Why projects fail pdf

Technical Tasks 2. Client Acceptance 3. Monitoring and Feedback 3. Cannunicetion 3. Trouble-shooting 3. The ccmplete set of success-measure variables are included i n Appendix I.

W x c e s s 1 - The Implementation Process" i s conposed of variables 2, 3, and 9. The aggregate success measure contains variables 2 through Cronbach alpha scores, ceived success or failure of a project.

Table I11 gives the used to assess measure reliabilities for the 10 critical factors results of the factor analysis. Perceived quality was the second factor determined, Respondents were also asked to identify the project's cur- accounting for The implementation pro- rent life cycle stage Strategy or Tactics.

Not surprisingly, cess factor also emerged with 9. Total the majority of respondents chose projects in the tactical variance in project failure explained by the three factor stage. Because such projects are closer to completion, there solution was Item 1 of the 13 item set of project tends to be less ambiguity about project success or failure. The three distinct aspects of project stage. Table V relates the causes of project failure to life cycle Table I v shows the results of the first analysis, examining stage, either Strategy or Tactics.

Of the projects assessed as ing fai1ure for construction projects? Trouble-shooting inadequacies ceived value of the project and client satisfaction. As further suggesting that the perceived Of project support for this view, and in a rare of conceptual ure will vary, depending upon the performance criteria em- neatness consider that the predictor of project failure is lack ployed. For example, when internal efficiency imple- predictor a variety of project failure criteria, other mentation process is to define ineffective issues such as lack of adequate personnel, ineffective schedul- scheduling is strongly related to failure.

When client satisfac- ing, lack of client acceptance, and inadequate technical sup- tion is the failure criterion, personnel and monitoring and port are also differentially important predictors of tactical feedback have strong predictive impact. When internal as- failure. Failure factors, see Table 5 under what circumstances should projects be terminated. Even when field studies predictors of project failure. This finding confirms recent work that demon- project life cycle, and project types were the result e.

The emphasis on generalization includes such compara- differ dramatically across different lines of business or types tively recent and elegant studies as [5], [17]. It is, incidentally, iosyncratic to the firm, perhaps to the project. By necessity interesting to note that the factors associated with failure are anecdotal, work with this orientation reported in detail on a not simply one-minus the success factors, though there are specific project and allowed readers to adopt whatever con- similarities in the lists see Table VI.

A final important finding of this study lies in the identifica- Recent work by Baker et al. Having contributed to both addressed, are strongly associated with project failure.

This extreme positions in the past, we sought to join them. Our should be of practical benefit to project managers. What constitutes project failure for trouble-shooting for the project. This research clearly implies that the causes of project There are certainly important causes of project failure that failure viewed as the deficiency or lack of various critical were not accounted for in this study, environmental factors, factors are strongly contingent on how the organization for instance.

Our will make use of it. We feel that future research should examine the relative problems will be minimal, because the project will be readily proportion of projects failing due to unforeseen circum- accepted by its intended users. That is likely because large projects tend to be more complex. Although success rates increased, and failure rates decreased during the six years of the study, the numbers still indicate a problem.

Before answering this question, it is important to consider a failure example of an IT project. The National Research Council saw no evidence that backup and contingency plans had been formalized. Science Application International Corporation said it delivered the first phase of the project ahead of schedule and under budget, but the requirements for the software changed more than one time after the September 11, terrorist attacks on the USA Gross, The office of the inspector general found that FBI was still defining the requirements after two years since the start of the project Fine, Glenn, The example of Virtual Case File gives a high level overview of the difficulties to successful completion of complex IT projects.

The example has shown that the difficulties are related more to the people than the technology itself Tilmann and Weinberger, , even though technology may increase complexity. Why IT projects fail? The project team, the suppliers, the customers and other stakeholders can all provide a source of failure, but the most common reasons for project failure are rooted in the project management process itself and the aligning of IT with organizational cultures Tilmann and Weinberger, Based on a research carried out by the Coverdale Organization Cushing, , the respondents identified estimation mistakes, unclear project goals and objectives, and project objectives changing during the project as key factors in project failures.

Most large IT projects are planned these days, but that is not enough. Most projects have major milestones, and the problem is that the work continues throughout each milestone Humphrey, ; implementing sometimes starts before plan completion and continues through most of the testing.

