1. Dave Martin is the R&D Vice President of a company in theinternet industry.

Dave wanted everybody in the companyto understand his value. For this reason, he was looking to start anew product that would change the landscape. After much R&D, hecame up with an idea for a new product.

Dave has known you for a long time andtrusted your capabilities, skills, and integrity as a seniorproject manager. He appointed you as the manager of the productdevelopment project. He presented to you the idea of the newproduct and the required specifications. It was a complicatedproduct and because it was planned to be a breakthrough in theindustry, Dave wanted to make sure that none of your company’scompetitors would know anything about the project and the newproduct. Therefore, Dave told you that you have to develop all thecomponents of the product without using any partnership orsubcontractors. Based on Dave’s directions you prepared a projectplan as you learned in the project management course at LSU.Because of the complexity of the project you found out that theproject would use a lot of resources and will last a long time.Dave approved all of your requests. He told you that you mustcomplete the project on time, within the approved budget, and thatall of the required specifications must be addressed.

Because of the complexity of theproject and its uniqueness, you needed the best resources (labor,materials, and machinery). When you approached the different linemanagers and asked for the resources, you faced their resistance.They told you that because of other commitments, they could notprovide you with as many resources as you asked for.

You approached Dave and presented tohim the difficulties you faced and asked for his help. Dave was avery strong manager in the company. Since it was his product and hewanted to develop it by all means, he forced the different linemanagers to address your needs.

You were very happy. You knew that youhad the full support of the sponsor of the project and that thesponsor could do whatever he wanted in the company.  Youalso knew that should the project be successful, you would bepromoted and rewarded.

Dave promised you and your teammembers a big bonus should the project be completed within thebudget and time limits, and all the required specifications wereaddressed.  You and your team worked very hard includingdays, nights and weekends in order to make sure the project wouldbe completed without exceeding the approved budget and schedule,and all the required specifications were addressed.

Your efforts paid off. You completedthe project on January 15, 2020, two months before the due date,you did not utilize all the approved budget, and you did addressall the required specifications. You were very happy and you sawthat everybody in the company respected you.

As they do every year, the board ofdirectors of the company had a meeting in early February 2020 toevaluate the different projects that were completed in the previousyear (2019).  It was a tradition in the company thatevery year, the best project was announced in mid-February, and itssponsor and project manager were rewarded with a big bonus.

Then the important day of announcingthe best project arrived.  In spite of all of theexpectations, your project was not the “winning” one. You weredisappointed, but you thought that it was not “the end of theworld.” You knew that you finished the project on time, within thebudget limits, and addressed all the specifications. Your status asa good and reliable project manager was not damaged.

But then came the really badnews.  The board of directors announced that your projectwas a failure.

Please explain how the project couldbe a failure in light of, and in spite of all the informationpresented above.

Important Guidelines:

1. All the information that was presented in the question isaccurate. Do not try to say that maybe the project did not addressall the 3 objectives of schedule, budget, and specifications.
2. Do not try to claim that the board of directors was wrong andin light of the information presented in the question, the projectwas not a failure.  The board of directors was right. Theproject was a failure.
3. Focus your answer on the request to explain how the projectcould be a failure in light and in spite of all the informationpresented in the question. You will not get any credit for anythingthat is not directly related to this request even if it is right inand of itself.