...The Orion Shield Project Robert E. King University of Maryland, University College DMBA 620 - Effective Financial and Operational Decision Making Professor Daniel Sersland 29 March, 2015 Orion Shield Project Robert King 2 Executive Summary Inside the Orion Shield project case study, varying degrees of issues are seen during every aspect of its existence. These include technical, ethical, contractual, as well as legal issues which ultimately limited the success of this project from the beginning. Gary Allison was the incorrect choice as a project manager for this project. His inexperience in this type of management jeopardized the contract, and has placed SEC under possible litigation by his actions throughout the project. Gary wasted valuable time and resources during his tenure as a project manager, and failed to provide himself with enough time to properly manage the technical design and development of the components for STI. As such, Gary was even blindsided when it was discovered that Henry Larson was testing new materials with Paula Arnold without Gary having approved or even known about the changes. This led to more scheduling, resting, and development issues down the road, and ultimately was the catalyst for going over budget on this product. Ethical issues persisted throughout this project, from Gary’s selection as an engineer which Henry could manipulate in order to allow Henry to run the project as his “Baby”, while leaving all liability...
Words: 1729 - Pages: 7
...Executive Summary: The Orion Shield Project is a practical story of a newly appointed project manager whose poor leadership, unbalanced actions and unethical decision resulted in almost failing a project of manufacturing a Shuttle Launch Booster component for NASA. While the project was originally subcontracted by another company, it eventually produced a product that met most of the requirements, but the project was overwhelmed by many technical, ethical, legal, contractual and other project management challenges that caused cost overruns, strained internal relationships and customer distrust and dissatisfaction. These serious issues could be properly addressed with adequate management support, effective training, timely communication, and proper software tools which are vital for any project success. Thus the project could meet all its requirements as well as the internal and external stakeholder satisfaction. Introduction: The Orion Shield Project is a practical story of a newly appointed project manager whose poor leadership, unbalanced actions and unethical decision resulted in almost failing a project of manufacturing a Shuttle Launch Booster component for NASA. While the project was originally subcontracted by another company, it eventually produced a product that met most of the requirements, but the project was overwhelmed by many technical, ethical, legal, contractual and other project management challenges that could have resulted to fail it. However, it did result...
Words: 1170 - Pages: 5
...Assignment The Orion Shield Project Case Study Executive Summary: A good project management plan takes some preparation. In the case study of The Orion Shield Project that preparation never seemed to occur. From the beginning, the project was plagued with the subcontractor, Scientific Engineering Corporation (SEC), bidding for a project that they knew their current product would not be able to do. The case study shows the actions of an inexperienced professional, his poor planning methods, unethical decision skills and inability to manage a project to completion. While the project was looked at as a success, ultimately it was doomed from the start. There was specification issues that initially concerned Gary Allison, SEC’s project manager, but he was told by the Director of Engineering, Henry Larsen, that this wasn’t a big issue. By the project manager lying to the primary contractor, Space Technology Institute (STI), this created an unethical work environment from the start. There are various issues throughout the project such as contractual, legal, technical and ethical issues. A project manager should be concerned with time and cost, however, Gary was concerned mainly about his new career and promotion. With the stakeholders waiting for a complete project and funding on the line, the project team continuously upset STI until the primary contractor made a decision to work more closely with SEC to ensure accuracy. With good project management skills, a project manager uses...
Words: 1883 - Pages: 8
...The Orion Shield Project Analysis Shruti Patel University of Maryland University College AMBA640 Executive Summary Any and every project or program requires a plan to be implemented and documented to ensure its success. The Orion Shield Project is an example of a project without such a plan in place, and an inexperience manager as lead. Gary Allison was impulsively appointed to the position of Project Manager for the Orion Shield Project by Henry Larsen, the Director of Operations. This paper will analyze the the technical, ethical, contractual/legal, and program management related issues that Gary Allison encountered while managing the Orion Shield project. The paper will outline the history and specifics of the project but it will mainly focus on the actions and reactions of Mr. Allison, and what steps he could have taken to result in a different outcome for the project. Gary’s lack of management experience and lack of ethical judgement led to a failed project mission, which could have been easily avoided. Introduction The Orion Shield Project has the mission to improve the structural capabilities of NASA’s Shuttle Launch booster by 3 years. Research found that the Booster showed signs of fatigue failure after six years in the field, where as the desired and originally specified time was nine years. This project was by NASA to find/create new materials that can support a longer life in the field for the Shuttle Launch Booster. Since the DoD/NASA contracting criteria...
