Case Study
Jay Stevens
Individual Assignment Week 2
Professor James Stewart
MBA Fundamentals AMBA 640
University at Maryland University College
Due: January, 15th 2013
Executive Summary
Gary Allison began his career as a mechanical engineer in which he got his Ph. D in working for Scientiic Engineering Corporation (SEC). He worked as a project engineer for the last 14 years but was given the opportunity to become a project manager from his boss Henry Larsen. The project name was Orion Shield which Gary’s boss was very excited about, as he believed the project would “take him to the top”. Gary soon would find out that even though he was a very good engineer, he was a horrible project manager almost costing the success of the project and the company as a whole. Gary could have avoided this by improving his communication and by following the five project management groups. I believe that he would have been more successful as a project manager and might have enjoyed it much more than he did.
Technical In the Orion Shield Project Gary faced a lot of technical issues that was one of the causes of him not being a good project manager. He has a technical background, as he was a very successful project engineer doing mechanical work for Scientific Engineering Corporation (SEC). With a lot of effort and his excellent communication skills Gary was offered a promotion, which he accepted but later regretted his decision. I believe that one of the many mistakes he made was that he was relying too much on his previous knowledge of being an engineer. For example, the case states “Gary decided to let the other project office personnel handle the administrative work and run weekly team meetings. He asked Paula to work with him in the research lab until they got acceptable results. For the next three weeks they spent virtually twelve hours per day, seven days a week, in the research and development lab” (Orion Shield Project Case). This shows that Gary did not want anything to
Individual Assignment Week 2
Professor James Stewart
MBA Fundamentals AMBA 640
University at Maryland University College
Due: January, 15th 2013
Executive Summary
Gary Allison began his career as a mechanical engineer in which he got his Ph. D in working for Scientiic Engineering Corporation (SEC). He worked as a project engineer for the last 14 years but was given the opportunity to become a project manager from his boss Henry Larsen. The project name was Orion Shield which Gary’s boss was very excited about, as he believed the project would “take him to the top”. Gary soon would find out that even though he was a very good engineer, he was a horrible project manager almost costing the success of the project and the company as a whole. Gary could have avoided this by improving his communication and by following the five project management groups. I believe that he would have been more successful as a project manager and might have enjoyed it much more than he did.
Technical In the Orion Shield Project Gary faced a lot of technical issues that was one of the causes of him not being a good project manager. He has a technical background, as he was a very successful project engineer doing mechanical work for Scientific Engineering Corporation (SEC). With a lot of effort and his excellent communication skills Gary was offered a promotion, which he accepted but later regretted his decision. I believe that one of the many mistakes he made was that he was relying too much on his previous knowledge of being an engineer. For example, the case states “Gary decided to let the other project office personnel handle the administrative work and run weekly team meetings. He asked Paula to work with him in the research lab until they got acceptable results. For the next three weeks they spent virtually twelve hours per day, seven days a week, in the research and development lab” (Orion Shield Project Case). This shows that Gary did not want anything to
References: Berthot and Stewart (2013) 640_AMBA_Week_2_Wimba_presentation [PowerPoint slides] Carden, L. L., & Boyd, R. O. (2012). ETHICAL AND LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR PROJECT MANAGERS. Mustang Journal Of Business & Ethics, (3), 10-23. Heerkens, G. (2002). Project Management. McGraw-Hill. Howes, N. R. (2001). Modern Project Management : Successfully Integrating Project Management Knowledge Areas and Processes. AMACOM. Orion Shield Project (2008, November 02) Retrieved January 15, 2013, from http://www.academon.com/case-study/orion-shield-project-108847/