Analysis of Success and Failure Factors in Dambek Project Management

This essay examines the critical factors that contribute to the success or failure of projects, using the Dambek business expansion project as a case study. The analysis covers a range of factors, including the importance of user and management involvement, the necessity of proper project planning, and the significance of effective communication channels. The essay also delves into the role of resource management, including the allocation of time, cost, and human resources, as well as the impact of technological advancements. It emphasizes the need for realistic expectations, clear estimations, and appropriate methodologies to manage these factors effectively. The conclusion highlights that appropriate management of all these factors is key to achieving project success and completing projects according to plan and within budget, while inadequate attention to these factors increases the probability of project failure. The essay provides insights into how project managers can strategically approach these challenges to increase the likelihood of a positive outcome for the Dambek project.

Critical Factors in the Success and Failure of Projects: A
Personal Observation on Theory and Practice In Relation To
the Dambek Project
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Project management means application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques for
managing a specific project for completing precise goals and objectives. Managing each and
every activity of project is very complex task for every business organizations (Greasley, 2007).
But, still successful completion of a project is one of the major requirements of any projection.
But there are number of factors which may create a situation of success and failure of a project
plan. The current essay is based on a business expansion project of Dambek. This organization
wants to start a retail network of 40-50 branches in UK. So, the current essay will comprise
critical evaluation of success and failure of a project.
There are different factors which can help in getting appropriate success in completing
Dambek project in an effective manner (Zwikael, 2009). Appropriate involvement of each and
every team members in different activities of business expansion project will help in completing
the project effectively. As per the case study, Dambek wants to hire a project management
consultant which will manage the entire project in an effective manner. But, at the time of
planning and implementation of project, Dambek needs to involve in every tasks. It will help in
completing each activity on time and as per the requirements of Dambek. Therefore,
involvement of Dambek is one of the important factors for getting success in the future. But on
the other hand, if there is no involvement of Dambek in project management tasks than it will
negatively affect project planning and final deliverables of the project. Therefore, inappropriate
involvement of user is the main factor behind the project failure (Smith, Bruyns and Evans,
2011).
Appropriate support of management is required for managing different activities of
business expansion project of Dambek in a successful way (Top 10 Main Causes of Project
Failure, 2015). Top management of organization needs to communicate goals and objectives of
the organization to project management consultancy in an effective manner. In addition,
management of the Dambek will take number of decisions for expanding its retail network in
UK. Therefore, it is a major factor which plays important role in attaining success. In contrast to
this, lack of support of management at the time of project management increases probability of
project failure (Kumaraswamy, 2011). It can increase the chance of inappropriate planning of
entire project. Lack of support of top management can create a communication gap which will
lead to decline the overall performance of Dambek project.
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Business expansion project will require number of resources for completing each and
every task (Wallnöfer and Hacklin, 2012). These include time, cost, human resources and
money. So, before starting any project, management of the organization will develop an
appropriate statement for all requirements. It is required for making arrangement for future
implementation. Along with this, clear statement of requirements is significant for accomplishing
every task in an effective manner. Therefore, for getting success in future management
consultancy of Dambek is required to focus on clear statement of all requirement of the
organization (Knapp and et.al, 2010). But, on the other hand, if project manager is not capable
enough to identity the major requirements of the project than it may affect entire project plan as
well as it can create a situation of lack of resources. Due to the lack of resources, project
manager cannot complete every activity on time. Therefore, it can be considered as one of the
major factors of project failure.
Proper planning of business expansion project of Dambek is required for successful
completion of project (Hobbs, 2009). Planning focuses on goals, objectives and deliverables of
Dambek’s project. In addition, proper planning of entire project is important for determining
different problems associated with the project. Along with this, planning helps in determining
different risks associated with the project by which project manager of Dambek can take
appropriate actions to resolve these issues effectively. Overall, proper planning is considered as
an important factor for getting future success in this project (Levy, 2009). On contrast,
inappropriate planning of project can negatively influence scope, goals and objectives of
Dambek’s project. Along with this, project manager cannot complete different procedures in an
effective manner. Therefore, inappropriate planning of project is considered as a factor which
leads to project failure. For developing proper plan, management consultant of Dambek
organization needs to use appropriate methodology of project management such as Prince2, etc.
