RMIT BUSM4610: In-depth Analysis of the Chunnel Project Management

This report provides a detailed analysis of the Chunnel project, examining key aspects of its project management. The report delves into the project's scope, communication challenges arising from international stakeholders and language differences, and the crucial roles and responsibilities of the Project Management Officer (PMO). It explores the problems associated with fixed contracts, the issues stemming from a large and diverse stakeholder base, and the importance of effective planning. The report also highlights the significance of teamwork, especially considering the involvement of approximately 15,000 workers. The analysis is based on academic journals and books, offering insights into the complexities of managing large-scale projects like the Chunnel, including risk management and the need for effective communication strategies to mitigate potential conflicts and ensure successful project completion.

Running head: BUSINESS PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Business Project Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1
BUSINESS PROJECT MANAGEMENT

2
BUSINESS PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Executive Summary:
The report is of a project called Chunnel project, which is an underground channel
that is going to be made to connect the two countries France and England. The channel is
mainly buil for providing a safe transportation route between the two countries. Like the
other large projects this project is also based on the project management. Workers,
employees, stake holders, banks and the many people are associated with the project. As
there are so many people associated with the project so the chances of conflict is high so the
task of the project management officer is to mitigate those conflicts. Communication gap
between the stakeholders also there as stakeholders are from two different countries so their
language and thought differs. Importance of the teamwork is also seen in the report as in the
project total 15000 people have worked and put their efforts for the project.

3
BUSINESS PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Table of Contents
Introduction:...............................................................................................................................4
Scope of the Project:..................................................................................................................4
Communication Issues:..............................................................................................................5
Roles of the PMO:......................................................................................................................6
Problem of Fixed Contracts:......................................................................................................7
Stakeholder Issue:......................................................................................................................7
Planning Issues:..........................................................................................................................8
Teamwork:.................................................................................................................................8
Conclusion:................................................................................................................................9

4
BUSINESS PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Introduction:
In this report the topic of the discussion will be the Chunnel project. The project is of
making a tunnel between the England and France to connect the country for the benefits. The
main objective of the report is to analyse the issues that are raised during the evaluation of the
project. In the report the issues that are raised with the Chunnel project is going to discussed
further (Goldsmith and Boeuf 2016). The project scope is also will be discussed in the report,
what is the scope of the project that is to make an underground tunnel between the England
and the France. During the evaluation of the project many things are needed to take care of
like the cost, the, management these are also discussed in the further project (Cross and
Brohman 2014). The whole project consist of many phases like the initial phase where the
whole idea made, then the implementation phase where the planning is executed properly in
the project, and last phase is the phase where the project is closed. In the communication
issues, the project scope, the roles of the project management officer, comparison with the
management team is also discussed in the report. The total report stricture is divided into
three parts introduction, project body and the conclusion where the report is concluded.
Scope of the Project:
The scope of the project is determined in the initial phase. After the scope is
determined it became lot easier for the team of the project management to develop the whole
project. In this report the project on which the scope are to be determined is the Chunnel
project (El-Sabek and McCabe 2017). The main scope of the project is to establish a
permanent transportation link between France and England. The expectation that is from the
project is determined is for the development in the certain areas. In the year 1984 the
government of the England and France have agreed for a deal that determines the common
safety of the people. In the year 1985 the both governments has asked for several proposals

5
BUSINESS PROJECT MANAGEMENT
and many proposals has come in that process. Finally in the year 1986 the project is given to
a group named channel tunnel group (Nicholas and Steyn 2017). The proposal they made that
is of approximately 50km double lane tunnel will be made to connect the England and
France. The estimated cost for the project is proposed 5.5 billion US dollar. In the scope that
is made the time was not enough for the project to complete. For the project in the initial
phase the design was made that was highly designed and full proof safety precautions are also
taken for the project. The time that is going to take for the whole project to complete is going
to be discussed in the project. For the air conditioning of the tunnel a total scope of the cost
estimated is US $220 million which has increased from the initial scope of the project. There
are certain issues created because of the intergovernmental commission on the scope of the
project to pressurize the project scope for the concession.
Communication Issues:
For any kind of the project the main aspect is the communication. For a project to
successfully complete an effective communication is needed. In this project as the project is
between the two country and the language of the two countries are different from each other
so while the development of the project lot of communication issues can be generated. As we
know the communication can harm while developing a project (Basu 2016). The
communication with the stakeholders is the key of success for the project as in this case the
Chunnel project is connecting the two countries so the amount of stakeholders in the two
country are high and the chances of the communication issues with the stakeholders are high
as the language is different in the both country. It is the duty of the project manager to
mitigate the communication issue within the organization in order to provide a successful
project. To mitigate the communication issues between the employees and the stakeholders
the all the people associated with the project must be provided with the all required
information of the project. The expectations of the stake holders is to be met in order to avoid

