CHAPTER 1 WHAT IS PROJECT MANAGEMENT?

| 39

CASE 1.2 FLEXIBLE BENEFITS SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION AT SHAH ALAM

MEDICAL CENTER18

Senior management of Shah Alam Medical Center decided to procure and implement a new
system that would reduce the cost and improve the service of its employee benefits coverage.
The new system would have to meet four goals: improved responsiveness to employee needs,
added benefits flexibility, better cost management, and greater coordination of human resource
objectives with business strategies. A multifunctional team of 13 members was formed with
representatives from four departments—Human Resources (HR), Financial Systems (FS), and
Information Services (IS)—and six technical experts from the consulting firm of Hun and Bar
Software (HBS).
Early in the project, a workshop was held with participants from Shah Alam and HBS to clarify
and finalize project objectives and develop a project plan and schedule. Project completion was
set at 10 months. In that time, HBS had to develop and supply all hardware and software for the
new system; the system had to be brought online, tested, and approved; HR workers had to be
trained how to operate the system and load existing employee data; all Shah Alam employees had
to be educated about and enrolled in the new benefits process; and the enrollment data had to be
entered in the system.
The director of FS was chosen to oversee the project. She had the technical background and
had previously worked in the IS group on another project; everyone on the team approved of her
appointment as project leader. She selected two team leaders to assist her, one each from HR and
IS. The HR leader’s task was to ensure that the new system met HR requirements and the needs
of Shah Alam employees. The IS leader’s task was to ensure that the new software interfaced with
other Shah Alam systems.
Members of the Shah Alam team worked on the project on a part-time basis, spending roughly
half their time on the project and the other half on their normal daily duties. The project manager
and team leaders also worked part-time on the project, although each gave the project priority.
Shah Alam’s senior management had made it clear that meeting project requirements and time
deadlines was imperative. The project manager was given authority over functional managers and
project team members for all project-related decisions.

QUESTIONS
1. What form of project management (basic, program, etc.) does this case most closely
resemble?
2. The project manager is also the director of FS, one of several departments that will be
affected by the new benefits system. Does this seem like a good idea? What are the pros and
cons of her being selected?
3. Comment on the team members’ part-time assignment to the project and the expectation
that they give the project top priority.
4. Much of the success of this project depends on the performance of team members who are
not employed by Shah Alam, namely the HBS consultants. They must develop the entire
hardware/software benefits system. Why was an outside firm likely chosen for such an
important part of the project? What difficulties might this pose to the project manager in
meeting project goals?
 Answers:

1. The case mostly resembles “Functional Organization Structure” since there is no

independent project team and the project members consist of the employees of different
departments of the organization.

2. The project leader is also the head of FS, since she had good technical knowledge
and past project experience, all the other project members approved her as the leader.

Since the departments will be directly affected by the new benefit system, the project
leader will face a huge challenge of not only knowing how the new system affects her
own department of FS, but also what effects will occur on the other departments of HR
and IS.

If she gives priority to FS and ignores the possible effects on the HR and IS
departments, there is a huge possibility of conflict of interest among the project team.

Hence, the role and responsibility of the team leader is very critical in the project.

3. Since the project members have their job responsibilities in their respective
departments, it is not feasible to expect that they must give top priority to part time
project activities.

They will always give top priority to their routine activities and tasks. Project activities will
be their second priority.

4. Since the new benefit system is based on hardware and software, Shah Alam has to
hire the specialists HBS team for installation of the system as well as training of
employees.

The project leader will have a challenge to coordinate with the HBS team since the
success of the project is totally dependent on them. The leader must also possess basic
knowledge regarding the new system’s software and hardware. The coordination
between the internal project team and the external HBS team will be most critical and
crucial in meeting project goals.