Strategic Project Management: Tesla SpaceX Roadster Project Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the Tesla SpaceX project, focusing on its strategic project management aspects. The report begins with an executive summary highlighting Tesla's innovative approach and the project's initial challenges and ultimate success in repositioning the company. It then delves into the background of the project, describing Elon Musk's decision to launch a Tesla Roadster into space using the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. The discussion section evaluates the standard success criteria, including regulatory compliance and the 'Iron Triangle' of government approval, stakeholder interests, and bureaucratic integration. The report identifies and justifies the critical phases of project management, including initiation, planning, launch, performance and control, and the concluding phase, relating each to the Tesla SpaceX mission. The project's success is attributed to effective management of these phases, leading to increased brand visibility and sales for Tesla. The report references key academic sources to support its analysis and concludes by summarizing the project's key achievements and strategic implications.

Running head: STRATEGIC PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Strategic Project Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Notes:

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Executive summary
Tesla has been recognised as a brand that is incorporating innovation in all their operations. As a
result of this, there have been high degree of expectations that the company are subject to. The
company have failed to implement to the goals of sustainability successfully. However, the
company was quick to identify a project through which they will be able to reposition themselves
in the market. Thus, the company decide to launch a space worthy vehicle into the orbit of earth
with the help of the Space X Falcon heavy project. The project was deemed to fail. However, the
project met success as they were able to successfully implement all the stages of the project
management, as a result of with the ultimate project was deemed to be successful. The success of
the project resulted in increased buzz about Tesla. Hence it can be said that they were successful
in repositioning themselves in the market.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Background and Selected case.........................................................................................................3
Discussion........................................................................................................................................4
Standard Success Criteria............................................................................................................4
Critical Identification and Justification...........................................................................................5
Phases of Project Management....................................................................................................5
Recommendation.............................................................................................................................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
A project is devised by a company with some objectives in mind. In order to carry out the
project effectively the companies devise strategies accordingly. The nature of carrying out the
task effectively ensures the success or failure of the project. There are various criteria which
determine the success or failure of a project. Thus, the company or organisation intending to
carry out the same must effectively make amends in meeting the criteria through which they can
succeed in the project that the company has undertaken. In early February of 2018, Elon Musk,
the owner of both Space X and Tesla announced that he would undertake a project which is
aimed at launching a road worthy vehicle into space (Li 2019, p.7). The project was called the
Tesla Space X roadster project and better known as the Tesla Space X project. The project was
controversial; however, it was a huge success. The aim of the paper will be determining the
phases of the project, the criteria of success of the project and the justification of the success
criteria of the project.
Background and Selected case
In 2017, Elon Musk decided to launch the Space X Falcon heavy into the orbit (Garces 2019, p.
18). However, it was deemed to be risky as it was opined that the Payload of the Falcon heavy
would be the silliest thing that the company can do. Furthermore, payload was unsuitable for the
nature of the spacecraft. This, the project was stalled by Musk who took to the criticism on social
media and asked for public opinion. The idea behind the project was generated when an
anonymous follower on Twitter suggested that Musk should launch the Tesla Roadster into
Space as the payload of the Falcon Heavy (Moore 2018, p. 56). The challenge was accepted by
Musk who found out an opportunity to promote the Tesla brand. The project was devised with

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the aim of launching a Tesla Roadster midnight cherry version into space along with a human
sized dummy. The mission of the project was to prove that the vehicles that are meant to be road
worthy are also capable of handling the high degree of pressure of space. The project showed
Musk’s sense of managing the brands that he owned. It was opined by experts that it was a mere
publicity stunt that Musk was carrying out in order to get attention of the media. The latter
predicted that the project would result in catastrophic failure of both the space craft and the
vehicle in its payload. Some even opined that the space craft and the vehicle would crash back to
earth. The critics of this case were proven wrong as the not only the launch of the Space X
Falcon Heavy was a success, also the mission of Launching the Tesla roadster into space was a
success. The human sized dummy that was placed atop the Tesla Roadster was in a space
pressure suit just as an astronaut would be in. Tesla has been positioned in the market as a
company in the automotive industry who have been catering to the dynamic needs of the industry
with innovative products over the years. The company has been suffering in terms of the same as
similar companies have incorporated innovation into their operations. Thus, the launch of the
Tesla Roadster into the orbit of earth as the payload of the Space X Falcon Heavy, has been
responsible for repositioning the company in the market. The Tesla Roadster is now found in the
orbit of the planet; however, it is likely to face the effects of vacuum that it is currently placed in.
With the help of the project the company are likely to generate favourable responses which can
help in boosting the efficacy of the sales of Tesla.
Discussion
Standard Success Criteria
The product was deemed to be successful. The project that started as a challenge that
came from an anonymous twitter follower of Elon Muss, soon turned out to be a sustainable