A fundamental reason the Virtual Case File software project fail was due to poor planning. It was found for example that very little code had been released to test Gross, IT projects are full of start to finish relationship.

Many activities can only start once another activity is completed and approved. The critical path is important, because any deviation from the schedule in this path could cause entire project failure Fichter, Detailed plans are not effective for managing IT work.

The reason is that the managers do not know enough about the work to make detailed plans Humphrey, Team members might make their own plan but most of them do not want to. They would rather implement the solution. Few of them have the skills and experience to make complete plans, and there is a big risk in trusting them in producing their own plans that will meet management objectives Humphrey, Every IT project involves some degree of risk.

Not doing an explicit risk calculation is one of the major problems with project planning Armour, I'm a business graduate with 5 years experience as a web writer. I've written everything from in-depth business reports and magazine articles to product descriptions for ecommerce websites. What Is Project Quality Management? How to Write a Project Report. Top 10 Reasons Why Projects Fail. Best Construction Project Management Software Mobile CRM — Your workforce have gone mobile.

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The organizational context The organizational context of the project is questioned with the roles, reference and project types asked to evaluate the management team around the project. This is including sponsorship, power, and politics. The systems context Questions are asked to evaluate the managers role in the change process.

To what extent is planning and control a part of the existing processes? Piloting To ensure that the questionnaire is understandable, direct and unbiased, a pilot was carried out as a part of the designing. The process followed: Designing draft cover letter, instructions and questionnaire Piloting with 5 colleagues, who also were asked to state: o How much time was spent answering the questions?

Testing the analysis facilities of the questionnaire on the basis of the pilot. Sampling unit The target group of the research is the Danish industry investigating the patterns in relation to project failure and the managers role.

Sampling procedure The approach will be a non-probability sampling, and the Danish companies will be approached in two ways: A sample of convenience, by using the Henley in Denmark database of MBA students and graduates. A judgment sample where the author is mailing the questionnaire to good targets known by the author. Brand, IBM, Ericsson, and others. A sample list is not provided due to promised confidentiality, but is available for further use if it is found necessary to repeat the findings.

Sample size and target representation The objective for the questionnaire is that the number of responses exceeds 50 in order to have substantial material.

The sampling method of the target group is not represented in a way that is statistically significant to allow calculation of sampling errors. The sample size of respondents may be insufficient. These are facts to be taken into consideration when concluding from the material.

The questionnaire was created by the tools provided by: www. The anonymity of the answers should remove fear that the. In addition, respondents can give anonymous answers therefore there is no reason for giving biased or dishonest answers.

There are several open questions where the respondent is free to write down his or her thoughts on the subject. Therefore, the open answers will be analysed in detail and compared to the analysis of the closed questions. From this file, respondent ratings are represented in numerical form allowing statistical analysis on all closed questions by the help of Microsoft Excel and Access. Open questions are represented by a text string in the tools from Microsoft and can be listed for analysis.

A presentation of the analysis is outlined in appendices D to G. Appendix B Questionnaire Appendix B. The experience is that projects have a tendency to be of great importance in the beginning, but in the end when the results are to be implemented, focus has changed. As a part of my MBA dissertation, I carry out a questionnaire survey to analyse the reasons for failure in strategic change projects.

I would like you to participate in my survey by filling a questionnaire. It will take you minutes to answer the questions. I would be very grateful if you are able to do so before: Tuesday the 8th of June Your response remains strictly confidential, though I would be grateful if you would supply your E-mail address at the end to allow me to contact you, if there should be any questions to your answers.

If you have any questions, I would be grateful if you would contact me by E-mail or phone. I wish you a nice, sunny summer! Appendix B. When answering the questions please think of a strategic change project that you have experienced during your working life, that either failed to be implemented, or faced severe problems during its way towards implementation. Examples of strategic change issues are: Changes to business strategy in terms of new markets or products Improvement strategy in terms of major IT projects, restructuring, reengineering of business processes, culture projects, etc.

Turnaround strategy in terms of cost reduction, downsizing etc. Changes to growth strategy in terms of mergers, acquisitions, or divestments. Please choose the answers that you think fit your perception. If there are questions that you do not understand or do not wish to answer you simply skip them.

