Project Fundamentals: Success, Failure, Scope, Budget, Agile Approach

This report delves into the core principles of project management by analyzing both successful and failed projects, using the Legacy Way Tunnel and Queensland Health Payroll projects as case studies. It defines essential concepts like project scope, budget, and schedule, emphasizing the importance of accurate estimation and effective management. The report also explores the project management triangle (triple constraint), highlighting its role in balancing project limitations. Furthermore, it examines the Agile project management (APM) approach, comparing its benefits and suitability across different project types, discussing the iterative and incremental nature of APM. The report emphasizes the critical role of effective project management in achieving project goals within set timelines and budgets, supported by examples and theoretical frameworks.

Assignment 1 - Project Fundamentals
1 Introduction
Project Management is a technique for successful planning, execution and administration of a project.
PMBOK or project management body of knowledge act as a guide for implementation and execution
of a project (Schwalbe 2015). The guidelines provided by PMBOK are considered as a standard
guideline and is accepted within the project management industry. The success of a project and its
failure is largely determined by the process in which it has been planned and executed. A well-
executed project management plan confirms project’s success (Kerzner 2017). Therefore, it can be
said that a project’s success is linked to success of project management while a project’s failure is
linked to project team’s failure and the project manager, who fails to successfully execute the project
processes (Meredith, Mantel Jr and Shafer 2017). Project management can be described as a
planned processes of execution of a project in a way that the major project goals are achieved within
a set timeline. A project is termed successful only if it manages to achieve the set goals with the
allocated time and budget (Fleming and Koppelman 2016). The report discusses two examples, one
of a successful project and one of a failed project to analyse the causes of their success or failure.
The Legacy way Tunnel project, although was a critical infrastructural project, it was a success
because of effective project management, while the Queensland health payroll project failed mainly
because of ineffective project management. A project’s success is further linked with an accurate
estimation of the scope, budget and schedule. The report further discusses the main idea of agile
project management (APM) to analyse the projects that will suit this methodology and projects that will
not suit this methodology. Choice of an appropriate project methodology further determines the
success of any undertaken project.
2 Body
This section of the report aims in understanding the main reasons of project success and failure. The
section will further critic about the terms scope, budget and schedule. The idea of APM is further
analysed in this section.
2.1 Part A - Project Management Successes and Failures
Project Management Success:
The Legacy way Tunnel project in Brisbane was undertaken with an aim of improving the traffic of
the region. The twin bore tunnel project was undertaken with an aim of establishing a link between
Western Freeway and Inner City Bypass. It was a complex and challenging project as the project
included two bored tunnels that carried two motorway grade. In spite of the complexity, the project
was a success. The project could be successfully completed solely because of effective project
management. The project’s scope was correctly define and the right project management team was
selected for project execution. A realistic time was allocated to the project for its completion and in
every project phase, the project was monitored to identify the risks and issues that might have
hampered the normal execution of the project. The entire project was led by ACCIONA (Bennett and
Norbert 2014). The efficiency in managing this project lies in the fact that during the execution of the
project the traffic of the region was very well managed. The entire project was planned in such a
manner that minimal impact of the construction was laid on the daily commuters. The ability of
controlling a constant shotcrete slump provides an evidence of an efficient project team in handling
and execution of this project. The appropriate construction experts were a part of the project team to
solve the specific construction challenges that the project could have faced. This indicates an effective
scope management and risk management. The risks linked with underground construction and tunnel
boring were well identified in advance that ascertained successful project execution.
This project was a success as it followed a planned project management process in execution of a
project. The scope, schedule, budget and risks linked with the project were appropriately managed by
the skilled project team members that resulted in project success (Chi, Bunker and Kajewski 2016).
Thus it can be deduced that a project’s success is largely linked with the choice of an appropriate and
skilled project team and development of a realistic project plan. Along with that, accurate
understanding and identification of the risks in the project can help in eliminating the major risks thus
continuing the normal execution of a project.
Project Management Failure:
Ineffective Project Management is one critical reasons behind a project’s failure. Similar is the case
for Queensland Health Payroll Project. This project is a classic and one most prominent example of
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Assignment 1 - Project Fundamentals
project failure, because of ineffective project management. None of the project management
knowledge areas were successfully executed in this project that led to project failure. The project
could neither be completed within the set time nor could be finished within the budget allocated (Glass
2013). The main reasons of failure of this project accounts to inappropriate resource allocation,
inappropriate scope identification, misaligned project goals and lack of proper communication among
the project team members. The project aimed in developed of an updated payroll software for
management of the payroll of over 65000 workers by replacing their soon to be obsolete existing
payroll system (Eden and Sedera 2014). However, from the very beginning, the project proved to be a
disaster mainly because of an ineffective project team and improper project management. The project
was complex, however, the complexity of the project was underestimated and therefore, a minimal
time was dedicated for identification of the project scope that led to project improper scope
identification (Thite and Sandhu 2014). Another factor that backed up the project’s failure was
unrealistic project schedule. The project was set to be implemented in seven months by IBM which
was next to impossible. As indicated in PMBOK, project communication among the team members is
a vital consideration for successful project management. Ineffective communication among the
project team was an example of ineffective project management that added to project failure. Apart
from that, lack of identifiable objectives further led to the project failure. Project leader or project
manager has a crucial role in ascertaining that the team is working as per plan (Ratsiepe and
Yazdanifard 2011). However, in this case, Inexperienced Leadership further affected the normal
operation of the project leading to its failure. The discussed factors resulted in the failure of this vital
project. The project was delayed by 2 years and went almost 300% over budget (Asgarkhani et al.