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initiative form the part of the Tesla. The various Space X programs that already received a great
deal of success, paired by with Tesla, the brand which is positioned in the community as a brand
that incorporates innovation in all their innovations. The latter were supposedly lagging behind
in the market as a result of their faulty supply and internal issues. The ideas of the project were
taken up the company as an initiative to reposition themselves in the market. Even though, Tesla
is not the first company in the automotive sector sends a vehicle to space, they have been
successful in being recognised as a company who sent the first ever road worthy vehicle to
space. Since, the stature of operations of the project is large scale, it is subject to high degree of
regulations. The project meets criteria that have been laid down by the by the regulatory bodies
of the United States of America. It is necessary for large scale projects as the same to be
accepted as per the regulatory standards. According to Ebbesen and Hope, (2013, p.3), The Iron
Triangle is an assimilation of the approval from the government, the parties who are interested in
the ultimate strategies of the company and incorporation of bureaucracy. Law regulations,
special favours from the government, political funding and electoral support. The
interconnecting functions such as congressional support, policy choices and execution,
favourable legislations and market oversights, others have allowed the project to be deemed to be
successful. The project hat was undertaken by Elon Musk was deemed to be a success. Even,
though the initial stage of implementation of the objectives of the project was unsuccessful due
to the heavy load that was associated with the Space X spacecraft. However, the issue was
mitigated with the idea of introducing the Tesla Roadster vehicle with the space X space craft.
Carrying out the mission successfully implied that the company were able to launch the Space X
falcon heavy spacecraft and they were also successful in justifying the fact that the Tesla
Roadster was not only worthy of the road but also capable of survival in space. The aim behind

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the project was to carry out the latter and also to increase the visibility of Tesla. The successful
implementation of the project resulted on increased visibility that reflected in their sales figure
(Fadilah 2018, p. 30)
Critical Identification and Justification
Phases of Project Management
There are some steps associated with project management. The phases determine the
criteria according to which the operations are carried out in each phase. The rationale behind the
creation of the phases is to segregate the roles, responsibilities and delegations that are associated
with operations in each phase. Following are the phases that are included in project management
and the relationship of the phases with Tesla Space X Roadster mission;
A. Initiation: It is the phase that is characterised by initiation of the plan for carrying out the
project (Kerzner and Kerzner 2017, p. 33). The needs for and establishment of the
objectives along with the justification of the reason behind formulation of the project is
determined in this phase of management of the project. For the case of Tesla Space X
mission, it was characterised by identification of the reason behind formulation of the
project. It was determined that the project could highlight the company’s efforts which
would contribute to the sustainable initiatives of the company. Furthermore, generation of
the ideas that would help in success of the project was carried out in the stage. The
weight of the payload, the requirements and other standards were met in the following
stage.
B. Planning: This phase of the project management includes planning of the task that the
organisation has to undertake in order to carry out the project successfully (Elzamly and

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Hussin 2014, p. 37). The budget for the project is decided in the stage and the delegations
are made. Furthermore, important criterion such as risk management and the
communication plan are developed in the stage. Since both the space craft and the vehicle
was owned by the same person, there were no implications to the budget for the project.
The price tag of the Tesla Roadster that was sent to the orbit of earth was around one
hundred thousand dollars. Obligation were clarified and modes of engine operations and
the phases were determined in the following step.
C. Launch: This stage is characterised by implementation of the strategies that have thus
been formulated to carry out the project successfully (Jeston 2014, p. 9). This is one of
the most crucial stages in a successful project management program. It determines the
viability of the project in real terms. The key performance indicators are critically
evaluated in the stage and, the quality check for successful implementation of the project,
checking the status of the project and tracking of the progress of the stage. Launching of
the Space X falcon heavy was one of the biggest challenges in the whole project. The
quality checking criterion and research that went into the project determined the
successful launch of the space craft carrying the Roadster payload.
D. Performance and control: This is the stage that is carried out after the successful
implementation of the project (Beringer, Jonas and Kock 2013, p. 846). In the stage, the
objective behind carrying out the task successfully is determined. The quality of the
performance, the quality of the successful implementation of the task, the tracking of the
costs that are associated with the implementation of the plan and tracking of the
performance of the task as a whole is determined at this stage. The successful deployment
of the Space ship with the Tesla Roadster attachment and checking the successful

