Oilwell Cable Company, Inc.

1. If Norm chooses to go ahead with the microprocessor conversion on the machinery without passing it by the team he runs the risk of having a conflict with the production team. In the past a similar situation had caused significant trouble and Norm did not want to rock the boat for the sake of it. The company structure is such that each team decides on matters pertaining to their area and Norm's decision to implement the change would definitely cause a stir.

The implementation of the microprocessor would cut production time by 1 percent and reduce scrap from the current rate of 1 percent down to one-half percent (Meredith, 227) .The other advantage of implementing the change without the consent of the production team would be that it would get done at a faster pace. The current management structure was such that it took a lot of time and energy on the employees' part to come to a decision (Meredith, pg 229).

2. If Norm decides to consult the team prior to implementing the change the number one issue will be the time it takes for them to come to a decision. The team is known for taking a really long time to reach any decision (Meredith, pg 229). This decision process uses a lot of the employees' time and energy which could be utilized in a much better way.

The biggest advantage of including the production team in the decision making process for the implementation of the microprocessor would be that Norm would get their buy in. This would be key for the success of the idea. The team dynamics are such that once the team agrees to a change or idea, the implementation is quick (Meredith, pg 229).

3. The approval and implementation of the microprocessor by the production team represents a functional form of project organization.

4. Given the size of the company and the work they did along with the functionalized project organization it does not make sense to have a PMO. Since most of their work is based around the production of cables I see no point in having a PMO. A major contribution of PMOs is to establish project administration procedures for selecting, initializing and planning, budgeting and scheduling projects as well as serve as a repository for reports on the performance of the planning, budgeting, scheduling, and resource allocation processes (Meredith & Mantel, pg 193). The structure of the organization does not require a PMO since decisions are made at the team level and not from a management level hence a PMO is not required.

Functional management would work best for Oilwell Cable Co. in their current structure. If they have reorganization where the reporting structure and project decisions are not team based then a more matrix organization would work but no PMO.

5. The addition of the microprocessors would cut the production time by 1 percent and