2017). The project is known to be a classic example of project management failure mainly because
from the start of the project, the team has showed ineffective project management and execution.
Apart from that the project lacked proper governance and monitoring. The system testing was done at
the end leading to increase in the complexity of the issues identified as at that stage, it was difficult to
address all the bugs in such a limited span of time (Kogekar 2013). Since the project could not comply
with the project management processes and the guidelines of PMBOK, the project can be
acknowledged as failure.
2.2 Part B - Defining Project Scope, Budget and Schedule
Project scope, budget and schedule are three important considerations of project management. This
section of the report will be defining the scope, budget and the schedule of the project.
Project Scope: Project scope can be described as an essential need of project planning that helps in
defining and documenting the definite goals, project deliverables and the schedule of the project
(Crawford 2014). The project’s scope therefore documents the area of the work to be completed in a
project. Project scope identification is important for describing the major goals and the project
deliverables. Scope identification is crucial to limit the boundaries of the project. Improper scope
identification often results in project failure as it indicates that the specific needs of the project is not
correctly defined (Muller 2017). The process of scope identification involves a number of planned
stages, which include, identification of the project needs, confirmation of the main goals and project
objectives, identification of the project constraints and clear identification of the changes that might be
needed in the project.
Project Budget: Clear definition of the project budget is an important consideration for successful
project execution. The budget of the project can be defined as the total number of authorised financial
resources that is allocated for a project for a specific time period (Fleming and Koppelman 2016). The
project’s budget is mainly defined at the beginning of the project as the project budget document
generally constitute the needed funds for implementation of a project and producing the project
deliverables. Project Budgeting is further defined as a technique that generally estimates the efforts
needed for execution of a project and also for setting up of a fixed budget of a project. Budgeting is an
important consideration of project management as an accurate budget estimation prevents
unnecessary costs expenditure while the project is being executed. A project budget generally
indicates detailed estimation of all the expenses that can likely be incurred in a project before the
project is completed. Large and commercial projects might include project budget which can be
several pages long (Heagney 2016). A project budget might be revised a number of times before
finalization. If a project goes over budget, it indicates ineffective project management and in some
cases, it indicates project failure. Thus, accurate project budgeting play a crucial role in project
management.
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Assignment 1 - Project Fundamentals
Project Schedule: In context of project management, the scheduling in a project can be illustrated as
listing of the milestone of the project, the main project deliverables and the intended start and the
finish date of a project. The main purpose of project scheduling is optimization of the main resources
that are allocated to the project team (Meredith, Mantel Jr and Shafer 2017). One benefit of effective
project scheduling is that it allows the project team in making a better cost estimation or cost forecast
for successful project execution. Effective project scheduling outlines the start and the end date for
successful completion of each tasks in a project (de Carvalho, Patah and de Souza Bido 2015). There
are a number of techniques of project scheduling which incorporates development of Gantt chart,
PERT diagram and CPM. Scheduling is important mainly because it helps in creation of the work
schedules linked with success of a project. Project’s schedule further outlines the main milestone of
an undertaken project and further represents the clear sequence of the events.
Project Management Triangle-Triple Constraint: The main constraints of a project is defined by the
project management triangle that is indicated in the figure below.
Figure 1: Illustrating the Triple Constraint
(Source: Tinoco et al. 2016)
The triple constraint indicate that the success of any project is largely influenced by the budget,
deadline and the project features. It mainly determines the boundaries of a particular project. It is a
valuable tool for prioritizing the tasks to be completed as a part of the project and further helps the
project manager in effective decision making. This is possible as triple constrain determines the
combination of the three of the most significant restrictions in a project and therefore, this triangle is
often termed as iron triangle. The triangle indicates that in order to maintain and deliver a quality
project, correct definition and correct prioritization of the time, scope and cost of a project is necessary
(Serrador and Turner 2015). Scope creep in any project is a significant reason of project failure while
correct estimation of the time required to complete a project ascertains its success. Estimation of the
project cost is linked with the effort needed for execution of a project as per plan. Thus, the triple
constraint can be considered as an important tool for determining the project success.
