Prioritizing_Projects_at_D._D._Williamson

Prioritizing Projects at D. D. Williamson Human Resource Project Management Strayer University April 26, 2013 Abstract D. D. Williams was founded in 1865 and today is a global leader of non-artificial coloring. They operate in nine (9) facilities in six (6) countries and supplies many of the best-know food and beverage companies. Though time has brought about many changes, the organization finally realized what needed to transpire in order to bring their mission and vision into becoming the outstanding company they are today. With strategic planning and prioritizing, D. D. Williamson has learned what it takes to be successful and what brings positive results (Kloppenborg, Nkomo, Fottler& McAfee, 2012). Prioritizing Projects at D. D. Williamson Prioritizing is the process of translating strategic objectives into operational priorities. It involves deciding which projects or types of projects to do and which not to do. Through prioritizing agencies direct resources, time and energy to projects that are deemed more important and lucrative in achieving the objective of the organization success (Mintzberg, 1994). Strategic planning is an organizational activity that is used to set priorities, focus energy and resources, strengthen operations and ensures that employees and other shareholders are working toward common goals. It is a disciplined effort that produces decisions and actions that shape and guide what an organization is, who it serves, what it does and why it does it with a focus on the future. Effective strategic planning and prioritizing goes hand in hand (Mintzberg, 1994). 1. Critique the prioritizing process at D. D. Williamson. Though D. D. Williamson had great potential as a company, the main problem was that there was not a method to their madness. Problems consisted due to the fact that they had too many projects going on at one time and there was not a source of prioritizing which caused the company to not be as effective as they could have been. They also had problems completing projects. The vision for the company was not clears and the leadership was of poor quality. Effective leadership must be established early on in order to see the mission and visions of the company through. There was no strategic planning as to what the main focus, resources and priorities were. Initially, leadership was not where it needed to be as seems to be mot a project life cycle in place. But then the company took a different approach to change. They began to simplify the criteria ratings by rating projects at corporate level and added in senior level management support. As a result, it received higher success rates for larger projects. They decided to have fewer projects, senior management and others worked together and focused more on the long- term goals of the company (Mkomo, Nkomo, Fottler & McAfee, 2012). 2. Suggest at least one (1) recommendation to improve the prioritizing process. There were several things that could have been done to improve the process of prioritizing at D. D. Williamson. Recommendations to improve the prioritizing process would be for them to achieve a sense of balance by using portfolios, allowing a balance between the small and large projects, alternating between high and low risk projects. These projects could be grouped together to be collectively managed. By using portfolios, this alignment identifies, selects and prioritizes projects to help achieve an organizational strategic plan (Kloppenborg, Nkomo, Fottler & McAfee, 2012). Another recommendation to improve the prioritizing process at D. D. Williamson is to evaluate potential projects through financial analysis and/or scoring. These can be used in determining which projects are selected. Just by using financial justification for all projects can bring about improvements. D. D. Williamson could develop an inventory of all projects within the organization, regardless of their scope or size. This would make it clear as to what projects have the endorsement of senior management. The company could also make sure each project has an approved scope statement and detailed project plans. This will affect the project prioritization decisions simply because projects that fail to have clear scope and detailed plans are bound for failure. Last but not least, ranking each project’s priority level can be time consuming but it is ideal. The more complete the project scope statements, the more accurate the decisions will be as this helps to identify the missing elements in the foundations for all projects. This process is an important part of the organizations planning process as it will save time and money as it will also support the organizations strategic plan (Stanleigh, 2010). 3. Create a scenario where the implemented process at D. D. Williamson would not work. If D. D. Williamson had not come into the concept of prioritizing, they would not be the company they are today. They took the liberty of hiring a continuous improvement manager to serve as both project office and as a key resource for project facilitation. Without these practices put into place it would have taken even a longer period of time to see an increase in their success rate. In this scenario, had they not come into the realization that their organization needed a strategic plan and that prioritizing was the key to their success, the company would have probably been dissolved by now. Another concept that was needed in order to implement the process of prioritizing was the leadership. Without true leadership, the implemented process would not have been successful. Having someone to come and dictate or note how the organization would implement these changes is one way of ensuring success. 4. Project five (5) years ahead and speculate whether or not D. D. Williamson will be using the same process. Justify your answer. There is an old saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”. In today’s society, change is inevitable and totally unavoidable. In time, policies and guidelines will change so will the opportunity to elevate in order to maintain standards. If I had to speculate as to whether D. D. Williamson will be using the same process five (5) years from now, I would say, YES- absolutely. When Williamson found that right rhythm, the right resources and tools that was needed to put the company on top, they excelled. I feel that since these tools worked for them, it would be beneficial to them to continue to use what methods work for them. Over the years, this strategy has proven to be successful. I feel that if they continue to have great leadership to guide them and as long as they continue to prioritize and not overload associated/employees, they should continue with what works. I can only see D. D. Williamson continuing to grow and improve bringing satisfaction to the stakeholders and employees while having a great impact on the bottom dollar. Conclusion Strategic selection does not occur in isolation, it begins with the organization’s strategic planning. It will outline the company strengths and weaknesses. The organization should then develop its guiding principles such as their mission and vision statement. A portfolio should be aligned with the same (vision and mission). An on-going portfolio alignment should continue in order that everyone involved in the company would be able to identify with the possible opportunities that they feel is needed in order that the company continues to achieve their goals. References Kloppenborg, T. (2012). Project selection and prioritization and contemporary project management. Cengage Learning . Retrieved from www.northseattle.edu. Kloppenborg, T., Nkomo, S., Fottler, M. & McAfee, B. (2012). Human resource project management. (2nd ed.). Mason, OH: South Western Cengage Learning. Mintzberg, H. (1994). The rise and fall of strategic planning. Harvard Business Review pp 107- 114. Stanleigh, M. (2010). How to develop a systematic approach to prioritizing all projects: Retrieved from www.bia.ca.