Alex lay awake, pondering the reasons for low sales of his new product line. Two years prior, the project had missed its sales sample date by three days. Alex never imagined those three days of the project's two-year timeframe could be that important—until he was invited along on sales calls with Bud, the national sales manager.
The top-ranking purchasing managers at Bud's key accounts were furious at being inconvenienced by the poor planning. As a result, several key accounts placed the product in less desirable locations in their stores.