PPMP20010 Project Audit & Governance Report: Assessment 2 Analysis

This project audit and governance report for PPMP20010 assesses a project's performance against its objectives. It identifies key issues in planning and costing, stemming from poor communication, lack of stakeholder consultation, and inadequate risk management. Recommendations include setting KPIs for cost monitoring, improved stakeholder management, defining project scope, and using work breakdown structures. The report analyzes how these issues affected project objectives, particularly in terms of schedule delays and cost overruns. It evaluates actual performance against criteria like scope, cost, schedule, and quality, determining that the project only partially met its objectives. The governance report emphasizes transparent reporting and decision-making to ensure stakeholders receive timely and reliable project information. Desklib offers this and other solved assignments to aid students in their studies.

PROJECT AUDIT& GOVERNANCE REPORT
PROJECT NAME:
PPMP20010 - Assessment 2
Project Audit and Governance Reports
PROJECT AUDIT REPORT
Project name:
Date of report:
Project ownership:
Senior User:
Prepared by:
Distribution list:
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The project audit report is a tool used to substantiate to the stakeholders of a project that the goals and
objectives of the project are being met and important items or deliverables are being produced by the
project. This audit report is a vital communication tool that is used as the basis for ensuring that the
stakeholders acknowledge the project success and accept the outcomes.
Kerzner (2017) in Section 11.32 identifies five different types of project audits – performance, compliance,
quality, exit, and best practices. Audits do not have to occur at the end of a project but can occur during the
project life cycle as health checks and quality audits.
Managing Successful Projects with PRINCE2 (2017) states that an audit review is typically undertaken at the
end of each stage and at the end of the project. Kerzner (2017) in Section 11.32 states the audits can be
scheduled or random and can be performed by in-house personnel or external examiners.
Directing Successful Projects with PRINCE2 (2009) Section 9.3.1 identifies that there are four metrics that may
be valuable – progress, quality, change and risk. Each auditable category should have a value to the project
and future projects.
Please complete this report in the context of the case study provided within the Assessment section on Moodle
website.
All guidance box must be deleted before uploading and submitting this report into Moodle.

PROJECT AUDIT& GOVERNANCE REPORT
PROJECT NAME:
1 LIST 2ISSUES DISCOVERED IN THE AUDIT REPORTS (200-300 WORDS)
Issues
related
to
planning
Because of the planning issues the project got failed to meet the deadline and the
issues identified in the south east light rail and CBD project. Due to the lack of proper
planning and procurement there have been delays in several work of the project. The
planning area of the project lacked the governance arrangements. The roles and
responsibilities were also lacked the clarity in defining and for the assignment.
According to the audit report deliverables of the project were not much effective in the
management of planning and execution. Earlier for the project between the period of
2006 to 2009 stakeholders were consulted but in order to take the final decision in the
year 2012 they were not consulted (Acciona 2020).
Issues
related
to
costing
The project also faced the costing issues due to which it was the situation of concern
for the government and the stakeholders of the project. The reason behind this issues
can be no proper communication to the stakeholders regarding the insight information
linked to the handling and execution of the project. Due to lack of update about the
costing there were issues for meeting the deadline of the project. Changes were also
made to the estimated cost due to which ambiguity increased in the accountability and
the financial management of the project.
2 IDENTIFY 2REASONS FOR EACH ISSUEFROM AUDIT REPORTS(400-500 WORDS)
Issues
related
to
planning
Reason 1 One of the reason behind the planning issue was the confrontation
between the ALTRAC and the NSW due to which the completion of the
project delayed for an year. Due to the insufficient information related
to resources and staffing by the ALTRAC resulted in rise in the project
management problems. There was lack of communication among the
two stakeholders of the project related to delay and withdrawal from
the original plan (Audit office, 2018).
Reason 2 According to the audit report key assurance processes were missing
under the audit planning. One of the reason is also the mismanagement
of the time which have happened due to the missing planning protocols.
There was adverse impact on the project value as at the planning stage
third party agreements were not finalized which have led to the increase
in project risk. Planning procurement also failed to get the better value
for the NSW transport because of the absence of independent gateway
assurance reviews.
Issues
related
to
costing
Reason 1 Due to ignoring the designed procedures the CSELR project have faced
the budgeting problems. According to the contractor the published cost
of project was $ 2.9 billion but in accordance to the audit report the
predicted cost of the project was $ 3.1 billion. The cost have been risen
due to the limited business support packages, delay in the execution and
due to the omitted cost (CIO, 2017).
Reason 2 Due to the higher costs execution of the project and the smooth delivery
were hard task to perform. The infrastructure of CSELR would need big
financial assistance from the sponsors and the government. But one of
the reason behind the rise in the cost of the project is because of the
tight deadlines. This have also resulted in the overestimation of the
advantages from project underestimating of the expenses. Financial
aspects of the project were failed due to which risk increased during the
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PROJECT AUDIT& GOVERNANCE REPORT
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preparation of the plan.
