The Edinburgh Tram System - Failures
What is project management
‘Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to meet the project requirements’ (Project Management Institute, 2009, p12). Once a project has been approved a project manager is assigned to the project, and ‘is expected to integrate all aspects of the project, ensure that the proper knowledge and resources are available when they are needed, and ensure that the results are produced in a timely, cost-effective manner’ (Meredith and Mantel, 2010, p5). In order to allow this to happen there are several key aspects of a project which need to be carefully thought out and controlled.
The scope of a project is ‘the work content and products or component of a project’ (Pinto, 2010, p284) and encompasses the time; cost and performance quality involved in the project (projectsmart, 2012), see Appendix 1. In order to manage the scope, the project manager (PM) has a key role in ensuring that the three elements are managed throughout the development of the project and although there may be alterations in the project scope over the project period, it is the PM’s responsibility to recognise changes and continue the main objective of completing the project at the intended deadline.
Part B
The three elements of the Project Management Body of Knowledge this report will focus the research on are:
• Cost management
• Time planning
• ‘Project Communications Management
The Edinburgh Tram system has been an unmitigated disaster for the city of Edinburgh, it has come across a plethora of problems since the launch of the project for a variety of reasons. Firstly, the management of costs within the project were not adequately supervised which led to a grossly inflated budget of £776 million. The initial budget of the project was £545m (with funding from the Scottish government and Edinburgh City Council) in 2008 when the project was first put into construction; however in June 2010 the
‘Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to meet the project requirements’ (Project Management Institute, 2009, p12). Once a project has been approved a project manager is assigned to the project, and ‘is expected to integrate all aspects of the project, ensure that the proper knowledge and resources are available when they are needed, and ensure that the results are produced in a timely, cost-effective manner’ (Meredith and Mantel, 2010, p5). In order to allow this to happen there are several key aspects of a project which need to be carefully thought out and controlled.
The scope of a project is ‘the work content and products or component of a project’ (Pinto, 2010, p284) and encompasses the time; cost and performance quality involved in the project (projectsmart, 2012), see Appendix 1. In order to manage the scope, the project manager (PM) has a key role in ensuring that the three elements are managed throughout the development of the project and although there may be alterations in the project scope over the project period, it is the PM’s responsibility to recognise changes and continue the main objective of completing the project at the intended deadline.
Part B
The three elements of the Project Management Body of Knowledge this report will focus the research on are:
• Cost management
• Time planning
• ‘Project Communications Management
The Edinburgh Tram system has been an unmitigated disaster for the city of Edinburgh, it has come across a plethora of problems since the launch of the project for a variety of reasons. Firstly, the management of costs within the project were not adequately supervised which led to a grossly inflated budget of £776 million. The initial budget of the project was £545m (with funding from the Scottish government and Edinburgh City Council) in 2008 when the project was first put into construction; however in June 2010 the
Bibliography: BBCNews (2011) ‘Edinburgh tram councillor did not have skills’’, BBC News, 11th October [Online]. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-15251200 Accessed: 17/11/12 BBCNews (2010) ‘Tram project 'could be delayed ' [Online]. Avaibable at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/8560788.stm Accessed: 02/12/12 Keysberg, Dr. (2011) ‘Edinburgh tram councillor did not have skills’’, BBC News, 11th October [Online]. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-15251200 Accessed: 17/11/12 Leask, D. (2010) ‘Tram chiefs admit: we have no idea what final bill will be’. [Online]. Available at: http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/transport-environment/tram-chiefs-admit-we-have-no-idea-what-final-bill-will-be-1.1035908 Accessed: 28/11/12 Meredith, JR and Mantel, SJ, (2010) Project Management – A Managerial Approach: 7th ed, John Wiley and Sons, Asia Pinto, JK, (2010), Project Management – Achieving Competitive Advantage, 2nd ed, Pearson, New Jersey, USA Project Management Institute (2009) A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge: PMBOK Guide, 4th ed, PMI, Pennsylvania, USA ProjectSmart (2012) ‘Project Scope Management’. [Online]. Available at: http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/scope-management.html Accessed: 28/11/12 Scotsman (2010) 'Shambolic ' tram project is up to two years behind’ [Online]. Available at: http://www.scotsman.com/news/scottish-news/top-stories/shambolic-tram-project-is-up-to-two-years-behind-1-1228943 Accessed: 02/12/12 Scotsman (2011) ‘TIE bosses 'quit en masse ' as trams shake-up looms’ [Online]. Available at: http://www.scotsman.com/news/tie-bosses-quit-en-masse-as-trams-shake-up-looms-1-1668408 Accessed: 30/11/12