Project Manager
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At this point, if I were the Project manager on the Sharp printer project, I would use the priority matrix to get senior management to clarify their priorities. I would suggest that they had underestimated the time and resources required to complete the project, and did not compensate for unexpected delays in their initial estimates. The fact that the micro estimate has increased over $1,250,000 than the original macro estimate needs to addressed. I would inform everyone that discussions with the design, marketing, and production managers were not able to create any huge cost savings. Therefore, since time is of the essence, the higher cost for the project would have to be acknowledged and accepted. I would then schedule a meeting with senior management and attempt to get approval to increase the cost and change the scope of the project. I would find out if production costs could be contained by outsourcing technology, or by producing the printer within the company. I would utilize the WBS micro approach and access the risk associated with the revised project time and cost. I would then perform a break even analysis, and see if the company could achieve the profit originally projected. Finally, I would meet with the project team and senior management, explain the revised project costs and time estimates, and get feedback from everyone. If the revised project received approval, the printer project would continue. If not, the project would be terminated.
No, management was not acting correctly in creating an estimate for the sharp laser printer. Managers need to recognize that time, cost and resource estimates have to be accurate to be affective. Employees not familiar with the technology of the task, ignored questions about the legitimacy of the project duration and cost estimates from other concerned employees. Technicians and people experienced with laser technology within the company were not consulted about the validity of expected production costs or time frames. The excitement of the project and the chance to be an innovator in the laser printer market, allowed management to lose sight of the potential difficulties in producing a laser printer at the cost required to make the profit needed for the project to be viable. The fact that this was a new technology that could carry additional time and cost risks appear not to have been considered in the managers original macro estimates, and no alternative methods and process decision were made.