The expenses related to capital of the project were also lacked proper
valuation which have resulted on improper scheduling.
3 PROVIDE 2 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR EACH ISSUE (400-500 WORDS)
Issue 1 Recommendation 1 Setting of the KPI
When there is rise in the cost of project as compared to the
budgeted and the risks involved under this can be removed by
the regular monitoring (Legislative Council, 2019). JPI would
assist in the development and the management of the project
in an effective manner. Through the managers would be able
to keep the check on the expenses of the project. Some of the
KPI which can help the management are as follows:
Actual cost
This would help the manager in knowing the amount of money
which is being spent on the project.
Cost variance
This would assist the manager to balance the estimated cost
of project and the actual cost of the project
Earned value
This would further showcase that the agreed budget for the
delivered activities of the project in a particular time.
Planned value
This would display about the projected expenses of the
planned activities in accordance to the present date.
Returns on investments
This can help in knowing the profitability and managers would
be able to anticipate the returns which can be obtained on the
investment.
Recommendation 2 Requirement of the stakeholders
Ambiguity linked to the expectations of the stakeholders can
create the budgeting problems for the project. Proper
evaluation, identification and the handling of the stakeholders
demand and requirements can be helpful for the costing
purpose of the CSELR project. Hence, for the objective of
keeping the project under the budget the expectations of the
stakeholders should be found in careful manner which can be
documented and established with them and further can be
informed to all the stakeholders. Through this project
managers would be able to have the good grip on the costing
of the project (Guardian, 2018).
Issue
related
to
planning
Recommendation 1 Project Scope
The planning have been impacted by the project’s time
schedule. Hence, it becomes crucial to define the project
scope. In accordance to the scope the priorities can be
established. The activities related to collection of information
with the functional managers can be performed in a careful
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manner. There should be clear and careful draft of the list of
project processes or the list of project deliverables along with
the criteria of acceptance. This would help the management in
getting the control over the activities of the project.
Recommendation 2 Work break down structure
The WBS can be designed in such a way that it would be able
to make sure that the project scope have been decentralized.
This would help in management and handling of the project
members (Guardian, 2018).
4 DESCRIBE HOW THE ABOVE ISSUES AFFECTED MEETING THE SPECIFIED OBJECTIVES
OF THE PROJECT (400-500 WORDS)
The main goal of the project is the decrease the traffic problems and increase the public transport
capacity in the Sydney which is also putting big financial burden on the state each year. The
construction of the big rail project would help the public the using the transport facilities and also
beneficial for the surrounding communities of the project. The project involves the community
team who worked with the big number of stakeholders (Pmi, 2007).
The some of key objectives of the project restricted and delayed due to some of the problems
related to schedule and cost of the project which have put burden on the complete project. The
project was already lacking behind by one year and further the higher costing and the
mismanagement problems have delayed it for another two months. The expenses problems have
made the firm to make changes in the contract with the Acciona and ALTRAC which had negative
impact on the stakeholders of the project.
Because of the poor planning the project have failed in making good communication among the
stakeholders which have resulted in the conflicts among the state and the contractor. According
to the data the rise in the cost of rail project of 2.9 billion had impacted the relation among the
Acciona and the NSW government. On the basis of Audit committee it has been identified that rise
in the cost was not recommended by the Acciona and Acciona have also filed the law suit against
the NSW transport for 2.1 billion (Reich, 2018).
The established budget of the project was 2.1 billion but because of the unsettled claims linked to
the changes of the contract, late penalty and litigation claim among the NSW state and the
Acciona the expenses of the project increased more than the budgeted one. Therefore, it is
important to improvise the NSW in order to solve these kinds of issues.
5 ACTUAL PERFORMANCE: STATE WHETHER FOLLOWING CRITERIA HAVE BEEN
MET/NOT MET/PARTIALLY MET FOR THIS PROJECT AND PROVIDE REASONS OF
NOT MET OR PARTIALLY MET (200-300 WORDS)
Criteria Met/
Not Met/
Partially
Met
Reasons(Not Met / Partially Met) Criteria
Scope Partially met The project scope was narrow due to the underestimation and
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overestimation of the cost. A big amount of budget has been spent
on making changes in the project scope. In the year 2014, benefits
of the project decreased from $ 4 billion to the $ 3 billion because
of the changes in the project scope.
Cost Not met There was increase in the cost of CSELR project as the it exceeded
the budget of $ 549 million to the $ 2.1 billion. This have resulted in
rise in conflicts among the NSW transport and the contractors.
Schedule Not met The schedule has got impacted because of change in project scope
due to which it delayed by the two years.
