Executive summary
The Millennium Dome project has been critically examined in this report. The article analyzes the leading causes of the project’s failure. Also included are strategies that could have been implemented to lessen the impact of these setbacks and boost the project’s odds of success. Under Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Greenwich Peninsula, members of the British government took part in the project. The key players in this drama are listed below. Prime Minister Blair wanted the Dome to be ready for the turn of the millennium celebrations. The project’s purpose was to highlight the government’s support for the arts and draw attention to the project’s success. The government intended to use the project’s completion as propaganda to boast about its success. The neighborhood is a stakeholder because it stands to gain from the project. Many factors led to the project’s failure, including, but not limited to, a lack of vision and poor planning. Financial difficulties are primarily responsible for the demise of the Millennium Dome project. The project’s failure can be attributed to several factors, including improper planning, sloppy execution, a lack of professional expertise, improper handling of funds, ineffective promotion, and the absence of a backup plan. The Dome would have been successful in the same way that other failed projects were. It would have occurred if the project’s management had been aware of and able to effectively handle the project’s resources and risks and its many unknowns.
Introduction
Projects are joint in society and require planning and management of available resources to achieve predetermined goals within a specified time frame. There are endeavours of the individual, the organization, the community, the state, the nation, the world, and the scientific community. Already many projects have been started, and many more will be carried out in the near and distant future. The current state of the world is the result of many different projects. Curiously, all projects require three things: money, people, and time. In addition, there are risks associated with all of them. The Millennium Dome was commissioned to celebrate the turn of the millennium and to serve as an iconic, flat, multipurpose venue. The Millennium Dome project has been critically examined in this report. The article analyzes the leading causes of the project’s failure. Also included are strategies that could have been implemented to lessen the impact of these setbacks and boost the project’s odds of success.
Analysis
The stakeholders
Project participants included the British government led by Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Greenwich Peninsula. Below is a breakdown of the relevant parties. The Prime Minister hoped the Dome’s construction would be completed in time for the 2000s Millennium celebrations. The project’s goal was to bring attention to this success and bring to light the government’s support for the arts. Once the project was finished, the government planned to use it as propaganda to boast about its success. If the project did not go as planned, the government would take the blame, and the opposition and their allies would use it as evidence of the government under Tony Blair’s incompetence.
The neighborhood is a stakeholder because it stands to gain from the project. The Greenwich Peninsula was uninhabited and utilized as a dumping ground for harmful waste. If the plan were carried out as planned, the land in question would instantly become a valuable asset to the government due to its rising market value. The exhibition’s planners tried many different approaches to address budgetary concerns. After only a month in operation, they juggled the leadership and made several changes. The Labour government was dedicated to seeing the project through but ultimately failed. Organizers had hoped for 12 million paying customers to attend the show. Only roughly 6 million people visited The Dome during its whole year of existence. The show received negative reviews and was deemed a flop by the media. Neither the project nor the clients were successful.
Identify and rank the risks in the project
Many factors led to the project’s failure, including, but not limited to, a lack of vision and poor planning. First, they had a hazy understanding of what needed to be accomplished. The Conservative government’s original plan called for the construction of a modest facility for the year 3000 celebrations. After taking office, the Labour government increased the scale and budget for The Dome. According to research by Venkataraman and Pinto (2008, p. 85), expanding the scope and budget of a project boosts its success in achieving its goals. Using inflated estimates betrays sloppy preparation on the part of the event’s organizers. The project’s organizers anticipated over twelve million customers in the first year of business. There were significant financial problems because only 6 million people attended the exhibition. The organizers had to borrow more money from the sponsors to keep the project going.
As a second issue, the project could have been carried out better. The Dome served as a venue for the Millennium Experience. However, the lacklustre content that resulted from the poor execution also contributed to the small customer base. Moreover, customers who visited the exhibition had negative things to say about it. The story, themes, and originality should have been included. Since the public’s initial reception of the exhibition was hostile, the media also voiced its disapproval. It encountered financial difficulties because the exhibition’s poor reputation kept many potential customers away. A third factor that can lead to a project’s failure is insufficient professional expertise (Venkataraman & Pinto, 2008, p. 1). The project contractor had previous experience building arenas. However, the construction firm needed a track record of completing megaprojects like the one at hand. Despite expanding the project’s scope, size, and budget, the government kept the same contractor. It was a problem because a project of The Dome’s scale necessitated a contractor with substantial resources. After only one month on the job, the project’s CEO and CFO were fired. The fact that they needed to steer the project in the right direction demonstrates their need for more expertise.
