Problem-Based Learning (PBL) Scenario: TopGear Corporation (TGC)

Problem-Based Learning (PBL) Scenario: TopGear Corporation (TGC)

Company Biography

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TopGear Corporation (TGC)is an established Fortune 500 company in the manufacturing industry. They are based in northern Chicago, IL. and employs over 300 workers locally. Its current Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and chairman of the board, Sam Ryder, founded the company back in 1994 with his wife Gloria Ryder.

Gloria has served as the company’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) since it was founded. Both Sam and Gloria graduated from the #1 ranked MBA program in the country and bring a lot of corporate experience to the business. Sam was a vice President and served as a senior engineer at another company for many years before deciding to venture off to start TGC with his wife.

The company is known for manufacturing electronic equipment and safety devices for cargo ships and trains, as well as for the shipyards and train stations that operate and maintain them. Their electronic products include software, and specialized Global Positioning System (GPS) for cargo and ticket scanning devices. TGC also manufactures safety monitoring devices that detect hazardous weather, equipment malfunctions and specialized fire and smoke alarms. The workforce is comprised mostly of engineers, technologists, programmers and computer specialists. They also work closely with several large vendors in the States and outsource their customer service department to India and China.

Problem

The company has a loyal customer base throughout the States and is known for its personalized service and quality devices. Due to the recession TGC has had to make some difficult choices. A large percentage of their customers have had to reduce the number of orders and shorten the length of their maintenance and servicing contracts, which involves updating and fixing devices and software. The cities and private companies that operate the shipyards and train stations have experienced significant budget cuts and layoffs. The companies that build these cargo ships and trains are also dealing with the similar problems because their largest customers are cities and private companies. In addition, there are new companies entering the market place offering cheaper electronic equipment and safety devices.

Opportunity

In order to survive the recession the Sam and Gloria have decided to diversify their product line. They are in desperate need of a brand new device that will set them apart from their competition. After conducting mock interviews with some of their customers and completing market research, TGC has decided to focus their attention on developing a new GPS cargo tracking system device that can be used for both ships and trains. The GPS will produce a stronger signal and will be more portable, durable and cheaper than their competitors. They have asked Jim Young, a rising star at the company to take on the role of project manager to lead a team of five people from different departments to create a prototype for the new GPS cargo tracking system device.

Jim Young currently serves as a department supervisor for two business units. Prior to this role he worked as an electrical engineer for the company. He has worked on many of the development projects as a team leader and helped to innovate some of the company’s existing devices. People in his business units speak highly of his leadership and coaching style. While Jim has worked in project teams and supervised functional departments, he has never acted as the project manager before. He knows there are a lot of moving parts in managing a project. He is worried about his ability to lead a new team of people with whom he has never worked. He is concerned about his lack of experience and knowledge to manage the entire life-cycle of a project from start to finish and within budget and scope. In previous projects he remembers Sam and Gloria having differences in budget, scope and resource allocation, which caused a lot of confusion amongst the project team members and vendors. Jim is also concerned that their personal relationship will interfere in this project.

You will be working with Jim Young as a project team member with four other professionals in the company. You have only worked at TGC for four years in the electric engineering department. Prior to your tenure at TGC you worked as an associate project manager for an engineer firm on the West Cost. You have worked on many different projects and are familiar with project management terms, methodologies, tools and techniques. You earned several certifications relating to project management and have an MBA in logistics. You have never worked with Jim Young or anyone else on the team, but you are very excited with the opportunity to make a difference.

Additional Information: You and the rest of the team are meeting for the first time with Jim Young. Jim did a great job introducing everyone to each other in the meeting and in describing his vision for the project. After Jim’s presentation on the project scope for the new GPS cargo tracking system device you realized there was still some information gaps that need further discussion.

Sam and Gloria have joined the team for a working lunch. During a discussion, you realize that everyone on the team, including Same and Gloria, are at odds on who should be included in the project communication. Everyone has a different understanding of who the project stakeholders are and their level of importance on this project.

“I really don’t understand why this topic is important. I consider myself and Gloria to be the most important stakeholders of this project. The only thing you need to worry about is to make us happy.” says Sam, the CEO.

“Are we not all stakeholders in this project? I agree with you Sam that our interest as stakeholders should be placed higher than everyone else, but I do believe the team members have a stake in this project as well.” says Gloria, the CFO.

“Well you both do pay the bills, but we need to make sure we can manage everyone’s expectations accordingly.” says Jim with an uncomfortable smile. “I am concerned with how team expectations could cause scope modification. Communication is key here, right?”

“What if the team members outlined their ideas of about the role of the project stakeholder, their level of importance, and how best to handle communication and conflict?” you say.

“Great, idea!” says Jim. “Can you draft something for the team asking for their ideas which we can discuss at our next meeting?”

“Sure.” you say.

Back at your desk, you draft an email to the team members stating that each person will need to bring a clearly defined, ranked stakeholder list, and their ideas on communication and handling conflict. Each team member will need to be able to discuss the stakeholder analysis process that was used so that the team will be able to create an agreed-upon list.