FINAL INDIVIDUAL PROJECT ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR & PEOPLE MANAGEMENT

MODULE 5

Submitted by:

Chime Chinedu
Student ID H00025860

Submitted to:

Joachim Bauer
Date: 12th March 2014.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page...0 Table of Contents..1 1.0 INTRODUCTION,2 1.1Background...2 1.2Problem Statement....2 1.3Project Objectives.3 2.0 ORGANIZATION.3 2.1Organizational Design...3 2.2Positions.4 2.3Stakeholder Interface Diagram..5 2.4Code of Ethics5 3.0 PROJECT SCHEDULE..7 4.0 PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROCESSES...7 4.1Stress Management7 4.2Conflict Management.8 4.3Behavioral Issues Management ...10 5.0 CONCLUSION.11 6.0 REFERENCES..13 7.0 APPENDIX.. 15
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1.0.

INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background

With a funding of $12million, Dr. ONeal; an expert in mobile robotics and Jeff Hoffman; an investor with experience in warehouse management and fulfillment technologies approached me, Chime Chinedu, a seasoned project manager to help them start-up a company called Sturata Inc. To be situated in Vermont, USA, Sturata Inc. would be involved in the development of innovative systems used in order fulfillment which would aid warehouse and production companies in moving orders from one point to another through the use of mobile robotics and without the need of human effort. Order fulfillment help firms in maintaining on-schedule deliveries, and reducing product damages (Dieltz & Mulcahy, 2003). Sturata Inc. has also employed the services of Miss Yamaguchi who is to be the Vice President of the administrative duties due to her previous administrative experiences and her educational background. 1.2Problem Statement With team effort of the 100 professionals employed, we are to implement the business idea and launch the product under 10months in order for us to sustain future funding.

1.3.

Project Objectives

We at Sturata Inc. are to make sure that the product prototype which has been designed to customers specifications is ready and made available at the customer site in10 months, and also develop fifty units of vehicles and a control station a week. 2.0. ORGANIZATION 2.1. Organizational Design

A matrix-structure is suitable for Sturata Inc. because of the complexities its project functions. Due to the complicated and difficult tasks ahead of us, while designing Sturata Inc., we decided to employ a more professional workforce in whose experiences and skills would be used as advantage for us in meeting our efficiency and effectiveness goals in designing, prototyping, and producing the system (Burton et al, 2011). Also, we intend not to reject any cultural different candidate to join our team as can be seen in the case of Ryoichi; since they have the capabilities of getting the job done, and we would also make sure that each team member learns and retains skills others bring to the project (Laroche and Lutherford, 2009). Sturata Inc. structure can be seen in Appendix (1).

2.2.

Positions

President / Chief Executive Officer Would be held by Jeff Hoffman; who is an investor with reliable knowledge in warehouse management, supply chain management, and fulfillment technologies. Vice President / Chief Technical Officer Held by entrepreneur, Dr. Ryan ONeal; an expert in mobile robotics. Vice President (Administration) Miss Yomaguchi, who holds a degree in robotics, and an MBA Project Manager / Chief Operating Officer Chime Chinedu has delivered so many projects which exceeded customer expectations. Chief Financial Officer Vacant Others As shown in the organogram in Appendix (), they are other professional hands that would be hired based on their educational backgrounds, skills, and experience in their various fields. These fields include, and not limited to; Accountants, Legal practitioners, Software engineers, Mechanical Engineers, Human resource staff, Marketers, Electronic engineers; whose inputs would be required in different states of the project to guarantee project success.

2.3.

Stakeholder Interface Diagram

Appendix (2) shows the different stakeholders, and their interaction and relationship with one another. Proper methods of communication between each one of them are to be developed based on the diagram and their needs 2.4. Code of Ethics

We intend to create and manage rules based ethics by combining values and morals to enable rational value based judgments on how things are to be done in our organization, we intend to maintain the professional integrity of our executives and project managers, and increase our company image and creating financial advantages through the creation of standard services to customers (Dinsmore & Cabanis-Brewin, 2006). The below are the guiding rules on the conduct of the employee (Society for Human Resource Management, n.d): Employees should share a common vision, principles, values, and mission with that of Sturata Inc. Employees are to exhibit characters that would build trust and credibility among themselves, and with customers. Employees are to treat one another with respect irrespective of his or her level of influence in the organization Incentives would be based on team effort
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 We are to create an open and honest communication culture by; given every one the freedom to speak his or her mind, but should not include verbal abuse or bullying; which would not be accepted. In all our doings, we must uphold the law, while complying with laws, rules and regulations in our business environment. No staff is allowed to cause harm to his fellow staff or environment. We should avoid any activity that would impair our ability to make fair, objective decisions when performing our duties; thus causing a conflict of interest. In order to compete solely on merit of our products and services, no staff member is to give or receive gifts, favors or business courtesies with people or companies with whom Sturata Inc. does or intends to do business with. Financial records and other organizational reports of Sturata Inc. are to be accurate. Any falsification that is noticed by any staff should be reported to the authorities. When faced with a risky situation, we should have the courage to challenge the situation

 Use of hard drugs and narcotics is prohibited, and drug tests would be conducted quarterly. Those defaulting would be sanctioned accordingly

3.0.

