Managing Complex Projects Products and Systems

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Managing Complex Projects Products and System

Instructions for the workshop of week 4 or 5

Module: Managing Complex Projects, Products and Systems (890N1)

Classwork: Critical analysis of complex projects.

The class is divided into five groups (to be defined by your workshop tutor) and each group is assigned to one of the following complex projects:

  1. The Construction of the Channel Tunnel
  2. The Deployment of Iridium Satellite Network and Services
  3. The Construction of the 2008 Beijing Olympics Stadium
  4. The Organisation of London 2012 Olympic Games
  5. The Construction of London Heathrow Terminal 5

Suggested texts for each of the above complex projects are:

Channel Tunnel

Genus, A. (1997). ‘Managing large-scale technology and inter-organizational relations: the case of the Channel Tunnel’, Research Policy, 26 (2), 169-189.

Chang, C. and Ive, G. (2007). ‘The hold-up problem in the management of construction projects: A case study of the Channel Tunnel’, International Journal of Project Management, 25 (4), 394-404.

Iridium Satellite Network and Services

Finkelstein, S. and Sanford, S.H. (2000). ‘Learning from Corporate Mistakes: The Rise and Fall of Iridium’, Organizational Dynamics, 29(2), 138-148.

Kerzner, H. (2009). ‘The Rise, Fall and Resurrection of Iridium: A Project Management Perspective’, in Project Management: Case Studies, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., p. 351-390.

2008 Beijing Olympics Stadium

Liu, Y. W., Zhao, G. F. and Wang, S. Q. (2010). ‘Many Hands, Much Politics, Multiple Risks – The Case of the 2008 Beijing Olympics Stadium’, The Australian Journal of Public Administration, vol. 69, no. S1, pp. S85–S98.

London 2012 Olympic Games

Davies, A., Mackenzie, I. (2014). ‘Project complexity and systems integration: Constructing the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics Games’, International Journal of Project Management, Vol. 32, Issue 5, 773-790.

London Heathrow Terminal 5

Davies, A., Gann, D., Douglas, T. (2009). ‘Innovation in Megaprojects: Systems Integration at London Heathrow Terminal 5’, California Management Review, Vol. 51, No. 2, 101-125.

Gil, N., Miozzo, M., Massini, S. (2012) ‘The Innovation Potential of New Infrastructure Development: An Empirical Study of Heathrow Airport’s T5 Project’, Research Policy, Vol. 41, No. 2, 452-466.

Brady, T., Davies, A. (2010), ‘From hero to hubris – Reconsidering the project management of Heathrow’s Terminal 5’, International Journal of Project Management, Vol. 28, Issue 2, 151-157.

Other sources of information about the projects may be used if necessary.

Each group is required to prepare a presentation of up to 15 minutes (followed by up to 5 minutes of discussion/Q&A), addressing the following issues:

  • An overview of the project, including, for example:
    • Background;
    • Organisational Structure;
    • Outcomes & Results.
  • Success factors: how would you re-examine the success factors of the project beyond time, cost and to specification? (Using the 5 dimensions of project success)
  • Draw the NTCP diamond for the project: what does the NTCP diamond inform you about the project management style to adopt?
  • Lessons learned: which aspects of the project would you manage differently? Good practices identified?