Project Management Strategic Issues Assignment

Project Management Strategic Issues - Assignment Example The design of the building was given by  Enric  Miralles  and the construction of the building started in June 1999. The project was a constant target of disagreement and condemnation for the choice of the site, complex design and costs incurred. The final completion date of the building was in 2004, which was almost three years behind the original schedule and the project overran the cost of ?40m to ?414m which was many folds higher than the allocated budget. The major reason for the cost overrun as explained in the public enquiry by Peter Fraser in 2003 were the inefficient methods in which most important design changes were executed by the  Holyrood  project team. The paper undertakes a detailed study of the Scottish Parliament project, the reasons of the failure of the project, the course of direction as the project advanced to its final stage and the  recommendations  that could have saved the failure of the project followed by conclusion. ... The Management appeared to be unable to give a clear perception of the Quality v/s Cost aspect of the Project, which led to complications later on.  The initial cost estimate of the New Project at  Holyrood  was  GBP  40  Miilion, subsequently revised to  GBP  50 Million. However this was never believed to have any sanctity. The Acting Minister of Scotland, Mr. Donald Dewar desired the project to be completed as early as possible. The process of selecting the Construction Management was done without adequate regard for the risk factors. Quality was the over-riding priority in the scheme of things, rather than cost and timely execution. It was much later when the delay became a very visible issue that stress was laid on completing it early. Even at that stage no rescheduling of the work to reflect the acceleration of pace was done. The cost escalated unreasonably because of the numerous design additions and alterations demanded by the client. Fig 2: Escalated Costs sin ce Sep 2000 2.2 Lack of Budget Clarity The Project was managed through Construction by Contracting.  The utilization of this type  of project management methodology permits the initiation of the on-site construction before the finalization of the complete project design. This strategy helps to reduce the time. However, in the case of the  Holyrood  project, no main contractor was hired  initially  and the client hired as many as 60 small time individual contractors whose services were taken up at different times. These individual contractors were to work under a construction management  firm  and the client remained the employer at all times. However, this  method turned

Ethics & Governance relating to BP and M&S Case study Essay

Ethics & Governance relating to BP and M&S Case study - Essay Example This audit was called upon after an incident related to BP that led to a fire that took the lives of 15 and harmed 150 people. With reference to the report, the BP was embroiled in cost cutting measures for years. This in turn predisposed the company to catastrophes of this nature. The management of the BP group was the major actor, and the workers, the minor actors. When events of this magnitude (fire tragedy) occur, it becomes the onus of the company to try and polish their image (Mortisheadfsed, 2005, p. 8) On the basis of the British petroleum case, there emerge a plethora of consequences that need to be examined. As is the case, companies thrive on good public image. After the tragedy, it was necessary to support an audit into the safety standards and subsequently implement the recommendations. As such, the safety standards were bound to improve considerably. Through the incorporation of such measures, the industry as a whole would thus move towards adopting similar approaches. On this basis, the ethical and governance aspect would get a huge reinforcement. Another consequence could be the harm that the fire tragedy puts on the company. BP was an industry leader and a crisis of this kind was bound to compromise its leadership status in the market. The CSB report released its view on the company indicating that the company was profit oriented as opposed to the ethics and governance aspects. This is a misguided approach that would affect both the government and the public view on the company. On the process, the company directly jeopardises its market position. This shows the net effect of failing to respond to issues that directly impact on business. The top management of BP is the most culpable of all the actors concerned. It has been found that audit recommendations have not been accounted for. The audit report that arose from the Texas