PROJECT SCHEDULE

The schedule shown in Appendix (3) is the model list of activities that would be carried out in the project, with its estimated duration. 4.0. PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROCESSES 4.1. Stress Management

Work related stress would arise when staffs have uncertain job roles or when there is lack of interpersonal relationship within an organization which could affect not only individual, but also affects team performance. We study each persons character in order to know the right steps to take in managing based on their background, beliefs and personality types. The first step is to identify the cause of the stress and reduce what causes it: If tasks are not well balanced, and we see that certain people are having more work load than others, we find a way to balance the work load among them so as to reduce the stress.
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 We then develop, plan, and negotiate demands of members which in turn would be beneficial to Sturata Inc. : Those who are given tasks that they have trouble in executing, we train them more, and also train staff on ways they could personally manage stress within themselves. Mentoring and counseling would also go a long way to help reduce stress. Old experienced staffs use their wealth of experience to mentor the younger ones on making the right decisions on their jobs and career paths, while counseling, supporting, and advising methods would be used to handle staff who is troubled emotionally, because of personal issues. 4.2. Conflict Management

When conflicts arise, it could cause bad behavior in the team like being selfcentered or insensitive; or a positive behavior like increasing our understanding of processes, and accepting others ideas (Wong, 2007). The major conflict here is between Jeff Hoffman and Dr. ONeal on whether to buy Ryoichi or employ them on contract; they have different ideas on how to achieve project activities (Meredith & Mantel, 2009). Now, we know that both have their reasons for their choices, but the problem being faced here is that they have not properly communicated between themselves; as well as the organization these reasons. One is looking at the situation from an academic point, where he believes in employing
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professionals, while the other is looking at the economical view, weighing cost of outright buying to cost of outsourcing. As a project manager, I would also give my input on the situation without being biased, and also, advice team members for inputs too. For example, if we take Ryoichi as a subcontractor, we save having to pay for the training of our in-house staff to execute the same tasks, but we end up paying high prices for their services which could result in us paying more than what we could have bought them (by the time we use their services on numerous projects); we also stand the risk of having our rivals coming to buy them over, leaving us without in-house expertise. Buying them would mean that our in-house staff can learn from their wealth of experience through interactions and mentorship programs. To resolve this conflict, and others that would arise in the future, we follow the steps advocated by Thomas (2004) which must have been agreed upon by the employees at an earlier stage: Depersonalize the issues: Listening to each partys point of view without being biased to support one over the other due to his or her post in the organization.

 Act as a mediator: My not imposing a solution to the conflict on the debaters, but look for a way to get a settlement without either of the party getting hurt. Set a time limit, and involve a third party involvement: We also involve third party to bring in their own opinion to the situation. These third parties are those that would also be affected in any of the choices that would be made, which would help us get a broader analysis, and building a consensus, while setting a time limit for them to come to a resolution. If it is not resolved, take drastic actions as the leader: If the time limit is over without a resolution in sight, I would now step in as a leader to take appropriate unbiased actions to put the conflict to an end. These actions would be based on our company policy.

4.3.

Behavioral Issues Management

Behavioral issues arise because of the cultural (upbringing, educational and skills experience, local laws and customs) backgrounds which have affected each individuals ways of reasoning and doing things. In this case, we are dealing with an off-shore team. The main issues that would arise here is distrust, due to their diverse ways of doing things, and difference in language between the Asians and
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the rest of the team. While the Asians believe in working as a team and in groups, others might not. There might be cases of with-holding information, or making fun of people because of their background To build team trust and unity, it would be nice to introduce the team to one another at the beginning of the project. We also take time to give them the chance to give a brief history about their background. Translators would be made available who would help harmonize the differences in language, making them to be free to express themselves in language they yare conversant with. This builds bond and makes them to understand more of themselves. We also give them a chance to share how they intend to work as a team; and a process of communication and feedback is agreed upon. 5.0. CONCLUSION

The above are steps we would take to start up Sturata Inc. We intend to stay above all competitors with innovative designs and guaranteed customer satisfaction in all projects handled by us. Proper and effective communications is needed at each stage to clarify tasks and roles to all who is involved on what to do and when to do it. A project which would require different talents with different cultural and educational background needs a leader who has integrative and mobilizing competences. That is, a leader who would not only be able to thinking and acting
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cross functionally, but also build strong bonds with and between the diverse teammates based on high mutual trust and respect (Williams, 2006); training them well necessary, which would guarantee team unity, corporation, and efficiency.

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6.0.

REFERENCES

Burton, R., Obel, B. & Desannctis, G. (2011) Organizational Design: A step-bystep approach, Cambridge University Press, Newyork Dieltz, J & Mulcahy, D (2003) Order-fulfilment and Across-the doc Concepts, Design, and Operational Handbook, CRC Press, Bocaraton, Florida Dinsmore, P & Cabanis-Brewin (2006) The AMA Handbook of Project Management, 2nd ed., Amacom, USA Laroche, L. & Lutherford, D (2007) Recruiting, Retaining and Promoting Culturally Different Employees, Butterworth, Burlington Meredith, J.R. & Mantel, Jr., S.J. (2009) Project Management: A Managerial Approach. 7th. ed. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Society For Human Resource Management (n.d) Sample Code of Ethics and Business Conduct [Online]. Available from:

www.shrm.org/TemplatesTools/Samples/Policies/Pages/CMS_014093.aspx (Accessed: 12th March 2014) Thomas, N. (2004) Concise Adair on Library Teambuilding and

Motivation. University of Liverpool Online

[Online]. Available

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from: http://site.ebrary.com.ezproxy.liv.ac.uk/lib/liverpool/docDetail.action?docID =10088330 (Accessed: 10th March 2014) Williams, M. (2006) Mastering leadership. University of Liverpool Online Library [Online]. Available from: http://site.ebrary.com.ezproxy.liv.ac.uk/lib/liverpool/docDetail.action?docID=1014 1072 (Accessed: 13th February 2014). Wong, B.T.Z. (2007) Human factors in project management: concepts, tools, and techniques for inspiring teamwork and motivation. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

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7.0.

APPENDIX

Appendix (1) STURATA INC ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

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Appendix (2) STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS DIAGRAM

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Appendix (3) SCHEDULE

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