Governing And Managing Major Projects: A Case Study Of Perth Arena
- December 21, 2023/ Uncategorized
The Importance of Governing Major Projects
Discuss about the Governance and Stakeholder Management for DHW.
Every project has to be governed from its start to end in order to achieve its major objectives. These objectives explain what to be achieved. Also, the monitoring of the project progress has to be done in respect to the set objectives. In case of a major project like Perth arena, failing to put the essential procedures and processes of governing the projects well made it suffer (Turner 1999). The Department of Housing and Works (DHW) assumed the role of client and delivery agency which was a mess. As a result, there was lack of enough supervision and also directions were not clear and suitable for the project (Western Australian Auditor General 2010).
The Audit report published and called for the appointment of a client intermediary while DHW was set to remain as the delivering agency. The client agency ensures that there is transparency in the decisions of a project set outside the delivery agency (Patanakul, et al. 2016). This arrangement will minimize the risks which may result from undocumented changes to time, scope and also the cost which may lead to failure of the project (Western Australian Auditor General 2010). This may allow the agency to have accountability and objectives which are clear towards that project. These projects of a government must implement the processes of the project management which processes relevant projects which must be well understood by the delivery agency, agency of clients and also the project of the team (Zwikael and Smyrk 2005). DHW is supposed to lead the delivery agency to do its mandate of implementing the planning which is formal, estimating and management of the risks, monitoring and closing processes.
According to the framework of asset management, it was set to guide process for management of assets owned by the government. It is a mandatory that under SAMF that those projects should have estimated costs which should not exceed one million dollars as per project definition plan (Western Australian Auditor General 2010). Thus there was no any similar plan of that kind which was prepared for that Arena Perth Project at the time when evaluation performance was done (Department of Treasury Western Australia 2015).
As per Project Definition Plan (PDP) mostly it involves the issues of delivery project and its risks also attached in it. For PDT to be typically drafted well, it must comprise definition of assets, methods of procurements, cost estimates, quality management, project schedule and changes in management procedures (Patankul, et al. 2016). The PDP is a very crucial in identifying the potential risk early and controlling any irrelevant changes to the constrains of that projects.
The Role of the Client Agency in Governance
On top of failure to establish a reliable governance structure, the team participating in the DHW project was not adequate. Due to this, the critical constitutes of SAMF were easily decided upon before properly analyzing the risk (Western Australian Auditor General 2010). The team project consisted two officers assigned to projects on part time bases only. The administration daily left the director of the project to fulfill the roles of both the superintendent and the principal. This is because of the inadequate staffs in the DHW which is side made by the director of the project which had to really on consultants for the same processes of project management.
This may end if the roles of the clients are separated delivery agency, this will make work easier because the work commitments will be shared among the teams of both agencies. In this resource allocation its capable of handling the important projects (Western Australian Auditor General 2010). The issues are overcome by analyzing resource constraints in team project and then resolving bottleneck problems where the projects may not be assigned as per the demand.
This is a circle which addresses the premises which a project can exist if it is only informed in consent of its own stakeholder community (Cooper, Edgett, and Kleinschmidt. 2000). The stakeholder was developed by the Lynda Bourne. It is a process which involves five steps which include identifying, prioritization, engagement and monitoring of all stakeholders.
The stakeholders are 19 in number and they are identified in Perth Arena project all of them. There is another step of prioritizing the stakeholders based on their powers, urgency and also in their proximity (Bourne and Walker 2006). Urgency of the stakeholders relates on the effort applied on that stakeholder which shall cater for the same project.
The top 15 stakeholders
- Recreation and sports minister (upwards)
- Project director DTF (upwards)
- Project director –venues west (upwards)
- Works and housing minister (upwards)
- Strategic ministers DTF ( upwards)
- CEO- venues west (upwards)
- Construction BGC (downwards)
- Steering Project group (upwards)
- Project control group (upwards)
- The cabinet (upwards)
- Board – venues west (upwards)
- Consultants – DTF (sideways)
- Under Treasurer- DTF(upwards)
- Consultants- venues west (sideward)
- Expenditure and economic reform committee (upwards)
This is a committee that was created by Perth Arena Project to ensure that all clients interest, VenueWest, are addressed in the entire project (Walker, Bourne and Shelley 2008). The committee also reforms the strategic advisor roles to the recreation and sport minister for the chief executive officer and also the DTF project strategic.
This is a concern level of a stakeholder which has for the whole project. This committee has representatives from sport and recreation minister, venueswest, strategic DTF projects, solicitor’s state office and the DTF (Bourne and Walker 2006). As the committee in role advisory to all clients, the interests of the projects are rated high-medium.
The Need for a Project Definition Plan (PDP)
This influence also corresponds the stakeholder extend the involvement of the project. This committee was appointed to ensure that there is a strategic position for all projects and they are not involved from day to day projects (Project Management Institute 2013). The committee looks after the risks and observes them for a better treatment hence its influence is always rated from medium to high.
The committee gets report as per the progress of the project. The committee is remote to that project hence it’s not directly involved (VenuesWest 2011).
The steering committee has an altitude which is positive to the project. To involve the inclination, the team project should manage the committee very close. The regular communication is able to improve the support of that project (Ackermann and Eden 2011). Also the project management should respond and acknowledge the concerns of steering committee.
The DHW works has the responsibility for planning, procurement and scoping of Perth Arena. In 2009, Office of Strategic Projects (OSP) became reorganized to DTF (Department of Treasury and Finance) where the DTF took the role of agency delivery which is to ensure the projects are delivered according to the set and predetermined requirements.
Their roles are to oversee execution project and to ensure that the requirements of a contract are satisfactory met (Godbold 2016). This is the clients reporting channel and they also translate the high interested vest in a project as executive director is questioned especially if the project collapses.
Executive director is attached by projects so as to ensure that the report of the project and the progress is delivered (Western Australian Auditor General 2010). This position has minimal control in decision making and it’s involved in high level agency report. Stakeholders have a huge impact on the success or failure of this project.
Executive director looks after Perth construction hence the Project director, team project report and consultants are used more in decision making than any other. The influence of stakeholder is close.
The DTF has a great influence to the project the power is very low thus it is always informed the progress of the project. The DTF represents on steering committee so that they may privy the committee future decision making (Project Management Institute 2013). These roles are very critical as the scope changes are planned and forecasted for ahead of time.
References
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Department of Treasury Western Australia. 2015. “Strategic Asset Management Framework – Overview.” 14 January. Accessed 29 December, 2017. https://www.treasury.wa.gov.au/uploadedFiles/Treasury/Strategic_Asset_Managem ent/01_SAMF_Overview.pdf.
—. 2015. “Strategic Asset Management Framework – Project Definition Plan.” Accessed 2 January, 2018. https://www.treasury.wa.gov.au/uploadedFiles/Treasury/Strategic_Asset_Managem ent/17_SAMF_Project%20Definition%20Plan.pdf.
Godbold, Alistair. 2016. Project management skills: client-side vs delivery. 3 May. Accessed January, 2018. https://www.apm.org.uk/blog/project-management-skills-client-side-vs-delivery/.
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Turner, Rodney. 1999. The Handbook of Project-Based Management. McGraw-Hill.
Program and Portfolio Management
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Walker, Derek, Lynda Margaret Bourne, and Arthur Shelley. 2008. “Influence, stakeholder mapping and visualization.” Construction Management and Economics 26, no. 6 645-658.
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Zwikael, Ofer, and John Smyrk. 2015. “Project governance: Balancing control and trust in dealing with risk.” International Journal of Project Management 33, no. 4 852-862.
