Executive Summary

Scientific Engineering Corporation (SEC) was awarded a project called The

Orion Shield project. Gary Allison, a project engineer, was handpicked by Henry
Larsen to lead the project. Even though the project was completed but it faced a lot
of turbulence on the way to completion. This analysis will consider various technical,
legal, ethical, contractual and project management issues faced during the project
and recommendations will be made in order to fix them. Each project is constrained
by limitations such as scope, time and cost (Schwalbe, 2012). However, skilled
project managers know how to work under these limitations which result in
successful projects. It is important for everyone to learn from the mistakes made
and try not to repeat them in future.
Gary worked under Larsen, director of operations, but did not have prior
project management experience which led to various technical issues. Gary was not
able to get adequate work force to work on the Orion Shield project which led to
further delays. Lack of communication by the project manager, Gary, caused
various technical issues which delayed the testing schedule further and created
tension between SEC and its client. SEC should have established a program to help
its employees obtain proper training before they can be exposed to leading critical
projects. This can avoid unnecessary delays and misunderstandings within the
project.
The Orion Shield project was not implemented very ethical nor legally. Ethical
and legal issues caused by the parties involved led to contractual requirements
violations as well. The senior management should have acted as mentors to the
new project manager and guide them throughout the project lifecycle. SEC should
also practice a code of conduct that will enforce production of legal and truthful
documentation.
Project manager plays a critical role in a project lifecycle. He/she is the one
who can help make or break the project. They should always strive to meet the
expectations of the people involved by meeting the scope, time, cost and quality
requirements (Schwalbe, 2012). By choosing an inexperienced project manager, the
company is setting itself for failure. Instead they should choose a candidate who
had prior project management experience and can meet the customer expectation
within the project constraints.

Introduction
Every company has a goal and that goal is to secure customers trust
in their work. Trust is obtained by working honestly and dedicatedly while
communicating updates on time with all the stakeholders involved in the project.
One should not falsify facts and present them in a positive way when one knows it is

not the full truth. Gary Allison has been a successful project engineer for past 10
years with Scientific Engineering Corporation (SEC). Like everyone else, he too
wanted to expand his career and accept new challenges. The Orion Shield Project
was his stepping-stone to success and bigger projects. However, due to lack of
experience as a Project Manager the Orion Shield project was implemented poorly
that cost Gary his new position and a chance to break into project management. In
the following document the technical, legal, ethical, contractual and project
management issues of the Orion Shield project will be discussed and a conclusion
will be drawn along with lessons learned.
Technical Management Issues
The first issue faced during the project was that the current design
could not bear the temperature of more than 130 F degrees instead of -65 F to 145
F degrees as mentioned in the project request for proposal (RFP)(UMUC, 2003).
Based on discussion with Henry Larsen, the director of engineering, Gary decided to
provide false information to the client. Providing incorrect and masked information
will result in a poor quality product and can ruin the companys reputation amongst
its clients. Accurate information should have been provided along with alternatives
to overcome the potential issues.
Another issue faced when Paula Arnold, chief project engineer, agreed
to the failed test matrix but instead of working on fixing the issue she suggested
changing the scope (UMUC, 2003). It was Garys responsibility to communicate to
the testing team about re-running the test matrix until desired results were
achieved (UMUC, 2003). Although Gary was promised a complete support from the
Larson, he still faced a lot of problems correctly staffing the project which resulted
in delays. Being a project manager it is ones responsibility to ask for help when
required, Gary did a poor job is assigning who will overlook testing while he sort out
the administrative paperwork. In addition Gary should have at least requested for
someone to help him out with the administrative work so that he can monitor
testing as well but he never approached anyone for help. SEC as a company should
make sure that all teams are filled with adequate staff to execute project phases
smoothly.
JXB-3, a new material, was introduced in the project without anyones
knowledge except for Larsen, Paula and Gary. This lack of communication not only
caused wastage of time and efforts of SEC employees but also put SECs integrity at
risk with its client, Scientific Technology Industries (STI) (UMUC, 2003). After the new
material was introduced, Gary did a poor job relaying the newly proposed schedule
to the testing department which caused poor quality assurance.
Phil Rodger, the test lead, was reassigned to a different project right in
the middle of the project lifecycle without Garys knowledge. This resulted in delays
within the project testing as extra efforts need to be made in order to train the

