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In each unit of study, there will be a short case study or technical question. The case method of learning requires that each student prepares for the case on his or her own. While there are no right or wrong answers, there are good and bad analyses, as well as hasty and impractical recommendations. The case study provides a realistic framework for the learning process.
Your successful response will depend heavily on your preparation and active participation in the class discussions. You will be rewarded by marshalling evidence in the case analysis and applying critical thinking of the course readings. If you actively read and comprehend the assigned readings, you will be able to answer the case study question in a pragmatic manner.
A technical question, such as the development of a scope statement, will require a technical answer that includes the proper industry components and in some cases, a correct answer or conclusion. Value will be given for a proper approach even if the final answer might miss the exact solution.
Instructions
and Some Useful Information for
Case Study
Analysis
Read the Case Study associated with the specific unit carefully, then proceed as follows:
- Prepare a response that is 750 words (+/- 75 words, excluding title page and reference page), double-spaced and follows APA format and referencing style.
- While there is no “formula” for analyzing case studies, the following guidelines are recommended:
Define the goals and objectives for your analysis. What questions are you trying to answer and what issues are you trying to resolve?
Rapidly skim through the case study and get a sense for how the case study has been structured
Read through the case study with paper and pencil and make notes as you go along
- Structure the information in the case study: this is the key step.
Whilst addressing the case questions, think of the information given in the case study as “raw data” that you have gathered to help you answer the questions and resolve the issues in Step 2a above.
You need to structure this information to resolve the issues. Here are some useful dimensions along which you can structure the given information chronologically:
evolution of the industry in which the enterprise operates (e.g., changes in technology, customer needs, competitive landscape)
evolution of strategy – business, technology, and market – of the enterprise
evolution of technology (including manufacturing), product platforms, and product lines of the enterprise
the technology, product, and process development process within the enterprise
growth (or decline) of the enterprise with respect to of market share, revenues, costs, profits, etc.
organizational structure of the enterprise
key decisions made at different stages in the life of enterprise, and the drivers for these decisions
the interconnections and relationships between all the above factors
Make extensive use of figures, tables, trees, etc. to shape your thinking during the structuring process.
Perform any necessary analysis, for example, revenues or costs associated with different design options
- Draw conclusions, answer questions, resolve issues, and make recommendations using the structured information in Step 3.
Case Study
click here for case Improving Public Health Informatics
Objectives
Upon successful completion of the case study, students will be able to
- demonstrate how the project communication process works,
- identify different communications required for different projects,
- determine communication plan compatibility with the PMBOK® Guide for projects, and
- formulate a project communication plan.
Instructions
Refer to the details of the case and answer the case questions below:
1. Is The Communicate Plan Adopted In This Project Realistic Enough In Terms Of Communicating To All Stakeholders Of The Project?
2. Publicly Run projects are quite different from privately run projects. Can you specify different communications that would be needed in a project involving, say unions as oppose to a private project?
3. Is the communications plan compatible with the PMBOK® Guide’s Project Communication Management section? Why?
4. Submission should be a maximum of 5 pages double-spaced (excluding title page and reference page), and should follow APA referencing style.
AppendixA – Case Study #3 – Improving Public Health Informatics
(Source: Milosevic, D. Z., Patanakul, P., & Srivannaboon, S. (2011). Case studies in project, program, and organizational project management. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.)
By Abdi Mousar
In the event of a major disease outbreak, senior managers need to respond in a timely fashion. To be able to do so, one needs to have all the latest information and data to make an appropriate decision. The County Health Department (CHD)’s strategic plan specific es increasing capacities for the program evaluation and response to major communicable disease outbreaks. Senior managers have identified ed the need to improve informatics capacity as an important step toward meeting these goals. Currently, each community health services program of CHD has information systems that effectively track specific information for their assigned work. However, the systems were designed reactively without considering future expansions or an updated public health data plan. Each data base is almost a standalone system. While the state data bases are linked to CHD’s data bases, the environmental data bases are not linked with communicable disease data bases. Representatives from the Tuberculosis (TB) program, for example, had to enter identical client information in four different places. Moreover, the state mandates the public health department report the health conditions of its citizens and control infectious diseases. In order for this to happen, one needs informatics systems that are capable of tracking infectious diseases and reporting all investigations in a timely manner. While the benefits of an integrated data base stand out, most employees in CHD are reluctant to change, particularly with regard to adopting and using a new technology as evidenced by the implementations of the EMR systems and other specifically designed data bases. To ensure success of the implementation, the project manager must provide relevant information to the stakeholders on a regular basis. This case focuses on project communication management, especially within the communication plan.
The Big Project
It all began when a new epidemiologist, hired by CHD, articulated the need to have an integrated public health informatics system. With the new system, the reporting of infectious diseases as well as possible future outbreaks could be done in a timely fashion. The decision makers can then make an appropriate decision.
The communicable disease section of the county health department has taken the lead in championing this project. The team includes two IT engineers and the epidemiologist, who will be overseeing the project. The team is responsible for gathering business processes and information system requirements, working closely with stakeholders, and at the same time, training IT engineers using the best practices developed by the Public Health Informatics Institute (PHII).
