The influence of project management in Dell, Inc essay
The purpose of this paper is to address the influence of project management in Dell, Inc. with other departments and functions of the company, and to discuss the possible difficulties or limitations of implementing PERT or CPM in this organization.
It should be noted that the whole product life cycle in Dell is concentrated around the build-on-order system. Advertising depends on the market segmentation, and the company offers different sets of business solutions to large businesses, small/medium businesses and individual users. Moreover, Dell uses several distribution strategies for different customer segments (Budgoli, 2010). Since one of the aims of mass customization is developing cost-effective strategies, Dell is outsourcing the processes having a local impact (e.g. transportation and logistics) and chooses optimal places for manufacturing (with lower costs). The company sold some of its US factories due to high costs, and is currently re-concentrating on Asian manufacturers (Budgoli, 2010). Choice of human resources within Dell is also aligned with cost/quality maximization: the company tends to choose cost-effective locations (e.g. China and Taiwan), but tends to opt for maximal quality in cost-effective regions (Fogliatto, 2010). Finance and accounting in Dell have to be integrated internationally, since the company’s manufacturing centers are geographically disperse.
In order to analyze such a disperse and distributed network, special project management methods are needed. The two key network analysis methods are PERT and CPM (Daft & Lane, 2009). CPM (Critical Path Method) is based on estimates of activity times and deterministic activity. It is often used in production management for jobs repetitive in nature (Daft & Lane, 2009). PERT (Project Review and Evaluation Techniques) is more often used for R&D works, since it is based on multiple estimates of activity time and its probabilistic variations (Daft & Lane, 2009). Both of these methods are likely to have limitations in case of Dell, because Dell’s production cycle links the R&D activities where the time can only be estimated probabilistically, with just-in-time assembly, where time is the key variable and in fact repetitive actions take place. Thus, for innovative phase of product implementation PERT method should be used, while for end-user assembly and delivery CPM method is more effective. Thus, before deciding which method to apply in Dell, Inc., it is necessary to determine whether the considered set of actions relates to the first stages of product life cycle, or to the last stages.
