing staff shortly
after moving to the pool concept. As the staff decreased they became
more and more dependent on each staff member.
3. How important is the corporate culture to
the pool management concept?
• Corporate culture is extremely important to the pool management
concept. When the new project came into the company, the project
manager had the authority to talk to anyone in the pool. If those
employees wanted to they had an opportunity to work on the new
project.
• Unsuccessful workers were terminated from the company. Project
managers would perform performance reviews and the pool managers
would make final decisions regarding wage and salary administration
based on the input from the project manager. It’s clear that there needs
to be a lot of open communication channels, effective teamwork and
trust for this kind of system to work successful.
4. Are there project sponsors at RI?
• There are no project sponsors in the traditional sense at Radiance
International (RI). It is noted that executive sponsorship is considered
weak and project managers are trusted to make the right decision.
Further, it is outlined that after reorganization of the company
completed the organizational structure and teamwork effectiveness at
Radiance International reached such a high level that sponsors only
briefly check in with project managers on a weekly basis.
Reference

• Kerzner, Harold - Project management a

systems approach to planning, scheduling,
and controlling-Wiley (2017)
• Guide to the Project Management Body of
Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) (2017, Project
Management Institute)
Thank you Question time