Why Some Projects Succeed and Others Fail Essay

The paper is divided into three sections, the first of which will establish a timeline of events. This project background will serve as a case study for the analysis in the following section that will be structured such that each of the previously mentioned facets will be independently analyzed and contrasted with project management principles. Finally the paper will conclude with a summary of the analysis and recommendations based on

Project management provides reasonable scientific solutions in order to overcome difficulties and achieve success. Each project has a variety of objectives have to achieve, these objectives are vary and can be for organization objectives or for social objectives. However, the project objectives could face some obstacles could be lead to limited success. The attempt to discover the factors of project success and project failure was not easy task for both scholars and expertise. These definitions can provide a close understanding and explanation for these terms. Many project management literatures have variety definitions of project success. (Adinyira, 2012) pointed out that Pinto and Slevin (1988) defined the success as delivering projects on proper time, cost and quality. Others like westerveld, elizabith have different ideas regarding the success that are related to the judge of stakeholders and organizational management. However, nowadays success become more complex issue to determine, it is not only meeting the costs and time it is belonging to the typology and sector of the project

The completion of all phases can determine a project success. The success of a project includes the completion being completed within the allocated time period, within the budgeted cost. It must be completed at the proper performance/quality level with acceptance by the consumer. During this phases there should be minimum scope changes and no disturbance to the main work flow.

In order to achieve successful results within established time-frames and budgets, project managers are likely to employ methodologies models. A project methodology is a model that aids managers to plan, design and implement their project goals. Project methodologies are helpful to project manager in any field, for instance, Niel Nickolaisen CIO at the Western Governors University, is an advocate for the agile software development methodology. As these models grants flexibility when dealing with stipulations and scope changes on a project. Needless to say the agile software development methodology is just one example of a varied assortment of methodologies, each with their strengths and weakness. As such, it is up to the project manager to decide which methodology fits their needs, as there isn`t a one fits all solution.

Agile is a necessary and effective part of the evolution of project. As stated previously, in today’s environment traditional or plan-driven Project Management typically defines project success as delivering “on time, within budget, and meeting requirements”. In order to meet this definition of success, we have matured project management processes to try and “manage” what is a natural occurrence: chaos.

There are many proven project management methodologies are available today for organizations to achieve their goals with expected results within an approved scope, budget, and time. The most popular methodologies are traditional Waterfall, Prince2, Agile, and ITIL. The methods are:

Several adaptations to the traditional approaches like agile, interactive, phased, extreme, etc have been made but each will be expected to meet the requirements of the project objectives, timeline, resources, and deliveries of the stakeholders. Other industry standard certifications like ISO9000 and regulations like the Sarbanes-Oxley have also influenced methodologies and processes used by several organisations (Kerzner, 2003). Generally, managing projects should involved five major process which include the project initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and controlling, and then project closing. See Fig. 2 below.

Planning is the most important part of any project. A project plan defines the objectives of the project and the goals to be achieved. According to Project Management: A Managerial Approach (2012), the sole purpose of planning is to simplify goal fulfillment over the course of the project’s completion. It acts as a map by helping project members understand what they must do and the risk factors and resources they must utilize along the way. This is a vital stage in the project completion process because when projects are poorly planned, their budgets, schedules, and deliverables may all be in jeopardy.

When discussing project management you must understand the concept of what a project is. A project is something that is not currently in the organization, whether it is something new or something that will improve an existing thing. An example would be a new software package that will eliminate the hand inventory process or a software that will help improve the already existing software package of keeping inventory. Now, project management is the person who has the necessary skills to complete that project. Projects can be determined a success or failure on how well the project manager did their job. Let’s discuss a few projects and what was done successful and what could have been done a little better.

Project management is a tool that the organization can use to eliminate waste, increase capacity, or increase positioning in the market place. The concept of project management is broad with methodology dating back across the decades. Project management itself is not new; however, methodologies associated with project management have continued to develop and change over time. Specifically, during the last two decades, the Agile methodology was introduced to project management. In recent years, merging of agile methodology and project management is occurring. Agile project management can be explored by researching agile methodology in software engineering.

During the course I learned various types of ideologies and practices for successful project managing. I may not be an expert, although I feel more knowledgeable and aware of how to manage projects effectively. There were six areas of project managing that I found to be very crucial to the success of completing projects and managing teams.

As project management struggles to gain ground with these difficult hurdles, there are many more problems that await them in the future. With the changing technology there is more pressure from upper

“From Brewer, Jeffrey L.; Dittman, Kevin C. Methods of IT Project Management (Kindle Locations 8726-8730). Purdue University Press. Kindle Edition.”

In order to achieve their business objective, project management and the used methodology are key factor which will be responsible for the success or failure of this project.

The use of structured methodologies in IT Project management is increasingly recognised as one of the fundamental drivers in reducing the likelihood of incomplete and costly IT project failures. The need for a systematic approach has been highlighted through a number of survey results on the failure of IT Projects. These results demonstrate that the significant issues associated with failed projects include the lack of; a defined project organisation, policy and procedures, implementation plans and integrated methods (Taylor 2003). It is apparent that these recognised issues can be significantly reduced through the implementation of standard project management methodologies. Lind and Culler (2013) completed research of 116 firms