Case Studies

The following case studies show the use of project management in practice. Studying real-life situations will help you see how others have been successful.

If you have a case study you think would be of interest to people managing projects, please let us know and we'll be happy to consider it for publication.

Too Tired to Care? Regain Your Perspective With 5 Proven Practices

Kimberly Wiefling's story of her journey from "too tried to care" to a better balance in life by adopting five common sense practices that have helped her regain her perspective, reduce stress, and optimise the results she gets from time invested in her work. Make some changes for the better before you're carried out on a stretcher!

Who is the Project Manager?

A project manager's prime task is managing a project to success. The products of the project need to be picked up by the line organisation, and if this involves change in the organisation or ways of working, the changes must be made to 'stick'. By ensuring that the responsibilities for project management and business change are well assigned in a project there is an increased chance of success.

My Story: Working Smarter; Not Harder

Susanne Madsen's own story of her journey from stressed and overworked project manager, to discovery of smarter working practices and a more fulfilling working life. "When you realise that you have the power to change your beliefs and remove a limiting factor that has been constraining you, you have an 'aha!' moment. You feel relieved and empowered."

What a Heart Surgeon Could Learn From a Project Manager

The surgeon could learn a few things from project managers about how to create a sound work management (surgery management) methodology. Project managers could also learn from this study. "We caught basic mistakes and some of the stupid stuff," Gawande reports. "We also found that good teamwork required certain things that we missed very frequently."

Every Beginning is Difficult

New undertakings or experiences are always challenging at first. This is no different when Schenker Singapore (Pte) Ltd, a transport and logistics company decided to embark on something new - a Lean Six Sigma programme. It might seem to be even more demanding at the outset since the number of 3rd party logistics providers rising to this challenge is limited. Best practices in this industry are not widespread and hard to come by. This is the story of what happened.

Project Management Approach for Business Process Improvement

Business process improvement initiatives are frequently key projects within an organisation, regardless of the size of the organisation or, frankly, the size of the business process improvement initiative. Even if a business process improvement initiative is targeted at an individual department, the impact of the change will be organisation-wide.

The Best Project Managers are Emotion-driven Leaders

Charles J. Pellerin's own personal ill-fated story, as the project director for the launch of the Hubble telescope, on his journey to the discovery of true leadership. This journey not only got him to redeem himself through an officially 'unauthorised' 60M US$ fix mission to get astronauts to repair the telescope, but also got him to better understand the root of true leadership and design a system to make it happen.

Using ROI to Evaluate Project Management Training

Return on Investment (ROI) is a monetary measurement that is used to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of an investment made by an organisation. Investments take many forms, financial, human capital, equipment, and training programmes, to name just a few. This article will focus on the use of ROI and the Phillips ROI Methodology to measure the effectiveness of a project management training programme completed within XYZ Law Firm.

The Hidden Costs and Dangers of the Shortcut

We live in a world where we are often pressured to take shortcuts to save time and cut costs as much as possible. However, if you're not a skilled and experienced project manager, the wrong shortcut could end up costing you a lot more. Here's an anecdote to think about.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Project Management

Corporations are more sensitive to social issues and image than ever before. This sensitivity has given rise to CSR initiatives, but the question is: "How do I rationalise the organisation's demands for CSR with my project's objectives?" While there are no easy answers to this question, this article uses actual examples to point out what to avoid and offers tips and tricks on how to rationalise CSR and project objectives.

Green Projects

More and more emphasis is being placed on projects that help our environment, or are at least compatible with the environment. These projects are commonly referred to as "green" projects. Whether "greening" is an adjunct to the project, or a project objective more and more projects are initiated that can be called "green." Green projects place new demands on the project manager. This article describes one such project and some of these new demands.

Project Failures From the Top Down: Can Marchionne Save Chrysler

On the surface the merger between Fiat and Chrysler is very promising, but a bit of history on Chrysler and Marchionne's management style suggests that the sustainability of the merger might be in trouble. Will Chrysler be revived? Can they initiate the kind projects that will return it profitability, or is Chrysler headed for a fatal crash?

Communication is Key: Getting Everyone in the Loop

Are you finding that the communication among your staff, across different departments, and with your vendors is often inefficient and even quite redundant? How many times have you answered the same question either by e-mail or with a phone call? Do you find that inaccurate information is being passed on to customers because sales or services people are referring to outdated e-mails or an implementation schedule that has changed? Does each one of your teams have its own file system and database and use many interfaces to organise its information?

A Tale of Two Projects

A business tale of what it takes to turn around troubled projects. The year is 2005 and times are good. The business environment is vibrant and the economy is strong. Large businesses are committing large amounts of capital and resources to implement new strategies, establish new capabilities, and open new markets. It was no different at PintCo, where Jack works as a Director of Customer Relationship Management.

How Gantt Charts Can Help Avoid Disaster

A short case study about the importance of using appropriate tools, such as Gantt charts, when managing time sensitive projects. Having run 15 months late on completion of a construction project, a building company incurred extensive penalty charges, which eventually led to its closure. Not having any project Gantt charts indirectly led to the company's failure.

NASA Project Management Challenge 2008

One of the first major uses of project management as we know it today was to manage the United States space programme. It started with the inauguration speech in 1961 of John F. Kennedy when he said, "I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth." In 1986 the Challenger space shuttle disaster focused attention on risk management, group dynamics and quality management. Today NASA continues to focus on project management best practice to deliver major aerospace projects costing many billions of dollars.

Rescuing a Small Project

Project Management. Recently I was asked to jump in and rescue a small infrastructure project that was headed for disaster. What did I do?