(Project Management Challenge, 2016). Overall, project planning is one of the major factor
behind the success and failure.
Realistic expectations and estimations are important requirements of project because
without it project manager will not know about the project completion time. It helps in
determining the duration requirement of the project as well as it plays important role in
developing future plan for this project. Including this, estimation of budget and cost of project
are also considered as an important requirement of this project. It is beneficial for completing
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project in planned budget of Dambek. Therefore, it is also known as important factors of success
(Dey, Clegg and Bennett, 2010).
Communication is a fuel for running a project in smooth flow so for getting success in
business expansion project, Dambek organization needs to focus on developing strong
communication between team members, management consultancy and responsible persons of
Dambek (Kloppenborg, 2011). It helps in distributing roles and responsibility among staff
members in an appropriate way. Along with this, appropriate communication between team
members helps in determining different problems associated with the project. By this the project
manager can determine appropriate actions to resolve these issues. In addition, through the
effective communication project manager can monitor the progress of Dambek’s project. It helps
in managing required changes in an effective manner (Chiu-Chi and et.al, 2013). Overall
communication is included in success factor of project management. But, on the other hand lack
of communication is considered as a barrier in project success because it can affect the project
process and completion of different tasks and activities of project planning. Therefore, it may
harm the entire project in a negative manner. Due to the inappropriate communication project,
manager cannot get all necessary information about the projection on time. Along with this,
communication issue give rise to conflicting situation at workplace and due to this reason team
members cannot complete their roles and responsibility on time (Little, 2011). It will also
negatively affect the entire output of the business expansion project. Therefore, lack of
communication can increase probability of project failure. So, manager of Dambek’s project is
required to focus on appropriate channels of communication by which organization can
successfully complete the project (Toader, 2010).
Resources are important attribute for completing each and every project. Organization
wants to expand its business at different locations of UK and regarding this management
consultancy of Dambek’s organization will require time, cost, money and different human
resources. Project manager needs to assure about the arrangement of all resources on time else it
can stop the functions of projection in a negative manner (Darren, 2012). Appropriate planning
of resources will lead to successful accomplishment of project on time and estimated cost. But,
inappropriate arrangement of resources and lack of resources increases total cost of the project as
well as it can delay the entire task. Introducing 40-50 retail branches in UK is not a small project
so, project manager is required to pay attention towards the resources planning else it can create
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a situation of project failure and huge loss of Dambek. Overall resources are important factor of
project success (Knapp and et.al, 2010).
Project manager needs to assure about the optimum allocation of resources also. It is
resources for reducing wastage and defects in the entire project. Along with this, it is also
resource for improving quality and minimizing unnecessary costs of Dambek at the time of
business expansion (Kumaraswamy, 2011). For getting success, project manager of the given
project should focus on developing appropriate plan for managing under and over allocation of
resources. There are different methods, tools and techniques of resources allocation such as
PERT, scheduling, activity based costing, etc. These methods help in allocating all resources in
an effective manner as well as also help in managing project with effective outcomes. Overall
optimum allocation of resources is a success factor which plays important role in obtaining
qualitative performance and appropriate deliverables, etc (Wallnöfer and Hacklin, 2012). In
contrast, inappropriate allocation of time can increase or decrease the actual completion time of
every activity. Incorrect allocation of time can affect the duration and critical path of entire
project. Similarly, if the project manager will not allocate financial resources in effective manner
than total cost of the project can be increased. Likewise, for completing each and every task
project manager of Dambek requires number of human resources. For completing roles and
responsibility in an effective manner project manager needs to allocate human resources on
different activities as per their skills and knowledge (Dey, Clegg and Bennett, 2010). It will help
in completing task effectively. But, inappropriate allocation of human resources may decline the
level of motivation of employees. Therefore, wrong allocation of resources is considered as a
factor of project failure.
