Throughout the United Arab Emirates (UAE), du Telecom provides mobile and fixed telephony, broadband connectivity and IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) services to people, homes, and businesses. When it opened for business in 2006, the company boldly entered what was already a saturated market with 100% penetration. Although du Telecom recognized that the telecom industry in the Arabian Gulf is fast growing and that the company would face ever increasing competition, it approached the market as an opportunity rather than an obstacle. Within four years, du had acquired almost 40% of the region’s mobile market share and was maintaining an annual growth rate of more than 32% in a saturated market.
1. Established in 1987, Huawei is a global leader of ICT solutions and the largest telecommunications equipment maker in the world.
2. Their telecom network equipment, IT products and solutions, and smart devices are used in 170 countries and regions. In 2013, du signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.,
3. A Chinese multinational networking and telecommunications equipment and services company. With this understanding, du and Huawei are working together to better define the best practices in portfolio and project management concepts, processes and techniques for their industry, including knowledge transfer and research.
4. Du and Huawei are operating what they term a “distributed PMO” in two countries. This requires that both understand how a PMO functions in that type of environment. The two companies decided to work together to exchange best practice industry methodologies, concepts, tools and techniques, while also better defining best practice portfolio management concepts, processes, and techniques.
THE CHALLENGE
Du knows that every project takes place in a specific context, be it a stand-alone project or part of a greater program, or one among a portfolio of projects. A project may also involve a team whose members have never worked together before, and it may require assigning responsibilities and roles to people who are new to them. All of these factors are identified and considered as part of a project. With all of these considerations in mind, du was looking for partners who could help them overcome these challenges. This provided the trigger to initiate an engagement with Huawei. In a region marked by fierce competition, telecom operators contend with constant change and long-term uncertainty.
One key shortcoming that du explored for surmounting these challenges was the role of project leadership—a capability that delegates and facilitates faster decision making and improves time to market.
Questions
1. Design an effective solution for this Project.
2. What troubles, challenges, or stressors do they face?
3. Develop the lesson learned from this case.
4. Demonstrate their key Achievements.