Locating problems in a project management case is a challenging issue, as it presupposes that the case should be approached from a variety of angles, including the financial, the organizational, and the managerial ones (Grisham, 2011).
The case of ECO-Trans and the lack of consistency in the leader’s actions, which led to the company’s project turning out in a dead end, is a graphic example of the phenomenon under analysis. Despite the fact that the issues related to the organizational behavior and ethics may seem to be the root cause of the problem, a closer look at the study reveals that it is the leadership style that needs to be addressed.
Apart from the leadership-related problems, the issues regarding communication between the members of the project have to be discussed. One of the most significant themes along with the management concern, the problem concerning communication was the most obvious characteristic of the project.
As the case study shows, the conflicts between the project members, which emerged on a regular basis, triggered the untimely demise of the organization and resulted in Vagra’s failure to lead the team the right direction (Pritchard, 2013). The specified issues cannot be viewed as solely the effects of a wrong organizational behavior standard; instead, the above-mentioned problems signify that the communication tools used by the staff members were not efficient enough (Binder, 2012).
The concept of team management also should be listed among the recurring themes of the case study. According to the case details, the project leader failed to manage the team not only in terms of solving conflicts among its members but also as far as the distribution of roles and responsibilities is concerned. Indeed, a closer look at the themes mentioned in the case will reveal that Vagra paid little to no attention to the
It would be wrong to claim that only the negative aspects of the case study of ECO-Trans should be brought up. The cost management strategy, which Vagra promoted as the basis for the financial operations, can be deemed as valid and very efficient (Wilson, 2014). Therefore, the issue of financial security in general and the cost strategy of the organization, in particular, were rendered in the study accordingly.
Nevertheless, the leadership issue and the lack of consistency in the management of resources, particularly, the human ones, must be mentioned as the key theme of the study. Last, but not least, the HRM issues can be viewed as one of the aspects of the problem. As the study has shown, the distribution of roles and responsibilities among the staff members left much to be desired. As a result, the employees had a very vague idea of what they had to accomplish and what the quality standards for the work were (Laufer, 2012).
Even though the HRM-related issues might be viewed as the minor elements to be addressed in the ECO-Trans case study, it is the leadership approach that sets the theme for the entire research as the lack of consistency in Vagra’s strategy was the main reason for the project to fail.
Since the crucial elements of the project management, such as the leadership style, the human resource management, the communication approach, etc., were out of place in ECO-Trans, the project that the organization members were supposed to complete failed inevitably. Thus, leadership, communication, HRM and cost strategy are the key themes of the study.
Reference List
Binder, J. (2012). Global project management: Communication, collaboration and management across borders. Burlington, Vermont: Gower Publishing, Ltd.
Grisham, T. W. (2011). International project management: Leadership in complex environments. New York City, New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Laufer, A. (2012). Mastering the leadership role in project management: Practices that deliver remarkable results. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: FT Press.
Pritchard, C. (2013). The project management communications toolkit (2nd ed.). Norwood, Massachusetts: Artech House.
Wilson, r. (2014). A comprehensive guide to project management schedule and cost control: Methods and models for managing the project lifecycle. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education.