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shutting down of the engines responsible for carrying the payload to space has been
carried out by the company in the stage.
E. Concluding phase: This is the last stage of project management that is characterised by
monitoring of the end results that are associated to the successful ending of the project
(Conforto et al. 2014, p. 29). Monitoring implies checking the degree to which the project
has been able to stand out to the ultimate strategic goals of the project. The gaps in the
project are detected in the stage. Once the gaps are detected, strategies are formulated to
solve the problems that contribute to the sustainability of the ultimate plan for which the
idea of the project has been created. The Tesla Roadster payload was successfully
launched into the orbit of earth. The car can be found in the orbit of earth with the
dummy in a seated position.
Recommendation
The project was deemed to be successful as it was able to be successfully implemented.
The aim of the company was to contribute to the sustainability of the company. The project was
subject to retrenchment in the early strategies, it was ultimately successful. Following should be
carries out in order to contribute to the sustainability of the community;
 Marketing of the initiatives of the project
 Proper justification and the rationale of the plan.
 Checking the time constraints related to carrying out the operation of the company
 Proper implementation of the plans as had been carried out by the company before.

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Conclusion
On a concluding note it can be said that the operations of the Space X falcon heavy
project were deemed to be unsuccessful as the space craft was not capable of lifting the heavy
pay load as a result of which the Tesla Space X project was devised. Thus, the project was
heavily criticised until Elon Musk, the brain behind the operations of Space X and Tesla took to
twitter, through which the latter cultivated on an opinion that was aimed at increasing the
visibility of the brands. Thus, form the anonymous tweet it was decided that Tesla and Space X
would launch the Roadster vehicle as the payload of the Space X Falcon heavy mission. The
motives of the program were deemed to be unfavourable as similar ideas had never been carried
out in the past by any company. It was analysed by the experts that the project would fail.
However, it did not fail and the Roadster can be found paced perfectly in the orbit of earth.
Hence it can be said that the project that was undertaken by Elon musk not only implied that they
were able to successfully incorporate the launch of the project and increase the visibility of the
Tesla brand that was struggling. The successful implementation of the project helped in carrying
out the aim of increasing the visibility of the brand which resulted in better turnover that was
enjoyed by Tesla.

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REFERENCES
Beringer, C., Jonas, D. and Kock, A., 2013. Behavior of internal stakeholders in project portfolio
management and its impact on success. International Journal of Project Management, 31(6),
pp.830-846.
Conforto, E.C., Salum, F., Amaral, D.C., Da Silva, S.L. and De Almeida, L.F.M., 2014. Can
agile project management be adopted by industries other than software development?. Project
Management Journal, 45(3), pp.21-34.
Ebbesen, J.B. and Hope, A., 2013. Re-imagining the iron triangle: embedding sustainability into
project constraints. PM World Journal, 2(III), p.3.
Elzamly, A. and Hussin, B., 2014. Managing software project risks (Planning Phase) with
proposed fuzzy regression analysis techniques with fuzzy concepts. Int. J. Inf. Comput. Sci, 3(2),
pp.31-40.
Fadilah, M.I., 2018. CULTURAL LAG ON ELON MUSK’S COMPANIES IN ELON MUSK:
TESLA, SPACEX, AND THE QUEST FOR FANTASTIC FUTURE (Doctoral dissertation,
Diponegoro University), pp. 21-50.
Fernandez Garces, P., 2018. Tesla Motors and Lean Manufacturing, pp. 15-30.
Jeston, J., 2014. Business process management. Routledge, p. 9.
Kerzner, H. and Kerzner, H.R., 2017. Project management: a systems approach to planning,
scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons, pp. 28-45.
Li, Z., 2018. Strategic Audit on Tesla, p. 7-12.

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Moore, L., 2018. Technoetic Aesthetics of Revelation and Transcendence: The Horse in the
Mind, p. 45-58.