Quality Partially met Some part of the quality was met but project have impacted the
surrounding environment quality because of the dust, construction
noise and the visibility (News, 2018).
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PROJECT AUDIT& GOVERNANCE REPORT
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PROJECT GOVERNANCE REPORT
1 GOVERNANCE STRACTURE & RESPONSBILITIES
2 GOVERNANCE (APX 500 WORDS)
Chosen governance domain:
How were they handled What could have been done
differently to avoid/mitigate
the problems encountered
Function 1: Communication Lack of management in
communication among the
stakeholders
Communication is a very
crucial part for the handling of
the difficult projects which
would allow the firm to
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The PMI Practice Guide on the Governance of Portfolios, Programs and Projects describes 4 Governance
domains: alignment, risk, performance, and communications. Each domain has the following functions:
oversight, control, integration, and decision making.
Based on the case study provided, discuss two (2) of the above functions of your choice in oneof the
governance domains, how they were handled and how they could have been done differently to avoid the
problems encountered during the life of the project, e.g. performance oversight and decision making.
The project governance report is a vital communication tool that is used as the basis for ensuring that the
project board and other main project stakeholders are provided with timely, relevant, and reliable project
information. Governance report provides a framework whereby issues can be reported, and decisions
made in a transparently accountable manner.
Kerzner (2017) states that governance relates to decisions that define expectations, accountability,
responsibility, the granting of power, or verification of performance. Governance relates to consistent
management, cohesive policies, and processes and decisions-making rights for a given area of
responsibility. Governance enables efficient and effective decision-making to take place.
The PMBOK (2017) discusses project governance and advises that it is a framework that provides the
project manager and team with structure, processes, decision-making models and tools for managing the
project, while supporting and controlling the project for successful delivery.
Directing PRINCE2 Table B.1 lists the principles taken from The Association for Project Management’s
governance of project management principles.
Please complete this report in the context of the case study provided within the Assessment block on Moodle.
PRINCE2 states that the project board should have the overall responsibility for governance of the
projects.
Please provide the governance structure and describe the responsibilities of at least three project board
members in a tabular format in the context of the case study provided.

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understand the needs of the
stakeholders by which the
performance of the project can
be improved.
A good integrated
communication channel can be
developed for ensuring about
the good flow of information
starting from the initial phase
to the completion phase of the
project (SMH, 2019). There
would be need of good
communication among the
stakeholder of CSLER and for
improving the project
governance it is important for
the stakeholders to get
through all the project stage
for knowing the expectations
and the requirements. It is
crucial to communicate
necessary information like
cancellation, changes, project
scope, cost and deliverables in
a regular manner (SMH, 2019).
Function 2: Alignment The expectation of majority
of stakeholders was not met.
The project can make a
detailed benefit plan and
analyse the benefits for the
alignment purpose for meeting
the expectations of the
stakeholders (Acciona, 2020).
For a good management plan
there would be requirement of
clarity related to delivery,
measuring and reporting of
expected benefits. This would
further help each of the team
leader to assigns the roles to
the workers. The director of
the project would need the
enough data related to
expectations of the
stakeholders and this can be
compared with the actual ones
for the assessment of the
benefits of the project.
On the basis of Audit office the
anticipated benefits are
required to be aligned and
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measure in accordance to the
stakeholder needs which
would further involve the
public and the agencies.
Changes and delays should be
communicated to the
stakeholders on time for
meeting their expectations.
3 DESCRIBE 3 GOVERNANCE FAILURESAND REASONS (400-500 WORDS)
Failure 1 Transparency
This is an important part which would help in accountability and improvement in the
organization’s performance. There would be requirement of the transparency under
the publically governed project. But project was failed to meet the needs of the
project transparency. According to the audit report the information which were given
by the NSW transport were not enough and did not give any update in a regular
manner linked to the expenses of project and that resulted in the limiting the project
transparency (Audit office, 2020).
Failure 2 Oversight
Under this case the expectations of the stakeholders were not met. There were also
gaps in the third part agreement which have also involved the partnership and
commissioning which is the governance failure of the project. The conflicts among
the NSW transport and the Accion increased as the there were lack of measure and
evaluation among the outsourced activities of the project. There were inconsistency
in the project governance which have impacted the oversight of the project.
Failure 3 Control
Due to the lack of control from the CSELR, the project got delayed and the cost of the
project also increased. This have impacted the large number of the stakeholders.
Which have involved the residents and the businesses because the governance was
not done in an impactful manner. CSELR had got the role as a control group to
observe the project funds and revising of the projections but the NSW transport was
did not deliver the FPR report in regular manner.
Record keeping is important for effective governance which would help the
managers in improving the control system and increase the accountability of the
CSELR project. But it has displayed that project would fail to give domination to
contractors which can result in rise in the cost of project (CIO, 2017).
