It Project Managment

|CSC 555 Week 2 Case Study Exercise |Mohawk National Bank |

|September 4, 2012 | |

"You're really going to have your work cut out for you, Randy," remarked Pat Coleman, vice president for operations. "It's not going to be easy establishing a project management organizational structure on top of our traditional structure. We're going to have to absorb the lumps and bruises and literally 'force' the system to work."

BACKGROUND

Between 1988 and 1998, Mohawk National matured into one of Maine's largest full-service banks, employing a full-time staff of some 1,200 employees. Of the 1,200 employees, approximately 700 were located in the main offices in downtown Augusta.

Mohawk matured along with other banks in the establishment of computerized information processing and decision-making. Mohawk leased the most up-to-date computer equipment in order to satisfy customer demands. By 1994, almost all departments were utilizing the computer.

By 1995, the bureaucracy of the traditional management structure was creating severe administrative problems. Mohawk's management had established many complex projects to be pursued, each one requiring the involvement of several departments. Each department manager was setting his or her own priorities for the work that had to be performed. The traditional organization was too weak structurally to handle problems that required integration across multiple departments. Work from department to department could not be tracked because there was no project manager who could act as focal point for the integration of work.

UNDERSTANDING THE CHANGEOVER PROBLEM

It was a difficult decision for Mohawk National to consider a new organizational structure, such as a matrix. Randy Gardner, director of personnel, commented on the...