Business case and strategy

To analyze the significance of certain tasks in the FE the framework and division developed in the theory are used. The answers of interviewees are mapped in Table 5 if the interviewee mentioned the task in some way as a part of the FE. The different tasks are gone through in the order of the framework. The business case and strategy aspects were directly mentioned by only 5 of the interviewees all of whom were SMs or higher-level managers. As part of the internal operational guidelines, this process is mostly done by sales personnel during the early parts of the FE which PM does not typically attend.

After a basic formulation of the business case, it is assessed by management if the

project is worth bidding on or not. A SM stated that they have a tool that has a lot of information that needs to be filled in to analyze the case. However, he/she considered this somewhat waste of time as the information was only guessed. A person from the project organization mentioned that it would be beneficial to better understand which projects are worthy and which are not as currently it seems that there is not enough focus. The lack of focus on each sales case was mentioned also by two PMs. A SM also mentioned that it is up to the SM to represent the profitability and business case calculations to management and sometimes there can be issues in objectivity when interpreting these calculations. The use or updating of the business case after the initial bid decision was not mentioned. This implies that the organization working on the project does not have that much information on the business aspects of it. This could be one reason why many of the interviewees considered the organization to not be that sales oriented. However, according to the official process, this information is considered in the official management audits.

Table 5: Front end tasks by how many interviewees mentioned the task. Colors visualize the number of answers.

Only two SMs directly mentioned the project strategy, both of which considered it to be among the most important tasks in the FE. One interviewee stated that it is important to understand what the client needs and act accordingly in the organization to secure the sales with a good profit. The other stated that it is important to understand the drivers behind the customer and use those as a base for decision making inside the organization. However, project strategy is something that is not mentioned at all in the operational manual. Based on the interviewees' answers they seem to have some sort of understanding of what the strategy might be but it is not knowingly steered in the organization. This can be seen from the contradicting answers of the interviewees. For example, a person from the sales organization mentioned that the case company is not the cheapest one which was also implied by a project organization member. The member stated that the more difficult cases are the sweet spot. However, the same person from the sales organization also mentioned that the case company has challenges with the price and rarely is the cheapest one. It seems that the internal goal is not that clear.

4.2.2 Setting project goals and objectives

The project's stakeholder management methods were not mentioned often in the interviews. Also, the internal operation manual does not have comprehensive guidelines in this area. Interviewees mentioned relationship management with the customer but did not bring up any methods used. Also, the internal organization was mentioned. One PM and three persons from the sales organization mentioned that it is important to understand and manage the internal stakeholders and their drivers. A SM specifically mentioned that there are opposing interests in the organization and this might be useful to understand. At a minimum, the interviewees considered that it is important to understand the internal dependencies and power relationships. It was also considered important to have a communication plan internally on how to distribute the information across the organization as there are so many different stakeholders. 3rd category of stakeholders for the organization are the subcontractors which play an important role in the organization's competitiveness and effectiveness. Three interviewees from the sales organization stated that the organization should work more closely with the subcontractors in the sales phase to drive competitiveness. For example, in project G, this was done and it was considered to be one of the winning elements in that case.

Requirements management was considered among the interviewees to be the most important task in the FE stated by 6 interviewees from sales and one from project organization and almost everyone mentioned it. It should start from the very beginning of the FE. Various requirements from execution to customer ones are mentioned also in the internal operation manual. First of all, interviewees considered it important in order

to understand what needs to be delivered and what is required from the organization.

Interviewees three PMs and two from the sales organization stated that understanding the requirements greatly reduces the risk for the case organization to have surprises in the execution phase since these requirements are locked into the contract. The organization has also reviews in place for this. Two PMs and a SM also mentioned that quite often the requirements from customers have accumulated over the years many of which might not be valid or might otherwise be unnecessary or too tight. Two PMs mentioned that it is important to differentiate the necessary requirements from the nice to have ones and get the reasoning for those from the client. Good requirements management was mentioned to lead to a better project for both the client and the case company since it often drives the costs down and both parties are better committed to the requirements. Also, a person from the sales organization stated that customers value challenging their requirements as it demonstrates to the client case company's expertise and commitment to the project. The interviewees also brought up issues related to the requirements management. A project- and two SMs stated that the organization focuses too much on internal requirements which are often tighter than the customer's requirements leading to over quality and higher costs. A SM said: “Often it has been found out that the own internal requirements are much tighter than the customers’”.

Three project organization members said that often the organization has difficulties going through the requirements leading to missed ones, for example, in project G. However, in some cases going through the requirements was not considered to be beneficial. If the case was a simple, standard product for a familiar easy customer it was not considered to add that much value.

Setting various goals for the project is part of the FE, for example, when formulating schedule, budget, and quality. Nonetheless, only a few interviewees specifically mentioned setting goals for the project or the FE. Three SMs stated that the organization should set and align its goals more with the customer's requirements. The goal should be to meet those as cost-effectively as possible. Currently, the goal is in their opinion to focus more on internal processes and fulfilling internal requirements. This goal setting should happen early enough in the FE to steer the project in the right direction. A PM mentioned that it is very important to set clear goals for the project since it guides how the project is executed and how it will be formed. Another PM said that this goal-setting could be quite similar from project to project. A person from the sales organization also talked about the monitoring and guiding nature of goals. During a FE, the goal is typically to minimize time and cost. When the execution starts the goal is to not exceed these estimates and if it happens it is regarded in the organization somewhat negatively.

However, a SM stated that it is a strength that the organization does not directly punish from this. This implies that the goals and their monitoring differ a bit in the FE and during the project.