Case Name :      A Project Dilemma at Canadian Shield Insurance

Authors :           Glenn Brophey, Cristobal Sanchez-Rodriguez, Derek Stacey, David Hemsworth

Source :             Ivey Publishing

Case ID :            W11384

Discipline :        Operations Management

Case Length :    14 pages

Solution Sample availability : YES

Plagiarism : NO (100% Original work)

In market-leading firms, software development was often undertaken by an in-house team to address specific IS needs – in part because nothing that fit these specific needs was commercially available. These projects often ended up taking longer than planned and exceeding ever-growing budgets. In this case, in-house software development was finally nearing completion (over budget and behind schedule) and the beta testing phase, along with some initial ‘train-the-trainer’ sessions, had begun. Not all the first impressions were positive, so when the director became aware of a recently introduced commercial offering that seemed like a very attractive alternative he faced a dilemma: should he abandon the developed project, which amounted to five years of work and over $1 million for a system that may be a better option? The protagonist in the case had done a preliminary functional comparison of the in-house information system and the commercial offering; he recognized that the new alternative might have held some significant advantages for the firm. The potential negative implications for his career and the careers of the people he worked alongside during the development project caused him to think about whether or not he should be informing others within the firm about the commercial alternative and, if he did, what position he should take.