Chapter 7

Project Termination & Project

Management Practices in Bangladesh
 Project Termination:
• Project termination is a situation when a given project is
supposed to be closed or finalized because there’s no more
need for further continuation.

• Project termination is managed under a respective procedure

that requires the management team to examine the current
state of the project work, review the progress of goals and
objectives, evaluate the project against success criteria, and
check the status of deliverables.
 Varieties of project termination:
There are four fundamentally different ways to close out a
project which are extinction, addition, integration, and
starvation.
1. Termination by extinction:
• Project termination by extinction is when a project is stopped
due to either its successful or unsuccessful conclusion.
• Project termination by extinction could happen in the
following cases:
 The project has met its scope and the client has accepted the
project outcome
 The project has failed to achieve its goals
2. Termination by addition:
• Most projects are “in-house” carried out by the project team for
use in the parent organization.
• If a project is a major success, it may be terminated by
institutionalizing it as a formal part of the parent organization.

3. Termination by integration:
• This method of terminating a project is the most common way
of dealing with a successful project.
• The property; equipment, material, personnel, and functions of
the project are distributed among the existing elements of the
parent organization.
4. Termination by starvation:
• Project termination by starvation can occur for several
reasons. These reasons could include things such as politics,
or even just general budget cuts.

• Many argue that project termination by starvation is not an act

of termination at all. Many believe that termination by
starvation is in reality a willful form of neglect.
 Project Management Practices in Bangladesh

 Authorities involved in managing projects in

Bangladesh
• Different authorities are involved in managing projects in
Bangladesh who work at different stages of a project life
cycle according to their responsibilities in a particular
area:
• Owners and management authorities of the concerned
project
• Different corporation and functional executive authority
• Ministry of Industry, Ministry of Planning, and Ministry of
Finance
• Departmental Project Evaluation Committee (DPEC)
• Planning department of Planning Commission and Planning
Cell of different ministry
• Project Evaluation Committee (PEC)
• External Resource Department of Foreign Ministry (ERD)
• National Economic Council (NEC)
• Executive Committee of National Economic Council
(ECNEC)
• Implementation, Monitoring, and Evaluation department of
Planning Ministry (IMED)
 Classifications of development projects in Bangladesh
• The projects initiated for the socio-economic development of
Bangladesh can be categorized on the basis of three different
dimensions. These are:

1. Size of investment: On the basis of investment size and

degree, there are three types of projects that are approved by
different authorities. That is:
2. Project benefit: On the basis of benefit, projects are
classified into three categories:

• Project X: This type of project is directly related to a

manufacturing project where goods are being produced
through processing. ‘Industrial project’ is a good example
of an X project.

• Project Y: This type of project is also related to the

production sector but basically facilitates the other projects.
‘Land development project’ is a typical example of this
type of project.
• Project Z: This type of project is taken to ensure social
welfare without having any profit intention. ‘Educational
institutions’ and ‘public hospitals’ are under this category.

3. Project priority: On the basis of national economic strategy

and priority based on demand, projects can be classified into
two categories:

• Core project: The projects which are taken in order to meet

the emergency situation and increase the physical assets, are
called core projects.
• Non-core project: According to the External Resource
Department (ERD) of the planning ministry, all sorts of the
project except core project is called non-core project.

 Ways of project appraisal in Bangladesh

To appraise the development projects in Bangladesh the
following steps are followed:
1. Collect project Pro-forma (PP) from the agency and then
examine it by the planning cell of ministries in order to find
out the degree of investment, financial viability, and
technical feasibility.
2. If the project investment is more than 5 crore taka, the
ministry further process project Pro-forma and send it to
the related sector division planning ministry.

3. The following points are examined by the planning

commission:
• Is the target achievable by the project?
• Is there an increase in production and employment by the
project
• Financial viability
• Technical feasibility
• External resource
• Place, machine, and other expenses
 Problems with managing projects in Bangladesh
• Crowding of projects (Approval of excess projects than the
necessity, because of political or other reasons)
• Over dependency on foreign aid
• Lack of proper coordination and cooperation between
different ministries, divisions, or agencies
• Delay in approval of the project
• Inadequate resources
• Absence of constant monitoring and evaluation of projects
• Absence of sound plan and political system
• Lack of skilled manpower and sound techniques
• Delay in fund release
• Lack of political commitment
 Suggestions to solve the management problems of
projects in Bangladesh

• The following steps can be taken in order to minimize the

administrative complexities and defects in case of processing
approvals and implementation of development projects in
Bangladesh:
• The objectives of the long term, a five-year plan should be
determined and narrated specifically
• It is to be concerned of national need, availability of
internal resources and possibility of getting foreign aid
and loan at the time of determining of objectives so that
approved projects can be completed in proper time

• Excess projects should be avoided in ADP

• In case of project selection, it should give preference on

national interest, availability of funds and human
resources instead of political commitment and individual
desire

• Project should be selected on the basis of emergency

priority
• Suitable organization structure should be selected for
effective implementation of the project

• The project manager should be provided proper power so

that they can carry out the rendered responsibilities

• Duties and responsibilities of all respective people of the

project should be illustrated clearly

• Modern techniques such as PERT, CPM, CASPAR and MIS

should be applied in case project scheduling and cost
determination
• The red-tapism included in the project should be stopped as
much as possible

• Effective measures should be taken to stop corruption and

indiscipline in project appraisal and implementation

• Suitable and proper administrative system should be

maintained to coordinate the functions of different ministries
and departments of the government

• The tendency of any government to change all activities of

the previous government
• Different cells of IMED should be set at district or division
level so that monitoring of projects would be regular

• The reporting system of the project should be up dated

• The person who is engaged in directing the project should be

properly trained. Training can be provided by foreign, home
and local experts