Poor Guy

anyone know of any successful projects i can use in a project managment assignment?

i have challenged and failed sussed with concorde and beagle 2, but cant think of or find any successful projects.

any ideas?

Brendan Hughes

Any successful shuttle launch/land? What about adding modules to the ISS?

DCI Gene Hunt

Decommissioning of the Shell Brent Spa, a classic example in effective change management as well as stakeholder expectation management!

PeteBrant

Define successful? On time and in budget? Or just completed successfully?

Thames Barrier? Channel tunnel? Humber Bridge?

Jaybird-UK

Dont look at any IT project!

Most public firms have written off failed IT projects in the past year, typically due to poor project management, according to a report from KPMG.

The KMPG study, which covers 134 listed companies in the UK, US, Africa, Australia and Europe, reports that 56 per cent of firms have had to write off at least one IT project in the last year as a failure. The average loss incurred as a result of these failures was about €12.5m, with single biggest write-off costing almost €210m.
(2002 stats)

DCI Gene Hunt

Here's an overview Brent Spa

But there are pages & pages out there about it, even a book if you feel the need....

The 'risk' the project carried was immense, caused a huge backlash against Shell products at one point!

SJ_Skyline

You didn't specify any scope - Engineering? IT? Others?

Look at projects where the customer's expectation has been as carefully managed as much as the work packages and deliverables and you'll find that those are the ones which are typically deemed a success by the supplier and more importantly, the customer.

satancom

Construction of terminal 5 heathrow!

Brendan Hughes

Controversial one (but hey, you've also listed concorde as a failure!) - the rebranding, rebuilding and victory of New Labour in 1997.

David Lock

Beat me to it

Or you could have a bit of fun and research something from the past. I think Brunel changed the gauge on a major part of the railway system. He closed the lines on a Friday at 5.30 in the evening and they were open again on Monday......... I wonder if WikiWhatsIt has anything on this? dl

rossyboy

iTrader: (8)

I seem to remember the Sydney Olympics in 2000 being well managed.

SJ_Skyline

How about the Pyramids as a nightmare of a logistics and engineering project?

2.5 million stone blocks weight 2.5 tonnes each, a workforce of several hundred thousand and a customer that will have you put to death if you don't deliver? (Puts you off working for the public sector, eh?)

David Lock

Stonehenge??

SJ_Skyline

As a good or bad project? For all we know it could have been delivered 200 years late and 0.5 million flint spearheads over budget. By this time it could have been obsolete and the Druids would have found themselves forced down a painful upgrade path, tied into the single Welsh supplier...

speedking

Emirates Stadium

Reality

Y2K.

Have an immovable deadline and your project will work

David Lock

Yeah - you could be right - didn't think of that

Anyway it was obviously delivered to the wrong address - far too close to the road

dl

Poor Guy

wow! thanks a lot guys. Its for my Engineering HND, I looked at a few like the chunnel (had numerous false starts and interest in the project came and went), apollo 11 (which landed in the wrong place) but couldnt find anything like the Brent Spa project.

thanks!

Kuro

How about these; plenty to talk about... Typhoon and Astute

SWRTWannabe

Sure I watched a Clarkson documentary about Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and how he changed the entire line from Paddington to the South West from his broad gauge to the standard used by the other main railway companies. In a weekend.

That must have taken some planning. Wonder how many rail replacement buses he had to employ

worley

Think local - your local or county council should have managed some construction project over the past few years possibly running into several million pounds. You might be able to speak to the person who ran the project etc etc.

If not, something a bit bigger might be the millenium bridge / Tate modern project.


Nik

Poor Guy

aye, theres a few projects around doncaster. all ****e.

doncaster college being the biggest, months behind schedule and ran out of money very early on.

the st georges bridge, currently sinking.

the keepmoat stadium, which is another disaster, VERY poorly located.


I have to look out of this dump for a successful project

satancom

Could always do the St Pancras project which has just been completed... btw reason i talk about T5 and CTRL 105 is I was involved