Compare and contrast traditional/waterfall, Agile/Scrum and Hybrid methodologies.
Amtek Corporation
Ralph Beefer, President of Amtek Corporation reviewed the new strategy approved by the Board of Directors. The new strategy called for Amtek to move its small electronics company from producing established, low cost products to developing new, cutting edge products in house. This new strategy was called a technology introduction strategy. In the past, Amtek had relied on licensing patented hardware and software technologies for its new products, but often the licensed technologies were displaced with new technologies that severely reduced the popularity of Amtek’s new products – and their margins. Frustrated with the high cost of these licensing fees, and the fact that patent owners would often license their technology to competitors, Amtek’s Board of Directors believed it was time to accept Amtek’s recommendation to expand into research and development of its own patented technologies. They also agreed it was time to combine new technologies in innovative ways to create new products.
Unfortunately, Ralph knew that is organization was woefully unprepared to produce new technologies and products quickly enough to stay ahead of the competition. Internally, their project management processes were not well-defined. Normally, a senior employee led projects involving the introduction of new products. Amtek’s new product development tended to work in isolation from other departments, who often balked at the feasibility and marketability of new product ideas. This often meant revisions, delays, and reduced revenues. Further, their newly formed research and development department had not yet been integrated with the rest of the organization. Past projects tended to be late and often over-budget, which was cutting into Amtek’s profitability. Complicating matters was that technology changed so quickly, the research and development and new product development teams were constantly learning, adapting to unexpected changes in the market. Rapid development of new products and regular evidence that teams were producing new technologies and products was essential to convince the board of directors the company was transitioning its low cost production strategy to a technology introduction strategy.
Figure 1 shows Amtek’s current lack of project management presence.
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Case Study Questions
1. Compare and contrast traditional/waterfall, Agile/Scrum and Hybrid methodologies. Describe what they are, how they are similar, how they are different, and when you should use them.
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each of these methodologies? Support your answers with at least two articles from the Devry Library, the Project Management Institute website at pmi.org, or websites of project management consulting firms or practitioners.
3. Which of these methodologies appears to be appropriate for Amtek? Justify your selection of a particular methodology with reasons.
4. Compare and contrast project governance committees, project offices, program and project managers. To whom should project governance, project offices, program managers and project managers report?
5. Which of these project structures and roles do you think Amtek needs for his or her organization? Justify your answer with solid reasons. Alter Amtek’s organization chart to show a new, recommended organizational structure. Include the chart in an APA formatted figure, and justify this new organization. You can use MS Visio, MS Word, Powerpoint or any other means of drawing the organization chart. Make sure you crop it and put it in an APA format for figures.
6. Define pure project, matrix and functional organizations. Describe their advantages and disadvantages, and when each one is appropriate. Include at least two sources from the DeVry Library, pmi.org or articles from project management consultants or practitioner sites.
7. At the project level, describe which type of project structure would be most appropriate for Amtek given its focus on new product development. Justify your choice with solid reasons.
Answer preview Compare and contrast traditional/waterfall, Agile/Scrum and Hybrid methodologies.
APA
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