...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 changed recently, companies that win the Research and Development (R&D) and Qualification phases of a program, are proposed to have a competitive edge when the Production contract is finally awarded, the SEC decided to employ a new company strategy, to bid on the Research and Development phase of a program. As a result, the SEC competed for a subcontract for the R&D Phase I of the...
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...due to the inclusion of the Internet in Online transaction processing (OLTP) and E-commerce applications which use databases. This evolution gave birth to an enduring need for high throughput, good response time, excellent data consistency and concurrency control. This paper evaluates SQL server 2000 and Oracle 9i with respect to performance and scalability. Initial performance tests showed that at low to medium workload both database systems behaved in a similar fashion in terms of throughput and response time. At high load however Oracle 9i emerged victorious in both cases. market and use of the Internet in databases. The first point has lead to competition between commercial and open source database vendors while the second has resulted in a need for high performance database systems. This whole controversy has in the past lead database vendors to employ numerous tricks in bid to improve the processing speed of their systems during benchmarking and thus falsely prove that their databases products are superior to other competitors. Some of their tricks include using high-speed CPUs and clusters, caching up data rows and storing SQL execution plans into RAM prior to testing thus bypassing disk I/O access and tremendously increasing performance (Burleson D, 2002).AS a result the author seeks to provide an independent third voice that will aid DBA in decision making. 1. Introduction This project explores and evaluates...
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...matter of life. We are thankful to our respected Principal, Dr. Dean and our Head of the Department, Dr. Shahnaz Choudhry, who permitted us to avail the opportunity of working in such a helpful and cooperative environment. We greatly wish to acknowledge Dr. Amir Saeed, the Manager of R & D for allowing us to work in Packages Limited, Pakistan and Mr. Ishtiaq ur Rehman, the Senior Research Chemist (R&D) for providing us the opportunity of this work and encouraging & appreciating us at every step. He not only permitted us to undertake this important part of internship work but also helped us a lot in conducting this study as a Supervisor. We felt motivated and encouraged every time we attended his meeting, Mr. Imran Khan, the incharge of Paper and Pulp Laboratory, Mr. Zafar Hussain (working staff) and the members of Physical Laboratory in Packages Limited, Pakistan who helped us throughout the work & shared their experiences & knowledge with us. The success of this project depends largely on the encouragement and guidelines of many others, apart from our efforts. We take this opportunity to express our gratitude to the people who have been instrumental in the successful completion of this project. Thanks to our parents whose prayers are always with us to achieve our goals in our whole life. Also, we would like to extend masses of gratitude to R & D Department for facilitating us with their leadership. Anam Nawazish Mahrukh Saleem Khan Sadaf Sherwani ...
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...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...
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...CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION AND THE CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY IMPROVEMENT ACT ANNETTE MCCLENDON Table of Contents History about CPSC Congressional Actions on the Improvement Act * CRS Summary * Major Congressional Actions * Public Law 112-28 * Chronology CPSC Commissioners The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is an independent federal regulatory agency, which was established with the passage of the Consumer Product Safety Act in 1972, and began operating in 1973. The primary responsibilities of the CPSC were to protect the public from unreasonable risks of injury associated with consumer products. The CPSC also promotes the evaluation of consumer products for potential hazards, establishes uniform safety standards for consumer products, eases conflicting state and local regulations concerned with consumer safety, and selectively conducts research on potentially hazardous products. In a 1970 precursor study to the establishment of the CPSC, the National Commission on Product Safety’s Final Report (Final Report) was issued to the President and Congress. This report included extensive surveys – on product hazards, accident information systems, voluntary product standards, consumer education, the state of product safety law, the relationship between Federal law and State law, product safety policy in other countries – and also contained proposals for general product safety legislation, the core of which was to be the creation...
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...The Orion Shield Project Case Study An Analysis of What Went Wrong University of Maryland University College Author Note This paper was prepared for AMBA 640, Section 113, taught by Professor Executive Summary Project management is the application of knowledge, skills and techniques to execute projects effectively and efficiently as defined from the Project Management Institute (PMI, 2008). It is a calculated proficiency for organizations enabling them to tie project results to business goals and improve chances to compete in their respective markets. Project management processes fall into five competency groups which are initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling and closing that ensures a project’s success. The Project Manager must possess certain skills to manage a process. A Project manager must also be able to manage time, quality and scope resourcefully. This paper will analyze the performance of Gary Allison, an engineer whose first project as a Project manager was to head up the Orion Shield Project. There were many issues that made this project a near failure. I will address the technical, ethical, legal, and contractual issues that affect his performance and critique his reactions to these matters. I will conclude my analysis with a reasonable deduction of what competencies Gary lacks that would make him a more effective project manager. Introduction The Orion Shield Project is the creation of tiles that are part of...
