The Orion Shield Case Analysis
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 environment, possession of leadership skills, and general managerial and human relations skills. This paper will critically analyze the performance of a newly appointed project manager, Gary Allison, through his response to various issues that arose during the management of The Orion Shield Project. In my analysis, I will thoroughly discuss the technical, ethical, legal, contractual, and change issues and Gary’s response to each. I will conclude my analysis with a reasoned deduction of what competencies Gary lacks that prohibit him from being an effective project manager.
Technical Issues
Gary identified the presence of technical issues during the initiating stage of the project. According to the request for proposal (RFP) released by Space Technologies Industries (STI), the technical specification required that the design should be able to operate at temperatures ranging from to F. Gary spent two months trying to get
the design to meet the required specifications; however, he was unable to get the preliminary design to operate over F. Armed with this knowledge, Gary should have
informed the sponsor at STI of the potential problem so it could be dealt with efficiently. Instead he allowed the Director of Engineering,
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 environment, possession of leadership skills, and general managerial and human relations skills. This paper will critically analyze the performance of a newly appointed project manager, Gary Allison, through his response to various issues that arose during the management of The Orion Shield Project. In my analysis, I will thoroughly discuss the technical, ethical, legal, contractual, and change issues and Gary’s response to each. I will conclude my analysis with a reasoned deduction of what competencies Gary lacks that prohibit him from being an effective project manager.
Technical Issues
Gary identified the presence of technical issues during the initiating stage of the project. According to the request for proposal (RFP) released by Space Technologies Industries (STI), the technical specification required that the design should be able to operate at temperatures ranging from to F. Gary spent two months trying to get
the design to meet the required specifications; however, he was unable to get the preliminary design to operate over F. Armed with this knowledge, Gary should have
informed the sponsor at STI of the potential problem so it could be dealt with efficiently. Instead he allowed the Director of Engineering,