2.3 Part C - Agile Project Management
The agile project management (APM) is considered to be an iterative process that is executed in an
incremental approach to deliver the main requirements throughout the execution of the project life
cycle (Crowder and Friess 2015). The APM approach provides the most needed flexibility for
customers’ collaboration among the project team. In this approach, the response to the needed
changes are provided in a structured manner to work over a comprehensive documentation. APM
mainly focuses on the overall management of a project (Stare 2014). This particular methodology
mainly aims in continuous iteration for proper development and effective testing of a software all
throughout the lifecycle of software development. The APM method is mainly utilized for developing
software and it is a process that helps in responding to the unpredictable nature of constructing a
software. There are several significant benefits of making use of APM approach.
Benefits: The execution of any project by using APM method indicate certain significant benefits.
These advantages and benefits are indicated as follows-
High Product Quality: The implementation of a project by agile method indicate a high project quality
as product testing is mainly integrated during the project execution lifecycle. This indicated that
regular product testing is enforced that helps in delivery of a superior quality product.
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Assignment 1 - Project Fundamentals
High Customer Satisfaction: The feedback of the customers are seriously considered while execution
of a project and therefore a product is developed as per the needs of the customers. This indicates a
high customer satisfaction (Hoda and Murugesan 2016).
Increased Project Control: One significant benefit of APM is that it offers an increased project control
in comparison to other project methodologies. Since the project is being executed in an iterative
approach, it is possible to enforce better control on all the stages of project execution. Furthermore,
the transparency in project execution enforces better control on the project.
Reduced Risks: Since in this approach of project implementation, the project is executed as per the
needs of the customers, it eliminates the major reasons of project failure (Dybå, Dingsøyr and Moe
2014). This is achieved by execution of a project in terms of short sprints and by adapting to the
customers’ needs.
Opportunities: Agile project management is beneficial in a number of aspects. Along with that, there
are certain opportunities linked with completion of the project by following this particular method.
1. It is a flexible process and involve development of a project as per the requirements of the client
2. It is inherently collaborative in nature and provides greater project visibility (Serrador and Pinto
2015)
3. It provides an opportunity of effectively prioritize the project works as per the customers’ needs
4. It provides an opportunity of comprehensive documentation which might be useful for subsequent
projects.
Comparison with Traditional Forms of Project Management-
The benefits of agile project methodology can be well identified by comparing it with the traditional
forms of project management. In software development, the traditional model generally refers to the
waterfall model. There are various distinction between agile model and waterfall model. Agile model is
iterative while the waterfall model is not iterative. Waterfall is more of a sequential model which
indicates that testing phase is completed towards the final phase of the project. This is however, not
the case for agile method as in this method testing is done at the end of every phase. Agile method
generally tend to deliver a better flexibility and adaptability in project implementation process in
comparison to the waterfall model. The feature of increased flexibility and adaptability further helps in
reduction of majority of the risk (Špundak 2014.). Apart from that the agile method is known for
following the exact requirements set by the customers. Agile method is an iterative method that is
known for understanding the needs of the customers. However, this is not the case for traditional
model. Adaption to any change during project execution is easier in agile method while in traditional
method incorporation of any change while the project is in its execution stage is completely
impossible. Thus, it can be said that agile method is more flexible in comparison to the other
traditional forms of project management.
Suitable Projects: Certain projects be implement well with agile approach while projects of longer
duration and increased complexity might be difficult to implement with this approach (Conforto et al.
2014).
Any software development project such as ERP implementation, website deployment, and application
development can be appropriately completed with agile methods, while project involving construction
may not be suitable to be implemented with agile.
3 Conclusion
The report analyses the main concepts of project management to define the reason behind success
and failure of a project. The report provides an example of a successful project and a failed project to
discuss the main components of project management. The project’s success is dependent on a skilled
project team and the manager’s ability to plan and execute a project in an accurate manner. The main
reason of project failure involves ineffective leadership, improper communication and improper scope
identification. The report further defines the concept of scope, schedule and budget which is important
for project execution. In this context triple concept of project management is discussed that helps in
prioritization of the main project management tasks. The main concepts of APM is discussed in the
report and the distinction of agile method with the traditional forms of project management is further
discussed in the report. The agile method is quite effective in terms of development of a software
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Assignment 1 - Project Fundamentals
while for other projects, agile method may not be that effective. This, it can be deduced that
successful project management is a key to ascertain successful project completion. Project issues
and risks can be reduced if proper project management methods are followed for execution and
completion of a project. Choice of a right project method along with skilled project team is necessary
to ascertain project’s success. Along with that, accurate scope identification and identification of the
deliverables of the project is equally necessary to ascertain success of any undertaken project. Proper
schedule estimation also has a vital role to play in execution of a project as a realistic schedule needs
to be set so that all the project requirements are fulfilled.
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Assignment 1 - Project Fundamentals
4 References
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