Reference no: EM133307433

Assignment: It was in late May 2002 when Jan Vesely, sales manager for Southeast Asia and the Pacific region at International Instruments, Inc., received a call from RisingSun, one of its key accounts in Japan. "They told us that they were interested in our 1001 series monitors if we were able to provide audio capability - a feature that our competitor already had implemented in their product, " Jan said. " Additionally, RisingSun wanted us to deliver the product in 11 months, which was an aggressive time - to - market goal. Since RisingSun was one of our most important customers, we jumped into action. " International Instruments, Inc. was a global market leader in the field of monitoring systems, and the 1001 series was their main product line of monitors addressing the biggest segment of the overall market.

The audio capability for the 1001 series monitors was previously discussed because, as mentioned, a major competitor had already brought a monitor with audio capability to the market. But Manuel Scriba, the segment manager for the 1001 product line, found the market too small to justify adding the audio feature, but the telephone call from RisingSun changed everything. As recalled by Manuel, "Suddenly the program, named Shogun, would help us to meet our financial, market share, customer relationship, and competitive business goals, " he said. " First and foremost," he commented, "a new program had to fulfill our business goals. That's what it is all about - the business goals. "

As for the financial goal, the order was large enough to cover the development and research cost associated with the program and make the desired contribution to the company bottom line. But it was more than that. International Instruments, Inc. was focused on market share and customer relationship as key strategic goals. It was clear that Shogun would support the achievement of these strategic goals. " We had excellent customer relationships before this program, and if an important customer wanted to have the new feature - and the program was financially viable - what else could we do but satisfy them? " asked Manuel. "On top of that," Manuel added, "Shogun would also provide gain in market share for this monitor product line. Not only could we increase our market share, but we could attain our competitive goal, which was to preempt our competitor from gaining more market share in Japan. "

Manuel proposed the new program to Robin Weiland, vice - president of International Instruments, Inc. "We had the chance to increase our market share," recalled Robin. "It was tough, but feasible. So the question was no longer, does it make sense? , but rather, Can we get this done in only 11 months? " The next steps were to assign a program manager and set up the program as soon as possible.

THE FOCAL POINT FOR BUSINESS RESULTS

Melanie Lehr came from a strategic marketing position and was new to program management. As she remembered, "I was new to the company and new to program management, but I knew the company pretty well from my former jobs. This program was about to become a great challenge for me and the company. But I was glad to have the support from the program management office. "

The program management office, a knowledge base for the program management activities throughout the company, provided not only standardized but flexible processes and tools for each of the programs. "We don't expect naturally born program managers," said Bob Mitchell, head of the program management office. "Program managers are made; they are trained on the job and in classrooms. Through the years, we developed a skill set map for program managers. A program manager's task is strategic - the focal point for business success. They must have strategic skills. They lead all kinds of people - some easy to lead, some difficult. Therefore, they need leadership skills. They face tough times, requiring tough character. Hence, we expect them to have a special set of intrapersonal skills. Programs cost a lot of money and require many resources, so program managers need to have financial skills. Since we develop highly technical products, program managers should have a working level of technical skills. Finally, the customer must be understood inside and out, requiring program managers to have customer skills. In summary, we require six sets of skills from our program managers. "

Like every program manager, Melanie was held accountable for business results. Therefore, her job was one of the most critical in the company. "She did not have all of the skills we require," said Bob. She was, however, an experienced engineer with an MBA, eight years of experience in design engineering and strategic marketing, and was involved with many programs as a member of extended teams and as a project manager. She had all of the required skills except for the program management set. "We planned to promote Melanie to program manager in the long term," Bob added. "But when Shogun was added to the product roadmap, we did not have a seasoned person available, so we assigned the program to her. New program managers need as much help as possible. Mentoring from others who have had the same challenges is the best way to teach them. We solicited the help of an excellent mentor, which provided the program management skill set Melanie was missing. Standardized processes and tools also helped her master the challenge. This example demonstrates that you do not need to reinvent the wheel. And Melanie did a great job. "

Question 1. What are the lessons learned in this case?

Question 2. What are the things we have usually observed in well-managed programs?

Question 3. What are important skills that every good program manager should possess?