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...Orion Shield Project Analysis Emoke de Kun AMBA 640 Professor Larry Williams July 16, 2013 Table of Contents Executive Summary 3 Contractual Issues 4-5 Technical Issues 5-6 Ethical and Legal Issues 6-7 Project Management Issues 8 Conclusion 9 References 10 Executive Summary The purpose of this paper is to analyze the implications that Gary Larsen was faced with as project manager in the Orion Shield Project Case Study. Gary Larsen, who was chosen as project manager was faced with many hurdles and his inexperience as the project manager definitely had negative implications on the triple constraints of the project: scope, time and cost. In this paper, I will address the problems Gary Allison faced: contractual, legal, ethical, technical and project management. Henry Larsen chose Gary Allison to be project manager, knowing full well he did not have the knowledge, nor the know-how to be a project manager, especially of such a big project. I will address Henry Larsen’s unethical behavior and poor leadership skills as well. Henry Larsen tried to put all the blame on his project manager, but he as a sponsor was practically absent and let the project get totally out of control. My recommendation would be to have a project manager with experience and proper leadership skills who...
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...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 tools to ensure project accuracy, timeliness and has weekly status meetings with the primary contractor to keep them aware of any changes that may occur. In this paper you will see an unorganized project with overrun funding and lack of organization...
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...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 in demoting the project manager to his previous job as he failed to demonstrate his management skills and qualifications. This paper identifies and analyzes the challenging issues of this project and discusses the project manager’s overall performances. In case study, Gary Allison, a reputable and talented mechanical engineer at Scientific Engineering Corporation (SEC), was offered a...
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...your results with other researchers so that they can be further analyzed and compared with the results of other research experiments. Another large part of conducting research is to be comfortable determining, describing and comparing chemical and physical properties of compounds. Many compounds can look very similar, but have drastically different chemical properties, so it is important to know which tests can be performed on a compound to help determine what it is, or what it is not. In this experiment 2 sets of six unknown solid compounds were put into small jars and labeled with the numbers 1-12, numbers 4, 6 and 8 were not used. Each lab group was given one unknown solid and told to determine the samples properties through various testing. Physical characteristics were observed, by using a magnifying glass to view a small amount of the sample. Relative solubility was found by mixing a small amount of the unknown solid with deionized water. Electrical conductivity was measured by using a conductivity meter and noting the amount of bars on the...
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...Homework: Term Paper GEB2430 Business Ethics & Social Responsibility Dr. Harvey Weiss June 16th, 2012 Abstract The main purpose of this research paper is to show how the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 may have contributed to holding corporate executives accountable for their actions then and for the future. This research paper will examine and discuss the origin of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and go into detail regarding the eleven titles, or sections, of the document that it consists of. This research paper will then touch upon the different countries around the world that have been subsequently enacted with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and conclude with the debates over the perceived benefits and costs from both opponents and proponents. The following research paper will prove to be useful for any executive running a public corporation. After reading this research paper, one will come to discover and understand the new standards implemented for corporate accountability as well as the new penalties for acts of wrongdoing. Body The Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002, also known as the “Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act” by the Senate and “Corporate and Auditing Accountability and Responsibility Act” by the House of Representatives and commonly called Sarbanes–Oxley, Sarbox or SOX, is a United States federal law passed on July 30, 2002, which set new or enhanced standards for all United States public company boards, management and public accounting firms. It...
