In 2014, Apple was slated to present its new mapping service updates at the Worldwide Developers Conference. However, due to not only the company's internal politics but also poor planning, the company missed many important deadlines.
According to one company employee, many developers had left the company so none of the map improvements planned for the iOS 8 release were finished in time. The source also claimed that it was mostly the failure of project managers, especially engineering project managers, who did not plan tasks well and created an unorganized environment for their developers. Another insider blamed office politics, but did not specify at what level the problems occurred. The insider added that he believed planning, project management, and internal politics issues were a much more significant contributor to the failure to complete projects than the developers leaving the company.
Project management is an important factor when running any business. It keeps all projects moving forward in an organized manner. As an MIS professional, I understand the issue that the company had and hope to avoid such issues in my personal career.
Citation
Oliver, S. (2014, June 9). Project management 'failure' behind absence of Apple Maps updates at WWDC - report. Retrieved January 27, 2016, from http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/06/09/project-management-failure-behind-absence-of-apple-maps-updates-at-wwdc---report
The article also provides a good example for how project managers need to pay attention to special interests and political posturing.
ReplyDeleteThis article is a bit dated. Try to find examples that are more current. I will add that to the rubric. Given that people leave projects, it puts product deliverables behind in their scheduling. Risks of providing a product before it's ready.
DeleteNeed much more detail in the summary of the article.
Delete