replacement. As a project manager it was Garys duty to make sure any resource
reassignments does not happen without proper knowledge transfer.
During the age life testing, it was observed that even though the new
material results seem sound but the age life of the product will be less than 5 years
instead of the 9 years contractual requirement (UMUC, 2003). This technical issue
can also be categorized as a legal and ethical issue. All parties involved in the
project should be aware of the technical limitation and the alternatives proposed to
work around those limitations. No such efforts were made by SEC, especially Gary
who was nowhere ready to take up the position of a project manager.
Most of these technical issues laid the foundation of a poor quality
product created in an unprofessional environment. Along with the technical issues,
other ethical, legal and contractual issues were faced which resulted in an
untrustworthy image of a technical company called Scientific Engineering
Corporation. It is critical for the project manager to evaluate the technical issues
and risks involved before submitting any proposals for approval. An Issue vs Risk
probability chart can help prioritize list of risks and technical issues involved within
a project (MindTools Ltd. ,2013).
Ethical Issues
Being ethical should be a second nature for anyone working on a
critical project especially the project manager. In the Orion Shield project there are
various ethical issues faced which led to its poor completion. Everyone involved in
the project played a role in these ethical issues. Firstly, Larsen suggesting Gary to
provide the proposal stating that all components are operable up to 155 F degrees.
Even though it was a known fact that the current design will not sustain a
temperature of more than 130 F degrees. However, Larsen was successful at
manipulating Gary by saying Truth doesnt win proposals (UMUC, 2003). Also
being the director of operations, Larsen should have been available at any given
time throughout the project lifecycle to assist with Garys needs but he was
unavailable when critical design decisions were made at the initial stages.
Another ethical issue came up when the STI representative complained
to Gary for not being available when needed for project updated. As a project
manager, Gary should have made it his utmost responsibility to keep the client
aware of the on goings in the project. One of the main responsibilities of a project
manager is to arrange, conduct and execute project meetings with its stakeholders
professionally. Gary failed to provide proper agenda before meeting to STI and did
not follow up with publishing appropriate meeting minutes. It was clear that Gary
was not ready to transition from a role of a project engineer to that of a project
manager. While offering the job of a project manager to Gary, Larsen showed his
unethical nature by putting a condition on Gary to stop car pooling. A company
cannot dictate an employees preference on the mode of travel to perform job

duties unless the company can make necessary arrangements for its employees
travel.
During the testing phase, it was dishonest and unethical on Larsen and
Garys part to not reveal the usage of JXB-3 material to the client especially when
SEC was using STI money to test the new material (UMUC, 2003). Being an
inexperienced project manager, Gary followed the faulty footsteps of Larsen and
suggested to submit falsified age life results to STI with the new material. It was
clear that with the new material, the product can satisfy the temperature
requirements but have less than required age life. This issue can also be
categorized as one of the contractual violations faced in the Orion Shield project.
Legal Issues
Legal issues are caused when any or all of the following areas are
violated: Scope of work, Deliverables and Key dates, Price and Payment conditions,
Intellectual property rights and Termination for Convenience (Madauss, 2005). In
order to build trust and respect with the clients, it is every companys responsibility
to be completely honest with its clients. Lying may help the company to secure
projects but the project cannot sustain on its own later on. In the Orion Shield
project a number of legal issues were observed which contributed to its weak
implementation. Since the beginning of the project, it was quite apparent that the
project will not end smoothly.
The request for proposal (RFP) submitted by Gary was not legal
because it had forged information pertaining the temperature limitation of the
product. Gary should have never submitted the proposal with the forged information
instead he should have taken the issue to the CEO or Vice president of the company.
SEC should invest in a legal team that can help project managers to produce correct
and legal information in proposals.
Another issue came up when SEC made an illegal move to use STIs
money in order to test out the new material i.e. JXB-3 without STIs approval. These
kinds of issues can ruin an established customer-client relationship. This also led to
an uncomfortable work environment where the employees started doubting the
companys motives. SEC should encourage the project managers to work with the
legal team before making any critical moves in the project lifecycle.
During the age life testing, it was not legal on SECs part to use new
material that resulted in an age life of less than 5 years when the contractual
obligation was to meet an age life of 9 years. Instead of looking for alternatives,
Gary decided to hide that information from its client. By providing bogus or
incomplete information to the client, the project could have been stripped off from
SEC. STI had full authority to declare the contract void and null knowing all the legal
issues in the project. Before commencing a project, the project manager should
sort out which legal agreements will be utilized within the project and make sure to