The project failed partly due to poor financial management, which brings us to our fourth point (Venkataraman & Pinto 2008, p. 156). The project’s funds must be managed in two ways: during its execution. The Labour government boosted funding after significantly increasing the project’s scale and scope. Extra money was invested into the project in a way that was not anticipated initially. Higher standards were set because more resources were poured into the project. The project’s completion may not have lived up to widespread anticipation and subsequent criticism. Second, there is serious money mismanagement following the completion of The Dome. The event’s organizers counted on admission fees to help defray some of the expenses. The event’s organizers had to borrow more money from their sponsors after they failed to draw in as many attendees as they had hoped. The fact that The Dome was shut down soon after opening proves that the extra money could have been better spent.
Fifth, The Dome’s failure was exacerbated by ineffective marketing strategies. Promotion and sales efforts were based on the premise that word of the exhibition would spread organically. As befitting an event held on a megastructure, the exhibition required a sizable turnout. Although half as many people were expected to see the exhibit, only half did. It shows that the company’s efforts to boost sales could have been more successful. Sales fell short because of insufficient funding (Venkataraman & Pinto, 2008, p. 205). There were currently no other participants in the exhibition. The organizers counted on the positive buzz from satisfied customers to boost attendance and revenue. They expected the government’s support to help promote the event as well. The low budget was insufficient to support the anticipated volume of business.
What was done or could have been done to mitigate the risks identified?
The risks associated with the exhibition could have been reduced if its organizers had done the following: first, they would have conducted extensive research and planning. Issues with this project start when it is first initiated. Under the Conservatives, the project was initially conceived as being much more modest. After being elected, the Labour government significantly increased its size, budget, and scope. For a project to be successful, it requires decisive action at the outset (Venkataraman & Pinto, 2008, p. 239). Purpose, feasibility, personnel, outcomes, and scope are all questions that should be addressed during the project’s inception. The management team should clearly define and prioritize the project’s objectives. There needs to be a project priority list in place for this endeavour. It is because the project’s scope, size, and budget quickly expand after the election. As an added selling point, the Labour government said they would use the project to show how “boldness over blandness” can work. All signs point to political interference in the decision-making process of the event’s organizers. The current administration intended to feature this as one of their many notable accomplishments in their upcoming election platform.
Furthermore, the project planning phase is essential to the project’s overall success. The number of paying customers who attended the exhibition was crucial to the project’s success. In no other way could this project have been profitable. The event planners should have put more time and money into market research. A good pricing strategy and an accurate estimate of the number of potential customers could be achieved with the help of market research. With a more accurate estimate of the project’s customer base, they could better determine its scope and size. The exhibition’s promotion would have relied more than just word of mouth, but rather, on a well-funded advertising campaign.
Third, the project’s success could have been enhanced through more vigilant management of financial resources (Venkataraman & Pinto, 2008, p. 151). The project’s original scale was much smaller than what was ultimately accomplished. After conducting a comprehensive life-cycle assessment, the organizers would have moved forward with the project. It would have avoided the problem of extra money being distributed to extra tasks within the project. It would have saved money on the project overall. The planners would have also done a thorough risk analysis to account for any unexpected expenses that might crop up down the road.
The project value
The value of the project will be calculated using an earned value analysis. This is a standard method for estimating the financial return on a project. The work breakdown structure (WBS) will be put into place, which is a tree-like diagram of all the tasks and work packages that need to be completed for the project. The WBS allows for the proper distribution of labour to meet the needs of each task. Next, the resulting project network is used to determine the proper order of steps and build a phased schedule and budget. The following figure shows the relationship between project management, governance, management success, and corporate performance.
Conclusion
Financial difficulties are primarily responsible for the demise of the Millennium Dome project. The Millennium Experience is an exhibition created to mark the arrival of the third millennium, and this project is a massive structure explicitly constructed for it. It was anticipated that the trading profits would be enough to keep the project running. Unfortunately, it was unsuccessful because it drew in fewer paying customers than we had hoped. The project’s organizers tried two different approaches to save it: after only a month of operation, they switched the project’s leadership. Second, they borrowed more money from the sponsors to pay for day-to-day operations. However, despite these efforts, the British government was ultimately forced to sell The Dome. The project’s failure can be attributed to several factors, including improper planning, sloppy execution, a lack of professional expertise, improper handling of funds, ineffective promotion, and the absence of a backup plan. The Dome would have been successful in the same way that other failed projects were. It would have occurred if the project’s management had been aware of and able to effectively handle the project’s resources and risks and its many unknowns.
Bibliography
Venkataraman, R.R. and Pinto, J.K. (2008). Cost and value management in projects. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons.
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