Project Management Assignment: Analysing The Key Issues Faced By Rail Project In UK

Question

Task: Prepare a project management assignment on analysing the issues faced by a Rail project in UK that responsible for delay of project.

Answer

Introduction
The present study explored in the project management assignment has been focused on a particular project of Rail Project in UK that has been facing a delay of 5 years due to several reasons. Project Management in terms of marketing and communication can be said to be an important approach for maintaining the key aspects related to the project in order to maintain smooth functioning of the project. The study has been focused on the analysis of the several issues that can be associated with the delay of the project and moreover, the methods by which these issues can be mitigated with the help of theories and tools. The study developed in the project management assignment also provides proper recommendations related to avoid the delay of the project in a proper manner.

Critical factors that have accounted for the delay
HS2 Railway Project is high speed rail links that was planned to connect London, Midlands and northern part of England. The project has been designed so that the carry trains are capable of travelling at significant speed of 250 mph. However, the project examined in the segments of project management assignment has been facing certain delays of 5 years due to many factors. The budget of the cost has risen from 62 billion pounds to 88 billion due to the delay of the project by the government (BBC News, 2019). The factors due to which the delay has been accounted are as follows:

Inflation and Over Budgeting
The original budget of the project was estimated to be 56 billion pounds in the year 2015 but owing to inflation the prices related to the project had to be adjusted (BBC News, 2019). The budget and planning of the project has been contradictory to each other as per the experts due to which they have been considering the project to be associated with unrealistic expectations. The most prominent factors that have been accounted to the delay are raising cost due to which the magnanimous project has been delayed for several years.

Lack in poor planning
The government and HS2 has also been lacking in proper planning related to the project. The railway tracks that are required have to pass through the densely populated regions of the UK due to which the government has miscalculated the values has also contributed in pushing the prices to be up and delaying the project (Ft.com, 2019). The concerned organization HS2 that is a tax funded organization has been accused of failing to determine the financial consequences to get the railway tracks from the densely populated areas.

Complicated ground conditions
This has also been a significant aspect for the delay of the respective project considered in the context of this project management assignment. The project team had been committed to developing a tunnel of nearly 50 KM on the route of the railway track. In the process of dining of the tunnels hundred types of distinct soil has been the reason for extra labour that was expected before (Haz?r, 2015). This has also been a reason due to which the project is delayed and the costs related to the project are driven up.

Figure 1: Rise in the Estimated Cost
(Source: Ft.com, 2019)

The above reason can be considered in the study developed in this project management assignment to be the prime factors where the organization HS2 has lagging behind. The organisation has been accused on various areas like lack of proper communication and research of the market due to which the project is delayed for almost 5 years. The rate inflation due to which the budget has increased in a significant manner can be considered as the primary reason for the delay. HS2 has been ballooning the budget related to the project and the weak grips of the planning are the major contributor for the issues of railway line. The senior managers and higher executive are also paid with lavish salaries due to which several questions have been asked on the ethicality of the company (Karlsen et al., 2015). The communication of the organisation has also not been proper as they are maintaining the culture of secrecy. As per the readings obtained in the project management assignment, it can be noted that the stakeholders of the company has been associated with the company were directed to sign an agreement of non-disclosure due to which the communication of the company affected in a significant manner.

Critical analysis of the factors that can be avoided
The project management assignment report analysed the words of by Carstens et al., (2016), which states that there are several issues that have been related to the concrete project that can be avoided by HS2 with the help of communication and researching the conditions of the market. For instance, the rate of inflation that was not considered by the planning of the project can be considered as one such factor that can be avoided by the concerned organization. The rate of inflation in the UK can be well planned with the help of various experts and economist. The proper reaction do the inflation may have helped in effective budget allocation of the project. The over budgeting due to improper allocation as been one of the prime reasons due to which the project got delayed in a significant manner. Other than that, the delay of the project has also been due to the secrecy the organization tried to maintain in while procuring the contract of the project. The maintenance of secrecy can also be one of the challenging factors due to which the communication of the company got affected in a negative manner. The employees were made to sign a contract of non-disclosure of the information and they had to abide by the particular rule. The agreement of non-disclosures has inhibits the ability of the company for their independent endeavours and engaging in the other form of ventures and financing. This could have also been delayed by not including any sort of non-disclosures in the policies of the project. 

