1. Introduction
The Millennium Dome also known as the Millennium Tent constructed in the Greenwich Peninsula was planned for hosting the Millennium Festival at the start of new Millennium. Although project was open for public according to schedule, but the operating company faced severe financial problems. After four weeks of opening ceremony, company was unable to operate. This report is about critical evaluation of the Millennium Dome project. In this report we will critically evaluate project management process for the subject project. All the stages of project management process will be discuss starting from its initiating process till closure. And finally recommendations will be presented for improvement. Before starting with the critical evaluation of the Millennium Dome Project, we should start from basics, what is a project, what is a mega project and what are impacts of mega projects. Project management institute defines project as “A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result”. (PMI, 2008) Project is not an endless effort, every project has a definite start and end. A project ends when either its objectives are achieved or it is terminated due to unachievable targets. Mega projects are huge scale projects, normally taken by the government. Mega projects are very critical. They require huge financial input for completion. Vast numbers of human resources and equipment are deployed. The continuous restructuring of organization is required as every project is unique and has a different life cycle. For successful completion of mega projects strong planning and management skills are required. Good communication is one of the basic tools for success of any project at any level. (Kerzner, 2009) Mega projects are usually slow projects having poor performance. There can be problems of cost overrun, and even revenues may be lower than expectations. Mega projects results great impact on social and environmental condition of locality. Because of long span of the project, normally public support is also lost. (Flyvbjerg, 2003) Enormous budget is required for completion of mega projects. Funding organizations or governmental institutes feels the impact of such projects for years. Successful completion of mega projects is very crucial. Failure of mega project may even results in collapse of funding organization and even governments; if government is also involved as stakeholder. (Merrow, 1988)
2. The Millennium Dome Project
The Millennium Dome is a mega project recently undertaken by the British Government (D. R. MYDDELTON, 2007). The Millennium Dome is a unique project of its type. It is an iconic structure standing at Greenwich Peninsula near bank of the river Thames. The Millennium Dome is the largest dome of its type, around the world. Externally it appears as a white marque with huge yellow towers. The geometry of the dome is related to the role of the Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). Diameter of the dome is 365 meter, each meter representing each day of year. There are twelve support towers, each representing month of the year or each hour of clock face. Internal design of deme comprises of a central arena; for staging live millennium. And 14 separate zones; interlinked with one another. Every zone have a different theme. An auditorium of 5,000 audience capacity is also part of The Millennium Dome (National Audit Office, 2000). Design of The Millennium Dome is prepared by renowned architect Richard Rogers. And executed by joint venture of McAlpine and Laing Management. It is also known as Millennium Tent based on its design and type of structure. (National Audit Office, 2000)
2.1. Concept of The Millennium Dome
The concept for construction of The Millennium Dome conceived as arranging the grand Millennium Exhibition of such a scale and stature comparable with that of the Great Exhibition of 1851 and the Festival of Britain of 1951. Opening of the project was planned on New Year night by the end of year 2000. It was planned to provide a central place for the nation's Millennium celebrations. The idea for construction of The Millennium Dome was first raised in 1994 during the government of John Major’s Tory. Later in 1995 plan was approved from the committee of MPs and Tony Blair as Prime Minister gave final approval for execution of the project. (National Audit Office, 2000)
2.2. Execution of Project
New Millennium Experience Company is constituted in 1997. A lottery grant of up to £449 million was sanctioned by the Millennium Commission for the purpose of construction and operating the Millennium Dome at Greenwich. Purpose of the company was to plan, build, run and close the project. Approval was granted on the basis that a balanced budget - costs and income of £758 million will be achieved. (National Audit Office, 2000) The project was approved by the Millennium Commission on the basis that it would achieve a balanced budget - costs and income of £758 million. The approval was also on the basis that the Company would plan for 12 million paying visitors. (National Audit Office, 2000)
2.3. Problems Faced During Project
New Millennium Experience Company managed to complete the project within due course of time and dome was opened to host Millennium celebrations on the New Year night. But unfortunately, the company fails to attract paying visitors. And by the end of September 2000, the Dome had attracted only 3.8 million paying visitors. This resulted in severe financial problem for company. Additional grants were required for running business smoothly. (Sir John Bourn, 2000) After opening of dome 4 additional grants are awarded to company for smoothly running the business totaling grant funding to £628 million an increase of £179 million. Later on it was admitted that expected no of visitors was miscalculated and these numbers can be achieved. In the year 2001 adjacent site was sailed to a private company for development and in 2009 holding company was also given on a lease of 999 years. (Julia Kollewe, 2009) Above is a brief review of the Millennium Dome Project. From conceiving of the idea till its handing over to private client, or in other words ending the project.
