You are working for We Are Big Pharma, Inc., an international pharmaceutical firm with over 100, 000 employees located in several different countries. A strategic goal is to help improve the environment while increasing revenues and reducing costs. The Environmental Technologies Program just started, and the VP of Operations, Natalie, is the program sponsor. Ito is the program manager, and there is a steering committee made up of ten senior executives, including Natalie, overseeing the program. There are several projects underneath this program, one being the Green Computing Research Project. The CIO and project sponsor, Ben, has given this project high priority and plans to hold special interviews to handpick the project manager and team. Ben is also a member of the program steering committee. Before coming to We Are Big Pharma, Ben sponsored a project at a large computer firm to improve data center efficiency. This project, however, is much broader than that one was. The main purpose of the Green Computing Research Project is to research possible applications of green computing including:
- Data center and overall energy efficiency
- The disposal of electronic waste and recycling
- Telecommuting
- Virtualization of server resources
- Thin client solutions
- Use of open source software, and
- Development of new software to address green computing for internal use and potential sale to other organizations
The budget for the project was $500, 000, and the goal was to provide an extensive report, including detailed financial analysis and recommendations on what green computing technologies to implement. Official project request forms for the recommended solutions would also be created as part of the project. Ben decided to have a small group of people, five to be exact, dedicated to working on this six-month project full-time and to call on people in other areas on an as-needed basis. He wanted to personally be involved in selecting the project manager and have that person help him to select the rest of the project team. Ben wanted to find people already working inside the company, but he was also open to reviewing applications for potential new employees to work specifically on this project as long as they could start quickly. Since many good people were located in different parts of the world, Ben thought it made sense to select the best people he could find and allow them to work virtually on the project. Ben also wanted the project manager to do more than just manage the project. He or she would also do some of the research, writing, editing, and the like required to produce the desired results. He was also open to paying expert consultants for their advice and purchasing books and related articles, as needed.
Tasks
1. Research green computing and projects that have been done or are being done by large organizations such as IBM, Dell, HP, and Google. See www.greener-computing.com and similar sites provided on the companion Web site or that you find yourself. Include your definition of green computing to include all of the topics listed in the background scenario. Describe each of these areas of green computing, including a detailed example of how at least one organization has implemented each one, and investigate the return on investment. Summarize your results in a two- to three-page paper, citing at least three references.
2. Prepare a weighted decision matrix using the template from the companion Web site (wtd_decision_matrix.xls) for Ben to use to evaluate people applying to be the project manager for this important project. Develop at least five criteria, assign weights to each criterion, assign scores, and then calculate the weighted scores for four fictitious people. Print the spreadsheet and bar chart with the results. Write a one-page paper describing this weighted decision matrix and summarize the results.
3. Prepare the financial section of a business case for the Green Computing Research Project. Assume this project will take six months to complete (done in Year 0) and cost $500,000, and costs to implement some of the technologies would be $2,000,000 for year one and $600,000 for years two and three. Estimated benefits are $500,000 the first year after implementation and $2.5 million the following two years. Use the business case spreadsheet template from the companion Web site (business_case_financials.xls) to help calculate the NPV, ROI, and the year in which payback occurs. Assume a 7 percent discount rate, but make sure it is an input that is easy to change.