The Orion Shield Project Case Study
Executive Summary Project management is the science of planning, organizing, executing, and managing the resources needed to achieve a specific goal. Effective project managers (PM) strategically facilitate the entire project management process to ensure the project’s success. To do this the PM must adequately meet the specific requirements (i.e., time, scope, quality, and cost) set forth by the project and its stakeholders. It is theorized that PM must possess a set of core competencies in order to successfully manage a project. Those competencies are development of project management knowledge areas, application of appropriate project management tools and techniques, understanding of the project
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They also know when to “stand up to top management…, support team members, and encourage new ideas” (Schwalbe, 2010). F.
Legal Issues In addition to intentionally deceiving the stakeholders in various areas of the project, Gary also ran the risk of dealing with other behavior that is deemed contractually illegal. When SEC took on the obligation of the contract they agreed to fulfill the requirement set forth by the scope of work, in the time allotted, and within specific cost measures. This is the one area Gary managed to somewhat succeed. Being conscience of the project’s time and scope he performed a lot of the duties himself that should have been delegated. He also spent numerous off-peak hours ensuring duties were complete. It also appears that he possesses knowledge of quality and communications management because he was able to quickly understand and communicate the issues with the product specifications. Although there was a slight breakdown in the use of the proper program management tools and techniques. For example, he failed to deliver concise status and progress reports and did not excel in communicating managerial plans. All in all Gary’s effective display of project management knowledge areas saved SEC from having the client take legal measures to offset and recover the costs associated with a failed
A project manager must be a skillful planner and can inspire his or her team to produce as needed. Per LaBrosse (2007), project management can be used throughout the organization to boost personal and collaborative productivity by building a standardized system that embeds best practices into the way projects are managed” (p.26).
They are, however, quick to see the relevance of new ideas and are frequently instrumental in introducing sound ideas from an external source, these team members should not be confused with Co-ordinators They are distinguished by a preoccupation with objectives. You would expect them to be at least normally intelligent, but not in any sense brilliant, and not outstandingly creative thinkers; it is rare for any of the good ideas to originate from them. They are much more remarkable for what used to be called "character". Their approach is disciplined, and founded on self-discipline. They often have what is called "charisma", amounting to authority. They are dominant, but in a relaxed way - they are not domineering. They have an instinctive trust in people unless there is strong evidence that someone is untrustworthy, and they are singularly free from jealousy. Mature and confident, they delegate readily. They see most clearly which member of the team is strong or weak in each area and focus people on what they do best. They are conscious of the need to use the team's combined human resources as effectively as possible. This means that they establish the roles and work boundaries of others and also the ones who see gaps and take steps to fill them. They perform better in dealing with colleagues of near or equal rank than in directing junior subordinates.
In the current business environment, the demand for project managers is ever growing. In short, project management is a provisional project constrained by time, cost and scope (A guide to the project management body of knowledge, 2013). Between the immense organization, optimization, and communication assets skilled project management brings to a project, it is easy to see why project management is a booming field of study. Furthermore, project management can be both financially and personally rewarding when long term milestones and goals come to fruition.
Another important unethical issue is Gary had concealed the short shelf life of five years
In this paper, The Orion Shield Project is critically analyzed to determine how effective the project manager, Mr. Gary Allison, is in operating as leader. Specifically, the paper focuses on what technical, ethical, legal, contractual, and other managerial issues plague the success of The Orion Shield Project. The paper attempts to analyze these issues by first introducing the reader to background about the project, and then moving into a deeper discussion of every one of the previously mentioned issues. Due to the individuals he works with and the differing situations he is placed, Mr. Allison must make difficult decisions at every corner. After
The project manager had ethical issues from the inception of the proposal. When there were problems with the original design material functioning at the required temperatures, the initial response of the director of engineering was to lie about the situation to the contracting company. The director also instructed the manager to lie about the funding of project activities later on. The project manager relied on the director for support (in getting staffing, etc.) and direction (as he claimed ownership for the project), so he felt
“Projects account for about one fourth of the U.S. and the world’s gross domestic product” (Schwalbe 2012). With that said, there are many challenges and issues that hinder the ultimate success or completion of a project. So is evident in the case of the Orion Shield Project, whose execution faced issues of technical, ethical, legal, contractual and interpersonal natures. Taking on a role that assumes responsibilities in stark contrast to newly appointed project manager Gary Allison’s professional background and experience doomed the project from the start. Not only did Gary not have the experience, he failed to research and prepare himself, prior to the project’s
Project management is the discipline of using policies and procedures to manage a project from creation to competition. The intent of this paper is to assess the role of a project manager and determine if I am well suited for a career in project management. To achieve this goal, I will be discussing the following areas: job description, general career path, education requirements, salary, career outlook, and the pros and cons. I will also be interviewing a colleague that currently working as a project manager to gain a better understanding of typical duties associated with the role.
1.0 Project Integration Management …………………………………………………………………….. 3 2.0 Project Scope Management ……………………………………………………………………………... 4 3.0 Project Time Management ……………………………………………………………………………..… 4 4.0 Project Cost Management …………………………………………………………………………….….. 5 5.0 Project Quality Management ………………………………………………………………………….… 5 6.0 Project Human Resource Management
Henry Larsen, director of engineering at Scientific Engineering Corporation (SEC) is the sponsor of a new project to provide qualification and production of Shuttle Launch Booster components, dubbed “Orion Shield.” Henry, as the project sponsor, has chosen to appoint Gary Allison, a mechanical engineer, with the position of project manager, despite Gary’s inexperience in the field of project management. This appointment was supposedly due to Gary’s technical knowledge, for which Henry proposed he would rely upon, and touted by Henry as being a great step in Gary’s career. Due to Gary’s inattention of Henry’s comments during the initial meeting regarding Gary’s appointment as the project manager, Gary failed to realize that
As Gary was worried that the test matrix in the technical volume of the proposal would not generate acceptable results, he decided to let the other project office staff manage the administrative work and run weekly team meetings, while he would have Paula work with him in the research lab until they got satisfactory results. The issue here is that by spending 3 weeks 12 hours a day working in the lab he was either unavailable or had to be paged in the lab whenever Space Technology Industries tried to get in touch with him. He was not even
The project management field has developed in the previous 20+ years. "Until the1980 's, project management basically centered around giving timetable and asset information to top management in the military".
Introduction………………………………………………………………………………..1 Section1: Questions and answers………………………………………………….……2 Question1………………………………………………………….........................2 Question2…………………………………………………………………………...5 Section2: Team members performance and score……………………………………9 Section3: Summary of the case-study……………………………………………...….12 Section4: Lessons learnt from this activity…………………………………………….13
T. Glenn/AMBA 640/Week 2 Executive Summary Hiring Gary Allison as the Project Manager for the Orion Shield Project was a big mistake. One must question both the judgment and ethics of Henry Larson in hiring an inexperienced person to lead such an extensive project. Many erroneous decisions were made by Gary as he erroneously heeded the poor and unethical advice of Henry Larson. Among the many adverse decisions and mistakes made by Gary was his lack of communication and honesty with the stakeholders involved with the project. If Gary would have been more forthcoming with all parties involved
Project management is a series of steps taken in sequence to manage a project through all phases from conception to completion. The steps are documented in a strategic plan. The plan is used to ensure that all parties are working towards a common goal. Project management requires applying knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to specific activities in accordance with established standards and guidelines. There are five basic functions of project management: planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling. Basic activities of project management include: identifying project requirements to define the outcomes; addressing various needs, concerns and expectations of others; setting up, maintaining and carrying out communications; managing others; creating project deliverables; and balancing competing project constraints.