Thank you once again for your time. What is the size of your company, number of employees? What is the age of the company, in years? What industry sector are you working in? Manufacturing Service Government Other 6. Which role did you have in the strategic change project? Sponsor power to approve and sanction change Agent responsible for the change project management Advocate Supporting change, but with no power to sanction it What type of strategic change project was to be implemented?

Turnaround strategy Crisis management, downsizing, cost reduction External growth strategy Acquisition, divestment, merger, alliance Other 9. To whom did the project manager of the strategic project refer? The top manager Top management A middle manager Another project manager A coordinator To which extent did the political game in the company influence the success rate Scale 1 to 5, where 1 is no influence and 5 is high influence Please describe shortly how the political game were experienced With your project in mind, do you consider each issue fulfilled?

Having the project in mind, please state your degree of agreement to the following statements: agree, partly agree, partly disagree, disagree, do not know : The objectives of the project were known and clearly stated Project scope was clearly defined The vision and strategy of the strategic change project is known at all levels of the organization The top manager in the company was actively involved in the strategic change project Your own manager was actively involved in the project The management of the project had enough power to get the resources needed for the project Roles and responsibility were clearly defined The management of the project had enough power to implement the project results in the organization The project were coordinated towards other projects in the organization Participants openly declared their opinion about the changes of the strategic change project.

The information level was sufficient through out the project Consequences for not achieving project objectives A sense of urgency existed concerning the importance of the strategic change project Confidence in management has improved considerably during the change project The financial resources allocated to the project were sufficient and the budgets meet with expectations.

Milestones were used in project planning All project activities were scheduled The line organization participated by supplying resources The line managers adapted the project results Control and adjustment processes ensured project scope was aligned with overall business strategy Having the project in mind, please state the importance of the following statements: high, some, less, none : The objectives of the project were known and clearly stated Project scope was clearly defined The vision and strategy of the strategic change project is known at all levels of the organization The top manager in the company was actively involved in the strategic change project Your own manager was actively involved in the project The management of the project had enough power to get the resources needed for the project Roles and responsibility were clearly defined The management of the project had enough power to implement the project results in the organization The project was coordinated towards other projects in the organization Participants openly declared their opinion about the changes of the strategic change project.

The information level were sufficient through out the project Consequences for not achieving project objectives A sense of urgency existed concerning the importance of the strategic change project Confidence in management has improved considerably during the change project The financial resources allocated to the project were sufficient and the budgets meet with expectations Milestones were used in project planning All project activities were scheduled The line organization participated by supplying resources The line managers adapted the project results Control and adjustment processes ensured project scope was aligned with overall business strategy.

Have you learned from the project? Please shortly describe the main learning points What do you consider to be the greatest barriers for a successful project? This is the end of the questionnaire. Please enter your E-mail address as a reference to your response.

Your answers remain strictly confidential in the dissertation. I plan to select 15 respondents for a telephone interview. Please allow me to contact you by supplying name and phone number. I thank you for answering the questionnaire. Best regards, Henrik Schriver. Appendix C - The PERIL database Over the past ten years, in the context of a series of workshops on risk management, Tom Kendrick - the author of the book: Identifying and Managing Project Risk has asked hundreds of project leaders to describe typical past project problems, defining both what went wrong and the amount of impact it had on their projects.

It represents a small fraction of the tens of thousands of projects undertaken by the project managers from whom it was collected. PERIL is not unbiased. The information was not collected randomly, and all of it self-reported.

PERIL represents only significant risks. The point of the effort was to collect data on major problems. In spite of this, the risk information collected represents a wide range of typical risks, and a number of instructive patterns emerge. Whatever the type or location, most of these projects share a strong dependence on new technology and most involve software development. Most projects had durations between six months and one year, and typical staffing on these projects was between 10 and 25 people.

In order to normalize the data for analysis and comparison purposes, a consistent measure for "impact" is used. The most typical serious impact reported was deadline slip in weeks , so I estimated an equivalent slippage to this whenever the impact was primarily unplanned overtime, scope reduction, or In cases where the deadline was mandatory, the data reported is the equivalent duration that would have been required if the overtime had been worked on a standard schedule, or the duration that would have been required to restore any deletions from the project scope.

