Chapter 1

Why is Total Quality Different on Projects?

Far and away the best prize that life work worth doing. is the chance to work hard at Theodore

afternoon, John received a phone call that was destined to keep him from sleeping that night-not because of worry, but because he was excited. The big award had been announced: John would be managing the largest project of his career. The preliminary schedule for John's new project forecasted two years to completion, but John knew that the client wanted the project finished early. Even though the budget estimate of $250 million reflected good information, John's division had had some recent experience with budget overruns, so there would be pressure from management to keep his cost down. Driving home that evening, John developed an organizational structure in his head and began developing his management plan. The management team proposed for this project had been hand-picked by John and represented the of experience and team approach needed on a large, complex project. The project included some technical challenges, the kind of challenges that would keep Geoffrey McCoy's technical staff interested. Geoff, who had worked with John on the project plan, had the knowledge to understand the technical needs of the project and the to manage the project's largest group. John had known things were going his way when Geoff agreed to join the project team as the technical manager. Danny he thought, had joined the project team because of his experience in international procurement, experience that the project would need to be successful. He knew that Danny had just finished a big project and was eager to get started again. Andre Riviere was another key person on the project team. Andre was the most experienced controls manager in the company, so John knew he would get good cost and scheduling information from him.

UST BEFORE HE left work one crisp