Running head: THE JAGUAR PROJECT CASE

THE JAGUAR PROJECT CASE

Name Surname

College Name

Tutor’s Name

August 12, 2012

THE JAGUAR PROJECT CASE 2

THE JAGUAR PROJECT CASE

1. Compare and contrast Teradyne's traditional project execution strategy to the approach it

used in Jaguar? What was similar? What was different?

Teradyne’s traditional project execution strategy was different from Jaguar project.

Teradyne’s traditional project execution strategy was focused on the result of the project but

not on the tools which are used for the project implementation. We could observe democracy

in all steps of projects. The top managers did not check each step of the employees and did

not measure their performance. Operating process was not under control. Moreover, the

strategy of the company was not aimed to improve the service. Plans were not worked out

properly. Therefore, the employees had to add some operations during the implementation of

the project. The performance was of poor quality and projects were delayed.

In contrast to Teradyne’s traditional project execution strategy, Jaguar project was

based on the principle of checking each tool by which the project is realized. In Jaguar

project much attention was paid to concept development and product planning. The main

task was to satisfy the needs of the customers. If an operation was fulfilled lately, the

managers should answer for these delays. Even if some phases of the project implementation

were delayed, the whole project should be finished in time. Each employee should have

checked the effectiveness of the work by project management tools that include work

breakdown structure, 3-point estimation, critical path analysis, and earned value analysis.

2. What impact did the project management tools have on the Jaguar project? Specifically,

how did they change behavior? How did they influence performance?

The project management tools had double effect on the Jaguar project. On the one

hand, the project management tools made the employees have more serious attitude to their

work and be more punctual and organized. At first, employees checked whether the work

process performed correctly with the help of managers. Then, they began to check their

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actions themselves. On the other side, most of the employees were not satisfied with the

results of the project management tools input. The problem is that they paid more attention to

monitoring of phases instead of thinking about the improvement of the quality of their work.

As a result, the project management tools turned into the target of the employees’

performance instead of helping to achieve perfect results in projects. The project management

tools allowed the company fulfilling the projects in time. However, they affected the quality

of the performance. People did not have time for improving systems quality in chase of the

implementation of plans and monitoring of each step of the work.

3. What were the unintended consequences of using the project management tools? What

lessons should Teradyne take away from the Jaguar project?

The project management tools made a work more difficult instead of its

simplification. It was difficult to modify them to needs of the projects, since in such projects

the workers usually discovered some things that were necessary to do during their

implementation. However, there was no additional time for such thing in the schedule. Then,

tools did not also reflect all information. Thus, Earned Value did not show how much work

left. What is more, according to the rules of the project each person answered only for his or

her phase of work. It led to the situation when employees did not feel the responsibility for

the whole project. Consequently, when people provided the data that was necessary according

to the project, they did not worry if it was true or not. Besides, the workers were focused only

on the details. Finally, the project did not take into account that working with software is

different from hardware: if in hardware one part of work influences the others and the correct

order of plan implementation is vital, software parts could be done in different order that

made strict planning of projects not necessary.

The main lessons that should be taken away from the Jaguar project are:

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- The planning of hardware and software parts should be measured in different

ways.

- It is important to include additional time for unplanned things that should be done

for projects’ success in the schedule.

- The top management team should encourage the employees not by the strict

regulations for being late with projects, but by financial premiums in order they

would be more interested in the results of the project.

- The number of project management tools should be reduced, but the responsibility

for providing of true information should be increased.

References:

Pisano, Gary. Gino, Francesca. (May 3, 2006). Teradyne Corporation:The Jaguar Project.

Harvard Business School.

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