4 DESCRIBE 3 LESSONS LEARNT AND REASONS (400-500 WORDS)
Lesson 1 Decision making
It is very hard to manage the complex project as there are large no. of stakeholders
involved under this. Hence, smaller decisions can have the huge impact on the
project performance. Assessment of the project benefits in all the stages would help
in taking correct decisions. Decision about the delivery of the project, delivery of the
task and the time of delivery is an important part. Hence, benefit management plan
of the project would assist in taking correct decision making by which the project can
be successfully delivered. It is also very important to take the decisions in accordance
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to the legal needs for removing any litigation claim (SMH, 2019).
Lesson 2 Strategic analysis
Strategic analysis is an important part of the business as this would assist the
directors of the project to handle the difficult project in an effective manner.
Assessment of the disruption expenses during the planning period would help in
limiting of any kinds of interruptions under the project. The strategic analysis would
help in finding the good options and would provide the economical, financial and
social benefits to the project. Strategic analysis can include independent assurance
by which critical reviews can be received which would assist in overseeing the
process of delivery stage of project. Before the commencement of the project the
need and expectation of the community should be identified that would assist in
reducing the project risk (Guardian, 2019).
Lesson 3 Adequate flow of information
The information such as cost, deliverables, activities related to the project should be
communicated to all the parties on the regular basis. It is important to focis on the
combination of the government , outsourced and the small business requirements.
The government which is carrying out the infrastructure project can improve their
communication with the small business. Communication of the project information
would further help in improving the transparency in the project and would assist in
removing the ambiguity linked to the project execution. The strategy related to
communication can be made by taking into consideration all the stakeholders for the
purpose of implementation of the changes in the project in accordance to their
expectations (News, 2018).
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References
Acciona (2020). Sydney Light Rail. [Online] Acciona. Available at:
https://www.acciona.com.au/projects/construction/railways-and-tunnels/sydney-light-
rail/ [Accessed on 25 September 2020]
Audit Office (2018). Performance audit insights: key findings from 2014-2018. [Online] Audit
Office. Available at: https://www.audit.nsw.gov.au/our-work/reports/performance-
audit-insights-key-findings-from-2014-2018 [Accessed: 25 September 2020]
Audit Office (2019). Transport 2019. Available at:
https://www.audit.nsw.gov.au/our-work/reports/transport-2019 [Accessed: 25
September 2020]
Audit Office (2020). Media release: CBD and South East Light Rail: follow-up performance
audit. [Online] Audit office. Available at: https://www.audit.nsw.gov.au/media-
release/media-release-cbd-and-south-east-light-rail-follow-up-performance-auditn
[Accessed: 25 September 2020]
CIO (2017). Project management: 5 tips for managing your project budget. [Online] CIO.
Available at: https://www.cio.com/article/2406862/project-management-project-
management-4-ways-to-manage-your-budget.html [Accessed: 25 September 2020]
Guardian (2018). Sydney's light rail chaos: who is to blame for delays and cost blowout.
[Online] Gaurdian. Available at:
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/apr/21/sydneys-light-rail-chaos-
who-is-to-blame-for-delays-and-cost-blowout [Accessed: 25 September 2020]
Guardian (2019). Sydney light rail project blows out to $2.9bn, almost double original cost.
[Online] Guardian. Available at:
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/23/sydney-light-rail-project-
blows-out-to-29bn-almost-double-original-cost [Accessed: 25 September 2020]
Legislative Council (2019). Impact of the CBD and South East Light Rail Project. PUBLIC
ACCOUNTABILITY COMMITTEE. pp 2—205. [Online] Legislative Council. Available
at: https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/lcdocs/inquiries/2492/Final%20Report%20-
%20Impact%20of%20the%20CBD%20and%20South%20East%20Light%20Rail
%20Project.pdf [Accessed: 25 September 2020]
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News (2018). Sydney light rail extension a ‘horror story’ of missed deadlines and billions in
cost overruns. [Online] News. Available at:
https://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/sydney-light-rail-extension-a-horror-
story-of-missed-deadline-and-billion-cost-overruns/news-story/5a9507b0986b
[Accessed: 25 September 2020]
PMI (2007). Effective Management of Fixed Deadline Projects. [Online] PMI. Available at:
https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/effective-management-fixed-deadline-projects-
6937 [Accessed: 25 September 2020]
Reich. M (2018) The Core Roles of Transparency and Accountability in the Governance of
Global Health Public–Private Partnerships, Health Systems & Reform, 4:3, 239-
248, DOI: 10.1080/23288604.2018.1465880
SMH (2019). More work to be done': the lessons from the CBD light rail. [Online] SMH.
Available at: https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/more-work-to-be-done-the-
lessons-from-the-cbd-light-rail-20191224-p53mnv.html [Accessed: 25 September
2020]
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