Centene Flowserve and Shaw Industries Relationships Collabor

Centene, Flowserve, and Shaw Industries: Relationships, Collaboration, and Project Success REAL WORLD CASE anaged care provider Centene has just finished to recover the schedule alone it wouldn\'t have happened. We loying a new financial system. CIO Don had to do it together. Imholz says the project, which involved multiple PeopleSoft modules as we\'ll as financial planning and report ng software from Hyperion, was conpleted-very quickly. Good relationships-between IT and business partners project managers and IT staff, and project managers and stakeholders keep rr projects on track, say rr leaders and 12 months-and on budget project management experts. Imholz believes the project was successful for a number of reasons, including that the company implemented proven technology and hired a systems integrator to help who was Bad relationships, however, are a leading cause of project failure. Faced with mounting operational and regulatory pres- experienced with PeopleSoft. Most importantly, Imholz says sures, Linda Jojo, Flowserve\'s CIO, knew it was time to sim- the project was successful because of \"good teaming between plify the company\'s entire IT infrastructure-an endeavor the IT organization, the finance organization and the systhat would bring about sweeping changes across an enter- tems integration resources prise spanning more than 56 countries. In other words, much of the project\'s success came down to people skills. At Flowserve, a world leader in the supplying of pumps, valves, seals, automation, and services to the power, oil, gas, The constractive relationship berween IT and financechemical, and other industries,Jojo\'s assignment was heavy on and in particular, between Imholz and Centene\'s CFO, William IT change as the company sought to update processes and sys- Scheffel--ultimately kept the project on track when the going tems establishing a common IT infrastructure, introducing global help desk capabilities, and cutting dozens of disparate ERP systems. But that didn\'t stop her from taking a decidedly got tough. And it did get tough. For example, at one point, the project team was having basiness approach to simplifying Flowserve\'s IT footprint. \"The first step was making sure that this wasn\'t viewed ploy a Hyperion module that a third-party was going to as an IT project,\" says Jojo. \"From our CEO, our leadership host. The difficulties that IT encountered put the projects team and our board of directors on down, we\'ve made sure trouble setting up the technical environment needed to de- schedule at risk, says Imholz. nous, the organizations would have pointed fingers at each that this project is something we talk about in terms of its Had the relationship between IT and finance been acrimo- business impact It\'s a tactic that helped set the scope for a project that other-a counterproductive move that would have further de-could have otherwise become unwieldy. For starters, Jojo layed dhe project. Instead, says Imholz, they worked together to helped assemble 35 divisional representatives from acros recover the lost time and keep the implementation on schedule. the globe at the company\'s world headquarters. Here, holed We could have blamed each other and told each other upin a conference room for 17 weeks, these divisional repre- we can\'t help,\' says the CIO. \"But there\'s no value in doing sentatives pored over disparate systems and processes, deciding that It delays getting to the solution. If IT or finance tried what was-and wasnt-worthy of improvement FIGURE 11.14 Throughout this period, Flowserve also called on inter- nal subject-matter experts, from engineers to sales represent- atives, to offer their in-the-trenches take on the company\'s The result a blueprint for business standards, the design of a common financial chart of accounts, and the creation of a set of data standards for customers and suppliers. In addition to creating project perimeters, Jojo says that by involving business leaders in the critical design phase, she was able to garner widespread support for a companywide strategic busi lion over four years. ness initiative costing more than $60 mi I\'ve seen projects that should have been successful fail purely because of relationship issues,\" says Greg Livingston, director of IS planning and system development at Shaw Indus On the other hand, when mutual trust exists between IT project managers and stakeholders, \"IT project managers s between IT and business e likely to discuss problems that could threaten the pro- ject as they arise,\" says Imholz. If bad blood exists between the two groups, project managers may not be inclined to t on project success point out those issues, or they may try to cover them up.

Solution

1. The managers easily were able to share their ideas and problems and worked together for a better solution. This honest, trust relationship was based on the foundation of better communication practice across the company.
2. The top management divulged into the working of the company. This helped in quick decision making. There was better communication flow. Managers could priortize projects along with IT who made quick decisions. This reduced the delivery time of projects. Problems were addressed quickly due to better communication.
3. Scrum bought the IT and business to communicate. Priorities were set and deliverable were broken down to smaller parts. This reduced the delivery time as the team intereacted more frquently. This built trust among the team and made the IT more flexible.
4. Technology, skilled workers and better communications were used to put the financial system in place. This reduced the risk.
Standaridation of infrastructure, call center centralization, ERP consolidation and project scope defined by business impact reduced wastage.