Read the case study carefully and answer the questions that follow. [40 Nariks] THE IMPACT OF EXTERNAL QUAUTY ASSURANCE UPFRONT TO IMPROVE GOVERNANCE OF MAOR. INVESTMENT PROUECTS Confronted with the recurring problem of targe cost overnund and late deliery of laye public investrent projects. the Norwegian government initiated a review of such projects and the planning syitech at the end of the last century. It was done to identify the main causes and suggest means io ingeore govemance of such large imvestments. The aim was to avoid embarrassing cost overruns if the fulure, but alio the type of flawed ifvestment cases one had seen in the past and improve telum on investmontar. As the resul of he study, a qualihy assurance scheme was established year 2000 under the Ministry of Finance to help streogrthen ovarail govemance of large public projects. Megaprojects take many years to prepare and impie-ect. Only foday. 13 years after, a suiticiently large number of projocts had been compleled to allow researthers to decument sorte of the effects of the scheme and its wider impact on government and industyy. Megaprojects are recognized as an important part of corporate and public ike, but with varyng reputafions. This is reflected in the modia where unsuccesstul cases seem to get more publichy than the succesp di ones. The most common type of failure the media appears to report on is cost overtun. Number two is shesile overrun. That is because information on cost and propress is more easly avalisble than more complex istues regarding relevarch. ete. Even if the cutcome is seen to be useful, the medis tend to focus essertialy ch the larpe public constructich projects that have sudfered huge cost or lime overuns, such as Denver's USS5 belion aipon zo0\% overspend. (Szylowicz Goetz. 1985), or the U.K's Scoltish Parlament coming in 110 limes over budget and more than three years iste' (Tenipest, 2004). Measuring success in a megaproject is not simple and straightiorward. One reason is that success rnay be interpreted differently by different ind ividuals and institutions, depending on ther priferences, values, and to what degree they are affected by the project. Another is that the degree of success is time-dependert For ingsance. Shenhar, Dvir, Levy, and Maltz (2001) otfer a chronological sequence of events as a compound definitign of project success: (1) Meeting fime, budgot, and other requirements, (2) impact en the customer, (3) beneft to the performing organization, and (4) preparing the future. The project's stakaholders do not necessatly share the same view of success. The project manager typically sees his or her job succtssfuly accomplished when the project is on time, within budget, and to specifications. The users will be concemed abour the immediate etects of the project, and the investor or commissioner will typically be more concermed with the long-term economic vability. The user's vew on success is essential. Pinto (2007,p,7) quotes froman infoworld aride describing 's U.S. Army study of IT projects \{that] found that 47% were delvered to the customer but not used, 25=h were paid for but not delivered: 19% were abandoned of reworked; 3% were used with minor changes, and only 2% were used as delivered," This is not to say that al megaprojects are managed bady-indeed, the mansgement and gevemance of many megaprojects has made considerable improvements in recent years (see, for erarole, HU Treasury (2007) for an upbeaf report on the U.K's Oifice of Government Com thetce). After many decades with developments in the aroject management profession, there is mote expertise now in delivering elficiently and successfully a wellefined pre-specfied project within a well-defined constant ervironment. This has proved very valubble in certain ircumstances. But the focus on project management has been much loo nartow in the media and the public. ruly. a much wider view needs to be laken on the success and failure of probects. The initial choice of the egaproject concept is of critical importance. This represents the one key decision of many made during the afime of a megaproject, which is likely to have the largest impact on long-ierm success or fallure (Wiliams; mser, \& Sunnavag, 2009). Here; by "the project concept," we mean much more than just the techrical solufion f includes the entire business case, the various organizations involved, and the various mechanisfms and angements involved in the interorganizational relationships (see also Miler and Hobbs [2009). Answer ALL the questions in this section. QUESTION ONE 1.1 As highlighted in the case study, measuring success in a megaproject is not simple and straightfocwand. (20 Marks) Against this background advise project stakeholders en the stralegies they noed 10 corsider when measuring the qualty of public sector projects. Your response should include relevant examples. 1.2 With reference to relevant frameworks, discuss the steps that need to be apglieg by project managess of (20 Marks) major investment projects to enhance quality improvement. SECTION B [60 MARKS] Answer ANY THREE (3) questions in this section. QUESTION TWO (20 Marks) With reference to any relevant examples discuss the contents and significance of a qualify mansgement plan. QUESTION THREE (20) Marks) Mr Brown the project manager of Asphalt Projects has indicated hs desire to adopt the Total Quality Management approach within his organisation to improve the quality of deliverables. Considering this provide an evaluation of TQM that will be considered by Mr Brown ahead of his decision. QUESTION FOUR Using any project of your choice advise a project manager on how they should handie project quality management from the beginning to the end of the project. Your response should emphasize on the activities that need to be prioritised in each of the stages highlighted. QUESTION FIVE You have been requested by a team of project managers to suggest toois or initiatives that they can adopt or implement in a bid to ensure that their project activities (deliverables) are in line with the customer requirements. Your response should discuss the suggested method/s in depth. END OF PAPER