When this was necessary, very conservative estimates were used in making these transformations. The average impact for all records was slightly over five weeks, representing about a 20 percent slip for a typical nine-month project. The averages by project type and by region were consistently very close to the average for all of the data, ranging about four and a half weeks up to six and a half weeks.

Appendix D Correlation analysis To analyze data and to find patterns in the questionnaire, the Data Analysis Pack function in Excel is used to calculate the correlation coefficient between responses. This serves as a guide to find patterns of coherence. All responses of the closed questions are represented in an array of 69 vectors each sized 57 cells N number of answers , and all with numeric values.

For every possible pair of these vectors, the correlation is calculated giving the matrix in figure D. The analysis is used as a guide in where a relatively high positive or negative value suggests that there may be a relation between the issues addressed in the two particular questions. In the appendix a choice is made on which relationships and patterns to investigate and which to leave to further study.

Q2 1 0,1 0,1 0 0 -0,1 0,1 0 0 0 -0,1 0,1 -0,2 0 0,1 0 0 0,1 -0,1 -0,1 -0,2 -0,2 0 0 0,1 -0,1 -0,1 -0,1 0,1 0 0 -0,1 -0,1 0 -0,1 0 0,2 0 -0,1 -0,1 0,1 -0,2 0 0,1 0 0 -0,2 0 -0,1 0,1 -0,1 0 0 0 0,1 -0,1 0 -0,1 -0,2 -0,2 -0,2 -0,1 -0,1 -0,1 0 -0,1 -0,1. The following relationships are found interesting and within the scope of the dissertation analysis.

Some of these relationships will be used in the evaluation of the field research in chapter 3: There is a connection between the size of the company and the age of the company.

The older, the more employees. Q3,Q10 In the service sector, 21 out of 30 states that they either partly disagree or disagree that it have consequences for not achieving project objectives.

Q5,Q14l The higher position, the more active role in the change. Q6,Q7 Low priority of the cost is followed by low priority in time. Q12b,Q12d High priority in planning is followed by low priority in cost.

Q12d,Q12i Clear definition of roles and responsibility is important for efficient use of the resources. Q12f,Q15g Scope definition and the organizational knowledge of the vision and strategy are clearly connected.

Q13a,Q14c Successful integration is depending on whether the project management has enough power to implement the project results. Q13c,Q14h Improvement in the confidence of the management is depending on successful integration.

Q13c,Q14n The quality is depending on the costs. Q13d,Q13e The communication level is determining the organizational knowledge of the vision and strategy of the project.

Q13g,Q14c A sufficient information level is depending on the communication. Q13g,Q14k To ensure the project scope is aligned with the overall business strategy, control and evaluation has to be prioritised highly.

Q13h,Q14t A clear scope definition ensures knowledge and clear definition of the objectives. Q14a,Q14b There is a dependency between knowledge of the objectives and knowledge of the vision and strategy.

Q14a,Q14c The power to get resources and the power to implement results are connected. Q14f,Q14h The importance of allocating financial resources seems to be determining for the power to get resources. Q14f,Q15o There seems to be a linkage between the ability of coordination to other projects and the improvement of the confidence in management. Q14i,Q14n To secure open dialogue there has to be a sufficient information level.

Q14j,Q14k Open dialogue with participants is determining for the confidence in the management. Q14i,Q14n Understanding the importance the sense of urgency is related to the confidence in management. Q14m,Q14n The coordination of the project towards other projects is important to ensure confidence in the management. Q14n,Q15i Milestones and scheduling of activities are connected.

Q14p,Q14q It is important to define scope properly to ensure that the objectives of the organization are clearly known and stated. Q15a,Q15b There is a linkage between the knowledge and statement of the objectives and the power of managements ability to get the resources needed.

Q15a,Q15f The importance of a clear statement of the objectives, the roles, and responsibility. Q15a,Q15g A high information level is important to ensure knowledge of the objectives.

