Running head: INDIVIDUAL PROJECT
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Kaplan University
Graduate School of Business and Management
GB601 MBA Capstone
Individual Project
Prepared by Keith Flores
October 11, 2011
Professor
Dr. John Martin
INDIVIDUAL PROJECT
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Organizational Description
Kaplan Inc. is a privately held company that is comprised of four divisions: Kaplan
Higher Education (KHE), Kaplan Test Prep, Kaplan Ventures, and Kaplan International and is a
major source of revenue for its parent company, The Washington Post, which is a publicly held
company. Kaplan’s business is in the education industry where it provides a number of different
educational services ranging from Bachelor’s degree programs to Graduate Certificate program.
It also continues to provide test preparation services as its founder, Stanley Kaplan, originally did
starting in 1946 along with continuing professional education and K-12 programs (Company
overview, 2011).
Transformation Process
Currently, the software development lifecycle (SDLC) in the application development
department utilizes a mixture of onshore and offshore resources that are not integrated or
coordinated in a meaningful way. Projects are often randomly assigned and little importance is
placed on tracking progress because the difficulties presented by time zones, language barriers,
and a general dislike for working in a virtual environment. The result has been an inconsistent
level of success, a high defect rate, and a deterioration of the relationship between onshore and
offshore team members.
The problem facing Kaplan is a trend of decreasing productivity and project success rates
because of issues rooted in the resource allocation strategy that the company is currently
employing in the application development department (Fig 1.). This problem affects the
development department, product owners, and our customers because it delays products that are
essential to the continued operation of the company and the delivery of products and services
that our customers rely on. The problem is universally acknowledged as having a constant,
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draining impact on day to day operations and is affecting every development team to similar
degrees by gradually eating away at the time allotted for the project and causing delivery dates to
be pushed further and further back.
A Fishbone Diagram is an analysis tool that visualizes the relationship between effects
and items that contribute to or cause them. This tool is used by process change teams to identify
the root causes of any problems (effects) being addressed. In the following fishbone diagram it is
apparent that time zone differences are a root cause of project delays because they lead to
communication difficulties.
Fig 1. Fishbone Diagram
Development
QA Testing
Time zone difference
Time zone difference
Communication delay
Communication delay
Missed requirements
Road blocks
Project Delays
Cost Overruns
Untimely instructions
Communication delay
Time zone difference
Team Management
Departments that are not customer facing are not affected with the exception of activities
that focus on customer acquisition and retention. The problem is confined to the development of
products that directly impact the customer and does not affect any other support services. When
the mix of onshore and offshore resources is segregated the problem is eliminated entirely in the
affected areas because the issues associated with non co-located teams are no longer present.
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Decreasing productivity that affects Kaplan due to the implementation of a resource
allocation strategy that introduces a host of issues related to team members being spread across
the world is a significant problem that Kaplan must deal with. The problem does not affect the
company as a whole, but its impact on the business is widely felt because it does affect the
customer.
The elimination of the issues that are causing the productivity declines is the primary
goal. The development department, product owners and customers stand to benefit greatly when
projects are completed on time and on budget. Success will be achieved when productivity
metrics indicate that the situation has improved to a level that existed prior to the implementation
of the resource allocation strategy. Changes need to be made in the configuration, training, and
facilitation of mixed resource teams to alleviate the problems.
Customers
Various business unit stakeholders
Activities
Fig 2. Activities Workflow
Start
Completed
development
project is handed to
offshore Quality
Assurance team for
testing and
verification
Are there testing
impediments?
Project is handed to
Release
Management for
deployment
End
No
Are there
defects?
Yes
No
Yes
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Resources
Enterprise email system
Onshore lead resource to coordinate with offshore team members
Virtual team collaboration tools
Onshore subject matter experts for product support
Measures
Impediment rates per cycle are minimal
Defect rates per cycle are minimal
Elements of the Situation
Kaplan has been integrating offshore resources into the SDLC for approximately one
year, but no real effort has been made to address any issues that have arisen from the integration.
The impetus for moving to a mixed resource pool was the decline in revenues that Kaplan as
experienced over the previous four quarters (Annual Reports, 2009, 2010). The operational cost
of procuring and maintaining offshore resources was much lower than onshore resources;
therefore moving to a mixed model was an attractive solution for an anticipated resource
problem.
Worldview
A changing regulatory and political climate has brought negative scrutiny on the forprofit education industry, which has in turn caused a precipitous drop in revenues due to
regulatory uncertainty. Kaplan must adjust to these changing conditions to continue to be
profitable.
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Environment
The regulatory and political environment has a significant effect on the manner in which
Kaplan does business; however, there is very little Kaplan can do to affect them. The company
must align operational costs with changes brought about by the influence of these activities.
Social System
Kaplan has a strong, team-oriented culture that emphasizes the customer over everything.
This orientation dictates that sacrifices be willingly made for the good of the company as that is
the only way to continue to provide a high level of service.
Power and Politics
Reorganizing the company’s management and organizational structure means employees
who have personal and positional power also must abide by the overarching needs of the
company in general. They too must be pared down to fit within a new paradigm that is more
appropriate to the business climate.
SMART Objective