communicate what can and cannot be delivered to avoid further legal issues
(Scheid, 2010). This will help the project manager to obtain higher trust levels with
the parties involved and save the company from any potential lawsuits.
Contractual Issues
By meeting all the contractual requirements a company can deliver a
clean and successful product. As a project manager, Gary was responsible for
understanding the project contractual requirements and make sure everyone
involved are on the same page. With no prior project management experience, Gary
failed to communicate the project constraints right from the beginning. Necessary
steps should have been taken to enhancement current design to accommodate new
projects contractual requirements.
Another aspect of the contractual requirements violations was that SEC
to provide STI the detailed minutes after every meeting. However, Gary could not
fulfill this requirement due to his lack of experience as a project manager. The
project scope required SEC to run 4 cycles of testing before anything can be
finalized. Instead Gary suggested removing prior 2 cycles test results breaching the
contract (UMUC, 2003). SEC should have conducted 4 cycles of testing with the new
material and met the contractual scope.
Project Management Issues
In the Orion Shield project, various project management issues were
observed which could have been easily avoided by recruiting an experienced project
manager. Many of the project management issues can also be categories as
Technical, Legal, Ethical or contractual issues simply because project management
plays a big role in each and every aspect of the project.

Staffing
For a project to be successful, one of the preliminary activities is to
make sure that appropriate personnel are available throughout the duration of a
project. Gary faced difficulties finding resources for his team to work on the Orion
Shield project (UMUC, 2003). SEC should hire more employees to work on research
and development (R&D) of the project to give a desired shape to the project. The
company should also set up a program to reward its employees for exceptional
dedication to the project. This can help encourage the resources and build team
momentum. It was not right to award the director of operation, when the whole
team slaved away to meet the deadlines (UMUC, 2003).
Resource reassignment is another issue that can put a project into
jeopardy. For example, Phil Rodgers, the test lead was reassigned to a different
project under the same direction without project managers consent or knowledge.

This kind of activity can further delay the project phases and ultimately hinder
successful project implementation. SEC should always try and employ back up
resources for all key people involved within the project to make sure of a smoother
activity execution.
One of the critical duties of a project manager is to ask for help when
required instead of trying to do everything by himself. Gary was overwhelmed with
the administrative paperwork that restricted him to contribute in the verification
mix testing. SEC should have provided Gary an administrative assistant who could
take care of all paperwork while Gary concentrated on other aspects of the project.
Communication
Communication has always been overemphasized in project
management just like in any other business disciplines (Mehta, n.d.). It is important
for a project manager to be a great communicator. Gary being an inexperienced
project manager was not able to follow the code of conduct and communicate
efficiently with the project stakeholders. This project management issue can also be
tagged as a technical, legal as well as ethical issue. Without proper communication,
one cannot implement a successful project.
As a project manager it was Garys duty to make sure that the client is
well aware of the latest status on the project. Due to the lack of communication
Sara Wilson, representative of STI, started questioning Garys loyalty to the project.
SEC should implement several modes of communication such as, emails, weekly
telephonic conferences, frequent face to face conferences, etc. that can help avoid
misunderstandings which can delay the project life cycle. SEC should also maintain
a standard document template that can be used by the meeting coordinator to
communicate meeting minutes, items discussed and open action items on the
project.
In conclusion, Orion Shield project was a disaster waiting to happen
right from the beginning. There were many issues faced along the way which were
technical, legal, ethical and contractual in nature which could have been avoided by
selecting the appropriate candidate to lead the project. It was not the best decision
on Larsens part to select Gary to lead the project without proper project
management training in the first place. With a profession project manager, SEC
could have saved numerous iterations of testing, paperwork and imbalance in the
company. The company should implement a training process that can help people
like Gary learn and expand their careers.
Lack of communication also played a huge role is causing disturbance
in the project. Larsen should have mentored Gary appropriately knowing its his first
venture as a project manager. It is in the companys best interest to implement
significant changes in the process flow to make sure appropriate personnel are

recruited to lead projects. The Orion Shield project was an experience for SEC to
learn from and make sure the same mistakes are not repeated in any future project.

References
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http://www.solar-system-school.de/hofgeismar/projectmanagement_2.pdf
Mehta, A.(n.d.). Communication in Project Management. Retrieved 4/16/2013
from http://www.pmiglc.org/comm/articles/0410_mehta_comm.pdf
MindTools Ltd. (2013). Project Issue Management. Retrieved 4/16/2013, from
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_69.htm
Scheid, J.(2010). Project Management Legal Issues: Are You At Risk?. Retrieved
4/16/2013, from http://www.brighthubpm.com/risk-management/63360-projectmanagement-legal-issues-are-you-at-risk/
Schwalbe, K. (2010). Chapter 1: An introduction to project, program, and portfolio
management. In Chapters 1-5, appendix A, and appendix B of an introduction to
project management,(3rd ed., pp. 1-36). USA: Kathy Schwalbe, LLC.
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Retrieved July 12, 2011, from http://polaris.umuc.edu/cvu/orion/home.html