6
BUSINESS PROJECT MANAGEMENT
the communication issues with the stakeholders (Cross and Brohman 2014). There may be
some conflict that occur between the project team and the stakeholders the duty of the project
manager is to remove the conflict between them and establish an effective communication.
As the two different country having different language so that there are high chances of the
case that a communication barrier occur so the intermediate person will have to be appointed
by the project manager who know the two language fluently able to establish the
communication between them. One of the rare and the serious case is the failure of the
project which can affect the relation between the company and the stake holders as well. So it
is the duty of the project manager to identify the issues that affecting the communication and
the process to avoid those.
Roles of the PMO:
To execute a project properly the project manager role is the most important. In this
project also the project manager has several responsibility and roles that the project manager
done. In this case the project manager had to deal with the contract of the project that is the
part of the management process. The work scope, time line, cost and the rules of the
engagement is defined by the project manager (Nicholas and Steyn 2017). The planning
process was very tough for the project management officer in this project. And this can lead
to certain issues and errors as well. The risk management is also done by the officer of the
project manager in the Chunnel project. The main focus is on the risks related to the
engineering rather than the process or the approval risks. There are several contracts that
spreads the risk with the stakeholders. In the phase of the development the project
management is very hopeful for the Chunnel project. The project management officer is
given the task details, plans and the project design. For the completion of the project
successfully the main role is of the project manager is to properly plan the total project. The
plan is made on the initial phase in the project planning the cost, time and the other aspect

7
BUSINESS PROJECT MANAGEMENT
which related to the project (Marinho 2015). Then the plan that was made on the initial phase
is implemented on the next phase and during the implementation lots of issues the issues had
to be resolved by the project manager. To be precise it can be said that the project
management officers role is immense for the successful completion of the project.
Problem of Fixed Contracts:
In the development phase the contracts includes the agreements of the financials
things of the project. In the contract the bank has given lot terms and conditions related to the
financial contribution. As the bank is involved in the project financially so the bank want
minimum risks for the project. As the bank don’t want to lose the amount for the project. The
contract that is proposed for the project is fixed and the cost is fixed (Goldsmith and Boeuf
2016). There are many things that are need to change in the project and there certain need
anytime can occur and for that extra money is needed so in case of the fixed contract there
will be problem occurred. In case of the project failure in the contract it is clearly written that
the bank will claim the amount that will be lost for the project. And they can legally take
action against the company which is developing the Chunnel project. Selection of the fixed
price contracts can affect the evaluation of the project.
Stakeholder Issue:
This project involves huge amount of stakeholders. Approximately 70000
stakeholders are associated with this project. The project totally interdependent on the
stakeholders and that participation of the stake holders had created a lot of difficulties for the
project. As the number of the stakeholders are huge and the stake holders are from different
countries so there are a high chances of communication issues that will occur during the
evaluation of the project (El-Sabek and McCabe 2017). The changes in the scope of the
project will also happen the stake holders as it directly associated with the cost, time and the

8
BUSINESS PROJECT MANAGEMENT
other major aspect of the project. When the communication between the stakeholder’s
breakdown and the issues are not resolved in time and that affect the total project in long
term. In this project banks are the among the key stake holders, the banks lends the total
support to the product by financing the required money for the project (El-Sabek 2017).
Approximately 120 banks are lending money in this project for the underground tunnel
between the England and the France for a permanent route for transportation.
Planning Issues:
Planning is the foremost aspect for a project to evaluate successfully. The planning
involves the schedule of the project that in what time the project will be completed and the
second thing is the estimated cost in which the project has to be completed (Rogers 2016).
There are many problem that arises with the cost planning as the amount that is required for
the project is huge which is claimed by the company that has made the contract. And the
planning of the schedule in the phase of the development looking adequate. The proposed
time of the project can be extended if the project management does not properly done the
projects. If the planning does not go well properly then the project can be failed. So it is
necessary plan properly and act accordingly for a project like the Chunnel project is to
complete properly (Nicholas and Steyn 2017).
Teamwork:
While the inception phase was going it is identified that for a project to complete
successfully teamwork is the most needed component (RICO 2014). To able to plan and
execute a project that of the multinational team needs huge level of efforts and cooperation.
There were some ambiguity that how many employees worked for the project until the
completion of the project. After the completion of the project it is seemed that near about
15000 workers are worked and put their effort for the project to implement successfully. The