Words: 3459 - Pages: 14
...Individual Team Assignment Case Analysis of the Orion Shield Project Dennis J Paffrath April 18, 2013 AMBA 640 Professor Marsh 1 Table of Content Executive Summary…………………………………………………………….3 Technical Issues…………………………………………………………………5 Initiating Process Group…………………………………………………5 Planning Process Group…………………………………………………5 Executing Process Group………………………………………………..10 Monitoring and Controlling Process Group…………………………….11 Closing Process Group………………………………………………….14 Ethical Issues……………………………………………………………………15 Legal and Contractual…………………………………………………………..16 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………17 References………………………………………………………………………18 2 Executive Summary K. Schwalbe (2012) has provided a basic understanding of what project management is and explains that it requires planning and use and management of organizational resources in order to complete a project within the required time, scope and cost. Project managers must understand that one of the most important aspects of project management is to complete a project with a successful delivery of the product while ensuring that it is within the required timeline and within the resources allocated to the project. Therefore, it is imperative that the managing of a project makes efficient use of time, resources, cost, risk, quality and scope. By understanding these constraints, the project manager will be able to successfully complete the project. In reviewing the Orion Shield project case, it is very clear that the Scientific Engineering...
Words: 4699 - Pages: 19
...Project Management Orion Shield Project Case Study Helen Turner UMUC Executive Summary: The basic concepts of project management calls for proper planning, organization and the management of a variety of resources in order to successfully achieve a certain goal. The most important job of a project management is to deliver results within time constraints as well as according to a budget. Effective project managers strategically facilitate the entire project management process to ensure the project’s success. To do this the project manager must adequately meet the specific requirements (i.e., time, scope, quality, and cost) set forth by the project and its stakeholders. Project control is essential but if implemented incorrectly it can have devastating effects on the outcome of a project. Incorrect implementation of project control was the ultimate downfall for Gary Allison. The technical, ethical, legal, contractual and communication issues of project management will be discussed as they pertain to the Orion Shield Project. A thorough analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of Gary Allison will also be discussed. Technical Issues . Gary recognized 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...
Words: 1807 - Pages: 8
...[pic] _____________________________________________________________________________________ WORKSHEET LECTURE 4 Task 1: Read and identify the common theme shared by the articles below. Then, list the possible focus of writing using these articles. Article 1 In the summer of 2012, Steve Fan suspended his graduate studies at Stanford University and headed back to China, which he had left four years earlier. The motivation of this computer science major -- to launch a start-up and cash in on an idea he spotted in the world's largest Internet market -- was not uncommon. Less expected were the extra costs he incurred for doing business in China. These had nothing to do with common costs like equipment, rent, or hiring workers. Rather, daily life involved finding workarounds past China's immense national Internet censorship apparatus, widely known as the Great Firewall. "Google is often blocked for obscure reasons," said Fan, 25, now a software engineer at the Shanghai-based Morpheus Lab. "For example, if a word in my query is sensitive, like 'river,' and if I attempt to search the same term several times, the entire IP address will be blacked out for a minute and a half." "River" in Chinese is pronounced the same as the last name of China's former president, Jiang Zemin, and therefore is censored. [pic]It is hard to estimate how many entrepreneurs in China, like Fan, need to access information and websites blocked by the Great Firewall. According to Chuangtouquan...
Words: 1300 - Pages: 6
...the Prime Minister the elected head of government (CIA, 2015). In terms of the environment in which both countries’ businesses operate in, much like their political history, they are radically different. The rules and regulations that govern China are described by many as restrictive. Regulation in China is central, resulting in particular industries not being able to foreign investors. This is due to the Chinese Communist Party wishing to restrict the level of external influences on its own population. This level of regulation also extends to restricting the level of communication between the Chinese and the outside world. The Chinese Internet filter (known colloquially as the Great Firewall of China, known internally as the Golden Shield Project) is...
