Westjet

Implications of the Recommended Strategy

5. IBM recommended that WestJet establish a project management office (PMO), but Smith put the recommendation on hold because she “believed that overlaying a PMO on what might turn out to be an IT operation in need of reorganization was not a prudent step.”  Why might Smith have concluded that a PMO would not have been as effective in addressing WestJet’s IT issues as the BU-CIO structure?

Given that the establishment of a project management office (PMO) would require substantial capital investment, Smith had reservations since the strategy would attempt to remedy an issue that had yet to be diagnosed. Smith’s hesitation stems from WestJet inability to adequately understand or state with confidence what its current information technology system was or how it compared to industry standards. Based on this fact, Smith believed that an expensive PMO would not be economical since, pending an analysis of WestJet’s current information technology system, a more effective and inexpensive solution could instead be deployed. Following analyses and benchmarking conducted to gauge WestJet’s information system as compared to industry standards, it was under Smith’s advisement that the company’s money was better spent deploying alternative strategies.

6. What were the implications of Smith’s governance model with regard to the role of the WestJet CIO and the skills required to be effective in that position?

One major implication is Smith’s contract length of two-years, which may impede further progression of the governance model she established beyond a two-year tenure. Although WestJet’s intention was to hire a CIO on a contract basis, they were open to the idea of a employing a permanent CIO if it was worthwhile. In contrast, Smith’s career goal moving forward was to work on a contract basis without consideration for long-term commitments. With WestJet’s information technology department historically marred by its...