Running head: WHY DO PROJECTS FAIL?

Why Do Projects Fail?

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Introduction

Failing of projects is a common phenomenon in the current society. From past experiences and

historical recordings, there have been various projects that have been on the verge of collapsing

or totally get canceled because of various reasons. In this respect, the need to understand why

projects have been explained in this paper explicitly. Project management related issues have

been described to give the prospects of the rampant failing projects. More so, the technological

advancement has provided criteria to which the causative agents of the projects failures can be

attributed to. Therefore, the causes of the project failures have been described explicitly so as

future related issues can be avoided by the project management committees.

Underfunding of the Projects

A speculation on the failure of past projects has been attributed to less allocation of the projects

that have been designed by the individuals and even organizations. Resources, in essence, refer

to all the needed items, whether monetary, skills or even human power that is needed in the

successful implementation of the projects. Basically, monetary items are usually the most

critical. All projects need funds for them to be laid out. It is the funds that appreciate the skills

employed in the firms that seek projects implementations. Therefore, unduly funded projects are

usually more susceptible to failures, more so in the current world markets.

Poor Visualization of the Project objectives

A well-laid project would always be objective in defining its capabilities and strengths in the

market. Where a project lacks proper objectives, goals, and missions, it is highly likely to fail.

The management should always give a clear visualization of the successes that the project can

attain in case of successful implementation. The problems that may arise during the actual
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implementation process should be well-defined and modified to avert the risks attributed to the

failures. Specifically, the technological world has caused stochastic variables that ought to be

projected in order to ascertain the associated risks. Failure of this, project failures would still be

evident on the society.

Project Complexity

Apart from project management, the projects being implemented can be a setback too. Projects

should be outward in their description in order to avoid the generally accepted conformation that

the projects have to be complex. The speculated time to undertake them have to be well

structured in order to have a consistent procedure of tasks. A well-structured project shall always

be easy to implement. In addition, project complexity can be described from the mode of

implementation. Succession planning and strategic management are usually responsible for

correcting project complexity. Projects should be clear, simple and easy to undertake. However,

they should be comprehensive to maintain professionalism in undertaking entrepreneurial

projects.

Over-Expectations

The rationality of the requirements and projected attainable results should be focused on. For

instance, the objectives of a project should be well-framed to fit the scope of implementation. In

some cases, the project developers tend to be over-confident on the world market. However,

uncertainty risks have to be considered with the internal and external factors. More so in the

current world markets, the technology related projects should be rationalized to consider the

chances of success in the competitive world. In the 1950s, IBM had a project that was aimed at

developing the world’s fastest computer. The expectations of realizing the fastest computer,
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however, were overambitious to the company’s expectations. IBM ended up investing heavily in

an overambitious project. Due to the technological market volatility and uncertainty, IBM had to

make huge losses in the project. Therefore, the company was forced to halt production

machinery in order to avert similar risks in the future. From the incident, projects should be well-

analyzed and researched on to prove viability. Over-expectations in the project ambitions should

be addressed on since they are the most probable causes.

Communication Management

The executives in the implementation of the projects have to be cautious in the way they relay of

information is carried out. In most cases, executives tend to complain that they do not have

visibility of the ongoing enterprise projects. This is due to the failure of project managers who

often give out project schedules at the onset of the project undertaking. For the rest time in

project execution, they become gatekeepers. Information on the progress of the project always

loses the limelight of the executives. In the end, when the projects are on the verge of collapsing,

they give information which will not reverse the impacts that have been experienced in the

project. In essence, this is due to misinformation that occurred. Poor communication

management results in shattered objectives and missing of the project's aims. Projects usually

have to be corrected and fixed where possible, at early stages so as to remain relevant to the cost

management committee in the company.

Poor Prioritization of Tasks

Project managers and team members usually have a role in this issue. The choice of the tasks to

be laid out at specific timelines should always be updated frequently to maintain the operations

of the project. When a task exceeds the speculated period to be implemented, it should always be
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corrected or terminated to pave way for other activities. However, this needs the project

managers to be flexible and objective in the laying out of the tasks to implement. In essence,

some tasks are more important than others in project management schedule. Some tasks tend to

be repetitive. They should be omitted or reduced so as to keep a close track on the underlying

tasks. In many instances in the past, some projects have been reported to have failed due to the

misappropriation of the tasks to consider than the others.

Overloaded Resources

Allocation of the resources in the organization plays a major role in the implementation of the

project. It is a common aspect of the executives to delegate assignment of resources to project

managers. Project managers seem to flood the project implementation with excessive resources

at short spans of time, with the expectation to do haste in achieving the expected objectives.

What comes up, as a result, is undesirable many projects to work on a limited time. With many

tasks to undertake, the success of the project is deemed to fail. Some of the projects will be

forgotten at the expense of others. The team members are often compelled to work extra time so

as to realize the success of the project parts. In most cases, projects with overloaded resources

would tend to fail.

Conflicts of Interest

This is evident where project managers, team members, and executives have intra-personal or

interpersonal conflicts arising from within the scope of the project development and

implementation. Projects should be well-guided and shared equally in the planning and

execution. If conflicts of interest emerge during the project formulation process, they ought to be

solved amicably with the help of selected leaders and intervention of executive managers. In the
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implementation process, reshuffling of the staff consistently can help reduce the

misunderstandings that may arise.

Change in Governmental Policies

During the implementation of the project, the policies of the government safeguarding the

undertaking of activities on certain prospects usually changes. The tax impositions may be

escalated by the government with the aim of stemming the ongoing activities on those sectors. In

turn, it would cause the project events to be expensive in laying them out, hence leading to the

failure of projects. On the same note, some rules may be imposed to stop entrepreneurial

practices in some sectors of the economy. Unfortunately, some of the projects that were being

undertaken would have to be locked out.

Conclusion

Understanding project failures is a critical concept to consider in the current world markets.

Taking historical examples and the causes attributed to it should actually be treated extensively.

Project failures can be attributed all the internal and external factors in the environment. The

internal factors usually can be mitigated and influenced by the project implementers. They are

normally at the disposal of the management committee and team members. On the other hand,

external factors usually influence the way of implementing the projects. Project managers,

executives and team members usually have no control over them. In response to the external

factors, project implementers have no otherwise than to cope with those factors. Therefore, the

causes of project failures should be considered to avoid the risks of terminating valuable projects

in the future markets. Extensive research has to be laid out by the responsible parties.
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Obadia, Bett. (2018). Why Projects Fail. Project Management Journal. Vol 1. 7.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326683611_Why_Projects_Fail/citation/download
WHY DO PROJECTS FAIL? 8

References

Cândido, C. J., & Santos, S. P. (2015). Strategy implementation: What is the failure

rate?. Journal of Management & Organization, 21(2), 237-262.

Davis, K. (2014). Different stakeholder groups and their perceptions of project

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Kerzner, H., & Kerzner, H. R. (2017). Project management: a systems approach to planning,

scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.

Lientz, B., & Rea, K. (2016). Breakthrough technology project management. Routledge.