Project Mismanagement
T. GLENN/AMBA 640/WEEK 2
Project Mismanagement
How miscommunication and lack of ethics almost destroyed a project
Timothy Glenn 7/17/2011
T. Glenn/AMBA 640/Week 2 Executive Summary Hiring Gary Allison as the Project Manager for the Orion Shield Project was a big mistake. One must question both the judgment and ethics of Henry Larson in hiring an inexperienced person to lead such an extensive project. Many erroneous decisions were made by Gary as he erroneously heeded the poor and unethical advice of Henry Larson. Among the many adverse decisions and mistakes made by Gary was his lack of communication and honesty with the stakeholders involved with the project. If Gary would have been more forthcoming with all parties involved (including the Space Technology Institute, the function manager, the team representative from the production department, and the production team as a whole), many problems would have either been avoided or rectified more smoothly. Henry Larson should have also been reprimanded for his involvement and contribution to the project over-run and mismanagement of funds. This would have been the case if Gary would have upheld his integrity and simply communicated to the SEC about Henry’s involvement from the beginning of the project. Yet, among many other erroneous decisions that Gary made, he decided to be covert about Henry’s involvement, which ultimately led to Gary taking on the complete responsibility and accountability of all the problems and failures that occurred throughout the project. His miscommunication, poor decisionmaking, and mismanagement of funds not only negatively impacted the stakeholders of the project; it also negatively impacted Gary’s career.
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T. Glenn/AMBA 640/Week 2 Introduction Project management is a skill that requires a great depth of experience and expertise in some very critical areas. Some of those skills include administration, planning, budgeting, and risk assessment. The Orion Shield Project
Project Mismanagement
How miscommunication and lack of ethics almost destroyed a project
Timothy Glenn 7/17/2011
T. Glenn/AMBA 640/Week 2 Executive Summary Hiring Gary Allison as the Project Manager for the Orion Shield Project was a big mistake. One must question both the judgment and ethics of Henry Larson in hiring an inexperienced person to lead such an extensive project. Many erroneous decisions were made by Gary as he erroneously heeded the poor and unethical advice of Henry Larson. Among the many adverse decisions and mistakes made by Gary was his lack of communication and honesty with the stakeholders involved with the project. If Gary would have been more forthcoming with all parties involved (including the Space Technology Institute, the function manager, the team representative from the production department, and the production team as a whole), many problems would have either been avoided or rectified more smoothly. Henry Larson should have also been reprimanded for his involvement and contribution to the project over-run and mismanagement of funds. This would have been the case if Gary would have upheld his integrity and simply communicated to the SEC about Henry’s involvement from the beginning of the project. Yet, among many other erroneous decisions that Gary made, he decided to be covert about Henry’s involvement, which ultimately led to Gary taking on the complete responsibility and accountability of all the problems and failures that occurred throughout the project. His miscommunication, poor decisionmaking, and mismanagement of funds not only negatively impacted the stakeholders of the project; it also negatively impacted Gary’s career.
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T. Glenn/AMBA 640/Week 2 Introduction Project management is a skill that requires a great depth of experience and expertise in some very critical areas. Some of those skills include administration, planning, budgeting, and risk assessment. The Orion Shield Project
References: Chang, C. & Yen, S. (2007). The effects of moral development and adverse selection conditions on managers’ project continuance decisions: a study in the Pacific-Rim Region. Journal of Business Ethics, 76 (3), 347-360. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com Hodgson, S., Paton, S., & Cicmil, S. (2011). Great expectations and hard times: The paradoxical experience of the engineer as project manager. International Journal of Project Management, 29(4), 374-382. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com Schwalbe, K. (2010). An Introduction to Project Management (3rd ed.). USA: Kathy Schwalbe, LLC. Shister, N. (2004). Managing Global Relationships in the Extended Supply Chain. World Trade, 17(1), 1418. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com 7|Page