Programme and Project Strategy

Order Description

1)i) Research and analyse the conduct of the high-profile programme/project: The UK new Wembley stadium project.
ii) Discuss the problems encountered consequent of errors in the programme or project strategy and planning.
iii) Suggest how utilisation of programme or project strategy best practice might have improved the situation or even avoided the problems.

This is a postgraduate assignment so high standards are expected. The answer should have a brief executive summary (about 100 words) at the start.
The total word count should be shared quite evenly amongst the three questions.
Each question answered should be broken down into clear headings or subheadings and a table of contents should be given.
A file is attached which gives guidelines and some useful references but the assignment should not be limited to that.
All sources used should contain the correct reference and no part of the assignment should be copied and pasted to avoid plagiarism.

Hints & Tips

Programme strategy in this context refers to the setting up of the programme. This is the initiation, design and planning of the programme and the processes and practices to execute the programme. It considers WHY the programme is needed, WHAT the programme will deliver and HOW the programme will be run and managed. The WHY is often linked to the Business Case, strategic goals, vision statement and benefits, the WHAT is the BOOP Map and the list of projects (the project dossier), and the Blueprints. The Programme plan, benefits realisation plan, and the tranche plan (schedule) specify the WHEN. The HOW is sometimes called the GOVERNANCE Framework and covers the programme and project organisation, roles and responsibilities and the processes, practices and standards that will be used in managing the programme and projects. The risk management strategy often defines the ‘WHAT IF’. For further details on ‘governance framework’ see MSP (2007, 2011) Governance Themes.

There are different areas that could be considered when answering the questions, some of which are:
•    Is it actually a programme or just a large project?  Was it managed as a programme or a project? What are the implications if it was managed as a project when it should have been managed as a business-change programme? What evidence can you cite to support your arguments?
•    If it was a project- what determines ‘success’? What are ‘generic’ success factors applicable to all projects? What are the critical success factors (CSFs) that apply to this specific project? If it was a programme, what determines success? Who decides? What role do stakeholders play in the process?
•    How does the governance structure (or governance framework) contribute to success?  What role does BOOP mapping play in designing the programme and projects? What role do benefits play? Is benefits management important? Is risk management important? What is the importance of product change control etc.?  (These are all parts of a governance framework)
So, if the argument says that it was a success- what evidence and arguments can be provided to support the position?   References should be made to the course materials and the wider project/programme management literature and ‘best practices’ to analyse and evaluate the case study.   What aspects of the project/programme design and planning contributed to the success? What areas could have been improved? Simply describing the case study or writing a case history will NOT be sufficient to gain a pass.  A good critical analysis and well-supported or evidenced arguments should be given. Remember to support findings and conclusions with reference to the literature and theory.

Sources

APM Programme Management Specific Interest Group (2013) Introduction to Programme Management, Association for Project Management; First edition (30 Oct 2007)
Bartlett, J. (2002). Managing Programmes of Business Change: A Handbook of the Principles of Programme Management. Project Manager Today Publications.
Brown, J.T (2014) The Handbook of Program Management: How to Facilitate Project Success with Optimal Program Management, McGraw-Hill Professional; 2nd Second Edition also 1st edition (2008) Views programmes as a collection of projects.
Morris, PWG and Pinto, JK and Söderlund, J, (eds.) (2011) The Oxford Handbook of Project Management, Oxford University Press
Project Management Institute (2013) The Standard for Programme Management, Project Management Institute; 3rd edition
Reiss, G. (Ed.). (2006). Gower Handbook of programme management. Gower Publishing, Ltd.
Reiss, G. & Raynor, P. (2012) Portfolio and Programme Management Demystified: Managing Multiple Projects Successfully, Routledge; 2nd edition
Tends towards view of programmes as collection of projects.

Snowden, Rod & Cabinet Office (2011) Managing Successful Programmes, Stationery Office; 4th ed., 2011 edition (30 Aug 2011)
Thiry, M. (2010) Programme Management, Gower Publishing Ltd
Williams, D, & Parr, T. (2003). Enterprise programme management: delivering value. Palgrave Macmillan.

Pinto Slevin 1987 Balancing Strategy and Tactics in Project Implementation

Association for Project Management, A Guide to the Governance aspects of Project Sponsorship,
Association for Project Management, (2014) Directing Change: A Guide to Governance of Project Management, 2nd edition
Association for Project Management, (2014) Co-directing Change: A Guide to the Governance of Multi-Owned Projects
César, B. (1998). Managing sensitive projects: A lateral approach. Psychology Press.
Littau,P. Jujagiri, N., Adlbrecht, G., (2010) “25 Years of Stakeholder Theory in Project Management Literature (1984-2009)”, Project Management Journal, Sept 2010
Morris, PWG and Pinto, JK and Söderlund, J, (eds.) (2011) The Oxford Handbook of Project Management. Oxford University Press
Muller, R. (2009) Project Governance: Fundamentals of Project Management, Gower Publications
Porter,M (1996) “What is strategy?”, Harvard Business Review, Nov-Dec 1996
Pellegrinelli, S. (1997). Programme management: organising project-based change. International Journal of Project Management, 15(3), 141-149.
Pellegrinelli, S. Partington,D., Hemingway, C., Mohdzain,Z.,& Mahmood Shah (2007) “The importance of context in programme management: An empirical review of programme practices.” International Journal of Project Management 25, no. 1 (2007): 41-55.
Patanakul, P.and Shenhar, A. (2002) “What Project Strategy Really Is: The Fundamental Building Block in Strategic Project Management” Project Management Journal, Feb 2002
Turner, R. (2003) Contracting for Project Management, Gower Publishing Ltd; New edition: Sep 2003
Walley, P (2013) “Stakeholder management: the sociodynamic approach”, International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, Vol. 6 No. 3, 2013, pp. 485-504