Autonomy
to Success: Case Study
Following are two examples of successful projects
lead by creative teams within corporate organizations. The first
example is the PC project team of the IBM Company. The technical
planning manager for the personal computer project, Larry Rojas
says it took many years of groundwork and careful planning to
successfully introduce the PC to the market. According to Rojas,
the way the project team was structured played a significant role
in the seemingly "overnight success". There are several
prominent features of this structure that can be credited for
its success. First, the PC team isolated themselves away from
the corporate office. They physically set up their own office
in a remote location and ran their team like a small business.
Members from other parts of the organization were not allowed
to meddle in the PC team’s project in any way. Secondly,
communication with the corporate office was strictly narrowed
down to discussing only the project status and resolving issues
surrounding pricing, quality assurance, and forecasting. Thirdly,
the internal communication within the PC team was kept informal
and took place spontaneously as needed. During these sporadic
informal meetings, the team members were encouraged to play with
related products to explore possibilities and further educate
themselves.
The second example is the McDonald’s Chicken
McNuggets project, which was initiated by the chairman of the
board of McDonalds, Fred Turner. At the beginning, the project
was failing in its test market stage due to inefficient and outdated
methods. This is when Bud Sweeney stepped in and restructured
the entire project and its process. First, he assembled what he
called a "swat team" comprised of 3 members who were
capable of developing a product, testing it, and evaluating its
potential in a short period of time. Secondly, when Sweeney was
offered to lead this project, he demanded that the team run autonomously
and separate from the rest of the corporation. Much like IBM's
PC team, the McNugget team needed some breathing room within the
large corporate structure in order to remain focused on the getting
the result and not wasting time on soliciting organizational approval.
 
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