9
BUSINESS PROJECT MANAGEMENT
team work can be considered as the relation with those who are below and above the ground.
In above the ground the people who are situated are the governmental workers, politicians,
lawyers, bankers and all the analyst. And they all leveraged the economic challenges and the
historical perspective in to the project plan that is approved and act according to the proposed
plan for the project. In the below ground the people are situated are the machinist, workers of
the constructions, and the engineers who worked very efficiently as the bored the three
tunnels that are of 51.5 km (32miles) from the both borders across the all channels of the
project. After the teamwork and the constant effort that was given by the all staffs and the
project takes 3.5 year to complete. From this we have to learn that the teamwork is the
essential aspect for a project to complete successfully within the estimated time in order to
provide benefit for the user of the project (Kameraho 2015).
Conclusion:
From the above report it can be concluded that the project of making the underground
tunnel between the France and England. The main purpose that the project served to the both
countries is to provide a stable transportation between the two countries. We have seen that
70000 stakeholders are associated with the project and for that lot of communication gap
occurs between the staffs and the stakeholders. In the above report the issues with the
stakeholders is discussed and provide the details to solve the problems. The scope of the
project is also discussed in the above report where the cost and the schedule is planned for the
project. There are project manager who has the power to control the whole project. The total
project is divided in to three parts first part is the inception phase, the second phase is the
development phase and the third or the last part is the closure phase of the project. The cost
planning and the schedule planning is discussed in the report. From the report it can be
seemed the effect of the teamwork as it already mentioned that approximately 15000 workers
are worked for the total project and the total length of the boring tunnel is of 51.5 km. The

10
BUSINESS PROJECT MANAGEMENT
total time taken for the project is 3.5 year after the effort that was given by the all workers of
the project. The scope of the project is also discussed in the above report where the cost and
the schedule is planned for the project. There are project manager who has the power to
control the whole project. From the report we have also seen the role of the banks and how
they reacts to the projects. The banks set a rules of regulations for the project and the project
manager had to follow these rules provided by the banks. The banks does not want to face
loss due to the project. Approximately 120 banks are associated with the project and they are
lending money for the projects. In the report also seen the issues with the contracts. The main
issues with the contracts is with the cost, if in any project contract the issue is fixed then the
project will face several challenges in the future. The cost is estimated on the schedule and
based on the man power basically the scope of the project is basically analysed to make the
contract. If after the inception phase where the scope of the project is determined, the scopes
are changed by then the contract of the cost is already proposed then the fixed rate contracts
can affect the project which may lead to a partial fulfilment of the project.

11
BUSINESS PROJECT MANAGEMENT
References:
Basu, R., 2016. The best practices of managing quality in projects. Further Advances in
Project Management: Guided Exploration in Unfamiliar Landscapes, p.13.
Cross, B.L. and Brohman, M.K., 2014. Project Leadership: Creating Value with an Adaptive
Project Organization. CRC Press.
Cross, B.L. and Brohman, M.K., 2014. Project Leadership: Creating Value with an Adaptive
Project Organization. CRC Press.
El-Sabek, L.M. and McCabe, B.Y., 2017. Coordination Challenges of Production Planning &
Control in International Mega-Projects: A Case Study. Lean Construction Journal.
El-Sabek, L.M. and McCabe, B.Y., 2017. Coordination Challenges of Production Planning &
Control in International Mega-Projects: A Case Study. Lean Construction Journal.
El-Sabek, L.M., 2017. Framework for Managing Integration Challenges of Production
Planning and Control in International Construction Mega-Projects (Doctoral dissertation,
University of Toronto (Canada)).
Goldsmith, H. and Boeuf, P., 2016. The Chunnel in History: breakthrough or continuity?.
Goldsmith, H. and Boeuf, P., 2016. The Chunnel in History: breakthrough or continuity?.
Kameraho, J.A., 2015. PROJECT EVALUATION AND ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING IN
THE ROAD CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY OF UGANDA: A CASE STUDY OF UGANDA
NATIONAL ROADS AUTHORITY (UNRA)(Doctoral dissertation, UGANDA
TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT UNIVERSITY).
Marinho, M.L.M., 2015. Uncertainty management in software projects.