In 2017, the humble jackfruit, which grew in weed-like abundance in India, gained sudden prominence in the United States. The underutilized jackfruit crop was also gaining recognition globally for its role in addressing food security issues. An entrepreneur who had pioneered methods of jackfruit processing at Artocarpus Foods Private Limited in his native state of Kerala, India, had faced many entrepreneurial challenges in establishing Hebon, his brand of processed jackfruit products. Now he was considering whether to pursue the opportunity to exploit the overseas market or to continue focusing on domestic expansion.
Cabalonga S. A. (Cabalonga) was a unique, low-cost hostel located in the small seaside town of Puerto Cayo, Ecuador. The beachfront land on which Cabalonga was established had been inherited by one of the two proprietors. In 2017, the company did little better than break even, but the hostel did provide the occasional weekend getaway for its owners. However, the weekend getaways had actually become hectic cross-country commutes for the owners, and too many hours were spent attending to guests' needs. While the enterprise was financially stable, the owners wanted it to be a self-sustaining and less time-intensive investment.
To succeed, projects must meet the conditions defined by the project's stakeholders. Sometimes these conditions are explicit: it must be finished by this date, it cannot exceed this budget. Sometimes they are more subtle: the outcomes, must meet specific-often poorly articulated-criteria. The context shapes what must be achieved, how it has to be done, and when. To deal with this 'uniqueness' and its uncertainty, project managers must plan. There is no single approach to planning a project, but for a given set of circumstances, there is a best one. This book takes you through many common planning situations you will meet. It uses stories of real projects to show how planning decisions alter depending on the project context. It discusses how resource-constrained planning differs from end-date schedule planning. It looks at what is different between cost-constrained plans and time boxing. It explores why you must plan when using Agile approaches, and how to plan for innovation. Chapter 1, Planning a Project, introduces two fundamental models: one to establish the strategic aspects of a project plan-the project mission-the second, the tactical concerns. It also set outs a structure for a plan that reflects the different levels of volatility. In doing so, it provides an overview of the book, defines many of the key terms used in the book, introduces the Project Mission Model, and identifies the key steps involved in planning.
To succeed, projects must meet the conditions defined by the project's stakeholders. Sometimes these conditions are explicit: it must be finished by this date, it cannot exceed this budget. Sometimes they are more subtle: the outcomes, must meet specific-often poorly articulated-criteria. The context shapes what must be achieved, how it has to be done, and when. To deal with this 'uniqueness' and its uncertainty, project managers must plan. There is no single approach to planning a project, but for a given set of circumstances, there is a best one. This book takes you through many common planning situations you will meet. It uses stories of real projects to show how planning decisions alter depending on the project context. It discusses how resource-constrained planning differs from end-date schedule planning. It looks at what is different between cost-constrained plans and time boxing. It explores why you must plan when using Agile approaches, and how to plan for innovation. Chapter 2, Schedule-Driven Planning, focuses on time-constrained project planning. It provides examples of such projects. It also identifies both the challenges of this form of planning and potential strategies and tactics to increase the odds such a project will succeed.
To succeed, projects must meet the conditions defined by the project's stakeholders. Sometimes these conditions are explicit: it must be finished by this date, it cannot exceed this budget. Sometimes they are more subtle: the outcomes, must meet specific-often poorly articulated-criteria. The context shapes what must be achieved, how it has to be done, and when. To deal with this 'uniqueness' and its uncertainty, project managers must plan. There is no single approach to planning a project, but for a given set of circumstances, there is a best one. This book takes you through many common planning situations you will meet. It uses stories of real projects to show how planning decisions alter depending on the project context. It discusses how resource-constrained planning differs from end-date schedule planning. It looks at what is different between cost-constrained plans and time boxing. It explores why you must plan when using Agile approaches, and how to plan for innovation. Chapter 3, Resource-Driven Planning, highlights the challenges of planning when resources like time and/or money are scarce, and indicates the specific nature of several such challenges. It also provides various techniques to mitigate the effects of these constraints.
To succeed, projects must meet the conditions defined by the project's stakeholders. Sometimes these conditions are explicit: it must be finished by this date, it cannot exceed this budget. Sometimes they are more subtle: the outcomes, must meet specific-often poorly articulated-criteria. The context shapes what must be achieved, how it has to be done, and when. To deal with this 'uniqueness' and its uncertainty, project managers must plan. There is no single approach to planning a project, but for a given set of circumstances, there is a best one. This book takes you through many common planning situations you will meet. It uses stories of real projects to show how planning decisions alter depending on the project context. It discusses how resource-constrained planning differs from end-date schedule planning. It looks at what is different between cost-constrained plans and time boxing. It explores why you must plan when using Agile approaches, and how to plan for innovation. Chapter 4, Not a Penny More-Budget-Constrained Planning, highlights the uncertainly of planning related to budgets, and indicates the nature of this uncertainty. It also provides various techniques and factors to consider when responding to these challenges.
