Assume that you have the following decision-making options: (1) make the decision on your own with available information, (2) consult others before making a decision, and (3) call a meeting and reach a consensus, seeking to arrive at a final decision everyone can agree on. Which approach would you use to make each of the following decisions and why?

You are the leader of a new product development project. Your team has worked hard on developing a third-generation product that incorporates new technology and meets customer demands. The project is roughly 50 per- cent complete. You have just received a report from the marketing depart- ment detailing a similar product that is about to be released by a competitor. The product appears to utilize radical new design principles that expand the functionality of the product. This poses a serious threat to the success of your project. Top management is considering canceling your project and starting over again. They want you to make a recommendation.

Before I make a recommendation, I will consult my team members. Individually, some may have new ideas and modifications which we can incorporate into the project to even beat the competition and cause management to continue supporting the project.

Explanation:

Even though our competitor's "product appears to utilize radical new design principles that expand the functionality of the product," we can still modify our product. This will not only incorporate the features of our competitor's product, but also further introduce new features that will emanate from the challenge from competition.

This is where the SCRUM framework becomes important. This framework for project management emphasizes teamwork, accountability, and iterative progress toward a well-defined goal, while allowing for tweaks.

Developing this project based on this framework must have made it possible for us to receive the report from the marketing department in the first place. The principles of Scrum are Openness, Respect, Courage, Commitment, and Focus. So, the best we can do will be to prioritize, come up with new improvement ideas, and convince top management not to cancel the project.