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 occur. From the beginning, the project was plagued with 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, poor planning methods, unethical decision making 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 were specific issues that initially concerned Gary Allison, SEC’s project manager, but he was told by the Director of Engineering, Henry Larsen,

Initially, an unethical decision was made by the SEC, when they decided not to inform the customer (STI) of the inadequate materials they had when attempting to win the contract. Mr. Henry Larsen was more concerned with winning the contract then actually being able to deliver on it and was unethical in hiding this inadequacy from the client in the proposal. This created an ethical dilemma for Gary as well because he also decided not to inform the client on his own, because his new promotion was on the line. By keeping the technical issues and problematic design fault quiet, the SEC was forced to lie about funding to cover extra expenses for testing of new materials and more. This lie created an unrealistic project schedule as well as an unreasonable use of resources and funding, leading to another ethical issue for Mr. Larsen. Holding Gary responsible for a project schedule that was unrealistic from the beginning was unethical because ultimately Gary was punished for his lack of performance in a situation where successful performance was

This decision to employ a puppet, through which Henry could speak, posed the first real ethical problem in the Orion Shield project, from which all other ethical issues stemmed. The initial lie set up a schedule that was impossible to meet, making even more lies necessary. The first ethical issue was caused by telling this lie and every time thereafter when Gary decided not to share important information with the client, it posed an ethical dilemma. The solution to these issues would be to be upfront and honest in all communication from the proposal stage. This would allow Gary to manage the expectations from all stakeholders and his team. Gary should have confronted Henry Larsen about the unrealistic requirements of the job at hand and they should have discussed his reservations and how to manage them to ensure proper execution of the project mission. Gary should have told Sarah Wilson about the inadequate testing matrix and the money being used to test new materials. By keeping the customer stakeholders in loop, and documented in all communication, everyone will be more understanding to arising problems, while keeping the responsibility where it should