7BSP0334 - Cost Overruns and Delays in Large-Scale Projects: Causes and Solutions : Project Scheduling and Budgeting (Semester A)

Assignment Format & Maximum Word count: Individual Report (1,750 words)

1. Selection of a Large-Scale Project (10%)

Choose a large-scale project that faced significant cost overruns and scheduling delays. This can be from any sector (e.g., construction, infrastructure, IT, or public services) and could be sourced from case studies, journal articles, news reports, or industry documents.

Examples may include:

1. The Big Dig (Boston, USA)
2. Sydney Opera House
3. Boeing 787 Dreamliner development
4. Crossrail project (UK)

2. Analysis of Cost Overruns and Delays (50%)

Provide an in-depth analysis of the selected project, focusing on:

1. Key Causes: Identify and critically evaluate the internal and external factors that contributed to both the cost overruns and delays. Consider areas such as poor initial cost estimates, scope creep, project planning failures, unforeseen risks, or stakeholder issues.
2. Impact on Stakeholders: Discuss the impact of these overruns and delays on key stakeholders, including the project sponsor, contractors, and end-users.

3. Solutions and Preventative Strategies (30%)

Based on your analysis, propose solutions or strategies that could have been implemented to mitigate or avoid the issues that led to cost overruns and delays. Your suggestions should be practical and based on project management best practices, including:

1. Improved Budgeting Techniques: What alternative budgeting approaches could have been used to improve cost control (e.g., contingency planning, rolling wave budgeting)?
2. Scheduling Techniques: How could scheduling have been better managed to prevent delays (e.g., resource levelling, schedule risk analysis, agile methods)?
3. Risk Management: What role could proactive risk management have played in mitigating these issues?

4. Lessons Learned and Future Recommendations (10%)

Reflect on the lessons learned from this project. What can future project managers learn from this case to prevent similar failures? Offer recommendations for both budgeting and scheduling practices that could improve the likelihood of project success in large-scale projects.