Case Study

Adecco: Project management masterclass (A)

7 pages
May 2020
Reference: IMD-7-2182

At the outset, the A case appears like a typical IT project at Adecco, the leading HR solutions company. At the end of 2017, a new IT infrastructure service provider had been selected. Adecco’s IT project manager was tasked with migrating almost 500 applications – running on around 3,700 servers located in the current provider’s datacenters – to existing or new servers located in the datacenters managed by the new provider. The challenges were not unique, but they were plentiful and the stakes were high. The potential cost savings were significant, and the technologically advanced new infrastructure should provide a solution to the many outages that Adecco had been experiencing over the years. Switching from one provider to another is not the most exciting project to be involved in. The project manager knew that he would have to “borrow” some of the best resources from the 60 countries that were impacted by this change. With an 18-month project timeline, it was critical for him to find a way to keep the momentum going that had been created during the signing of the new €20 million a year contract – Adecco’s largest contract with an IT services provider to date. Never having managed a global project before and being fully aware of the potential pitfalls plus the fact that most projects of this size overran by 40% in time and 20% in cost, the project manager was anxious and wondered what options he had to bring this project to a successful end.

Learning Objective
  • To demonstrate the importance of leading with purpose when an organization has to execute a large transformation project.
  • To illustrate what actions can be taken to keep the momentum going for a long-term project and how to create a winning team spirit.
  • To highlight the different options that can be applied to secure a successful outcome of a complex international project.
Keywords
Operations, Project Management, Leadership Competence, Business Partnering, Project, Project Planning, Supplier Relationship, Change Management, Team, Outsourcing, Contract, Digital Transformation, Information Technology Infrastructure, Cloud Computing
Settings
World/global, Switzerland
Adecco, Business Management Services, Human Resources
2016 - 2019
Type
Field Research
Copyright
© 2020
Available Languages
English
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This case study is part of a series
  • Adecco: Project management masterclass (A)
  • Adecco: Project management masterclass (B)
This case study is part of a series
  • Adecco: Project management masterclass (A)
  • Adecco: Project management masterclass (B)
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Adecco: Project management masterclass (A)
By Carlos Cordon and Edwin Wellian
Case reference: IMD-7-2182 ©2020
Summary
At the outset, the A case appears like a typical IT project at Adecco, the leading HR solutions company. At the end of 2017, a new IT infrastructur...
Reference IMD-7-2182
Copyright ©2020
Copyright owner IMD Copyright
Organization Adecco
Industry Business Management Services, Human Resources
Available Languages English
Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Adecco: Project management masterclass (B)
By Carlos Cordon and Edwin Wellian
Case reference: IMD-7-2183 ©2020
Summary
The B case starts in June 2019 – at the project deadline – and looks back at the challenges and actions taken during the previous 18 months. The ou...
Reference IMD-7-2183
Copyright ©2020
Copyright owner IMD Copyright
Organization Adecco
Industry Business Management Services, Human Resources
Available Languages English
Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications