1

Syeda Hiba Badar - 21534

Project Management - Assignment # 2 Case Analysis

1. Successful projects are the ones that are defined by how they meet business requirements,
that are maintained as well as delivered at the given time, are completed and maintained
within the given budget and deliver the expected returns as well as return of investment.
No doubt, there are many factors that contribute in the success of any given project, but
the importance of any factors is not important. It is effective strategies of project
management as well as governance practices that make the projects more successful.
Since the success of the project is based on named factors, but there are various factors
that also contribute to the overall failure of the projects. Criteria of success for different
projects are different and there is no space for one-fits-all. It will not be wrong to add
here that the success criteria are what are defined by the overall nature of the projects.
Since the projects can be for a large scale, for the smaller scale, thus success criteria is
based on the scales and expected outcomes of the projects. The failure of projects is more
defined by the inputs and overall contribution of the stakeholders and users, and even
when the overall requirements of the project has not been defined in a proper manner. It
is important that changes in project specifications, scheduling or requirements be not
changed suddenly and without any notifications, since these untold changes can lead to
unexpected failure of the projects.
2. Project management is rather a challenge that requires additional skills. Is there any doubt
for the fact that the project manager needs to be an effective leader. It is the project
manager that, in simple words, has to manage the project, but since the project is defined
by the people involved in the project; the foremost skill of the project manager is to lead
its people. It is important that the project leaders provide adequate support to its team and
people. Project managers are the ones supposed to prove full support and leadership to its
people. The project managers need to focus on the success of its team members, as with
the guidance of the leaders, the team gets the best of guidance for their development. It is
 2

important that the project managers allocate work to the team members according to their
skills1.
3. It is the project managers that define the success or failure of any given project. He is the
one that promises to deliver the project with all its outputs as anticipated by the
stakeholders. Any issues and obstacles that are faced during the project are the ones that
need to be dealt in a proper manner that can help in effective completion of the project.
Thereby there is no doubt that in case of failure of the project, it is only the project
manager that can be blamed. However, this is all that is in the books, there are many
other elements that can effectively contribute in the failure of the project. This can
include project manager lacking leadership skills, ineffective communication with project
team, failure to choose skilled team for the project and inefficient risk analysis of project
risks.
4. There is no doubt that the two projects in the case have been succesfull. The Opera
House is rather a symbol of Australia and there is no need telling anyone about this
symbol. It is a reflection of Australia as a nation2. The success of these projects is based
on the success of the project teams and how these teams have connected and
communicated in order to make these projects a success. Opera house is a symbol in
Australia that needs no details or introduction. The success of the rail project is also
defined by the fact that it is defined as at distinction. However, there is always room for
improvement and there is a need to know that the success of these projects could have
been defined in a better manner with the help of better communication with the team
members. It is the risks of these projects that could have been defined in a proper manner,
that could have helped in the completion of the projects in a more adequate and timely
manner.
5. There were planning and risk analysis issues that were faced during the completion of
Opera house and Rail project. It was all about the communication and proper risk
assessment that led to many issues. but there is no doubt that timely lessons learned is
what makes these projects an example for even the smaller and bigger projects in hand in

1
Walker, A. (2015). Project Management in Construction. John Wiley & Sons.
2
GilbertSilvius. (2017). Sustainability as a new school of thought in project management. Journal of
Cleaner Production.
 3

Pakistan. Resources is not the main issue here, as is thought by most project managers in
Pakistan’s business cycles; it is the risks and communication that needs more focus by
Pakistan based project managers3.

Bibliography
GilbertSilvius. (2017). Sustainability as a new school of thought in project management. Journal
of Cleaner Production.

Picciotto, R. (2020). Towards a ‘New Project Management’ movement? An international

development perspective. International Journal of Project Management.

Walker, A. (2015). Project Management in Construction. John Wiley & Sons.

3
Picciotto, R. (2020). Towards a ‘New Project Management’ movement? An international development
perspective. International Journal of Project Management.