3. Critical Analysis of Project Management Process
In this report we will critically evaluate project management process for The Millennium Dome project in the light of project management process. Only financial and managerial aspects will be covered, here under. Other aspects such as design, construction and other technical aspects will not be part of this report. Project management institutes (PMI) defines project management as “It is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet the project requirements”. Purpose of project management is to identify project requirements, address expectations of stakeholders and balancing project constraints. Including, scope, quality, schedule, budget, resources and risk. (PMI, 2008) Project Management Institute (PMI) defines 5 core process of project management. · Project initiation · Project planning · Project execution · Monitoring and Controlling Project · Project closing We will evaluate The Millennium Dome project one by one at all of above stages.
3.1. Project Initiation
Initiating a project does not mean just floating an idea, it requires a lot of homework. Before commencement of project feasibility studies are carried out. And deliverables are defined along with all the constraints and restraints. And initiating a mega project demands even more working, as lot of stakeholders are involved. An idea for construction of such a huge project for millennium celebration is really ambitious. This idea was first revealed in the speech of the Millennium Commission chairman in June 1994. Feasibility studies were carried out for selection of suitable place and the Greenwich Peninsula was chosen as venue for construction of the Millennium Dome in 1996. (National Audit Office, 2000) Selection of the Greenwich peninsula seems feasible and well-intentioned for such purpose. As this locality was suffering from long term legacy in the form of economic regeneration. And the particular selected piece of was derelict and contaminated. Execution of this project not only reclaimed wasted piece of valuable land, but also results in economic growth of the area. (National Audit Office, 2000) Acquiring land through English Partnerships; the Government's urban regeneration agency at a peppercorn rent can be remarked as a very good initiative for the start of project. Hence it can be concluded that at initiating stage everything was in favor of the project. Deliverables were ambitious and well defined. And good location with multiple benefits was selected.
3.2. Project Planning
After initiating the project, next and the most important phase is planning of the project. At the planning stage the Millennium Commission was planning to involve private sector for execution of this project, for this purpose bids were also invited. Later on it was assed that private sector is not accepting the project because of associated risks. (National Audit Office, 2000) At that time, if government arranged a private sector firm for executing this whole project; that would be more beneficial for the project and government itself. As private firms work for financial incentives and they keep on changing their financial plans as per requirements. While for a government operated organization, amendments in proposed plans are not that much easy, because of length bureaucratic procedure. Because of unwillingness of private sector in 1997 it was finally decided that the project will be delivered through public sector organization i.e. government itself. This can be remarked as a major mistake in planning of such a huge project. For this a private firm was taken into public ownership and a new company named as New Millennium Experience was founded under companies act. And a Government Minister accountable to Parliament was nominated as sole shareholder. If instead of taking a private firm into public ownership, a private-public consortium would be established, which may provide good results. And in case of failure government might not face such a hard time, as responsilibty was shared between government and private sector. Complex organizational procedures from start of the project can also be one of the main causes for failure. Three shareholders were defined, all of them were part of government i.e. the company itself, the Millennium Commission and the Department of Culture, Media and sport. As by eliminating complex structures, projects can be made more valuable. (Giezen, 2012) Involvement of experts at planning stage can be noted as positive practice. As for the estimation of number of visitor an external consultant was arranged. Who presented an estimate of 12 million paying visitor (National Audit Office, 2000). As estimate was too high and very crucial for project, it was necessary to get these results verified from some other experts. This practice may help the company to get refine results and all the things may be planned may be arranged accordingly. Perhaps this is the only inappropriate estimate that ruined the whole project. Financial budgets were based on the visitors estimate. All the costs and budgets were planned in accordance with 12 million paying visitors estimate. Planning 12 million paying visitors is an ambitious estimate, but there were huge risks involved with it; which were required to be analyzed. Significant planning was required at this stage to counter risk associated with number of visitors. May be at planning stage, this risk might not be significantly addressed. Main motivation for approval of £758 million budget for the whole project was 12 million paying visitors. As expected revenue from 12 million visitors was calculated to be £404 million. For countering the risk of reduction in number of visitors only £359 million were included in budget and rest of £45 million were kept for contingencies plan. Planning contingency is an appreciable approach and £45 million is a considerable amount, it is almost 11 percent of income generated from tickets. But it was not defined that this amount can’t counter risk up to which stage. Was it able enough to counter any of the expected risk such as short fall in income or less paying visitor. This means contingencies were planned but not adequate as compare to risk involved. As expectations of achieving 12 million visitors proves to be impracticable. From the financial data provided in National Audit Report only £399 million grant was required for successful completion of project and additional £50 million was requested for ease of cash flow. Such planning of cash flow reflects good budget planning, but not adequate as risk factor was very high. Several revisions in budget during execution stage shows that risk were not properly analyzed and financial matters were not planned accordingly.
