PMP Practice: Outline Escalation Paths and Thresholds

Ngozi Eze-Okafor is leading a three-year enterprise resource planning implementation for Velvet Hippo Manufacturing, a mid-sized industrial parts manufacturer. The project involves replacing legacy systems across finance, supply chain, and human resources. During governance planning, the steering committee—composed of the CFO, COO, and VP of HR—requests that project success be measured primarily by on-time delivery and adherence to the $8.2 million budget. However, Ngozi knows from initial stakeholder interviews that operational leaders are deeply concerned about system downtime during cutover and the learning curve for production floor supervisors who have used the old system for 15 years. The executive sponsor has emphasized that the company is facing increasing pressure from investors to demonstrate ESG compliance and operational resilience. Which approach would be MOST effective for defining success metrics that align governance with strategic business outcomes?