The Orion Shield Project Analysis Essay Example

a poor industry reputation and face reduced chances of future employment.

Introduction - The success of a project relies on the clear definition and understanding of criteria for success by all stakeholders and project team members. It is crucial to define specific project criteria for effective organization. However, Gary Allison, an inexperienced project manager appointed to manage the initiation, process, and execution of the Orion Shield Project, faced significant challenges in achieving success.

Mr. Allison's failure to seek resources, tools, and techniques for acquiring new responsibilities in reassignment cannot be excused. Instead of learning project management (PM) know-how, he learned from negative practices observed throughout the project's process. The PM industry defines the Triple Constraint as the fundamental issues projects face - Scope, Time, and Cost. Alongside these anticipated issues and risks, other challenges arise during a project's lifespan. The Orion Shield project faced common PM issues such as technical, ethical, legal, contractual, and interpersonal/social challenges. To understand this project's deficiencies, it is crucial to understand the standards for PM success.

Body

With the implementation of project planning, there inevitably comes uncertainty, which poses a risk. The key to mitigating the effects of these risks lies in identifying and comprehending the five process groups associated with project management.

The activities of initiating, planning, executing, monitoring & controlling, and closing are included in the project management process.

The initiation of Scientific Engineering Organization's (SEC) Orion Shield project was determined and practically driven by Mr. Allison's boss, Henry Larsen, serving as the foundation for all subsequent processes. However, the inception of the Orion Shield project was established on unstable ground. An

ethical dilemma arose at the start when Mr. Larsen pressured Gary into accepting and issuing a false statement about the product's functionality. Gary's scientific evidence reveals that the Shield is incapable of operating within the temperature range specified by the customer, Space Technology.

When a project manager lacks support for their assigned project, the project is bound to fail. The belief in successful implementation is what keeps a project moving towards achieving milestones. Unfortunately, in this situation, the planning process seems to be nonexistent. This is where team roles are established, a scope is created and agreed upon by all stakeholders, and contractual metrics are defined. Mr. Allison did not utilize various tools and techniques that contribute to project success. Tools like Gantt charts, flow charts, and project network diagrams are commonly used by successful projects. These tools facilitate communication and visualize goals necessary for project progression.

Mr. Allison's execution was a complete failure. Every decision he made was impulsive and without any substantial consideration or collaboration with the team and stakeholders. He relinquished all administrative duties, resulting in a lack of uniformity and data-share. The project went over budget not once, but twice, causing the corporate heads to spend unexpected additional money. Mr. Allison also lost control of the monitoring and controlling process. Business operation protocol was not followed, such as providing necessary materials to meeting attendees between SEC and Space Technology.

Gary attended only the technical portion of the review and missed the administrative portion when presenting their findings and material. Despite being ultimately responsible for the project, it is surprising that he was not more involved in all

aspects and functions of its life. By failing to share important information about the shield's shortened lifespan with his colleagues and supervisors, Gary sealed his fate.

Project Issues

The challenges faced by the Orion Shield project were apparent in various aspects such as technical, ethical, legal, contractual, and interpersonal. One major technical issue that hindered the project was the failure of the product to test properly. This clearly demonstrates a significant technical failure, leaving no room for debate. The basic principles of science and chemistry prevented the components from functioning normally.

Initially, Gary had ethical concerns about the project. He discovered that false promises were being made about delivering a product with an unviable composition. These doubts resurfaced later when he learned about the unexpected lifespan of the Orion Shield product. However, Gary didn't share this information with other stakeholders or his organization's superiors.

•Contractual: Numerous breaches of contract were observed including the failure to provide weekly briefings to the customer, communicate findings and progress of established milestones, and address customer concerns raised via email and voicemail in a timely manner. The project's significant cost overruns posed problems for both the customer and provider.

In terms of interpersonal and social aspects, the technical Interchange meeting attendees discussed that Gary was not available and did not respond to issues. This could be because the other employees from the office project team were taking care of all administrative aspects of the project. It was notable that Mr. Allison was not present during his team's presentation of the administrative data. In conclusion,

Due to the customer's dissatisfaction with Gary's project management

effort, they decided to handle the administrative data themselves. They also requested one of Gary's chief project engineers to deliver the technical information. However, the group did not receive agendas prior to the meetings, leading to limited time for listening, understanding, and accepting the team's proposal. Furthermore, handouts should have been given to project stakeholders before the meeting. Consequently, all project members are incapable of asking questions, expressing concerns, or making relevant comments during or after the meeting due to this lack of necessary resources.

To comprehend Mr. Allison's incompetence, it is crucial to acknowledge the root causes that contribute to this issue. One element is that newcomers to project management frequently underestimate the complexity of their undertaking. In this scenario, disregarding the necessity for appropriate resources is unacceptable. Another potential reason could be individuals' motivations for accepting such a responsibility. Some seek recognition, others anticipate a salary raise, and some mistakenly believe they possess the essential skills for accomplishing projects successfully without acquiring necessary tools.

Recommendations for Success

According to this author, if Mr. Allison were to try project management again (which is highly unlikely), he should have made several key contributions as a project manager. These contributions include thoroughly researching and utilizing all available resources and references for successful project management before starting phase one of the project. It would have been beneficial for him to implement a comprehensive budget plan, including a contingency plan, to account for unexpected cost issues. Additionally, the delegation of authority and assignment of tasks were lacking in this process. By taking on too many lower-level duties, Mr. Allison neglected his higher-level responsibilities, ultimately leading

to the failure of the entire project. Furthermore, his lack of knowledge about the status of administrative tasks relevant to the project caused breakdowns in communication among all groups and parties involved.