3.3. Project Execution and Monitoring
After planning stages various revisions were carried out during the execution process. As revisions become mandatory when there are flaws at planning stage. Monitoring and control process moves parallel to execution process. Where defects are observed, remedial measures are recommended and corrective actions are taken. (PMI, 2008) During the execution of project, sometime revision are required in plans. Even sometimes redefinition of baseline both in term of finance, and schedule may be required. Modifications in duration of activities, revision in productivity and availability of resources may be carried out during this process. Unanticipated risks may also be evaluated and remedial strategies can be worked out during this process. (PMI, 2008) Monitoring and control process runs parallel to execution process. In this process progress and performance of the project is tracked, reviewed and regulated. During this process potential areas for modifications are identified and changes are imitated. Major benefit of monitoring and control process is consistent identifications of variations in the project management plan. Continuous monitoring, keeps informed all stakeholders regarding health of the project and identifies areas requiring special attention. (PMI, 2008) Despite all the financial problems The Millennium Dome was constructed within a very short period of time and opened for the general public at the proposed time. Completion of The Millennium Dome in such a short time is remarked as tremendous achievement. (Sir John Bourn, 2000). Such comments from higher government officials shows that management of the project was strong enough to meet the deadlines. On one hand opening the Millennium Dome for public at given time is achievement, but on the other hand enormous increase in budget is questionable. Construction of the dome was one milestone that company achieved within time, but company was also assigned the task to operate it for certain timer period. And company fails to operate, because of financial problems. As all the grants were utilized and income was not satisfactory. This all happened because of wrong estimate of visitor. If number of visitor were rationally estimated, there will be no such problem. During construction process from 1997 to 2000 budget was revised several times. In the approved budget of 1997 a contingency plan of £88 million was kept other than £45 million approved for the shortfall in income. Although these are huge amounts but involved risks were even bigger, that these amounts failed to accommodate variations and additional grants were requested. In 1998 and 1999 various revisions were carried out, but no positive measure is addressed for returning project back to the track. Many solutions were possible at this stages to avoid increase in budget. Options like income generation were required to be worked out. Contingencies plans were required to revise and company should be forced to work out some other means to generate funds. If such an exercise carried out instantly, than the project can be saved from being ruined. In April 1999 when risk became evident and company was asked for preparation of contingency plan and saving finances where possible but no positive measures were taken. By November 1999 the Company was left with only £7 million of the Commission's £449 million grant and £5.7 million from its cost contingency. At that time, company was totally depend on its forecasted income in the form of tickets and sponsorship. And by January 2000 it was evident that there would be no surplus income from ticket sales. (National Audit Office, 2000) New contingency plan was required at this stage but company rely on the broad contingency strategy approved in April 1999. This was again a major drawback in managing the project. Various costs were reduced, human resources were reduced and health and safety was compromised to save some costs. But no fruitful results were generated. After 1 January 2000 commission requested grants and was awarded additional grants of £179 totaling grants amount to £628 million. (HICKLEY, 2007)
3.4. Project Closing
As discussed above due to financial problems, smooth running of the project was becoming difficult day by day. Company failed to generate expected income and was totally relying upon government grants. This can be stated as was the failure of the project. Project can be saved even at this stage, if proper planning was carried out considering the available resources. Company was required to take positive decisions to stabilize the project. Advertising and media can be used for attracting more visitor. Discounts on tickets for visitor can be a good option for attraction of more visitor. Other marketing techniques can be used for saving the project. But nothing good happened and finally the government finalized to get rid of this project and decided to sale out the dome. Even sale of such a project was not an easy task, it took large time for searching an interested buyer. And finally the Millennium Dome was handed over. But the project did not ended with a good note. Despite adding a valuable feature to public this project resulted in embarrassment for the government and executing agency.