To succeed, projects must meet the conditions defined by the project's stakeholders. Sometimes these conditions are explicit: it must be finished by this date, it cannot exceed this budget. Sometimes they are more subtle: the outcomes, must meet specific-often poorly articulated-criteria. The context shapes what must be achieved, how it has to be done, and when. To deal with this 'uniqueness' and its uncertainty, project managers must plan. There is no single approach to planning a project, but for a given set of circumstances, there is a best one. This book takes you through many common planning situations you will meet. It uses stories of real projects to show how planning decisions alter depending on the project context. It discusses how resource-constrained planning differs from end-date schedule planning. It looks at what is different between cost-constrained plans and time boxing. It explores why you must plan when using Agile approaches, and how to plan for innovation. Chapter 5, When It Really Does Have to Work, discusses projects that are mission critical. In such situations, the avoidance of risk drives planning, which must center on total conformance to a pre-specified capability that forces usual planning efforts to be modified to avoid the possibility of events that cannot be managed and known performance must be reliable and verifiable through testing. The chapter thus highlights the uncertainly of planning related to budgets, and indicates the nature of this uncertainty. It also provides various techniques and factors to consider when responding to these challenges.
To succeed, projects must meet the conditions defined by the project's stakeholders. Sometimes these conditions are explicit: it must be finished by this date, it cannot exceed this budget. Sometimes they are more subtle: the outcomes, must meet specific-often poorly articulated-criteria. The context shapes what must be achieved, how it has to be done, and when. To deal with this 'uniqueness' and its uncertainty, project managers must plan. There is no single approach to planning a project, but for a given set of circumstances, there is a best one. This book takes you through many common planning situations you will meet. It uses stories of real projects to show how planning decisions alter depending on the project context. It discusses how resource-constrained planning differs from end-date schedule planning. It looks at what is different between cost-constrained plans and time boxing. It explores why you must plan when using Agile approaches, and how to plan for innovation. Chapter 6, When Stakeholders Really Matter, identifies the importance of stakeholders to projects. It indicates questions that project planners must ask regarding stakeholders' criteria, the characteristics of such stakeholders, and the general types of projects that are stakeholder intensive. It also provides guidance on how to manage such projects and the questions it is necessary to ask when doing so.
To succeed, projects must meet the conditions defined by the project's stakeholders. Sometimes these conditions are explicit: it must be finished by this date, it cannot exceed this budget. Sometimes they are more subtle: the outcomes, must meet specific-often poorly articulated-criteria. The context shapes what must be achieved, how it has to be done, and when. To deal with this 'uniqueness' and its uncertainty, project managers must plan. There is no single approach to planning a project, but for a given set of circumstances, there is a best one. This book takes you through many common planning situations you will meet. It uses stories of real projects to show how planning decisions alter depending on the project context. It discusses how resource-constrained planning differs from end-date schedule planning. It looks at what is different between cost-constrained plans and time boxing. It explores why you must plan when using Agile approaches, and how to plan for innovation. Chapter 7, Planning When It Has to be Different, focuses on projects in which innovation and creativity are core goals. Such projects must involve more freedom, as well as tolerance for failure that requires different forms of management and collaboration, but nonetheless need a thoughtful planning approach to be successful. This chapter provides some methods for doing so.
To succeed, projects must meet the conditions defined by the project's stakeholders. Sometimes these conditions are explicit: it must be finished by this date, it cannot exceed this budget. Sometimes they are more subtle: the outcomes, must meet specific-often poorly articulated-criteria. The context shapes what must be achieved, how it has to be done, and when. To deal with this 'uniqueness' and its uncertainty, project managers must plan. There is no single approach to planning a project, but for a given set of circumstances, there is a best one. This book takes you through many common planning situations you will meet. It uses stories of real projects to show how planning decisions alter depending on the project context. It discusses how resource-constrained planning differs from end-date schedule planning. It looks at what is different between cost-constrained plans and time boxing. It explores why you must plan when using Agile approaches, and how to plan for innovation. Chapter 8, Planning Operational Projects, identifies the challenges of managing operational projects, which require the practices and processes of the organization to continue uninterrupted. These projects pose unique challenges to organizations because they are often staffed and run by operational personnel and often slide in priority because the organization is too busy to improve its performance. This chapter provides some suggestions for mitigating this pattern of behavior.
