Just before the 2010 census, the U. S. Commerce Department canceled a plan to ac
ID: 3758511 • Letter: J
Question
Just before the 2010 census, the U. S. Commerce Department canceled a plan to acquire 500,000 handheld computers they had ordered to tabulate data. According to Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, costs had skyrocketed. He blamed the problem on “ a lack of effective communications with one of our major suppliers.”
Apparently, there was plenty of blame to go around. Secretary Gutierrez noted that the Census Bureau had submitted numerous technical changes to the vendor, Harris Corporation. This greatly increased the cost and the complexity of the devices. Gutierrez stated, “ The Census Bureau was unaccustomed to working with an outside vendor on such a large contract.” He also pointed out that the vendor had submitted an initial estimate of $ 36 million to operate a help desk to assist census- takers, but that figure had jumped to $ 217 million. “ It was a bad estimate. I can’t think of a better way to say it. Harris gave us the number. We accepted it. It was totally underestimated.”
What can be learned from the failure of this project, and could it have been prevented? Suppose you were asked to head up a similar project. What would you do to prevent a similar outcome?
Explanation / Answer
Solution : Their is to be a proper communication between buyer and a supplier to get the sucess of the project. No, it has not been prevented. If i got a similar project to handle then the major thing that i do is to do a proper communication to the supplier about how much computers i need to order and give a proper record of information about the figure of money which is going to give to the supplier.
Related Questions
Navigate
Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.