Words: 432 - Pages: 2
...Koby Phan Le Dr. Nian Liu HON 3980 04/22/2015 中國網絡与美國網絡的对比 无所不在的互联网在中国和美国是完全不同的。尽管最近几年越来越多的人接处到互联网，中国独裁政府成功地鼓励其发展的同时明确的阻止敏感信息通过互联网被发布。此外，中国政府大肆花费时间和金钱在其国际互联网的监视和审查制度，并采取严厉的措施，以确保其在互联网上的主导控制。除了禁止许多反政府演讲，网络用户也开始收到一些警告。当用户收到足够的警告，用户将被正式禁止浏览和使用网站。尽管在残酷的审查制度下，许多西方自由言论网站被筛选和阻止,中国政府还是惊人的高度鼓励其公民运用互联网。中国已经成功地克隆替换西方媒体原始形式,然后发展中国的版本。例如，YouTube在中国有自己的版本，被称为优酷。此外，Twitter的中创建版本叫新浪微博。尽管美国和中国都使用互联网，互联网的用途不同基于不同的语言，文化和民族。 首先，与许多其它独裁政府不同，中国政府已经允许宽泛的 社交媒体在本国范围内蓬勃发展。更确切地说，中国政府已经成功地实施其专制的政策，同时鼓励互联网的发展。相比之下，像朝鲜等专制政权，已经完全禁止任何形式的西方社交媒体。同时，像古巴和巴基斯坦的专制政权将中国视为他们可以学习的范本--一个鼓舞人心的典范。中国在管理互联网的成功可能是基于西方和中国互联网概念的融合。然而，与中国互联网管理相比，美国有保护公民的个人自由的法律。然而,在中国个人自由的理念是有限的，它仅仅是一个写入中国宪法之内的概念。个人自由在中国是非常有限的，尤其是在关于互联网。Shao教授南京大学声称如下：“在中国，虽然宪法规定保护言论自由，还规定，公民可行使自由和权利在没有侵害国家，社会以及其他公民的利益下，” (Shao, Internet law in China, 2012). 虽然中国政府限制政治言论，，但中国已在商业化互联网取得进步。互联网的商业化导致在上市的公司如阿里巴巴和新浪微博。与此同时，社会言论传言，中国政府将执行所有可能的政策以禁止任何形式的网上反政府言论。在美国和中国的互联网之间的一个明显区别是，美国公民能够运用互联网来保护他们的人身权利还能发表不服從的发言来反对政府。但是中国公民只能使用互联网于个人或商业用途，任何政治运动都是高度禁止并被视为犯罪行为。 显然，有些中国公民具有强烈的政治发言和政策反对,但政府无法阻止。这些市民居住在中国大陆以外。他们已经作出反对中国政府和其审查系统的网络斗争的决定。例如，无论市 Peter L i还是 Bill Xia 都是受过教育计算机专家和在中国出生的美国人;两人都对中国的审查活动的]发出了反对声音。他们属于一群被称为“hacktivists”志同道合者的。Hacktivists的社区主要目标是从事技术军备竞赛利用政府及其邪恶腐败。此外, Hacktivists制定和编写软件，以降低政府的互联网系统，可以持有任何国家的俘虏。中国政府的“长城防火墙”阻止许多中国公民访问特定的网站，像 Google 或 Facebook。该Hacktivists组织 努力开发技术，来破解这种类型的防火墙，并发布许多政府敏感的话题，像中国的人权记录和天安门大屠杀 (Wiseman, “Cracking the ‘Great Firewall’ of China’s Web censorship”). “长城防火墙”已被用来代表中国政府在互联网投入的巨资项目，以执行其审查系统的技术监护的术语。尽管是大大超过数量，许多 Hacktivists...
Words: 678 - Pages: 3
...Sociology 300 | Technology and Culture affects | Final Draft | John Prathammavong 9/9/2012 | Thailand, Philippines, China, and Indonesia are different nations that have grown with technology and culture due to western society. Technology makes our lives as people more efficient and for these countries a change from traditional ways of lives. The workforce of these countries and culture change with adaptation to what technology they are exposed to in life. Venture capitalists and consumers have their ways to expand business with technology in these countries and affect lives in good and bad ways. There are always ups and downs to everything and technology has its glitches too. There are even some of the best hackers but have been caught that come from the Philippines. Thailand, Vietnam, China, and Philippines are some countries that will open their first Payless shoe operation recently due to some of our western culture. Technology and its culture have made some lives more civilized within these countries. Technology is a universal language that people all over the world may use that has access and is able to communicate. There are many opportunities for capitalist to expand businesses in countries such as these because of many reasons. One it is cheap, cheap labor, and chance to broaden business overseas. There are good and bad reasons with everything as in some people benefit and others pay for it in a negative way. Technology has its negativity where there...
Words: 1411 - Pages: 6
...[pic] _____________________________________________________________________________________ WORKSHEET LECTURE 4 Task 1: Read and identify the common theme shared by the articles below. Then, list the possible focus of writing using these articles. Article 1 In the summer of 2012, Steve Fan suspended his graduate studies at Stanford University and headed back to China, which he had left four years earlier. The motivation of this computer science major -- to launch a start-up and cash in on an idea he spotted in the world's largest Internet market -- was not uncommon. Less expected were the extra costs he incurred for doing business in China. These had nothing to do with common costs like equipment, rent, or hiring workers. Rather, daily life involved finding workarounds past China's immense national Internet censorship apparatus, widely known as the Great Firewall. "Google is often blocked for obscure reasons," said Fan, 25, now a software engineer at the Shanghai-based Morpheus Lab. "For example, if a word in my query is sensitive, like 'river,' and if I attempt to search the same term several times, the entire IP address will be blacked out for a minute and a half." "River" in Chinese is pronounced the same as the last name of China's former president, Jiang Zemin, and therefore is censored. [pic]It is hard to estimate how many entrepreneurs in China, like Fan, need to access information and websites blocked by the Great Firewall. According to Chuangtouquan...