4. Conclusions and Recommendations
Based on above discussion it can be concluded that project was not properly managed. Project management skills as mentioned by Project Management Institute should be applied at every stage of project throughout its lifecycle. Application of these skills is mandatory for successful completion of project. Technical sound project management team should be deployed for execution of such projects. Organizational structure should be simple and properly defined and there should be proper distribution of powers and a strong communication system. Well trained technical staff, especially for management of financial matters should be employed. Decisions making process should be improved and decisions should be taken instantly and applied for improvement. Proper monitoring and control techniques should be applied and revisions should be carried out as and where required. Financial plans for such a huge project should be planned in such a way that incase of financial problems project may able to generate income or reduce running costs without comprising quality, health and safety. Grants from funding sources should be asked only, if no other measure for income generating is workable. Public private partnership can be proved as a better option for success of such projects. Risks should be properly assessed and contingencies should be planed for same magnitude. Proper funding for contingencies should be allocated and revised along with progress of projects. Risk analysis methodology should be properly adopted and only achievable targets should be set. Proper planning of project location is mandatory. Environment, approach and feasibility of site should be assessed before finalization of project. If required additional works should be carried out from improvement of approach to the project site. Advertisement and other relevant tools should be used for publicity and awareness of public. Public should be attracted by offering discounts and other attractive measures. Media should be used for positive advertisement and negative role of media should be avoided. From all of the above discussion, it can be concluded that for success of such a huge proper project, proper planning and management is mandatory. Ambitious targets are attractive, but can only be achieved with proper planning. Simple organizational procedure and well-worked financial estimates with adequate contingency planning are essential requirement for successful completion of such projects.
References
D. R. MYDDELTON, 2007. They Meant Well: Government Project Disasters , London: The Institute of Economic Affairs. Flyvbjerg, B. B. N. a. R. W., 2003. MegaProjects and Risk: An Anatomy of Ambition. Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press. Giezen, M., 2012. Keeping it simple? A case study into the advantages and disadvantages of reducing complexity in mega project planning. International Journal of Project Management, Volume 30, pp. 781-790. HICKLEY, M., 2007. Millennium Dome 'was bankrupt' within weeks of opening. s.l.:Mail Online. Julia Kollewe, 2009. Trinity College Cambridge buys lease of O2 complex at Millennium Dome, London: The Guardian. Kerzner, H., 2009. Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling. 10 ed. s.l.:Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Merrow, E. W., 1988. Understanding the Outcomes of Megaprojects: A Quantitative Analysis of very Large Civilian Projects. s.l.:Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation. National Audit Office, 2000. The Millennium Dome: The Comptroller and Auditor General Report, London: The Stationery Office. PMI, 2008. PMBOK: A guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge. 4 ed. Newtown Square, Pennsylvania: Project Management Institute, Inc.. Sir John Bourn, 2000. National Audit Office. [Online]
Available at: http://www.nao.org.uk/report/the-millennium-dome/
[Accessed 12 4 2013].
The Millennium Dome also known as the Millennium Tent constructed in the Greenwich Peninsula was planned for hosting the Millennium Festival at the start of new Millennium. Although project was open for public according to schedule, but the operating company faced severe financial problems. After four weeks of opening ceremony, company was unable to operate. This report is about critical evaluation of the Millennium Dome project. In this report we will critically evaluate project management process for the subject project. All the stages of project management process will be discuss starting from its initiating process till closure. And finally recommendations will be presented for improvement. Before starting with the critical evaluation of the Millennium Dome Project, we should start from basics, what is a project, what is a mega project and what are impacts of mega projects. Project management institute defines project as “A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result”. (PMI, 2008) Project is not an endless effort, every project has a definite start and end. A project ends when either its objectives are achieved or it is terminated due to unachievable targets. Mega projects are huge scale projects, normally taken by the government. Mega projects are very critical. They require huge financial input for completion. Vast numbers of human resources and equipment are deployed. The continuous restructuring of organization is required as every project is unique and has a different life cycle. For successful completion of mega projects strong planning and management skills are required. Good communication is one of the basic tools for success of any project at any level. (Kerzner, 2009) Mega projects are usually slow projects having poor performance. There can be problems of cost overrun, and even revenues may be lower than expectations. Mega projects results great impact on social and environmental condition of locality. Because of long span of the project, normally public support is also lost. (Flyvbjerg, 2003) Enormous budget is required for completion of mega projects. Funding organizations or governmental institutes feels the impact of such projects for years. Successful completion of mega projects is very crucial. Failure of mega project may even results in collapse of funding organization and even governments; if government is also involved as stakeholder. (Merrow, 1988)