To succeed, projects must meet the conditions defined by the project's stakeholders. Sometimes these conditions are explicit: it must be finished by this date, it cannot exceed this budget. Sometimes they are more subtle: the outcomes, must meet specific-often poorly articulated-criteria. The context shapes what must be achieved, how it has to be done, and when. To deal with this 'uniqueness' and its uncertainty, project managers must plan. There is no single approach to planning a project, but for a given set of circumstances, there is a best one. This book takes you through many common planning situations you will meet. It uses stories of real projects to show how planning decisions alter depending on the project context. It discusses how resource-constrained planning differs from end-date schedule planning. It looks at what is different between cost-constrained plans and time boxing. It explores why you must plan when using Agile approaches, and how to plan for innovation. Chapter 9, And Finally, briefly argues for the importance of project management and the need for project managers to be willing to adapt to the different types of project constraints they encounter. It also provides a graphic depiction of the different types of projects discussed in the earlier chapters.
This case highlights the differences in the business models of Amazon and Alibaba, respectively. Readers need to analyze the characteristics of India with respect to culture, wealth and income distribution, demographics, economy, infrastructure, digital potential, diversity, and foreign direct investment policy. Based on their assessment, they need to decide which company represents the better strategic fit for success in India. Theoretical models illustrated are Hambrick's strategy diamond, SWOT analysis, customer segmentation, concept of clockspeed by Charles H. Fine (double helix model), and principles of platform business models.
Cabalonga S. A. (Cabalonga) was a unique, low-cost hostel located in the small seaside town of Puerto Cayo, Ecuador. The beachfront land on which Cabalonga was established had been inherited by one of the two proprietors. In 2017, the company did little better than break even, but the hostel did provide the occasional weekend getaway for its owners. However, the weekend getaways had actually become hectic cross-country commutes for the owners, and too many hours were spent attending to guests’ needs. While the enterprise was financially stable, the owners wanted it to be a self-sustaining and less time-intensive investment.
In 2017, the humble jackfruit, which grew in weed-like abundance in India, gained sudden prominence in the United States. The underutilized jackfruit crop was also gaining recognition globally for its role in addressing food security issues. An entrepreneur who had pioneered methods of jackfruit processing at Artocarpus Foods Private Limited in his native state of Kerala, India, had faced many entrepreneurial challenges in establishing Hebon, his brand of processed jackfruit products. Now he was considering whether to pursue the opportunity to exploit the overseas market or to continue focusing on domestic expansion.
Industry leaders should adapt to changes in the business context and consider different ways to grow. Advances in technology had shifted software demand to the cloud. As a result, Microsoft announced a strategic shift in direction from its existing 'Windows first' strategy to an 'AI/cloud first' strategy to capture the increasing demand for digital transformation solutions. In line with this change in the overall firm strategy, Microsoft had to come up with a viable go-to-market plan that would align its new commercial strategy with sales, partners, products, services, and customers in order to drive long-term growth without hurting current revenue or profits. The case outlines the challenges involved in transforming the sales strategy of a well-established firm to better serve customers.
Similar to Case TCG121. The department of neurology within a department of medicine is attempting to build its budget. The chair of medicine has asked the division head to give him a business plan, which is presented in the case. The chief must decide how credible the plan is. To fully understand what is going on, the budget-building (and business plan) effort must be taken down to the individual provider level.
Nico Shea founded Cumplo in 2011 to enable peer-to-peer lending for consumers before changing the company's focus to small-to-medium businesses (SMBs). Cumplo was a financial technology ("fintech") company that provided a platform for SMBs applying for a loan to be matched with investors willing to fund that loan. The platform further differentiated itself among SMBs by allowing companies to use unpaid invoices as collateral. Despite significant issues in the beginning with regulators, Cumplo operations in Chile grew to become one of Latin America's largest business crowdlending platform. Cumplo facilitated its first loan in Mexico in February of 2018, a month before the local government passed a new law regulating fintech companies. This enabled the team to work closely with regulators to create rules that would prevent bad players from damaging the industry and not be surprised by the rules that were enacted. While the team also faced challenges in establishing Cumplo's Mexican operations, after months of work they built a high-performing and motivated team. Having proven the Cumplo business model to be successful in both Chile and Mexico, Shea was anxious to begin more rapid expansion. Now that Cumplo had been successfully established itself in the largest Spanish-speaking market, Shea considered expanding to the second largest market of Spanish-speakers, the United States.