Reduce impediments that are a result of differences that exist between onshore and
offshore resources. These differences may stem from cultural, language, time zone, or resource
communication skill variances in each team member.
Stakeholders
There are three stakeholder groups that are affected by this proposal: Executive
Management, Middle Management, and Product Owners. Executive management has driven the
initial move to the new resource allocation strategy that is not working as well as planned. They
have high power and high interest in the success of the initiative, so they are key people to gain
buy-in from for any proposed changes. Middle management is charged with executing the
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strategy while continuing to provide a high level of productivity. They have low power and high
interest because their performance depends heavily on the outcome of the changes. As a group,
they have a strong enough voice to lobby executive management for approval to move forward
with proposed changes. Product owners are directly affected by any changes because gains in
productivity mean shorter project timelines and costs, which is good for their budgets and
forecasting. However, they have low power and low interest in the changes being proposed
because they do not deal directly with the application development process.
Stakeholder Analysis
A stakeholder analysis is used to identify individuals and groups that are connected to the
proposal in some way and have an interest in it (Vandenbosche, 2004, p.49). That interest may
be great or small depending on how close to the problem being addressed the stakeholder is.
After identifying the stakeholders, the analysis then provides details on the magnitude of interest
and ability to affect the outcome each stakeholder has. The purpose of this is to help define an
effective communication strategy that will keep each stakeholder informed at an appropriate
level and foster support for the project from those with power and influence (Fig 3.).
Fig 3. Stakeholders
Executive Management
stakeholders
Damien Cooper – VP IT
Marshall Stanton – VP IT
Middle Management
stakeholders
Eron Cummings – Executive
Director
Rich Lanam – Executive Director
Release Management Group
Quality Assurance Group
Development Group
Product Owner stakeholders
Nick Mojocoa - Director
Starr Hodges - Director
Sheri Rizzie – Senior Manager
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Fig 4. Power and Interest Diagram
High
Power
Damien Cooper
Marshall Stanton
Nick Mojocoa
Starr Hodges
Eron Cummings
Rich Lanam
Release Management Group
Quality Assurance Group
Development Group
Low
Low
Interest
High
Communications Plan
Objective
As a result of this proposal, Executive management will provide approval for a proposed
change to be made to the existing resource allocation strategy recently put in place. Middle
management will agree to provide expertise in delivering a solution and provide support in
gaining and maintaining executive management buy-in. Product owners will be kept informed at
a very high level.
Audience
Executive management will require some briefing on the impact of the new strategy at a
more granular level. Their expectation is that the original implementation was going to succeed;
however, they must now be given a detailed explanation s to what is hindering success and how
to improve the situation. Since they have a very high interest in the outcome, it should be noted
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that they must be kept well informed. Only a strong sense of meeting the original goals of having
a mixed resource strategy will motivate them to act as long as they are convinced the proposed
changes will increase the probability of success. Regular status emails and update meetings will
serve this goal well.
Message
The executive management team will need high level information that stresses the
benefits and gains from making changes.
Medium
Power Point presentations, emails, Word documentation, and conference calls will suffice
as appropriate mediums for communicating. They provide an audit trail and plenty of
opportunity for clarifications or corrections.
Scope
A scoping diagram provides a visual representation of the limits of the project’s influence
(scope). The elements chosen for this project directly address the main components of the
resource allocation strategy that have been reported as frequent sources of problems
(Vandenbosche, 2004, p.59). Time zone differences often cause lags that may lead to work
stoppage because onshore leads are unable to answer questions or provide support in real time.
Communication is critical in a distributed team, and the volume of email is necessarily higher
and of greater detail. Infrequent emails with important status information or query responses lead
to work stoppage. Training is important in that it is difficult to gauge the level of ability of a
resource that has never been met with face to face. Cultural differences may make it harder to
provide training to bring the offshore resource up to speed on company standards and practices
(Fig 5.).
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Fig 5. Scoping Diagram
Eliminate or mitigate issues that stem from differences
between offshore and onshore team members
Time zone
Work hours
Communication
Flexibility
Email
Conference Calls
Training
Technical
Cultural
Hypotheses
A hypothesis is a statement that can be tested for veracity through data collection. They
are important in problem solving because they help limit the scope of the data that must be
collected, which is always far more than we are capable of collecting and analyzing
(Vandenbosche, 2004, p.68). There are two types of hypotheses: propositional and diagnostic.
Propositional hypotheses can be easily verified but do not provide insight into how to
solve a problem. For example, the hypothesis statement “All company vehicles run on biofuel”
can very simply be tested for veracity; however, it does not provide any insight into how it
affects the company. One can extrapolate from the verification of a propositional hypothesis, but
no definitive conclusions can be drawn based on the data used (Vandenbosche, 2004, p.70).
Diagnostic hypotheses provide assertions and explanations for the assertions. For
example, the hypothesis “Running trucks on biofuel saves a significant amount of money on
annual fuel costs” provides an assertion and a definitive explanation that can be tested. It is more
difficult to verify and may lead to the generation of other hypotheses if the explanatory
component is found to be incorrect or incomplete (Vandenbosche, 2004, p.70).
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Project Hypothesis
Productivity and project success rates are decreasing because of problems presented by
the resource allocation strategy that the company is currently employing in the application
development department.
Questions
Time Zone
Work Hours