Q15a,Q15k A clear statement of the objectives seems to improve the ability to allocate sufficient financial resources. Q15a,Q15o Clear statement and knowledge of the objectives is important for the use of milestones. Q15a,Q15p The definition and organizational knowledge of the objectives are very important for control processes to ensure alignment with strategy. Q15a,Q15t It is important for the project scope that the project manager has the power to get the resources needed. Q15b,Q15f The scope definition is clearly connected to the information level.

Q15b,Q15k There has to be a clear link between the sense of urgency and the project scope. Q15b,Q15m A clear statement of the scope seems to improve the ability to allocate sufficient financial resources. Q15b,Q15o Clear statement and knowledge of the scope is important to the use of milestones. Q15b,Q15p The power of the project manager is depending on the organizational knowledge of the vision and strategy.

Q15c,Q15h The organizational knowledge of the vision and strategy is depending on the information level. Q15c,Q15k To ensure commitment, it is important that own manager is actively involved Q15e,Q14e The power of the project manager is depending on a clear definition of roles and responsibility.

Q15f,Q15g The power to get resources and the power to implement the results are clearly connected. Q15f,Q15h The power of the project manager is depending on the information level. Q15f,Q15k The use of control processes seems to improve the power to get resources.

Q15f,Q15t Roles and responsibility have to be supported by the information level. Q15g,Q15k Roles and responsibility seem to improve the scheduling of all activities. Q15g,Q15q The power of the project manager is depending on the information level. Q15h,Q15k The power to implement seems higher when there are consequences for not achieving project objectives. Q15h,Q15l Sufficient financial resources seem to improve the power of the project manager to get results implemented.

Q15h,Q15o When control processes are used, there is a higher efficiency in coordinating the project towards other projects. Q15i,Q15t Consequences for not achieving project objectives seem to improve the information level.

Q15k,Q15l By allocating sufficient financial resources, the information level can be improved. Q15k,Q15o Efficient scheduling can improve the information level. Q15k,Q15q The line managers acceptance of project results is depending on the information level. Q15k,Q15s Efficient control and adjustment processes are depending on high information level.

Q15k,Q15t The line organization is more willing to supply resources if there are consequences for not achieving project objectives. Q15l,Q15s If confidence in management is improved, the line managers are more willing to adapt project results. Q15n,Q15s Milestones used in the planning process make resource allocation more efficient. Q15o,Q15p Milestones and scheduling of activities are connected. Q15p,Q15q Project activities have to be scheduled to make control processes efficient.

Q15q,Q15t The use of control processes ensures the line managers acceptance of project results. Appendix E Respondent experience: Political game These statements are a summary of the 57 responses received, answering the open question Please describe shortly how the political game was experienced Employees did not follow the same goals.

Different interests in the organization. Everybody wanted to be part of the initial project, in order to position his or her own area. The budget is exceeded due to wrong disposition. No one takes responsibility due to political focus on IT costs. Decentralised organization project management missing organizational and implementation power. The overall goal was not pursued due to specific needs and interests in the different silos around the group Going for the change plan, suddenly new agendas are emerging.

Subgroups are forming, trying to negotiate better terms for them, and adding extra problems to the change process. As we knew that we would meet resistance in certain parts of the organization, we secured broad top management buy-in from the start. This was used whenever needed to move on. Lack of commitment from top management, different agendas from the stakeholders. Managers did not do what they were expected to Resources and co-operation from overall responsible unit were limited Strategy was discussed on middle manager level.

Product and bottom line responsible managers disagreed with marketing, which produced a strategic paper for the board who agreed with none of the arguments or documentation produced by the product managers. Because of "old tradition, it was very difficult to convince middle leader teams, who were not directly a part of the project that the new way of handling the customers was the right way to do it. Above surface: Openness. Below surface: Non-collaboration Functional managers were not happy to relinquish authority and tried to block by creating uncertainty.

Mostly due to downsizing and employees at all levels fighting not to be fired. This case did bring wrong and personal arguments into the project. Disagreements between the involved department and the HR Department. The HR Department did not participate in the change project, but merely paid for it.

First, through "rejection of change". Second, in the conflict between "line organization" and "project" in terms of human resource planning and responsibility. Third, if top-management failed to be involved in the most important BPR-decision. Appendix F Respondent learning These statements are a summary of the 57 responses received, answering the open question Please shortly describe the main learning points Managers involvement in planning and scope management Planning and clear objectives are necessary as well as flexibility Prepare for the unexpected as well Involvement sets demands for information.

