Module 3 – Case
PROJECT EXECUTION AND CONTROL
Case Assignment
The Manhattan Project was unique in at least one
respect; a major industrial enterprise
was built in support of a totally new, untested product – one that it may not
have been possible to build. Although
scientists knew that heavy atoms like uranium spontaneously disintegrated,
producing energetic radiation, it was by no means certain that the process
could be scaled up to produce an explosion.
The only way to find out was to try – and the only way to try was to
first separate kilograms of U235 from tons of U238. (A parallel project was aimed at producing
fissionable plutonium; both proceeded in
parallel, because it was by no means certain that either project would
succeed.)
The massive work of uranium separation and plutonium
production took place concurrently with basic scientific research and technical
weapons design. The first employed
thousands of workers, most of them laborers with no scientific background
whatsoever. The second employed hundreds
of the greatest scientific minds of the day, including (in a supporting role)
Albert Einstein.
The production work and the theoretical work required vastly
different control mechanisms. The
greatest need on the production side was secrecy. The mere fact that the United States had made
uranium separation a high national priority would tell scientists in other
countries much more than the American government wanted them to know.
The greatest need on theoretical side was the free exchange of
information among the scientists. If
Physicist A wanted to discuss an idea with Physicist B, he wanted to talk to
him directly – not draft a report, to be read, classified, and hand-delivered
by Military Intelligence.
The solution was to create two entirely different
organizations within the Manhattan Project;
one managed by military officers, the second by a distinguished,
charismatic physicist.
Q1: What were the
organizations?
Q2: Who were the managers?
How well were they suited to their jobs?
Based upon your detailed knowledge of modern project
management techniques,
Q3: Could the control problems have been anticipated?
Q4: What, if
anything, should have been done differently at the beginning of the Manhattan
Project?
At the risk of giving too much away, we should note that one
of the organizations still exists: Los
Alamos National Laboratory of the US Department of Energy. Feel free to visit the website. No scientific organization in the world has a
more interesting history, or a more distinguished pedigree.
Assignment Expectations
Integrate your
answers to the above questions into a well-constructed essay. Feel free to use tables and bulleted lists,
if appropriate.
The readings do not provide specific answers to every
question. You will need to “fill in the
gaps,” using your understanding of the Project’s history, plus the Background
Information.
Style and format must comply with the Writing Style
Guide. ( TUI Guide, n.d.)
This is not an English course; however, errors in spelling, grammar and
style will be penalized.
Provide citations and references. Use of APA style (Writing Guide) is
encouraged, but not required.
There is no page requirement. Write what you need to write,
neither more nor less.
