Managing the Information Systems Project Jim Watanabe, the assistant director of information technology at Petrie’s Electronics, a Southern California–based electronics retail store, walked into his building’s conference room. It was early in the morning for Jim, but the meeting was important for him. Jim was going to put together his team for the customer relationship project he had just been named to manage. It was Jim’s first big project to manage at Petrie’s, and he was excited about getting started. “Hi Jim,” said Ella Whinston, the chief operations officer. With Ella was a guy Jim did not know. “Jim, this is Bob Petroski. I’ve asked that he be on your project team, to represent me.” Jim and Bob shook hands. “Nice to meet you, Jim. I’m looking forward to working with you on this project.” “And Bob knows how important this project is to me,” Ella said, “so I expect him to keep me informed about your progress.” Ella smiled. Great, Jim thought, more pressure. That’s all I need. Just then, John Smith, the head of marketing walked into the conference room. With him was a young woman Jim recognized, but he wasn’t sure from where. “Jim,” John said, “Let me introduce you to Sally Fukuyama. She is the assistant director of marketing. She will be representing marketing, and me, on your ‘No Customer Escapes’ project.” “Hi Jim,” Sally said, “I have a lot of ideas about what we can do. Even though I still have my regular job to worry about, I’m excited about working on this project.” “Hi Jim,” Sally said, “I have a lot of ideas about what we can do. Even though I still have my regular job to worry about, I’m excited about working on this project.” “Who else will be on your team?” Ella asked. “I am bringing Sanjay Agarwal from IT,” Jim said. “He is in charge of systems integration in the IT department and reports to me. In addition to myself and Sanjay and Sally and Bob, we will also have a store manager on the team. I’m trying to get Carmen Sanchez, the manager of the store in Irvine (California). Like the rest of us, she is really busy, but I think we have to have a store manager on the team.” “Irvine?” Ella asked. “That’s one of our top stores. Carmen should have a lot of insight into the issues related to keeping customers, if she is managing the Irvine store. And you are right, she is going to be very busy.” “So,” John asked, “When is your first meeting?” Case Questions 1. What qualities might Jim possess that would make him a successful project manager? 2. How do you think Jim should respond to Ella’s implied pressure about the importance of the project to her? 3. What strategies might Jim employ to deal with a very busy team member such as Carmen Sanchez?