Orion Shield

Executive Summary

The Scientific Engineering Corporation (SEC) submitted an RFP to Space Technology Industries to complete Phase I of its Orion Shield Project. SEC was awarded the contract, and subsequently began to staff the team. Staffing the team is one of the most important aspects of project management, because and inefficient team produces poor results. SEC selected a project manager that was inexperienced and resulted in a number of ethical, legal, technical, and contractual dilemmas.

At project inception, it was clear that the project manager and project sponsor did not properly plan the entire project, or make a plan for risks. Project management was unethical on a number of issues, failed to communicate effectively with poor balance between cost, time, and scope of the project which ultimately rendered SECs acceptance of the Orion Shield Projects as a loss.

Introduction

According to Schwalbe (2012), “project management is the application of knowledge, skills, and techniques to project activities to meet the project requirements.” As it relates to the Orion Shield Project, there were many deficiencies in project management at the onset of the project. Gary Allison who was an accomplished and well respected project engineer, lacked the experience suitable for a project manager. There are a number of challenges within the scope of project management including ethical, legal, contractual, technical, and project management issues. This paper will analyze the aforementioned issues that Gary Allison faced during his term as project manager on the Orion Shield Project.

Technical Issues

There were a multitude of technical issues present in the Orion Shield case. The most important part of project management is to select and employ staff with expertise that can effectively manage and meet the milestones of the project to ensure timely completion. When Henry Larsen, Director of Engineering assigned Gary Allison, a seasoned project engineer as project...