Creating a work schedule overlap will provide more opportunity for real time
communication.
o How many hours of overlap would be effective?
o How will any schedule changes affect employee work-life balance?
Flexibility

Providing the ability to work either on site or remote will provide greater flexibility to
engage with the team on an as-needed basis.
o How will off schedule work hours affect planning?
o What ratio of remote versus onsite time will be most effective?
Communication
Email

Establishing an email template and a protocol for regular use will keep the team up to
date with information that is uniform in presentation.
o What email frequency will provide an effective level of communication?
o
What information should be included in the template that will be useful with
respect to the frequency of distribution?
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Conference Calls

Establishing regular conference calls with representatives from onshore and offshore will
reduce confusion that results from too many people being on a call at once.
o How many representatives should be included?
o What is the cost in terms of time lost to administrative tasks required to prepare
for the calls?
Training
Technical

Actively training onshore and offshore resources on technical guidelines and expectations
will eliminate confusion during communication.
o How many hours monthly will be required to successfully train a resource?
o How often will refresher training be required to stay current?
Cultural

Training onshore and offshore resources on the basics of each location’s cultural
environment will help mitigate cultural bias and break down communication barriers.
o How many hours of training will be required?
o What method of training will be used?
Story Boards
A story board helps determine the logical flow of hypotheses and their efficacy in
creating a coherent argument. They provide an opportunity to identify the data that will be
necessary to test the hypotheses. They also provide an opportunity to determine what sources of
information will be best to use for data collection (Vandenbosche, 2004, p.70).
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Time Zone
1a.
Creating a work schedule overlap will provide more opportunity for real time communication.

How many hours of overlap would be effective?

How will any schedule changes affect employee work-life balance?
1b.
Creating a work schedule overlap will provide more opportunity for real time communication.

Two hours of overlap will be sufficient.

The adjustment will cause onshore resources to arrive at work two hours early and
offshore resources to leave two hours later.
1c.
Two hours of overlap will be sufficient.

Team members stated that two hours would be enough
time to engage with their counterparts and provide
support.
Data Source: Team
Members
Approach: Interviews
Skills: Finding interviewees
Accuracy: Range of
employees
1d.
The adjustment will cause onshore resources to arrive at work two hours early and offshore
resources to leave two hours later, which is an acceptable impact on family time.
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
Team members stated that two hours was tolerable.
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Data Source: Team
Members
Approach: Interviews
Skills: Finding interviewees
Accuracy: Range of
employees
2a.
Providing the ability to work either on site or remote will provide greater flexibility to engage
with the team on an as-needed basis.

How will off schedule work hours affect planning?

What ratio of remote versus onsite time will be most effective?
2b.
Providing the ability to work either on site or remote will provide greater flexibility to engage
with the team on an as-needed basis.

Planning will at least be unaffected or at most be improved because impediments that
cause delays will be resolved in a more timely manner.

20/80 will be sufficient as it will provide for 1.5 hours of ad hoc time each day for
engagement.
2c.
Planning will at least be unaffected or at most be improved because impediments that cause
delays will be resolved in a more timely manner.

