1. What are the strengths of Acorn?

 Superior technological capabilities

 A successful marketing strategy that depends on three factors including
knowledge of customer’s preference, market situation and the state of
competition.
 A strong commercial product line to fall back upon in case the adventure into
weaponry failed.
 A separate marketing department within each division of the organization.
 A full-time director of project management and setting up of project management
office.

2. What are the weaknesses of Acorn?

 The lack of full implementation of project management previously.
 Nearly no interaction between the research and development and the production
engineering departments.
 Absence of fully developed program management.
 Previously, the company had dealt with only a single product line and short-term
production cycle.
 Absence of individuals in the organization having experience of program
management.
3. What are your recommendations?
• To develop the project management in the company:
• Provide training courses and workshops for the projects’ employees.
• Hire experienced project officers and directors.
• More flexibility and support from the executive management to the project
management, and acceptance of the change in the way of doing work in the company.
• More communication between the functional and project managers.
• Hiring new talented employees or outsourcing some of the projects that need
talents not available in the company.
• Set unified standards for the employees’ evaluation.
• All key decision makers should participate in the decision-making.
• Strategic planning should set up front
4. Additional questions:
a. Why was project management so slow in getting off the ground?
Project management was slow in getting off the ground because of multiple reasons
including the company’s structure. The company needed lots of reorganization before project
management could be fully and seriously implemented. The company had been virtually a
decentralized manufacturing organization and each division also acted somewhat autonomously.
Neither there had been any production planning in the organization previously which was
because company was focused on a single product line and interacted with commercial
contractors only. The company was now faced with long term contracts and long cycles but
previously it had been dealing with short term contracts and production cycles.
 b. Can marketing continue to prepare proposals without functional input?
After the organizational structure had undergone several changes it was no more possible for the
marketing department to prepare proposals without functional input. While preparing the project
proposals it was now essential for the marketing department to include other factors. With the
establishment of project management office, it also became necessary to include it in all the
phases of contract proposals and the project management was a significant part of the
organization and as such its inclusion in all aspects of contracts proposal became essential. So,
project management could not any more prepare management proposals without functional input.
c. What should be the working relationship between the product manager and
the proposal?
It is always essential for the line manager and the project manager to understand they are roles
and how they are related to that of each other. They have to collaborate together to manage
projects, customers, contracts for everyone’s benefit. In Acorn Industries sometimes there are
chances of clash related to role and authority. Their roles would need to be defined adequately to
ensure harmony.
d. Does KMIP benefit project management?
The KMIP promotes excellence and increased sales but it was creating a more decentralized
culture
e. Should KMIP be eliminated?
No, the company can either revamp their KMIP goals to be more project management focused or
add an additional incentives program that fosters cooperation and promotes project management
objectives.