Project Management VII Research Paper

BBA 3626, Project Management Overview 1

Course Learning Outcomes for Unit VII Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:

7. Identify the steps for closing a project.

Reading Assignment Chapter 15: Finishing the Project and Realizing the Benefits

Unit Lesson Consider the following quote from George Santayana, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to relive it” (as cited in Larson & Gray, 2014, p. 511). Unit VII will discuss closing projects. Many projects do not end well, or it is unclear when the project has actually ended. Many types of closure exist such as normal, premature, perpetual, failed project, and changed priority. Normal is nothing more than a completed project which may include modifications in scope, cost, and schedule changes during the implementation of the project. Premature projects are projects that end early with some parts of the project eliminated. A perpetual project is a never ending project. Things keep getting added to this type of project. Failed projects are just that. These projects are not successful for many reasons, some because of circumstances beyond the control of the team. Changed priority projects are ones that go through a revamp based on an organizations’ priorities changing or strategy shifting (Larson & Gray, 2014). One example project to consider is the Germany electronic truck toll collection system project which was to commence in 2003. The objective of this project was to ensure that accurate charges and easy fee collections was to be applied across Swiss, German, and Austrian highways. Global positioning technology (GPS) was the technology to be employed with “telecommunications, and software to record miles and charges without using toll booths along the highways” (Larson & Gray, 2014, p. 513). The project was doomed from the beginning with an over aggressive timeline which was unrealistic and unobtainable. The project was plagued by technical difficulties such as failing software and truck tracking units. The software failed to function as agreed upon. The project also suffered interoperability communication issues between public and private stakeholders. The bottom line is the project was a failure and the deadline for delivery was never met. Even after new deadlines for delivery were agreed upon, the deadlines were never met. Eventually the project was canceled. This electronic toll project failure had far reaching implications. Other government programs were affected by the failure of this project. Basically, projected revenues were not received that were allowed or slotted for a high speed train in Munich and other infrastructure projects. One of the lessons learned in this project was the importance of good project management knowledge. The risks were not identified and assessed properly for this complex technology. Also, the schedule was over aggressive and really was not thought out thoroughly (Larson & Gray, 2014). The next project to look at has an interesting twist. This project was a replacement of the leather basketball with a newer technology that was deemed amazing and so much better. This new basketball design project occurred in 2006. The new basketball material was microfiber which elated the animal rights advocates. The new design was manufactured by Spalding and included a better grip and feel compared to the leather basketball. No break-in period was needed for the new ball design. The basketball was tested thoroughly in the lab and on the basketball court. At a press conference, an announcement was made that the leather basketball was being replaced by this new microfiber basketball. The new basketball was deemed the best basketball in the world. Unfortunately, the National Basketball Association players were not consulted prior to the announcement of this new basketball. As it turned out, the new microfiber basketball was slippery when it

UNIT VII STUDY GUIDE

Closing a Project

BBA 3626, Project Management Overview 2

UNIT x STUDY GUIDE

Title

came into contact with any amount of sweat and the basketball also proved to cause small cuts on the basketball players’ hands. Several weeks after the new microfiber basketball was introduced into the NBA, the union filed an unfair labor practice suit because the players were not consulted prior to releasing the new microfiber basketball. The result of not getting prior buy-in from the basketball players resulted in returning to the original leather basketball design. The lesson learned in this example is to get buy-in from your end-user. “User involvement is critical to acceptance” (Larson & Gray, 2014, p. 515). Lessons learned are one of the most important contributions of the closure process. The last example relies on lessons learned from a natural disaster that occurred in 2005. This disaster was Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina was one of the deadliest hurricanes ever to strike the United States. Many lives were lost and much property damage occurred. Some of the lessons learned pertaining to the National Guard included lack of communication equipment and lack of procedures and protocols. The National Guard is run by the state, and the state did not do its due diligence when it came to this disaster. Total chaos ensued during this disaster. Lessons learned from this tragic natural disaster should inform future disasters. Even though this tragic disaster was a natural disaster, processes and procedures need to exist to handle these situations. All these examples have one thing in common and that is lessons learned. Lessons learned are the cornerstones of all projects, and the importance of lessons learned cannot be overstated. All closed projects require lessons learned.

References Kloppenborg, T. J. (2015). Contemporary project management (3rd ed.). Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning. Larson, E., & Gray, C. (2014). Project management: The managerial process (6th ed.). New York, NY:

McGraw-Hill.

Learning Activities (Nongraded) Utilizing the ideas in Exhibits 15.1 and 15.3 of your textbook, create a project closeout checklist for a project of one of the following types:

 information systems

 research and development

 quality improvement

 organizational change

Nongraded Learning Activities are provided to aid students in their course of study. You do not have to submit them. If you have questions, contact your instructor for further guidance and information.