The project duration is expected to be from six to twelve months and the team will provide monthly updates as well as ad hoc updates whenever specific information is needed by the stakeholders.
The team has extensive experience in working together on previous successful projects such as the EMR implementation, EPIC implementation, and the communicable disease data bases’ statewide expansion. It is the team’ s firm belief that this project, to integrate a variety of data bases into a system that can communicate to one another, is doable.
PM: The initial idea of this project was formulated several years ago but it did not get the support it needed. Now we are bringing it back to life. And I know that you guys (IT engineers) are in favor of it and are ready to take the lead in this, with interoperability and data sharing in mind, while at the same time conforming to Public Health Informatics Institute’ s best practices.
Dan: Correct. However, I am wondering who is going to fund this project as the health department is struggling and currently lacks the necessary resources.
PM: There is a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) which is affiliated with the Public Health Informatics Institute who specifically funds the struggling local health department’ s public health information systems to meet their daily operational needs. I am going to put together the grant proposal and I need inputs from you guys.
Tim: Let me know what you need.
Dan: Do we have full support of the department leadership this time?
PM: Yes, this time we have the absolute support of the entire leadership team. However, we have to make sure that we keep them updated with project status. In fact, learning from past projects, communication is very important for system implementation. We have to make sure that we communicate well with all project stakeholders.
Tim: I agree. But all stakeholders? That will be tough
Collaborative Process and Communication Plan
To engage project stakeholders, the team followed a collaborative process (Figure 1). By following the process, external and internal stakeholders understood the information system’s support role as well as how it worked. The team also developed a communication plan and used it to avoid communication breakdown and, more importantly, to ensure that appropriate correspondence existed between all stakeholders in the project. An example of the communication plan is shown in Table 1.
Figure 1 The Collaborative Methodology Process
Think
rethink
describe
How do we do our work now?
How should we do our work?
How cane an information system support our work?
1. Define goals and objectives
2. Examine tasks and workflow
Define specific tasks to be preformed for optimized business processes
3. Model context of work
4. Identify inefficiencies
Describe the implementation of business rules
5. Identify business rules
6. Identify efficiencies with repeatable processes
Describe in words and graphics how an information system must be structured
7. Describe tasks and workflow
8. Refine business processes and business rules
Determined scope of next phase of activities
9. Identify common task sets
Remodel context of work
Restructure tasks and workflow
Table: 1 Communication Plan
Communication plan
Project Name: Improving County Public Health Informatics Systems
Prepared by: project manager
Date: 12/13/08
Key Stakeholders (Distribution Schedule)
Stakeholder Issues
Key Messages to communicate
Communication methods to be Used (Written. One-on-One. Electronic, Meetings, etc.)
Description of specific communications (content, format, level of details, etc.)
Timing issues
Other
Client
Providing continuous information on the project
Project status and key milestones and any relevant issues relating to the project
Email, meeting, telephoning and teleconferencing
Highly detailed, formal communication
Based on project schedule
N/A
Senior Management
Providing continuous information
Project status and key milestones and any relevant issues relating to the project
Email, meeting, telephoning and teleconferencing
Highly detailed, formal communication
Based on project schedule
Sponsor
Providing continuous information
Project status and key milestones and any relevant issues relating to the project
Email, meeting, telephoning and teleconferencing
Highly detailed, formal communication
Based on project schedule
Project team members
Providing continuous information
Project status and key milestones and any relevant issues relating to the project
Email, meeting, telephoning and teleconferencing
Highly detailed, formal communication
Based on project schedule
Employees
Providing continuous information
Project status and key milestones and any relevant issues relating to the project
Email, meeting, telephoning and teleconferencing
Highly detailed, formal communication
Based on project schedule
Providing continuous information
Subcontractors
No subcontractor of this project
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Suppliers
Most products available off the shelf
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Unions
Communicated that the project will cause no layoff
Benefits that the project will bring to employees
Email, meeting, telephoning and teleconferencing
Highly detailed, formal communication
Based on project schedule
N/A
Government Agencies
Providing information on the status whenever requested
Benefits that the project will bring to public safety and cost savings
Email, meeting, telephoning and teleconferencing
Highly detailed, formal communication
Based on project schedule
N/A
News Media
Providing information on the status whenever requested
Benefits that the project will bring to public safety and cost savings
Email, meeting, telephoning and teleconferencing
Highly detailed, formal communication
Based on project schedule
Press Release
Community
Providing information on the status whenever requested
Benefits that the project will bring to public safety and cost savings
Email, meeting, telephoning and teleconferencing
Highly detailed, formal communication
Based on project schedule
Press Release
Other
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Case Questions
1. Is the communicate plan adopted in this project realistic enough in terms of communicating to all stakeholders of the project?
2. Publicly run projects are quite different from privately run projects. Can you specify different communications that would be needed in a project involving, say unions as oppose to a private project?
3. Are the communications plan compatible with PMBOK® Guide’s Project Communication management? Why?
PMBOK® is a registered mark of the Project Management Institute, Inc.
Business Process Analysis
Business Process Redesign
Requirements Definition
BUSI 3623: Project Planning Essentials 68
