As you will all soon realize in your professional worlds, nothing is ever guaranteed. The ebbs and lows of the global economy, ever-evolving competition, levels of technology viability and resource access and the like make very clear that achieving desired outcomes involves an ongoing parallel commitment to managing (and balancing) risks and uncertainty. The past may be clear, but the future rarely is. Success always involves trade-offs and playing your cards wisely.
In your assigned HBP reading, “Pull the Plug on a Project with an Uncertain Future?”, Project Manager Alex Kozak has been leading a large development effort in Moscow that over the past few years has been projected to be quite lucrative. However, when COVID hit things ground to a halt,…perhaps temporarily, perhaps longer. No one is sure.
In either case a very large amount of money is in play, and a question needs to be decided. Alex is at a crossroads. His company is a year away from completing this 700,000-square-foot commercial office complex in downtown Moscow. But one of his partners, who’s with a Russian company, proposes that they cut their losses and sell to a company in Kazakhstan. The other partner, a managing director with a large investment portfolio, thinks they can ride out the crisis. As the overall Project Manager, Alex has put six years into this effort; now he must decide how to proceed.
Do the leaders go for an extremely minimal return on the efforts to date via selling out to a potential buyer? Or on the other hand do they weather the immediate storm, re-start the effort when they get more friendly circumstances, and possibly then cash in with much higher returns? There are no guarantees in either circumstance at present. This could yield a big payday, or not. Yet, a decision needs to be made now.
This is not an easy choice. What would you now recommend to Alex and his partners,…and why?
A Hint: Think about these things to help frame your thinking and your recommendations:
(1) Which party has the “upper hand” here? Contractually? Practically?
(2) To what extend can/could money solve this problem?
(3) What outside the box solutions exist, if any? (Think creatively)
Make your case as clearly as you can with supporting reasons. For example, of the two current choices (selling or continuing) what do you see as the potential Pro’s, Con’s, and especially possible alternative considerations/strategies concerning each choice?
reading is found at this link: https://hbr.org/2020/09/case-study-pull-the-plug-on-a-project-with-an-uncertain-future
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