Project Management and Tran Essay

Tran was taking his computer-aided design Callie on her evening walk as the sun began to fate everyplace the coastal range. He looked forward to this term of the day. It was an opportunity to enjoy some(a) peace and quiet. It was also a time to review events on the Ajax formulate and p mussiness his next moves. Ajax is the code name given by CEBEX for a high-tech security system send off funded by the U. S. Department of defence reaction (DOD). Tran is the disgorge manager and his core them consisted of 30 full-time hardw ar and software system engineers. Tran and his family fled he was 18 and used the education stipend to attend working capital State University.He joined CEBEX upon graduating with a dual degree in mechanical and electric engineering. After working on a innovation of go steadys for 10 years Tran decided he wanted to enter management. He went to night school at the University of Washington to earn an MBA. Tran became a project manager for the m matchlessy. He also thought he was good at it. He enjoyed working with people and making the right thing happen. This was his fifth project and up to now he was batting. 500,with half of his projects coming forrader of schedule. Tran was elevated that he could now afford to send his oldest child to Stanford University.Ajax was one of many defense projects the CEBEX Corporation had under contract with DOD. CEBEX is a grand defense company with annual sales in excess of $30 billion and more than 120,000 employees worldwide. CEBEXs five major business areas are Aeronautics, Electronic Systems, Information& Solutions, and Space Systems. Ajax was one of several smart projects sponsored by the Integrated Systems & Solutions division aimed at the homeland security business. CEBEX was confident that it could leverage its technical expertise and political connections to become a major pretender in this growing market.Ajax was one of several projects directed at designing, developing, and inducti on a security system at an important g everyplacenment installation. Tran had both major concerns when he started the Ajax project. The first was the technical risks inherent in the project. In theory the design principles made sense and the project used prove technology. quiesce the technology had never been applied in the field in this matter. From past experience, Tran knew there was a big difference between the lab and the real world.He also knew that integrating the audio, optical, tactile, and laser subsystems would bear witness the effort and ingenuity of his aggroup. The second concern involved his team. The team was pretty much split down the middle between ironware and electrical engineers. not only did these engineers have different skill sets and tend to look at problems differently, still generational differences between the two groups were evident as wellhead. The hardware engineers were almost all former military, family men with conservative attire and bel iefs. The electrical engineers were a much motlier crew.They tended to be young, single, and at times very cocky. plot the hardware engineers talked about the Seattle Mariners, raising teenagers, and termination to Palm Desert to track down golf, the software engineers talked about Vapor, the latest concert at Gorge amphitheater, and going mountain biking in Peru. To make matters worse, tension between these two groups in spite of appearance CEBEX festered around salary issues. Electrical engineers were at a premium, and the hardware engineers resented the new hires salary packages, which were comparable to what they were earning after 20 years of working for CEBEX.Still the real money was to be made from the incentives associated with project performance. These were all point on meeting project milestones and the final completion date. Before positive work started on the project, Tran arranged a tow-day team-building retreat at a lodge on the Olympic peninsula for his entire team as well as secernate staff from the government installation. He used this time to go over the major objectives of the project and unveil the basic project plan. An internal consultant facilitated several team-building activities that made light of cross-generational issues. Tran felt a real sense of camaraderie within the team.The good feelings generated from the retreat carried over to the beginning of the project. The entire team bought into the mission of the project and technical challenges it represented. ironware and electrical engineers worked side by side to solve problems and build subsystems. The project plan was built around a series of five tests, with apiece test being a more rigorous verification of keep down system performance. Passing each test represented a key milestone for the project. The team was excited about conducting the first Alpha test one week earlyonly to be disappointed by a series of minor technical glitches that ook two weeks of problem reso luteness to resolve. The team worked extra hard to make up for the lost time.Tran was proud of team and how hard members had worked together. The Alpha II test was conducted on schedule, but once again the system failed to perform. This time three weeks of debugging was needed originally the team received the green light to move to the next sort of the project. By this time, team goodwill had been tested, and emotions were a bit frayed. A defile of disappointment descended over the team as hopes of bonuses disappeared with the project falling throw out behind schedule.This was augmented by cynics who felt that the original schedule was unsportsmanlike and the deadlines were impossible to begin with. Tran responded by starting each day with a status meeting where the team reviewed what they accomplished the previous day and set new objectives for that day. He believed these meetings were helpful in establishing positive momentum and reinforcing a team identity among the engineer s. He also went out of his way to glide by more time with the troops, helping them solve problems, offering encouragement, and a honest pat on the back when one was deserved.He was cautiously rosy when the time came to conduct the Alpha III test. It was the end of the day when the shed was turned on, but nothing happened. Within minutes the entire team heard the news. Screams could be heard down the hallway. Perhaps the most express moment was when Tran looked down at the companys parking lot and saw most of his project team walking by themselves to their cars. As Callie chased some wild bunnies, Tran pondered what he should do next. 1. How effective has Tran been as a project manager? Explain. 2. What problem(s) does Tran face?