The researchers are of the opinion that new product development ensures that the organization can improve its market position and financial performance, creating new industry standards, new niche markets and possibly, renewing the organization. In my organization, the years pipeline projects are a combination of 4 derivative, 1 breakthrough, 8 platform, 2 R&D and 1 partnership project. These 16 projects were scaled back from a total of 50 projects originally planned are more in keeping with the available resources.
Our PMO was actively involved in scrutinizing proposed projects and making sure the projects all supported the strategic direction and the required combination of project types. According to Wheelwright and Clark, the following steps are required to make this type of strategic approach. 1. Determine existing resource capacity 2. Identify desired mix of projects 3. Estimate number of projects existing resources can support 4. Decide which projects to pursue
Another technique we exploit in our Project Management world is what is referred to as Process Management. In their article for the Harvard Business Review On Point Collection, Adler and associates claim that the replacement of project management practice with process management practices results in between 30% to 50% savings in delivery time for projects (Adler et al. , 2003). To round up the Project Management strategy, close attention is paid to the top three risks for failed projects as defined by Matta and Ashkenas in their 2003 article:
1. White Space: Gaps in the plan caused by the planner not anticipating all activities and work streams. 2. Execution: Team members do not carry out designated activities properly. 3. Integration: When all activities have been carried out properly but are not properly tied-in at the end. The researches claim that these risks can be effectively managed through Rapid-Results Initiatives- mini-versions of the big project. This is an approach that we can plan on using in future projects to increase project success.
Just as the article by Hansen and his associates suggests, the Knowledge Management style in my organization had to be tailored to fit the requirements (Hansen et al. , 1999). Similar to the people-to-people style deployed at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, our Research team intends to start using the personalization strategy. This is in the form of periodic meetings and cross-fertilization of ideas that will aid us in our initiatives. We will support this strategy by investing in the technology and resources that facilitate its application like video-conferencing, emails and phones.
For our patient database, we employ codification (similar to Dell’s approach). This is to ensure the protection of client-sensitive information. This article has explored cutting edge techniques and procedures in the areas of team management, project and knowledge management as apply to me in my role as Medical Administrator. Some of these are already the practice in my organization and those that are not yet being applied have been suggested as future improvements.
As we continue to apply the principles, we intend that we become a world-class organization in our administration of top-quality health care and health administration.
REFERENCES Farkas, M. T. (2001). A Note on Team Process. HBS No. 402-032. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing. Polzer, J. T. , Vargas, I. , Elfenbein, H. A. (2003). Henry Tam and the MGI Team. HBS No. 404-068. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing. Wheelwright, S. C. , Clark, K. B. (2003, September). Creating Project Plans to focus Product Development.
Harvard Business Review On Point Collection. 4899, 4-18. Adler, P. S, Mandelbaum, A. , Nguyen, V. , Schwere, E. (2003, September). Getting the most of your Product Development Process. Harvard Business Review On Point Collection. 4880, 19-33. Matta, F. N. , Ashkenas, R. N. (2003, September). Why Good Projects Fail Anyway. Harvard Business Review On Point Collection. 4872, 34-43. Hansen, M. T. , Nohria, N. ,Tierney, T. (1999, March-April). What’s your Strategy for Managing Knowledge? Harvard Business Review On Point Collection. 4347, 1-13.