A quality control manager is given the task of evaluating what went wr

QUESTION

A quality control manager is given the task of evaluating what went wrong with the Pest Eradication Device. She announced that the goal of her investigation is to determine whether the project manager or the executive is correct.

Which of the following is the best evaluation of this goal?
A) It is a well-chosen goal because failure to plan effectively typically results in missed deadlines, going over budget, and badly designed products.
B) It is a well-chosen goal because choosing the appropriate amount of planning guarantees that planning will not be excessive.
C) It is a poorly chosen goal because it fails to account for the possibility that planning was insufficient in some aspects and excessive in others.
D) It is a poorly chosen goal because the Pest Eradication Device has already failed, and determining the causes of that failure will not make the project a success.
E) It is a poorly chosen goal because even projects that are planned well can fail because of changes in the external environment that were impossible to anticipate.

ANSWER

Answer: C
Explanation: C) The project manager’s account makes it sound as if there wasn’t enough planning, and the executive makes a good case that planning took too long. The quality control manager is trying to determine who was correct, but what about the possibility that they are both correct? As Choice C points out, planning can be insufficient in some aspects and excessive in others. Choice A basically says that planning is important, but that doesn’t address the issue of the best way to analyze the failure here. Choice B has it backwards, ignoring the issue of what kind of planning takes place and instead focusing on the amount of planning. Choice D ignores the value of learning from mistakes. Choice E says that planning isn’t everything, but that’s no reason not to try to do planning well.