Words: 1313 - Pages: 6
...successful engineer. His boss, Henry Larsen promoted Gary as the project manager of the Orion Shield Project. Little did Gary know that this promotion that would significantly change his career at SEC and not for the better. Because of the Orion project Gary went from a star engineer at SEC, to almost losing his position with the company. This was all due to Gary’s lack of project management skills and Henry Larsen’s, lack of support and unethical guidance. Gary Allison did not have the tools or project manager experience to successfully meet the expectations of the company or the requirements of the project. Unfortunately project managers get picked based on availability and not necessarily because they possess project management skills. However, an inadequately trained and/or inexperienced project manager can doom a project as was the case with Gary and the Orion Shield Project. Gary encountered many technical, ethical, legal, contractual and project management issues. Gary’s lack of project management experience was obvious from the very beginning of the project. Many factors contributed to Gary’s failure as a project manager. Gary’s inexperience in project management, his bad communication with the customer and his not being honest with the customer contributed to the failure of the Orion Shield Project. Gary should have informed his counterparts of his missed deadlines and poor test results. Project Management, when effectively employed has produced many advantages...
Words: 1242 - Pages: 5
...Executive Summary Gary Allison had no idea what he was getting himself into when he accepted Mr. Larson’s offer to become Program Manager for the Orion Shield Project. Although Gary had a Ph. D. in mechanical engineering and 14 years’ experience as a project engineer, his education and engineering experience could not have properly prepared him for the large undertaking the Orion Shied Project turned out to be (Orion shield project, 2003, p.1). Managing a program is different and more difficult than managing one project, it is like managing multiple projects and people at once, there is much more involved. According to Schwalbe, “Many program managers worked as project managers earlier in their careers” (2012). Gary had no previous project management experience, which already put him at a disadvantage as a program manager. Had he possessed the knowledge, skills and tools required of program managers, he may have been more successful. Not only did Gary lack the knowledge, skills, and tools to properly manage the program, he also lacked the proper support from leadership. Red flags should have went off for Gary from the very beginning that Mr. Larson would not provide the guidance Gary needed to be a successful program manager. Throughout the course of the project, Orion Shield was plagued with technical, ethical, legal, contractual, and other miscellaneous program management issues. With the proper knowledge, skills, tools and support from management, these issues could...
Words: 1911 - Pages: 8
...The Orion Shield Project Analysis- Week 2 by: Shanicka Sudler University of Maryland University College AMBA 640 Due Date: Tuesday, July 21st, 2015 The Orion Shield Project: Executive Summary “On the basis of data released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, part of the US Department of Commerce, they estimated in 2001 that the US public and private sectors combined spend some $2.3trn on projects every year, an amount equivalent to a quarter of America's GDP” (Wheatley, 2015). Now that we know that, we can fully understand how important project management is not just for small businesses but for the world. There are many variables that works together to make a project successful. Scientific Engineering Corporation (SEC) recently hired a new Project Manager, Gary Allison, for their organization. He was appointed to take on The Orion Shield Project. From the very beginning. Mr. Allison was set up to fail for many reasons. One of the projects assigned was the Orion Shield Project. The purpose of this paper is to identify and critically discuss the technical, ethical, legal, contractual and other project management related issues faced by the current Project Manager. As well as complete an evaluation on the job performance of the Project Manager. Introduction According to pmi.org as well as other scholarly readings, a project can be best defined as “temporary task or tasks that it has a defined beginning and end in time, and therefore defined scope and resources...
Words: 1393 - Pages: 6
...Executive Summary Projects have many facets to them, each of which can lead to either the success or the failure of the project, and all facets are dependent on how each situation is handled. In the case of the Orion Shield Project, which is an R&D, 10 Month, Fixed Price Incentive Fee (FPIP), 2.2 Million contract most of those facets ended up resulting in failures completed not only by the sub-contractor, Scientific Engineering Corporation (SEC), but by the prime contractor, Space Technology Industries (STI), as well. Primarily the Orion Shield Project case follows that of Gary Allison, an inexperienced project manager with SEC who follows the corrupt advice of Henry Larson, an SEC executive. With an inexperienced project manager, and a corrupt advisor the Orion Shield Project has multiple problems to include those of technical, ethical, legal, contractual, and managerial. Introduction In order to be a well-rounded project manager one must not only have the technical, but administrative and organizational background. Another imperative characteristic a project manager, especially those in the research and development (R&D), is that they “work well under pressure and are comfortable with Change and complexity in dynamic environments (Who are Project Managers, pmi.org).” A good outline to follow in project management is known as the project management triangle, consisting of scope, cost, and time, and in the instance of the Orion Shield Project, all three areas were botched...
Words: 2249 - Pages: 9