On the contrary, it is also clear that the avoidance of the above mentioned factors to enhance the communication and marketing of the organization related to the project can also pose several challenges. As per the views of Eskerod and Jepsen, (2016) In order to predict the rate of inflation it can be associated with several factors like political, economic and social scenario of the UK. Therefore, the prediction can be time consuming and not very cost effective. Apart from that, it can also be argued in the context of this project management assignment that the prediction can also be associated with several risks and cannot provide exact figures and in some instances, may also fail completely. Moreover, in order to gain the contract from the government the concerned organization had to develop a contract of the non-disclosure which can help them to be sure that the project of the railway link might come to them. However both the factor that had major influence of the working of the project may have been avoided for their impact on the project can be checked, if the concerned organization emphasised on their communication, marketing and negotiation policies.

What are the various key ethical and sustainable issues identifies in the case scenario of project management assignment?
The most prominent ethical and sustainable issues identified in the context of this project management assignment that can be associated with the HS2 railway project can be a conflict of interests and lavish salaries and bonuses that has been paid to the senior executives. The reason for the delaying of the project is due to the over budgeting of the cost estimation in the initial phases of the project. This is the reason due to which the second phase of the project had to be delayed for 5 years. The concerned organization has been accused of their unethical activity as they have not been focusing on the over budgeting of the project and the senior executive are being the extra salaries and bonuses (Kopnina and Blewitt, 2018). This has been one of the major factors that has contributed to the over budgeting of the concerned project.

The organisation has been linked with various types of conflicts persistent in the organisation that has also affected the ethicality and sustainability of the organisation. The employees of the company has subjected to blaming each other for misusing the budget of the project. One of the employees has been asked for the returning amount of 170 million pounds as the individual was accused of stealing from the budget (Ft.com, 2019). This is the only reason outlined in this section of project management assignment due to which the company had to face several legal actions and impacting negatively in the aspect of the flow of the project and functionality of the organisation.

Analysis of the credible facts and considering theories and tools for proceed the projects as per planned
The theories and tools that can be incorporated with projects for proper functioning and flowing of the project as per planned.

Theories
Diffusion Theory: The project management assignment is focusing on analysing the role of theory that can help in analysing the way by which the social members have been adapting to the new and innovative ideas related to any particular project. In real life scenario to adapt of the culture can play a very prominent rules if the theory is applied. The theory has been developed on the basis of four major elements that are 

Figure 2: Diffusion Theory
(Source: Dibra, 2015)

• Innovations- It can be an idea, concept or practice that is perceived by a person. It may also be an impulse to perform something that can be new and bring certain changes in the project.
• Communication Channels- It can help in taking the information from one person to another. It is with the help of this channel that any new idea related to the project can spread across the concrete organisations. It can be associated with form of communication like work of mouth, messages and others (Dibra, 2015).
• Time- It can be referred to as the time length that can be required by the employees in order to get adapted to the innovations of the project. It can also be considered as the time that can be necessary for getting the new ideas.
• Social System- It can be said to be group of interrelated network that can collectively used to solve the issues for a particular goal. It can be used to refer to all types of components for enhancement of the project.

The theory explained in the case scenario of project management assignment can help the cornered project on various aspects like knowledge, persuasion and making decisions. This theory can help in developing a new innovative and providing interest that can help in showing interest in the knowledge related to the new ideas. According to the research carried on the project management assignment, the theory can help apprehending new understanding of the method by which he employees might accept the factors that has been impacting the working of the project with the help of proper communication and sharing of ideas (Libai, Mahajan and Muller, 2017).

