Harrison-Keyes

Running head: PROBLEM SOLUTION: HARRISON-KEYES INC.

Problem Solution: Harrison-Keyes Inc.

University of Phoenix

Problem Solution: Harrison-Keyes Inc.

In the past years profits have decreased due to the evolution in the publishing industry. The Board of Harrison-Keyes, Inc. hired Meg P. McGill, to revitalize the company and gain competitive advantage within the industry. Ms. McGill's goal is to strategically plan how Harrison-Keyes, Inc. can become the industry leader. After assessing Harrison-Keys, Inc. current position the company decided to move toward introducing e- book publishing.

The Harrison-Keyes, Inc. team is experiencing issues related to inexperience, communication and inefficient project planning. These issues are causing the implementation of the e-book publishing project not to be a success. The project was not planned or organized in a manner to be successfully completed in a timely manner. The appropriate resources have not been allocated to assume the workload for implementation. The development of a project plan or assignment of a project manager has not been assigned to govern time and develop a team. Although Harrison-Keyes, Inc. is experiencing issues there is opportunity to resolve the issue to turn the project around for success through concrete project and strategic planning.

Describe the Situation

Issue and Opportunity Identification

Harrison-Keyes, Inc. is facing implementation issues because a developed project scope and a specified strategic plan were not created to produce an effective e-book publishing book project. The critical issue is the system will not be implemented in time to launch the e-book publishing project therefore impacting Harrison-Keyes, Inc. by extending the project time, increase the budget, and continual lose of profits. Harrison-Keyes, Inc. will also have to depend on another company's web site to sale e-books online until the system is working.

Mack Evans, CIO, has no formal education in technology and the skill set is clearly showing during implementation of the e-book publishing project. Mack Evans states, "he is not sure that our hardware has the capacity to handle the loads that the e-commerce software requires. My staff did not create a project plan that fully factored in prototyping, (University of Phoenix Scenario, 2006, p.5, Ð'¶ 5)." Mack Evans proceeded to implement the new software without a detailed plan containing deadlines and measurable. This clearly has caused a lag in the launch date and performance of the system, demonstrating the importance of project management.

Through the process of planning and implementing Harrison-Keyes, Inc. has come across several issues that potentially could sabotage the company's plans to implement e-book publishing. Internal conflict within the organization and external conflict from Asia Digital Publishing and writers identifies the lack of proper implementation of the "strategic management" process. This leads to Harrison-Keyes Inc. executives being unsure of what is priority within this new project (Mcgraw-McHill, 2006). Several managers have provided input on issues related to the project at different dimensions of the project, leaving much confusion for the implementation team. The structure of the project is not clearly defined, and each element of the project has not been assigned to a specific individual, exposing the project to several failed opportunities. Managers are not seeing, "eye to eye", and are not agreeing with what specific conflict to address immediately.

The external conflict stems from the author Will X Harper, a long time reputable client of Harrison-Keyes. Mr. Harper does not agree with the e-book strategy the company would like to implement, he feels this new strategy will expose his work to "internet pirates", thieves, costing him to lose money. He has expressed his concerns to the CEO of the company, who has not to date, dealt with this specific issue, leaving Mr. Harper to come up with his own solution. Mr. Harper discussed his issues with the company in the latest article of Crain's Business Magazine, expressing his dismay with new direction of the company.

Harrison-Keyes has not responded well to internal and external conflicts hindering a productive project. The Harrison-Keyes team has not attempted to reconcile the issues with Mr. Harper and have not begun to discuss potential internal strategies on handling any issue. The company is in the process of evaluating the possible risks of the issues on hand and have undoubted fell short on and is hoping to resolve these issues as soon as possible

To have an impact nationally and internationally, Harrison-Keyes, Inc. must be in the market at the right time, at the right place, with the right brand. Structuring a brand strategy in the marketplace today is a critical element in creating an overall marketing strategy. When Harrison-Keyes, Inc. plans to evolve it must include marketing elements that allows growth, such as, (1) increasing brand awareness (overall), and (2) expanding brand recognition in new or existing markets (globally). The focus should be on branding if Harrison-Keyes, Inc. plans to become a true global resource. Branding will allow the company to become creative creating an advertising strategy focusing on its personality and positioning. This plan may encompass the possibilities of appropriate mergers and acquisitions to achieve brand awareness and increase market share.

Harrison-Keyes, Inc. will use outsourcing to help regain a competitive advantage and increase profit margins to become a leader in the publishing industry. "The competition in the publication industry is fierce, any cost reduction or efficiency gains will help a company maintain their competitive price without sacrificing quality or service performance" (Kakumanu & Portanova, 2006). The challenge Harrison-Keyes, Inc. is encountering by outsourcing is accountability and work integrity from the outsourcing company. Harrison-Keyes, Inc. plans to regain a competitive advantage through outsourcing to assist with an area of publishing, the executives must move beyond the "traditional" outsourcing and use transformational outsourcing - outsourcing to support a company's strategic goals (Alison, 2001). To support the company goal Harrison-Keyes Inc. must be creative and develop an outsourcing process that will provide them with positive feedback.

Stakeholder Perspectives/Ethical