Financial Success and Time-Management Factors in a Chemical Environment: A Case Study

Abstract

Time management and the need for management to relinquish control to the technical team members are important complements of the project management process. However, how do firmstrackthe time spentbytheir project team members on the different tasks and assignments? In addition, how do these project characteristics associated with innovative product development impact the firm's financial success factors in the manufacturing process? An empirically based study of project managers of NOVA Chemicals, located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, was executed to determine which selected project characteristics positively impacted the firm's ability to enhance its financial success of its various manufacturing projects. Exploratory research via principal components and factor analyses resulted in four major independent factor score constructs of time management, cross-functional teams, management relinquishing authority, and co-location of project team members, with the varimax rotation method and eigenvalue greater than one criterion. The factor scores were used to test the hypothesis that proper management of these constructs would result in greater financial success of the manufacturing projects. The overall relationship was found to be statistically significant at the 0.05 levels of a one-tailed test (F = 3.508, p = 0.029). More importantly, the factor scores of time management and cross-functional teams, few manufacturing problems were found as the most important constructs to positively impact financial success of innovative product development projects.

Establishing and managing effective internal quality control measures in small service companies

“…First of all, it was determined that SCS has a good, solid foundation in management. There is consistency of purpose among all of the project managers, and a high level of involvement when needed to discuss quality issues, which were pointed out by Elmuti and Kathawala (1999), Heizer and Render (2008), Smith and Flanegin (2006) and Swink (1999Swink ( , 2000 as an important aspect of a TQM approach. This message is communicated and adopted by all employees, as there is an atmosphere in the organisation that fosters quality.…”

The impact of e-procurement systems on customer relationship management: a multiple case study

“…This will ensure that the resulting e-procurement system will meet their needs and that it improves user acceptance. It is critical that a large and complex IT project, for example, such as an e-procurement system, management should follow proven principles of project management (Smith, 2003;Smith and Flanegin, 2006). Adherence to these principles ensure that the product will satisfy requirements and that optimum choices are made between trade-off factors such as scope, time, cost, risk, and quality.…”

“…A key factor in the implementation of an e-procurement solution is its cost evaluation (Smith and Correa, 2005;Smith and Flanegin, 2006). There are numerous costs associated with an e-procurement solution implementation and typically include the basic categories of hardware, software, training, and various operational costs (Smith and Offodile, 2007;Smith and Offodile, 2008).…”