Project Management
Following World War II, the United States entered into a Cold War with Russia. To win this Cold War, the United States had to develop sophisticated weapon systems with such destructive power that any aggressor knew that the retaliatory capability of the United States could and would inflict vast destruction. Hundreds of millions of dollars were committed to ideas concerning technology that had not been developed as yet. Aerospace and defense contractors were growing without bounds, thanks to cost-plus-percentage-of-cost contract awards. Speed and technological capability were judged to be significantly more important than cost. To make matters worse, contracts were often awarded to the second or third most qualified bidder for the sole purpose of maintaining competition and maximizing the total number of defense contractors.
Contract Award
During this period Altex Corporation was elated when it learned that it had just been awarded the R& D phase of the Advanced Tactical Missile Program (ATMP). The terms of the contract specified that Altex had to submit to the Army, within 60 days after contract award, a formal project plan for the two-year ATMP effort. Contracts at that time did not require that a risk management plan be developed. A meeting was held with the project manager of R& D to assess the risks in the ATMP effort.
PM:“I’m in the process of developing the project plan. Should I also develop a risk management plan as part of the project plan?”
Sponsor:“Absolutely not! Most new weapon systems requirements are established by military personnel who have no sense of reality about what it takes to develop a weapon system based upon technology that doesn’t even exist yet. We’ll be lucky if we can deliver 60-70 percent of the specification imposed upon us.”
PM:“But that’s not what we stated in our proposal. I wasn’t brought on board until after we won the award, so I wasn’t privileged to know the thought process that went into the proposal. The proposal even
Contract Award
During this period Altex Corporation was elated when it learned that it had just been awarded the R& D phase of the Advanced Tactical Missile Program (ATMP). The terms of the contract specified that Altex had to submit to the Army, within 60 days after contract award, a formal project plan for the two-year ATMP effort. Contracts at that time did not require that a risk management plan be developed. A meeting was held with the project manager of R& D to assess the risks in the ATMP effort.
PM:“I’m in the process of developing the project plan. Should I also develop a risk management plan as part of the project plan?”
Sponsor:“Absolutely not! Most new weapon systems requirements are established by military personnel who have no sense of reality about what it takes to develop a weapon system based upon technology that doesn’t even exist yet. We’ll be lucky if we can deliver 60-70 percent of the specification imposed upon us.”
PM:“But that’s not what we stated in our proposal. I wasn’t brought on board until after we won the award, so I wasn’t privileged to know the thought process that went into the proposal. The proposal even