Managing for uncertainty is key to open the best laid plans

It's one thing to create detailed plans, but without the ability to execute them, they aren't worth much, says Sanjeev Gupta, president and CEO of Realization Technologies.

"Most organizations have difficulty executing projects on time and on budget. [Management] tends to focus its energy on creating elaborate plans, yet fails to execute them in the face of uncertainty," Gupta says. "To be successful, companies must change the rules to manage project uncertainties. Execution management can help all types of organizations meet this challenge."

An execution management system helps managers do two very simple things. First, they can tightly coordinate work across all departments and all levels of management. Second, they can exercise proactive control to quash small problems before they become big ones.

According to Gupta, the problem for project-based product manufacturers—that is, companies with lots of engineering changes, and those in industries that are capital intensive or process-oriented—is day-to-day project priorities aren't clear, so people end up working on ad hoc tasks.

"Execution management is a solution to a very old project management problem," says Gupta, "because it manages by showing people what to do, and when to do it. It sometimes seems like a very meat-and-potatoes type of solution, but without it, everyone starts working to different priorities. Managers only find out about problems after the fact when nothing can be done except to cut scope or spend more money."

Improved execution management capabilities are reaping gains for Hewlett-Packard, Hamilton Beach/Proctor-Silex, Lucent, Procter & Gamble, biotechnology leader Genencor, and automaker DaimlerChrysler, which cut cycle time for prototype builds by two weeks and increased delivery date performance by 83 percent.

The Warner Robins Air Logistics Center in Georgia also took a systematic approach to enhance mission capability, improve operational performance, and create sustained results. Using Realization Technologies' execution management system, Warner Robins reduced the number of simultaneous C-5 aircraft in the maintenance repair overhaul (MRO) program from 12 to seven, and cut time spent on each C-5 aircraft by 33 percent, says Bill Best, a Warner Robins deputy.

"Execution management made a huge difference in our organization, and more important, keeps more C-5 aircraft in the air," Best says. "We expect to see continued improvements in the future throughout other aircraft production lines."