SpaceX is a private space transportation company founded in 2002 with the goal of developing reusable rockets to enable humans to travel to Mars. It has over 4000 employees operating rocket launch and test facilities across the US. A SWOT analysis identified strengths like cost competitiveness and opportunities like space tourism, but also weaknesses like technological complexity and threats from other companies. Planning and managing change at SpaceX involves both short term goals like maintaining viability and long term goals like colonizing Mars. Ethical and environmental considerations include ensuring worker safety, responsible resource use, and minimizing atmospheric and land impacts.

1. SpaceX
An Analysis Of Management Considerations
Conducted
by
Dileepa Fernando : Mikaela Forgione : Maher Mahmoud : Michael Rowland

2. Why?
We are analysing and reviewing an organisation to consider the framework that
presents as a useful tool in organisational management.
What are the organisation’s goals?
What do we know about the Organisation to date?
SWOT analysis
PESTLE analysis
Organisational and Decision Management
Planning and Managing Change
Social and Ethical issues
Environmental and Sustainability
Conclusion

3. SpaceX
• A Private Space Transportation company
• Established in 2002 by current CEO, Elon Musk
• Based in the United States of America
• Employs over 4000 people
• Operates 3 rocket launch facilities
• Operates 1 rocket test facility
• Has 4 administration complexes in 4 US cities
• Principal objective is to develop Space Transportation to
allow humans to travel to the planet Mars

4. Brief History
2010
• June 4 First successful launch of Falcon 9 Rocket
• December 8 Dragon space capsule orbits Earth
2011
• April 5 Announces Falcon Heavy Rocket platform
2012
• May 25 Dragon capsule successfully docks with International Space Station
(ISS)
• October 8 First private company to complete resupply mission to ISS
2014
• April 25 SpaceX successfully sues USAF to be able to compete for rocket
launch contracts
• September 16 NASA and Boeing announce co-operative plan to transport
astronauts to ISS
2015
• January 23 USAF agrees to certify SpaceX rockets for military payloads
• December 21 First successful launch and land of Commercial Resupply
Services(CRS) Falcon 9 with booster landing

5. Brief History
2016
• April 8 CRS-8 First completed launch of Falcon 9 and re-land of booster
rocket on landing barge at sea
• May 27 Fourth successful launch and recovery
• September 1 SpaceX rocket explodes on launch pad destroying payload
Facebook satellite
2017
• March 30 First successful re-launch and landing of used rocket

6. SWOT
Strengths
Private company
Uniqueness
Reusable rockets
High degree of self reliance
CEO public profile
Cost competitive
Weakness
Technological
Complexity
Costs
Reliance on government
infrastructure
Opportunities
Cheaper satellite delivery
Space Tourism
Rocket technology development
Political Stability
Working relation with NASA
Spin off technology
Threats
Non US Sovereign States
Other Private companies (ULA)
Essential resources
Terrorism
Allocate resources to Earth based
challenges

7. PESTLE
Political
Trading policies
Government regulation
Funding
Lobbying
Foreign Government activity
Geo-political conflict
Environmental
Ecology
Environmental (Local, International, Space)
Competitors
Suppliers
Customers
Internal Company Culture
Social
Ethnic and Religious
Ethical
Media
Education
History
Technology
Development
Research
Adjunctive and spinoffs
Communication
Legal
Patents
Licensing
Space Laws
Regulatory Compliance
Economic
Income streams
Exchange rates
Trade barriers
Inflation
Foreign Economic trends

9. Planning and Decisions
• Short term Objectives
SpaceX needs to maintain its viability as a company to fund and develop the
technology and equipment needed to travel to Mars.
•
Long term objectives
The clear long term strategy of SpaceX is to colonise Mars.
• Local Strategies
Local strategies require the organisation to work with Earth based and more
immediate challenges.
• Structure of the Organisation
The structure of SpaceX is essentially a an organic design with cross functional
teams, undertaking many engineering, scientific and manufacturing tasks.
SpaceX is a process production model of business with low formalisation and
a decentralised existence.

10. Planning and Decisions
• Structure of workforce
The workforce is a matrix project structure, with many specialised workers moving
from one project to another with varying team combinations to provide a dynamic
and responsive approach.
• Develop organisational culture
The general culture of SpaceX is very contemporary with a focus is on attracting
the best and brightest talents to come and work at the most innovative and
technologically advanced companies on the globe.
• Leadership
There company is well lead by Elon Musk, and assisting him with
Gwynne Shotwell as Chief Operating Officer Chief Technical Officer of Propulsion,
Tom Mueller.

11. Planning and Decisions
• Control
• What needs to be controlled?
Costs
In house manufacturing. This attends to the issue of cost containment, whilst
simultaneously enhancing autonomy and predictability of supply.
• What is the minimum standard
Space Transportation is a high cost high risk endeavour. The financial returns take
a long time to mature. Failures are not uncommon and they are often costly and
may be fatal for the survival of the organisation if they are too numerous.
• What informational metrics need to be collected
money, research goals, consumables, human resources data, environmental
metrics and others

12. Change and Innovation
What is Change and Innovation in an Organisation?
Change management is referred to as any approach transitioning individuals, teams and
organizations, through the implementation of methods intended to redirect the use of
resources, business process, budget allocations or other forms of modes of operation that
effectively reshape a company or an organization (RahGor, 2016).
How does SpaceX exhibit change ?
SpaceX, as the leading innovator in reusable rocket development makes use of these
managerial techniques to organise and help structure the company to make it a positive and
progressive work environment for its employees.
External Forces
An array of factors which could affect the business in ways that the organisation will generally
have no control over.
Government Laws and regulations are an example of an external factor affecting Elon Musk's,
SpaceX.
It is acknowledged that SpaceX, are prohibited by law stated in the International Traffic in
Arms Regulations, to hire foreign workers.
Musk has dealt with the situation that is beyond his control in a manner that will benefit
the business as well as support his current employees.

