Contents
Project Failure Analysis and Risk Management Report
You are required to select a well-published and documented project that failed and through research, perform the following tasks:
Question 1 (25 Marks)
Provide a detailed profile of the project, including its key objectives, and identify at least five (5) key stakeholders involved, critically analysing their roles and influence. Additionally, map these stakeholders on a power/interest grid.
(NB: Conduct your own academic research on the power/interest grid.)
Question 2 (25 Marks)
From a project objectives perspective, analyse the project’s failure and the reasons behind it. Assess the role of communication in the process and discuss the importance of effective communication. Additionally, using the stakeholders identified in Question 1, develop a Project Communication Plan (PCP).
Question 3 (25 Marks)
Utilising the risk breakdown structure of Larson & Gray (2021), identify and assess at least one (1) risk per each category. Your assessment should be qualitative in nature using an appropriate likelihood and impact scale (Hint – a 5×5 Risk Assessment Scale / Matrix).
Question 4 (25 Marks)
In relation to the identified risks in Question 3, discuss the following statement: ‘Not all risks deserve attention, and some risks may be ignored.’ Furthermore, discuss the four (4) risk responses commonly utilised for hazard risks and assess an appropriate response for each identified risk.
Project Management Answers: Expert Answers on Project Failure Case Study
Project profile:
The project selected for the purpose of analysis is Eskom’s Medupi Power Station which has been a South African Mega project faced with significant issues in terms of delays, cost overheads, quality and industrial relations problems. The main objective of the project was to add 4800 MW capacity to Eskom’s fleet, improve the electricity security and support economic growth. The important facts of the project indicates that it is a multi year construction project, heavy equipment imports being done, specialist contractors utilised along with a large local workforce, and significant public funding.
Five keys stakeholders:
The five keys take holders of the project includes the Escom who is the owner of the project, national government performs the role of funder, regulator and political sponsor, main contractors who deliver the technical work, labour unions responsible for regulating the workforce rules and regulations, and local communities that that likely to be directly affected from the project.
Failure analysis and role of communication
An analysis of the failure of the project indicates the main reasons to be the underestimation of technical complexity associated with the project, poor coordination with contractor and quality assurance, weak project governance, industrial problems in the form of strikes, absenteeism and sabotage, funding issues and inadequate testing regimes.
Role of communication: Communication has a serious role to play in the efficient performance of a project which was clearly lacking in the given Eskom project. There were communication breakdowns between owner, contractors and the government, and poor stakeholder management resulted into labour disputes and social opposition. The internal communication failures are also identified in the form of delayed remedial action. It is highly important to have an effective two way communication to make sure that project activities are carried out in an efficient way which was clearly lacking in the given project.
Project communication plan
The communication should be carried out by Eskom executives on weekly basis on topics like governance updates, decision approvals with respect to scheduling, cost and risk management, and change requests and this communication can be performed through executive briefings. The main contractor should communicate onur unions on a weekly basis discussing the issues like safety daily basis discussing the implementation coordination, whereas the labo, employment terms, grievance mechanisms etc. The communication within the local community should be ensured on biweekly basis on topics like community benefits, jobs and environmental mitigation.
Risk identification in the given project
The major types of risk are mainly in the form of technical risk such as the failure of equipment, external risk in terms of regulatory or policy changes, organisational risk such as strikes from labour, project management risk in the form of change orders, financial risk in terms of funding problems, and environmental risk such as not compliance with and environmental policies.
| Disclaimer: This answer is a model for study and reference purposes only. Please do not submit it as your own work. |
