Disaster Recovery at Marshall Field’s
Early in the morning on April 13, 1992, basements in Chicago’s downtown central business district began to flood. Ahole the size of an automobile had developed between the river and an adjacent abandoned tunnel. The tunnel, built in the early 1900s for transporting coal, runs throughout the downtown area. When the tunnel flooded, so did the basements connected to it, some 272 in all, including that of major retailer Marshall Field’s. The problem was first noted at 5:30 a.m. by a member of the Marshall Field’s trouble desk who saw water pouring into the basement. The manager of maintenance was notified and immediately took charge. His first actions were to contact the Chicago Fire and Water Departments, and Marshall Field’s parent company, Dayton Hudson in Minneapolis. Electricity — and and with it all elevator, computer, communication, and security services for the 15-story building — would would soon be lost. The building was evacuated and elevators were moved above basement levels. A command post was quickly established and a team formed from various departments such as facilities, security, human resources, public relations, and financial, legal, insurance, and support services. Later that day, members of Dayton Hudson’s risk management group arrived from Minneapolis to take over coordinating the team’s efforts. The team initially met twice a week to evaluate progress and make decisions and was slowly disbanded as the store recovered. The goal of the team was to ensure the safety of employees and customers, minimize flood damage, and resume normal operations as soon as possible. The team hoped to open the store to customers 1 week after the flood began. An attempt was made to pump out the water; however, as long as the tunnel hole remained unrepaired, the Chicago River continued to pour into the basements. Thus, the basements remained flooded until the tunnel was sealed and the Army Corps of Engineers could give approval to start pumping. Everything in the second-level basement was a loss, including equipment for security, heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, fire sprin An attempt was made to pump out the water; however, as long as the tunnel hole remained unrepaired, the Chicago River continued to pour into the basements. Thus, the basements remained flooded until the tunnel was sealed and the Army Corps of Engineers could give approval to start pumping. Everything in the second-level basement was a loss, including equipment for security, heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, fire sprinkling, and mechanical services. Most merchandise in the first-level basement stockrooms also was lost. Electricians worked around the clock to install emergency generators generators and restore lighting and elevator service. Additional security officers were hired. An emergency pumping system and new piping to the water sprinkling tank were installed so the sprinkler system could be reactivated. Measures were taken to monitor ventilation and air quality, and dehumidifiers and fans were installed to improve air quality. Within the week, inspectors from the City of Chicago and OSHA gave approval to reopen the store. During this time, engineers had repaired the hole in the tunnel. After water was drained from the Marshall Field’s basements, damaged merchandise was removed and sold to a salvager. The second basement had to be gutted to assure removal of contaminants. Salvageable machinery had to be disassembled and sanitized.
The extent of the damage was assessed and insurance claims filed. A construction company was hired to manage restoration of the damaged areas. Throughout the ordeal, the public relations department dealt with the media, being candid yet showing confidence in the recovery effort. Customers had to be assured that the store was safe and employees kept apprised of the recovery effort. This case illustrates crisis management, an important aspect of which is having a team that moves fast to minimize losses and quickly recover damages. At the beginning of a disaster there is little time to plan, though companies and public agencies often have crisis guidelines for responding to emergency situations. Afterwards they then develop more specific, detailed plans to guide longer-term recovery efforts.
1. In what ways are the Marshall Field’s flood disaster recovery effort a project? Why are large- scale disaster response and recovery efforts projects?
A. Because of following reasons the Marshall Field’s flood disaster recovery effort is a project : This project Involve a single, definable purpose or end-item (product or result). The purpose is specified in terms of cost, schedule, and performance requirements. This project is a one-of-a-kind activity, never to be exactly repeated. This project is undertaken to accomplish a goal of Disaster Recovery within a given period of time; once the goal is achieved, the project ceases to exist. This project requires multiple skills such as facilities, security, human resources, public relations, and financial, legal, insurance, and support. Task of this project is unfamiliar. It may encompass new ideas, approaches, or technology and possess elements of significant uncertainty and risk. There is something at stake for company depending on the success of the project. Failure of the project might jeopardize the organization or its goals. This project contains certain processes of working to achieve the goal. This project passes through several distinct phases like evacuation of water, repairing the hole in tunnel, to dissemble salvable machinery, manage restoration etc; tasks, people, organizations, and resources change as the project moves from one phase to the next
Large- scale disaster response and recovery efforts are also containing the same characteristics. So we can also consider them as a project.
2. In what ways do the characteristics of crisis management as described in this case correspond to those of project management?
A. Following are the ways by which characteristics of crisis management can be described in this case correspond to those of Project Management: Here single person heads the project. This project reflects the cross-functional, goal-oriented, temporary nature of the project. Because this project requires a variety of skills and resources, the actual work has been performed by people from different functional areas like facilities, security, human resources, public relations, financial, legal, insurance, support or by outside contractors like salvagers, fire departments etc. This project focuses on delivering disaster recovery within particular time and cost. Here Decision making, accountability, outcomes, and rewards are shared among members of the project team and supporting functional units. Though this project organization is temporary, the functional or subcontracting units from which it is formed are permanent. When a project ends, the project organization is disbanded and people return to their functional or subcontracting units.
3. Who was the project manager and what was his responsibility? Who was assigned to the project team and why were they on the team?
A. The manager of maintenance was the Project Manager. Following are his responsibilities: - He need to head the Disaster Recovery Team - He is the focal point to bringing together all the efforts to recover store from disaster - He is responsible for integrating people from different functional disciplines working on the project - He negotiates directly with functional managers (Head of Facilities, Financials etc) for support. Functional managers are responsible for individual work tasks and personnel within the project; the project manager is responsible for integrating and overseeing the start and completion of activities.
Following people are assigned to the project:
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Manager of Maintenance was assigned to this project because he should have idea about structure of building, correspondence to different functional teams. A team formed from various departments such as facilities, security, human resources, public relations, and financial, legal, insurance, and support services because they need to perform certain specific tasks for the project like human resource need to provide manpower for project, financials need to provide enough funds to project etc. Members of Dayton Hudson’s risk management group also assigned to this project because they have specific skill set to work in such situations. Electricians were involved to manage supply of electricity Engineers were involved to repair the hole in tunnel A construction company also hired to restore damaged areas of building
4. Comment on the appropriateness of using project management for managing disaster recovery efforts such as this.
A. Here are some comments on the appropriateness of using project management for managing disaster recovery efforts such as this: - This project is something different from the ordinary and routine - For quick recovery from flood effect magnitude of efforts from various departments is high - Here team has to work in changing environments. To survive and succeed, this team must be creative, innovative, flexible, and capable of rapid response - Here Project Manager links together and coordinates the efforts of areas within the parent organization as well as those of outside subcontractors, vendors like Salvagers, Construction Company etc - Here reputation of Marshall Field’s was on stake. If team is failed to recover flood effect, they have to face financial ruin, loss of market etc.
5. What form of project management does this case most closely resemble?
A. This project resemble Taskforce form of Project Management because:
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This project is of short duration and consist of temporary team