Managers stated that timely communication will help
resolve time sensitive issues that often cause work
stoppages.
Data Source: Onshore
Manager, Offshore Manager
Approach: Interviews
Skills: Finding interviewees
Accuracy: Review project
delay metrics
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2d.
20/80 will be sufficient as it will provide for 1.5 hours of ad hoc time each day for engagement.


The Director of IT stated that no more than 1.5 hours daily
be allocated to offsite time.
Team Members stated that 1.5 hours would be sufficient
time.
Data Source: Director of IT
Approach: Interviews
Skills: Finding interviewees
Accuracy: Review project
delay metrics
Communication
1a.
Establishing an email template and a protocol for regular use will keep the team up to date with
information that is uniform in presentation.

What email frequency will provide an effective level of communication?

What information should be included in the template that will be useful with respect to
the frequency of distribution?
1b.
Establishing an email template and a protocol for regular use will keep the team up to date with
information that is uniform in presentation.

Daily emails will provide a steady flow of updates.

Information that covers work item statuses, impediment reports, and work planned for the
next five days.
1c.
Daily emails will provide a steady flow of updates.
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
Managers stated that receiving daily updates with a
standard format of information would help them plan
more effectively and direct their resources appropriately.
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Data Source: Onshore
Manager, Offshore Manager
Approach: Interviews
Skills: Finding interviewees
Accuracy: Review project
delay metrics
1d.
Information that covers work item statuses, impediment reports, and work planned for the next
five days.

Managers stated that work item statuses, impediment
reports, and planned work in the short term is crucial to
evaluating the velocity of the team.
Data Source: Onshore
Manager, Offshore Manager
Approach: Interviews
Skills: Finding interviewees
Accuracy: Review project
delay metrics
2a.
Establishing regular conference calls with representatives from onshore and offshore will reduce
confusion that results from too many people being on a call at once.

How many representatives should be included?

What is the cost in terms of time lost to administrative tasks required to prepare for the
calls?
2b.
Establishing regular conference calls with representatives from onshore and offshore will reduce
confusion that results from too many people being on a call at once.

One representative from each functional area should be included.

Approximately one hour will be sufficient to prepare for a regular call.
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2c.
One representative from each functional area should be included.

Managers stated that in previous conference calls there
were too many people trying to speak, which caused a
great deal of confusion and wasted time.
Data Source: Onshore
Manager, Offshore Manager
Approach: Interviews
Skills: Finding interviewees
Accuracy: Review with
Managers
2d.
Approximately one hour will be sufficient to prepare for a regular call.

Managers stated that they need a short amount of time to
receive updates from their direct reports, which they could
then take to the meeting.
Data Source: Onshore
Manager, Offshore Manager
Approach: Interviews
Skills: Finding interviewees
Accuracy: Review with
Managers
Training
1a.
Actively training onshore and offshore resources on technical guidelines and expectations will
eliminate confusion during communication.

How many hours monthly will be required to successfully train a resource?

How often will refresher training be required to stay current?
1b.
Actively training onshore and offshore resources on technical guidelines and expectations will
eliminate confusion during communication.

Average training time is four hours quarterly.

Annual training of four hours is sufficient to update skills.
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1c.
Average training time is eight hours monthly.


The Director of IT will allocate four hours every quarter
for skills improvement training.
Managers stated that improved skills will further reduce
delays caused by slow development and testing time.
Data Source: Director of IT
Approach: Interviews
Skills: Finding interviewees
Accuracy: Review trainee
skill levels
1d.
Annual training of four hours is sufficient to update skills.

The Director of IT will allocate four hours annually to
training that covers any changes made to company
standards and practices.
Data Source: Director of IT
Approach: Interviews
Skills: Finding interviewees
Accuracy: Review trainee
skill levels
2a.
Training onshore and offshore resources on the basics of each location’s cultural environment
will help mitigate cultural bias and break down communication barriers.

How many hours of training will be required?

What method of training will be used?
2b.
Training onshore and offshore resources on the basics of each location’s cultural environment
will help mitigate cultural bias and break down communication barriers.

Four one-hour classes given by a subject matter expert will be sufficient.

Classroom training will be used.
2c.
Four one-hour classes given by a subject matter expert will be sufficient.
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

19
The Director of HR stated that they have a contract with a
cultural education firm that provides instructors who are
subject matter experts.
Team members stated that they would feel more
comfortable engaging with their counterparts if they knew
what was culturally appropriate and expected.
Data Source: Director of HR
Approach: Interviews
Skills: Finding interviewees
Accuracy: Review
employee tolerance
2d.
Classroom training will be used.