Speed is an issue to focus on - constant progress makes a success. The importance of communication especially concerning scope, objectives, and different agendas is high. Objective - plan - do - assess in circle.

Motivation must be high among participants. A big change project needs planning, continuous effort, communication. It is important to have definitions of role and rules in the project. Communication is also very important to commit everybody. Resistance when employees feel they are forced to change, they do not want to be changed, but like to change if they feel the need for it.

Alignment of the political stakeholders is very important. Agreed goals between the parts in the project are essential. The ability to carry out the project is very important. Ensure planning is detailed enough to accommodate specific action plans with milestones, allocated resources and "ownership". Communicate early and often to counter rumours - involve employees at all levels to facilitate buy-in to the needed changes.

The importance of planning, a proper project organization and the importance of stakeholders and their expectations is extremely important. Keep focus on scope. Implement a piece at a time. Top management commitment Limit the total number of projects. Don't lose sight of the project scope too early - ensure the anchoring in the very late phase It is very important to set small limited goals and objectives for the company to buy in to.

Managers involvement in managing the change The top management must be involved percent and the expected outcome must be communicated to all involved parties. Mission, vision, and overall strategic must be clarified or adjusted to the strategic project. Clearly, stating the objectives and building a vision dream is the key to get people aboard. Time is also a key element, and projects must be within a certain timeframe.

The power of the project manager is dependant on reporting to the top manager. Sense of urgency - vision - organizational involvement etc. In this case, the top manager was not fully capable, but wanted to play a major role.

Importance of senior management commitment Even if you have made a good planning with acceptance from the top, it is much more difficult to integrate, because understanding comes bit by bit. Top management has to be involved and consequences for not achieving project objectives must exist. Line organization has to be involved in the whole process Top Management support, involvement, and commitment are necessary, If not stop here.

Urgency and leadership were OK. Lack of buy in, mostly because of lack of information on the reasons for the change. Top management focus. High information level with interactive communication. Most of all what makes it difficult to implement successfully is that we work with people. The only way to make them do that is to make it relevant and interesting for them. It cannot be forced through. Drivers or sponsors for a business change project may never be Marketing or Sales.

The manager of the business unit must always be the driver, the project must always be of importance to the business and the results must always be reported and consequences must be taken. Mediation is important.

Change vision, resources and consequences must be constantly revisited, if change is very dynamic. Commitment from all stakeholders is of key importance. You cannot implement a strategy if involved managers do not support it. Importance of aligning stakeholder expectations. Create a shared project culture participants come from different divisions. Vision and objectives must be clear and known to all before implementation.

Later I learned that in a political organization, where relationships matter, there are no consequences for failing the results of a project, despite the warnings given before the project started. Appendix G Respondent: Greatest barriers These statements are a summary of the 57 responses received, answering the open question What do you consider the greatest barriers for a successful project?

Managers involvement in planning and scope management No planning and milestones are missing. Lack of scope, herein lack for strategic alignment of the project. Lack of motivation. If the contract between the project owner and the project team is unclear. Lack of proper planning - lack of measuring progress. Momentum in a long process is difficult to keep. Organizational even a clearly defined project with clearly defined goals often fails because the management fails to control, follow up, and secure long term implementation in the entire organization.

Silo management, to many projects at a time, insufficient resources. The organization has too many focus areas, and mentally leave the project before maturity No strategic alignment with project. Change in strategy. Lack of responsibility and decision making. Lack of speed. Poor estimates and planning. Fear of failure, disagreement, and lack of responsibility. Lack of information of benefits as well as undefined lines of authority.

Lack of evaluation as you goes along. Managers involvement in managing the change Lack of support from top management. Organizational resistance. Lack of top and senior management commitment.

Top management are not able to create a sense of urgency causes lack of buy in. If you dont have acceptance from the top manager, and all the managers in the company. They have to agree with the strategy. If they do not, they are not able to integrate the strategy. If consequences for not achieving project objectives do not exist When the burning platform i.

The political power and internal resistance. Internal power games. Legality differs from the main track and by this change scope and objectives for individual groups.