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...before moving on to the next exercise. The exercises within each circuit are separated by a short rest period, and each circuit is separated by a longer rest period. The total number of circuits performed during a training session may vary from two to six depending on your training level (beginner, intermediate, or advanced), your period of training (preparation or competition) and your training objective. Planning Identify on paper 3 to 4 circuits of 6 to 10 exercise that can be performed with the available resources. In each circuit try to ensure that no two consecutive exercises exercise the same muscle group. e.g. do not have press ups followed by pull ups. The exercise circuit should be set up so that you work each body part as follows: Total-body, Upper-body, Lower-body, Core & Trunk, Total-body etc. For each circuit I have a set of linoleum squares (6 inches by 6 inches) with an exercise written on each that I lay by the equipment to indicate to the athletes the required exercise at each stage of the circuit. You could use plain card or paper and include an explanation as to how to perform the exercise, duration and recovery. A set of 25 Circuit Training Cards has been kindly created and donated by Maree Buchanan, a Physical Education Teacher from Bron Bay, Australia. All that you have to do is download the file, print off the 25 cards and laminate them. It is important to conduct a warm up at the start of the session and a cool down at the end of the session. The...
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...CHAPTER 1 AUDITING AND THE PUBLIC ACCOUNTING PROFESSION – INTEGRITY OF FINANCIAL REPORTING |LEARNING CHECK | 1. SEVERAL COMMON ATTRIBUTES OF ACTIVITIES DEFINED AS AUDITING ARE (A) SYSTEMATIC PROCESS, (B) OBJECTIVELY OBTAINING AND EVALUATING EVIDENCE, (C) ASSERTIONS ABOUT ECONOMIC ACTIONS AND EVENTS, (D) DEGREE OF CORRESPONDENCE, (E) ESTABLISHED CRITERIA, (F) COMMUNICATING THE RESULTS, AND (G) INTERESTED USERS. 2. A financial statement audit involves obtaining and evaluating evidence about an entity's financial statements for the purpose of expressing an opinion on whether the statements are presented fairly in conformity with established criteria--usually GAAP. Thus, the nature of the auditor's report is an opinion on the fairness of the financial statement presentation. A compliance audit involves obtaining and evaluating evidence to determine whether certain financial or operating activities of an entity conform to specified conditions, rules, or regulations. A report on a compliance audit takes the form of a summary of findings or assurance regarding degree of compliance. An operational audit involves obtaining and evaluating evidence about the efficiency and effectiveness of an entity's operating activities in relation to specified objectives. Reports on such audits include an assessment of efficiency and effectiveness and recommendations for improvements. 3. Independent auditors are individual practitioners or members of public...
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...first detect them which is include the sophisticated accounting systems and etc. Information technology which brought high tech computerization, digital storage and communication became very sophisticated, which made possible the accumulation of gathering of information in an instant. Recording and verification of accounting transactions in real time were made easier and more accurate, which facilitated the reconciliation of supporting documents versus sources, with very little effort needed. Federal regulators were provided with data that revealed the corrupt practices of high-profile companies and their CEOs. Their bankruptcies became inevitable as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and financial analysts began to see the signs of irregularities among numerous companies. When the SEC ordered the restatement of their financial reports in accordance with the GAAP rules, it turned out that these companies were mostly founded by inflated revenues and negative financial conditions. Short after, companies reputations and financial credibility began break like bubbles, in the wake of the ensuing investigations. The result of these action caused investors once again lost their trust and confidence in America’s publicly traded companies, which eventually led to more bankruptcies. As a result, multitudes became jobless, and the trend went from bad to worse throughout the decade. these accounting anomalies was the heart of all that frauds. The accountancy profession and the role...
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...Running Head: Controls for Inflow Internal Controls for Cash, Sales, Accounts Receivable, Inventory, and Production Building a good fraud prevention program is a difficult task. Accountants and auditors have often been exhorted to be the leaders in fraud prevention by employing their skills in designing “tight” control systems. This strategy is, at best, a short-run solution to a large and pervasive problem (Louwers, et. al., 2007). Control systems limit trust; therefore, accountants and auditors must be sensitive to the needs of the business by installing controls that will prevent or detect fraud without impeding business activities. Effective long-run prevention measures are complex and difficult, involving the elimination of the causes of fraud by mitigating the effect of motive, opportunity, and lack of integrity (Louwers, et. al., 2007). When external auditors perform the audit of financial statements, they must obtain an understanding of the company’s control environment, which relates to management activity in the company. Cash An important feature of internal control is the separation of the duties and responsibilities of transaction authorization, record keeping, custody of, or access to, assets, and reconciliation of actual assets to the accounting records (Louwers, et. al., 2007). The key to integrity in business is “accountability,” that is, each person must be willing to put his or her decisions and actions in view. Many organizations begin the...
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