Stakeholder theory: Stakeholders can influence almost all the areas of the project that can include aspects like project leader, management, team member and many others. This theory can help the organization to manage ethics, values and morals related to the stakeholder that can be included in the project. It can help in asking the optimal relation along with stakeholders and improving the efficiency of the services related to the railway project. This theory can also be used for successful delivering of the values for the stakeholder and the values that can some in various forms beyond the economical benefits that can be required for the concerned project (Miles, 2017).

The main principle mentioned in the project management assignment of the engagement of stakeholder can be said to be communication. In order to make the communication strong in the project following characteristics are required to be considered:

• Making sure that the information can be targeted and delivered in a proper time
• It can help in consulting related to the issues in an early manner and often
• It can also be used to mitigate the potential risks and identifying the opportunities related to each stakeholder
• The findings obtained in the project management assignment signifies that delegation of the responsibility in order to achieve success in the project can also be one of the ways by which issues can be resolved in the project

Figure 3: Stakeholder Theory
(Source: Jones et al., 2017)

Stakeholder theory illustrated in the context of this project management assignment is considered to be very impactful in the present case scenario. Stakeholders can be considered as any individual who is interested in the concerned project. In terms of project management stakeholders can be a person or group who can be impacted by the outcome of the project. Stakeholders can also be within the organisation or even outside of the project but in both the ways they can significantly influence on the project and their proceedings (Jones et al., 2017). The theory focused in the study obtained in this project management assignment can help in determining the concerned organisation that main purpose of the project of the railway to add values for the stakeholder who can be associated other than just to succeed. It can help in sustaining over the course of time and the executive of the HS2 needs to be aware of the interest of the consumers so that the project can attain their required success. 

Tools
In the modern world owing to the technological advancement the project management has several distinct advantages. It is stated in the present report on project management assignment that the tools that can be used for the enhancement of the management of the project along with dealing with several issues that has been highlighted in the study are as follows:

Collaboration Tools
In order to overcome the several types of project management technology, the impact of the collaboration tools and project based chat platforms. The changes on the social platforms can help in reflecting the growing requirements for the members of the prejcy. The goring trends have become more practical in the context of large scale project like HS2 railway project. Chat software and social tools can be the most vital types of technology used in the project management.

Project Tracking
This tool explored in the report on project management assignment can be useful for making the numbers of ways to enhance the productive in the teams of the project while it can help in establishing the team members for better accountability. The cloud based project technology for increasing the productivity and emphasising the team members on the project related work (Obradovi? et al., 2016). The project tracking needs to be tracked with the progress and targeting of the project that can help in identifying the potential issues and challenges. 

Information gathering tools
These types of tools can be used to provide the project managers with partial types of information for accurate reach of the market in the limited time period. Developing accurate and wide ranging census of data can be crucial for several research based projects. Moreover, the cloud based software can help in tracking a team for progress and updating the team members in proper times. The data can always be subjected to change in the context of importance that the data based project like the concerned railway project can resolve issues like outdate data in terms of their finances.

Scheduling Software
The significance of the scheduling illustrated in the project management assignment report can be associated with the success of proper project management. The growing scale of decentralized employees can help in ensuring that the employees can be on the same pages that are linked with the concerned project. This can help in dealing with issues like conflicts of interest and prioritizing the tasks that can be considered as most important (Jolly et al., 2016). It can also help in developing a list of activities and deliverables aspects in a project by involving the information like finish date, duration and resources which can further be useful in developing proper budget in the context of the given project.

Workflow Automation
Developing the workflow can have several issues due to which the importance of the workflow automation has become necessary. The automation of the workflow and proper reporting can help the people associated with the project to eliminate the extra administrative tasks and therefore focus more on the activities that can actually have an impact on the project. This can be useful in improving the response time and adapting a flexible system that for the changing conditions so the market likes inflation.