13. Change and Innovation
Internal Forces
Can advance change within a company while assessing different abilities, challenges and
environmental factors of the company.
Internal factors in SpaceX can be exhibited in the setback presented by a Falcon 9 in
September 2016.
Musk continued to tweet about the ongoing investigation into the explosion of Falcon 9 in a
possible bid to show his followers that the situation is under control.
" Musk can afford to be more open because SpaceX is a private company and doesn’t have to
answer to shareholders".
Innovation in SpaceX
Through the world of "reusable space.", SpaceX has since achieved the successful launch and
landing of a Falcon 9 vehicle, making history.
“SpaceX aims to help establish a permanent, self-sustaining city on the Red Planet using the
company's proposed Interplanetary Transport System (ITS), which will pair the most powerful
rocket ever built with a big, crew-carrying spaceship”.
SpaceX has an innovative influence on people.

14. Change and Innovation
Categories of Organisational Change
Peoples attitude and behaviour towards expectations and perceptions of the company are
evident in Musk's goal to colonise Mars within the next 15 years, the expectations for SpaceX
are copious.
SpaceX has some issues with their managerial structure and strategy.
Strategies to improve downfall in managerial structure and style
Receiving feedback from the employees through:
• Questionnaires &
• Voluntary face-to-face interviews,
Allowing management to discuss workers needs and concerns.

15. Ethical and Social
Ethical Issues
Is SpaceX honest with the information shared on their website ?
-Providing some evidence supporting their updates .
-Their failures and the consequences behind this .
How they approach the Safety of workers ?
-Providing the safest way to apply any task at work .
-Use of hazardous materials and chemical substances in the workplace .
-Avoiding any injury or harm
-Maintaining a safe distance from the rockets when they are being launched or tested .
-Rocket license issued by an ethical organisation .
Is SpaceX using technology for the beneficial peaceful purposes and not for ill ?
-Respect laws regulations and declare their usage of resources .
-Monitored by an ethical organisation .
Does SpaceX's main goal by inhabiting new planet contradict with the morals of some
religions ?
-Some religions that believe in an omnipotent god may be affronted by efforts to inhabitant
other planets
Unacceptable to some groups in society.

16. Ethical and Social
Social Responsibilities:
Social responsibilities of SpaceX are not only towards the US society ,but also the international community.
Global:
-Environmental impact of their exploration and trials .
-SpaceX will be accountable for consuming the some non-renewable resources on Earth.
-Energy consumption and the fuel dissipated into the air and ocean during their failures .
-Responsibility of facilitating people to travel to an unexplored remote planet.
-Commence and thrive in their lives on Mars and How do they become self sufficient?
Local:
-The company employs more than 4,000 people at its work sites
-The presence of the Company will definitely has a positive impact on Hawthorne's local economy
-Bring wealth and resources to the region and generate some tourist activities.
-Noise of some experiments and launching
-Local Traffic because of trucks carrying materials or machinery
-Polluting the air and causing some breathing problems for people.

17. Environmental and Sustainability
PLANET
Environmental concerns:
Regulated by the Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST) which is a branch
of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as the FAA's only space-related line of
business.
Atmospheric emissions:
What is clear is that the effects on atmosphere are negative (Denison, 1994) , and
increasing frequency of spacecraft activity will only amplify that impact.
Land use and ecological impact:
Land use is considerable for Launch facilities and for the manufacturing of large
machines.
SpaceX has almost a million square feet of development and assembly space.

18. Environmental and Sustainability
PLANET
Sustainability:
The first ever re-usable rocket platform, which on March 30th 2017, accomplished
the world’s first ever re-launch of a previously used Falcon 9 spacecraft

19. Environmental and Sustainability
People
• Impact on people is complex.
• Short term many will benefit
• Long term potential return to humanity to develop the capacity to expand our
sphere of activity beyond the limits of Earth
• If successful SpaceX will redefine the limits of our Sustainability and Environment
Profit
• To date unsustainable costs and resource consumption
• SpaceX is only organisation to lower launch costs
• SpaceX and its management have clearly aligned their goals with a sustainable
business and resource regulated model, understanding the need for sustainability.

20. Environmental and Sustainability
Recommendation for Management:
• Monitor environmental parameters, report changes and react pro-actively
• Ensure compliance with AST environmental requirements and oversight.
• Develop organisational review of all toxic materials and consider substitutes
• Develop clear guidelines for handling and disposal of toxic waste and material, and ensure compliance and
minimum safety standards.
• Develop company policy and procedure for managing unexpected accidents or unintended discharge of hazardous
materials.
• Develop an environmentally aware culture within the organisation, by affirming and recognising individuals or
groups and developments that reduce environmental impact and improve sustainability of products and services.
• Develop re-cycling of materials and components

21. Conclusion
SpaceX is arguably the most exciting and sophisticated private organisation
currently on the planet
Management techniques whilst clearly beneficial for SpaceX, will likely be
defined by its organisation.
It stands to redefine much of our knowledge and capacity for the future.

22. Thank You
for
Your Attention