Data Source: Director of HR
Approach: Interviews
Skills: Finding interviewees
Accuracy: Review testing
materials
The Director of HR stated that all formal HR related
training is classroom based.
Data Matrix
The data matrix is a tool used to keep track of sources needed to provide data for each of
the questions in the storyboard. It functions as a “cheat sheet” of sorts in that it provides a visual
reminder of which sources have been utilized and which are remaining. This is a good way to
ensure that all story boards are addressed fully (Fig 6.). The main elements of the data matrix are
the sources of data and the hypothesis questions to which each source applies. (Vandenbosche,
2004, p.102).
Fig 6. Data Matrix
Sources of Data
Hypo 1
Hypo 2
Hypo 3
Q1
Q2
Q1
Q2
Q1
Q2
Team
Members
I
I
Onshore/Offshore
Managers
Director of
IT
I
I
I
I
Director of
HR
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Hypo 4
Hypo 5
Hypo 6
Q1
Q2
Q1
Q2
Q1
Q2
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I
I
I
I
I
I
Logic Diagram
A logic diagram is a tool that provides several benefits during the planning process. It
provides transparency to the rationale used to develop the solution, the logic of the argument in
favor of the solution, and an answer to the question “Why?” (Vandenbosche, 2004, p.107). The
logic diagram allows the planner to present the supporting information and argument to peers,
stakeholders, and other interested parties for review and buy-in. A well crafted logic diagram
will be as persuasive as the planning document itself since it represents the underlying data,
conclusions, and solutions (Fig 7.).
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Fig 7. Logic Diagram
Data
Two hour
schedule
overlap
Two hours is
tolerable
Timely
communication
resolves time
sensitive issues
1.5 hours ad hoc
time
Daily updates
Reports are
crucial for
establishing
velocity
Too many
speakers causes
confusion
Brief meetings
prior to status
meetings are
preferential
4 hours
quarterly for
training
4 hours annually
for refresher
training
Cultural
education firm
will provide
instructors
All training is
classroom based
Findings
Conclusions
Solution
Increased direct
engagement is
beneficial to
good
communication
Increased direct
communication
mitigates
problems
quickly, which
reduces delays
Team leads are
more
comfortable
estimating
effort when
they feel fully
informed
Keeping
conference calls
limited to
principle
participants
speeds the
process and
reduces
miscommunicati
on
Training
mitigates
problems
caused by
ignorance
Direct engagement will
significantly reduce
problems stemming
from delayed
communication
Active communication
between leads and
resources will mitigate
problems stemming
from lack of effective,
timely articulation of
impediments
When leads are able to
speak for their direct
reports in detail,
communication issues
will be reduced
significantly
Problems stemming
from cultural and
language differences
will be mitigated by
keeping onshore and
offshore team
members well trained
in recognizing
differences and
responding accordingly
Create more
opportunities
for onshore and
offshore
resources to
engage on a
more frequent
basis
Actively train
onshore and
offshore
resources
specifically to
mitigate cultural
and social bias
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Data
The data for the logic diagram is information that can be qualitative or quantitative in
nature, which supports the hypotheses being posited as the basis for the planned change
(Vandenbosche, 2004, p.109). It is important that the data be relevant and strong enough to
convince clients.
Findings
The findings of the logic diagram are brief statements about the data that help guide the
formation of new thoughts about the problem or the nascent solutions that are beginning to take
shape (Vandenbosche, 2004, p.110).
Conclusions
The conclusions of the logic diagram are statements that establish a correlation between
the underlying data and the source of the problem. Essentially, they are explanations or
definitions for the root of the problem and are used to develop solutions against (Vandenbosche,
2004, p.110).
Solution
The solution of the logic diagram describes what needs to be done to solve the identified
problem as described by the previously drawn conclusions. The solution is practical, achievable,
and resolves the problem or realizes an opportunity related to the problem that will help address
it (Vandenbosche, 2004, p.111).
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References
2009 annual report. (2009). Retrieved from http://phx.corporateir.net/External.File?item=UGFyZW50SUQ9MzU5MjF8Q2hpbGRJRD0tMXxUeXBlPT
M
2010 annual report. (2010). Retrieved from http://phx.corporateir.net/External.File?item=UGFyZW50SUQ9ODQyNzl8Q2hpbGRJRD0tMXxUeXBlPT
M=&t=1
Company overview. (2011, September 6). Retrieved from http://www.kaplan.com/aboutkaplan/company-overview
Planning tools: stakeholder analysis. (2009, January). Retrieved from
http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/download/5257.pdf
Vandenbosch, B. V. (2004). Designing solutions for your business problems, a structured
process for managers and consultants. Jossey-Bass Inc Pub.