Firecracker: how the project could have been approached at strategic level
Project Firecracker: The value of strategy
The case study Project Firecracker chronicles the issues which arise as a result of the National's ill-fated venture called Project Firecracker. When the chief engineer of National, was in negotiations with another company for a contract, he learned that a potentially lucrative deal had been rejected outright by the sales department, given that National currently did not have the capacity to produce the part. However, given the size of the deal, the chief engineer was certainly open to this project. His company possessed the expertise to manufacture the part and to satisfy the needs for the project would only require one additional new machine, the costs of which would be far less than the money gained via the contract (Kerzner 2013: 93).
The chief engineer had no idea why company's sales vice president, had refused…...
Strategic Project Management: Project Firecracker
National Corporation is a big name in the industry and is operating successfully for more than hundred years. The company has annual sales of about $600 million and there are around 8000 employees. The company is a large multinational and produces specialty machines, components, and tools for different automotive and aircraft manufacturing companies.
The organizational structure of the company is strictly mechanistic and bureaucratic. The company is divided into different divisions on the basis of different machines, components, and tool production facilities. National Corporation has around 3000 industrial distributors across the country through which the company sells all its tools, components, and machines. Apart from this the company has also employed 20 sales representatives who work along with the different distributors to give presentations and seminars about the products to the customers.
The company uses traditional approach for the project management and for the assignment of the projects.…...
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REFERENCES
Pinto, J, & Slevin, D. (1988). Critical success factors across the project life cycle. Project Management Journal, 19(3), 67-75.
Atkinson, R. (1999). Project management: cost, time and quality, two best guesses and a phenomenon, its time to accept other success criteria. International Journal of Project Management, 17(6), 337-342.
Burke, R. (1999). Project management: planning and control techniques. England: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Pinto, J, & Slevin, D. (1988). Project success: definitions and measurement techniques. Project Management Journal, 19(1), 67-72.
Saving the Cows, Starving the Children" by Sonia Faleirojune and the article entitled "Food Price Inflation in India: Causes and Cures" by Pradeep Agrawal and Durairaj Kumaraswamy in the Indian Economic Review available from JSTOR both address food issues in India. These articles appealed to me because I find India to be a fascinating country where there is so much potential for greatness yet so much inherent contradictory actions and agendas that frustrate the country's advances. Faleirojune focuses on the contradiction at the heart of India's policy towards banning beef: cows are literally everywhere in India and could be used to help feed the nation's poor and malnourished, but the government won't allow the sale of beef in many states -- neither will it permit state schools to offer eggs to school children as part of a meal plan. Even though eggs would be a good solution to the problem…...
Chinese eddings
Ancient Chinese weddings began with elaborate preparation, including the proposal and acceptance. However, the wedding itself was rather simple, and generally comprised of the bride and groom paying homage to Heaven and Earth, the family ancestors and the Kitchen God, Tsao-Chun, at the family altar, after which they drank tea offered by the groom's parents, and then bowed to each other (Chinese pp). This completed the marriage ceremony. Although the marriage ceremony itself was simply, there were numerous customs that were required both before and after, many of which are still observed today.
Today, many Chinese-Americans choose to combine their traditional culture with modern estern traditions. Traditionally, the color red is the symbol of happiness and joy, and is used throughout Chinese celebrations, including weddings (Traditions pp). The wedding invitations and reception menus are a deep red with black or gold calligraphy, and the guest book is always made of…...
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Work Cited
Chinese Wedding Traditions. Chinese Historical and Cultural Project.
6).
Another lesson learned by the fusion research has been its impact on the development of future nuclear weapons vs. existing test ban treaties. It would be possible with successful nuclear fusion results to test weapons without an actual above or below ground explosion due to the nature of the science. The question is raised whether that would be a violation of the nuclear test ban treaties. Also, the potential power of these weapons is mind-boggling -- perhaps 100x existing nuclear weapons. They make the atomic and hydrogen bombs look like firecrackers in comparison.
The mere thought of pure fusion weapons has given pause for thought, and the development of even minor successes in this field cause lessons to be learned about the future control and management of fusion devices.
Present
Most importantly, the fifty years of research into nuclear fusion have brought the world to the point of learning enough lessons to…...
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Bibliography
Brooks, M. (2009). 13 things that don't make sense: The most baffling scientific mysteries of our time. New York: Random House.
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