a$)$ Based on the information provided above, indicate which elements of the

initiation phase of managing the project scope $($project definition, constraints,

assumptions, selection, and strategic planning$)$ have contributed to the failure

of IBM$$s Stretch Project.

$(8$ marks$)$

b$)$ Based on the information provided above, explain how each element indicated

in your answer to Question $1($a$)$ have contributed to the failure of IBM$$s Stretch

Project.

$(25$ marks$)$Question $1(33$ marks$)$

Analyse carefully the following text:

'IBM's Stretch Project

International Business Machines Corporation $($IBM$)$ is a multinational technology and

consulting corporation that consistently lies in the upper echelons of global brand

ranking lists. In the late $1950$ s IBM set out to design and build the world's fastest and

most technically advanced computer, the IBM $7030$ Stretch supercomputer. The

computer would be $100$ to $200$ times the speed and performance level of its nearest

competitor, thus 'stretching' the existing limits of computer design. This ambitious and

impressive target resulted in its price being set at $$13\mathrm{.}5$ million.

The project leader recalled later that what made the project so complicated was that

"many more things than ever before had to go on simultaneously in one computer."

Engineers faced a conglomerate of challenges in designing and manufacturing many

elements of the ground$-$breaking system, a load$-$sharing switch which would allow the

use of transistors to drive the core memory was amongst these problems.

The overly optimistic forecasts meant that project timelines and costs were severely

overrun. Additionally, when the first working version of the Stretch was tested in the

early $1960s,$ it was only $30$ times faster than its predecessor. This was seen as a

dismal failure, and the price of the systems that had already been ordered were cut to

$$7\mathrm{.}78$ million, below its cost price.$\text{'}$

a$)$ Based on the information provided above, indicate which elements of the

initiation phase of managing the project scope $($project definition, constraints,

assumptions, selection, and strategic planning$)$ have contributed to the failure

of IBM's Stretch Project.

$(8$ marks$)$

b$)$ Based on the information provided above, explain how each element indicated

in your answer to Question $1($a$)$ have contributed to the failure of IBM's Stretch

Project.

$(25$ marks$)$