Strategic Project Management Assessment Case Study - DeGrandis Sporting Goods

DeGrandis Sporting Goods is a large Australian retailer of exercise and sporting equipment. The company sells a number of well-known international brands including, ASICS, Adidas, Nike, Puma and, to a much lesser extent, the company's own private label product range, called DeGrandis.

The board of directors have recently approved a new strategic plan developed by company CEO Fergus DeGrandis that includes doubling revenues from the sale of the DeGrandis private label product range within three years by establishing a strong network of reliable Chinese sporting goods suppliers. The board of directors did make one significant addition to Fergus's proposed plan before approving it: the DeGrandis private label product range must only include products of exceedingly high quality so as to earn the company the reputation of being the retailer of the highest quality sporting goods sold in Australia.

Within the DeGrandis Sporting Goods project portfolio, three new projects have been implemented since the approval of the new strategic plan:

1. Project A - DeGrandis Running Shoes

Project A introduced the DeGrandis private label running shoe to the company's product range. Although the project ran over budget, the project team successfully developed a new sole cushioning technology and delivered a brand new shoe within the project timeframe. Customers love the new shoes - they are outselling rival international brands - and sales have increased company revenues by over $5 million. The editor of online running shoe reviewer Shoe News has given the running shoes a 5 out of 5 star rating.

But not everybody is so thrilled with the project's outcomes. The board of directors is unhappy that the project team did not consult them about the Chinese organisation selected to manufacture and supply the shoes. Had the directors known that the Chinese supplier uses child labour in their factory they would not have approved the supply agreement because engaging partners that rely on child labour is prohibited under the company's Code of Conduct. The consultants are managed by regional managers in each city.

2. Project B - Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) Partnership

The primary objective of Project B was for DeGrandis Sporting Goods to become an official supplier of sporting equipment to the Australian Olympic Team. At the outset all key stakeholders were identified and consulted and a comprehensive list of project requirements was developed based on stakeholder needs. Apart from the project running six months over the scheduled project timeframe, every other project requirement was successfully met. The new partnership was established and sales are estimated to have increased by over $3 million.

The project was considered a resounding success until it emerged that the project sponsor, a member of the DeGrandis senior executive team, had paid a high ranking AOC official an incentive payment to approve the partnership. The press learned of the bribe and the incident became a public scandal. DeGrandis Sporting Goods suffered reputational damage as the company's Code of Conduct expressly prohibits the payment of bribes to generate business. An extensive marketing campaign originally developed to promote the partnership has been cancelled because it would only draw more attention to the bribery scandal.

3. Project C - Ladybird Sporting Apparel

Project C successfully introduced the environmentally friendly and internationally known Ladybird brand of sporting apparel to the DeGrandis Sporting Goods product range. Although fundamental project requirements such as project timeframe and budget were met, the new line of clothing was not properly market tested prior to the product line launch. It turns out that customers consider the Ladybird clothing range to be inferior in quality and customer complaints have increased as a result.

DeGrandis Sporting Goods have ceased ordering new stock from Ladybird due to poor sales and increasing customer dissatisfaction.

In your Performance Evaluation Video Presentation you must evaluate the performance of each of the three projects and provide the following for each:

a) Commentary on project alignment with strategic goals and ethical standards

b) A Project Performance Scorecard (PPS) Snapshot

c) Conclusions

d) Recommendations

A PowerPoint template is provided for you to use in your video presentation if you wish. There is no requirement to use the PowerPoint template.

Attachment:- Template.rar