Project Management in Aviation/Aerospace.

  1. Case Study - Navy Fighter Aircraft Consider a scenario in which the Navy began to receive a new fighter aircraft for its aircraft carrier operations. Upon delivery of the first few aircraft, it was found the tailhook system was not reliable. The system failed to connect to the arresting barrier several times causing near-catastrophic accidents. The Navy refused delivery of any further aircraft until the problem was corrected. Payments to the aircraft manufacturer were also stopped. This problem had the potential to be of great loss of revenue to the manufacturer. Assumptions: • The Navy expected a fast response to resolve the problem. • An engineering project was established to redesign and deliver a modified tail hook system. • Navy quality expectations were very high. • The project engineering team members are competent. Respond to the following question pertaining to the principles of project management during the project execution phase: Since the engineers are competent and the work is within their field, how closely do you think the project manager should monitor their progress during the redesign project? Why? You should only be concerned with how closely should the project manager monitor the project team work. This has to be clear. What type of management style do you think would be appropriate in this case? There is no need to go into the hazards involved, the system technology. what should be done, testing needed, etc. Just how closely should the project manager monitor the project team work, Every day over the shoulder on the floor, weekly/daily status meetings, MBO, another system/approach? 2. Controlling Direct Labor Costs Refer to Chapter 24, page 427 of Managing Aviation Projects from Concept to Completion. This topic pertains to management of project direct labor cost. Develop an entry assessing how the use of a project cost burn-down summary/chart can be a valuable management tool to control direct labor costs. 3. Defense Projects Read the article concerning project management in the defense industry: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Bill-Egginton-2/publication/271099965_Project_Management_in_Defense_-_not_for_the_Feint_Hearted/links/54da00870cf2970e4e7d5634/Project-Management-in-Defense-not-for-the-Feint-Hearted.pdf?origin=publication_detail Research Gate - In the Line of Fire, also review the Chapters 24 + 27. For this assignment, develop a two-page document, excluding cover sheet and reference page, which focuses on the project control phase management activities as related to this article by responding to the following question: What are some of the challenges you would expect a project manager to experience in maintaining control of a large aerospace defense project? All written assignments are to be prepared as scholarly documents in accordance with the current edition of the APA Manual, and will be automatically evaluated through Turnitin. Additional research and inquiry is encouraged as well as original thought and critical thinking. 4. Impact of Project Crashing Review the module resources and watch the video about project crashing https://youtu.be/yLPzSyBQ3-k. Provide your opinion of why crashing a project may be necessary and what may be the positive and negative impacts resulting from crashing. There is not an expected correct answer. Your posting should be original thought written in your own words and not taken from or referenced by an existing text or document. Your personal knowledge, experience, and opinion is important to the learning process. 5. Responsibilities of the Project Manager and the Systems Engineer A project manager is responsible for leading and directing a project. This requires strong communication skills and the ability to think quickly to resolve problems in real time as well as leadership ability, organizational skills, and close attention to detail. A systems engineer works with the project team, applying an interdisciplinary approach to assure a project’s technical specifications and quality goals are met on schedule. There are many points during a project where the roles and responsibilities of the project manager and systems engineer intersect. For this assignment, develop a two to three-page document, excluding the cover sheet and reference page, which describes how the roles and responsibilities of the project manager and systems engineer may be interrelated during different project phases. What reliances and needs does each have on the other? Consider the planning, execution, and control phases. All written assignments are to be prepared as scholarly documents in accordance with the current edition of the APA Manual, and will be automatically evaluated through Turnitin. Additional research and inquiry is encouraged as well as original thought and critical thinking.