Project management 'failure' behind absence of Apple Maps updates at WWDC - report

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

Tech Musings

Reading relevant literature is important for MIS professionals to keep up-to-date with the newest developments in the field. You will submit three musings that comment on an interesting project management, innovation, agile methods, or systems development and implementation issue. Musings can be presented on this blog, VoiceThread, or occasionally on Blackboard, and should be about long enough to:

1. Briefly describe the main point or contribution of the article,
2. Show how it is related to the class and topics we have discussed,
3. How or why the information is helpful to you as an MIS professional, or How or why you think it is important for MIS students to know and understand to make them better citizens

Musings should be written professionally. You will receive individual feedback on content, grammar, and writing style. I expect you to incorporate feedback that you receive on a musing in subsequent submissions. Almost any business or IT publication (or website) is appropriate and should include a link to where you found the article.  I will include some possible links to investigate on the blog roll, but feel free to use your own citations. Of the three required musings, one must be on a project management issue (e.g., agile development in new settings, alternatives to MS Project for tracking team progress, managing multi-cultural teams, etc.) The remaining two musings can be about any topic you would like (for example: silver bullets in software development, examples of agile methods in software development, Internet of Things, innovative uses of technology, techniques for creating mobile apps, work you are doing related to tech, etc.).  Please ask if you are not sure whether a topic is appropriate.

Class Blog for Section 2

I created this blog for the 11am section of MIS 441 to allow us to focus on class activities versus general discussion.  We will use this blog for tech musings, discussing cases, dates and times for presentations, articles we read in class, etc.  To allow you to post on this blog (versus only comment), I will email you a link so you can be an author of the blog.

Any questions?