At the time of business expansion, latest technology helps in improving the overall
quality of the project outcomes (Kloppenborg, 2011). It also increases the speed of each and
every task which will help in completing entire project in an effective manner. Therefore, using
latest technology is one of the major factors of project success. But, on the other hand for
adopting number of technical equipment project manager of Dambek is required to invest huge
amount of money. It leads to increment in technical cost of the organization. Due to increment in
cost, project manager will suffer from different financial problems which may increase chances
of project failure. Overall, technological advancement is also one of the major factors of project
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success and failure. So, before making investment in technical equipment, project manager needs
to assure about viability of investment project (Chiu-Chi and et.al, 2013).
Overall, project manager of Dambek’s is required to appropriate strategies for managing
all these factors in an effective manner. For example, project manager needs to use appropriate
methods of communication for increasing involvement of management in project planning.
Along with this, management consultancy needs to assure about the involvement of each and
every team members in different activities of the project (Levy, 2009). It will help in increasing
the performance of individuals as well as also plays important role in accomplishing every task
of project on time. Further, as per the given case study management consultancy needs to
forecast the actual requirement of the project on time. Regarding this, project manager can use
different methods such as market research, etc. project planning is also included in success and
failure factors of the project management (Toader, 2010). So, for managing Dambek’s project,
management consultant needs to use a systematic process of project planning. In addition,
project manager of the organization should estimate clear and realistic assumptions regarding
time and cost. These estimates will play important role in improving efficiency of the project
planning which will lead to project success. For developing strong communication, project
manager needs to use formal and informal communication among team members. It will improve
the overall efficiency of the project. In addition, project manager can use regular meetings with
team members which will also help in making communication among team members. In
addition, manager of Dambek is required to focus on optimum allocation of resources because it
will help in completing the project in an effective manner (Darren, 2012).
The current essay has concluded that there are number of factors by which project can
succeed and fail. These factor include involvement of user and management, project planning,
communication, resources arrangement and allocation and technological investment, etc.
appropriate management of all these factors helps in getting success and completing project as
per the planned time and cost (Hobbs, 2009). But, in case if project manager of Dambek will not
manage all these factors in effective manner then these factors can increase the project
completion time and cost. So, project manager should use suitable strategies for managing these
factors and getting success in business expansion project.
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REFERENCES
Books and journals
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personality balance. Kybernetes. 42(7). pp.1016 - 1028.
Darren, D., 2012. The nature of project management: A reflection on The Anatomy of Major
Projects by Morris and Hough. International Journal of Managing Projects in Business.
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Dey, K. P., Clegg, T., and Bennett, J. D., 2010. Managing enterprise resource planning projects.
Business Process Management Journal. 16(2). pp.282 – 296.
Greasley, A., 2007. Operations Management. SAGE.
Hobbs, P., 2009. Project Management. Dorling Kindersley Limited.
Kloppenborg, T., 2011. Contemporary Project Management. 2nd ed. Cengage Learning
Knapp, A. and et.al., 2010. A Project Manager's Guide to Passing the Project Management
(Pmp) Exam. www.pmexam.com.
Kumaraswamy, M., 2011. Editorial: integrating infrastructure project management with its built
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Levy, B., 2009. Legal Project Management: Control Costs, Meet Schedules. Manage Risks, and
Maintain Sanity.
Little, B., 2011. The principles of successful project management: It takes careful planning,
skilful leadership and a little bit of luck. Human Resource Management International
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Smith, C. D., Bruyns, and Evans, S. M., 2011. A project manager's optimism and stress
management and IT project success. International Journal of Managing Projects in
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Wallnöfer, M., and Hacklin, F. 2012. The business model in the practice of strategic decision
making: insights from a case study. Management Decision. 50(2). pp.166 – 188.
Zwikael, O., 2009. Critical planning processes in construction projects. Construction Innovation:
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Online
Project Management Challenge. 2016. [Online]. Available through: <
http://paymentsviews.com/2007/03/30/project-management-challenge-8-lacking-senior-
leadership-support/>. [Accessed on 15th March 2016].
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Toader, C., 2010. The Main Causes which Lead to Success or Failure of a Project. [pdf].
Available through: <
http://www.usab-tm.ro/fileadmin/fzb/Simp%202010/VOL%202/MANAGEMENT/
Toader%201.pdf >. [Accessed on 15th March 2016].
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