Justification of the recommendation
The project tracking intervention in the project management helps to develop productivity which is important in the overall project. Hence, it can be recommended in this aspect of project management assignment that the utilisation of this tool would help to improve the productivity of the HS2 railway project. The information gathering tool is essential in case of managing railways project as it helps to identify information in various stages of the project clearly (Kerzner, 2019.). Furthermore, the market research can be conducted in this method within a specified time period. The effective market research would help to implement the HS2 project successfully in the UK and the project would provide good return and stakeholders would be satisfied. The main advantage of software scheduling technique is to achieve time-sensitive goal and this method would definitely help to achieve desired objectives of the HS2 project. As the railway project is a comprehensive and large project, the importance of this tool cannot be denied. As the objectives of the project can be easily achieved by considering this method, it would help to fulfil requirements of stakeholders.

From the overall analysis done in this project management assignment, it can be affirmed that stakeholder management is essential in case of considering any tool of project management. The collaboration tool is growing its importance in the present age as it helps to update real time by considering work in the same space (Eskerod and Jepsen, 2016). The work from home opportunity can be utilized by considering collaboration tool as it uses common platform. This type of technique is popular in the modern globalized world as physical presence is not essential to evaluate a project. The Workflow Automation technique has been recommended as it helps to focus on a specific area of the project. The development of own workflow has its own set of constraints and this is why, the workflow automation system provides quick response to each query. Hence, from the perspective of the overall quality of the research used to prepare this project management assignment, it is clear that the project queries can be easily solved by applying the method of workflow automation.

Conclusion
From the above study analysed in this Project management assignment, it can be concluded that project of large scale can be associated with several risks that can impact it in a negative manner. The over budgeting and delay can be identified as the main issues that are prevalent for the given project. The study can help in meeting with the issues with the help of given theories and models that can be useful in the given context to deal with issues. The study examined in the Project management assignment also provide with the justification about the recommended approaches in order to evaluate and analyze their impact on the services related to the railway project.

References
BBC News., 2019. HS2 rail project to be reviewed. Project management assignment Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-49420332 [Accessed 18 Oct. 2019].

Carstens, D.S., Richardson, G. and Smith, R.B., 2016. Project management tools and techniques: A practical guide. CRC Press.

Dibra, M., 2015. Rogers theory on diffusion of innovation-the most appropriate theoretical model in the study of factors influencing the integration of sustainability in tourism businesses. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 195, pp.1453-1462.

Eskerod, P. and Jepsen, A.L., 2016. Project stakeholder management. Routledge.

Ft.com., 2019. Why HS2 rail line is way over budget and badly delayed | Financial Times. Available at: https://www.ft.com/content/cf3ff750-d92a-11e9-8f9b-77216ebe1f17 [Accessed 18 Oct. 2019].

Haz?r, Ö., 2015. A review of analytical models, approaches and decision support tools in project monitoring and control. International Journal of Project Management, 33(4), pp.808-815.\

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Jones, T.M., Wicks, A.C. and Freeman, R.E., 2017. Stakeholder theory: The state of the art. The Blackwell guide to business ethics, pp.17-37.

Karlsen, J.T., Folke-Olsen, O. and Torvatn, T., 2015. Project risk management: use and benefit of various tools. In Transportation Systems and Engineering: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications (pp. 250-271). IGI Global.

Kerzner, H., 2019. Project management assignment Using the project management maturity model: strategic planning for project management. Wiley.

Kopnina, H. and Blewitt, J., 2018. Sustainable business: Key issues. Routledge.

Libai, B., Mahajan, V. and Muller, E., 2017. Can you see the chasm? Innovation diffusion according to Rogers, Bass, and Moore. In Review of Marketing Research (pp. 58-77). Routledge.

Miles, S., 2017. Stakeholder theory classification: A theoretical and empirical evaluation of definitions. Journal of Business Ethics, 142(3), pp.437-459.

Obradovi?, V., Kosti?, S.C. and Mitrovi?, Z., 2016. Rethinking project management–Did we miss marketing management?. Project management assignment Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 226, pp.390-397.