2. The Millennium Dome Project
The Millennium Dome is a mega project recently undertaken by the British Government (D. R. MYDDELTON, 2007). The Millennium Dome is a unique project of its type. It is an iconic structure standing at Greenwich Peninsula near bank of the river Thames. The Millennium Dome is the largest dome of its type, around the world. Externally it appears as a white marque with huge yellow towers. The geometry of the dome is related to the role of the Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). Diameter of the dome is 365 meter, each meter representing each day of year. There are twelve support towers, each representing month of the year or each hour of clock face. Internal design of deme comprises of a central arena; for staging live millennium. And 14 separate zones; interlinked with one another. Every zone have a different theme. An auditorium of 5,000 audience capacity is also part of The Millennium Dome (National Audit Office, 2000). Design of The Millennium Dome is prepared by renowned architect Richard Rogers. And executed by joint venture of McAlpine and Laing Management. It is also known as Millennium Tent based on its design and type of structure. (National Audit Office, 2000)
2.1. Concept of The Millennium Dome
The concept for construction of The Millennium Dome conceived as arranging the grand Millennium Exhibition of such a scale and stature comparable with that of the Great Exhibition of 1851 and the Festival of Britain of 1951. Opening of the project was planned on New Year night by the end of year 2000. It was planned to provide a central place for the nation's Millennium celebrations. The idea for construction of The Millennium Dome was first raised in 1994 during the government of John Major’s Tory. Later in 1995 plan was approved from the committee of MPs and Tony Blair as Prime Minister gave final approval for execution of the project. (National Audit Office, 2000)
2.2. Execution of Project
New Millennium Experience Company is constituted in 1997. A lottery grant of up to £449 million was sanctioned by the Millennium Commission for the purpose of construction and operating the Millennium Dome at Greenwich. Purpose of the company was to plan, build, run and close the project. Approval was granted on the basis that a balanced budget - costs and income of £758 million will be achieved. (National Audit Office, 2000) The project was approved by the Millennium Commission on the basis that it would achieve a balanced budget - costs and income of £758 million. The approval was also on the basis that the Company would plan for 12 million paying visitors. (National Audit Office, 2000)
2.3. Problems Faced During Project
New Millennium Experience Company managed to complete the project within due course of time and dome was opened to host Millennium celebrations on the New Year night. But unfortunately, the company fails to attract paying visitors. And by the end of September 2000, the Dome had attracted only 3.8 million paying visitors. This resulted in severe financial problem for company. Additional grants were required for running business smoothly. (Sir John Bourn, 2000) After opening of dome 4 additional grants are awarded to company for smoothly running the business totaling grant funding to £628 million an increase of £179 million. Later on it was admitted that expected no of visitors was miscalculated and these numbers can be achieved. In the year 2001 adjacent site was sailed to a private company for development and in 2009 holding company was also given on a lease of 999 years. (Julia Kollewe, 2009) Above is a brief review of the Millennium Dome Project. From conceiving of the idea till its handing over to private client, or in other words ending the project.
3. Critical Analysis of Project Management Process
In this report we will critically evaluate project management process for The Millennium Dome project in the light of project management process. Only financial and managerial aspects will be covered, here under. Other aspects such as design, construction and other technical aspects will not be part of this report. Project management institutes (PMI) defines project management as “It is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet the project requirements”. Purpose of project management is to identify project requirements, address expectations of stakeholders and balancing project constraints. Including, scope, quality, schedule, budget, resources and risk. (PMI, 2008) Project Management Institute (PMI) defines 5 core process of project management. · Project initiation · Project planning · Project execution · Monitoring and Controlling Project · Project closing We will evaluate The Millennium Dome project one by one at all of above stages.
3.1. Project Initiation
Initiating a project does not mean just floating an idea, it requires a lot of homework. Before commencement of project feasibility studies are carried out. And deliverables are defined along with all the constraints and restraints. And initiating a mega project demands even more working, as lot of stakeholders are involved. An idea for construction of such a huge project for millennium celebration is really ambitious. This idea was first revealed in the speech of the Millennium Commission chairman in June 1994. Feasibility studies were carried out for selection of suitable place and the Greenwich Peninsula was chosen as venue for construction of the Millennium Dome in 1996. (National Audit Office, 2000) Selection of the Greenwich peninsula seems feasible and well-intentioned for such purpose. As this locality was suffering from long term legacy in the form of economic regeneration. And the particular selected piece of was derelict and contaminated. Execution of this project not only reclaimed wasted piece of valuable land, but also results in economic growth of the area. (National Audit Office, 2000) Acquiring land through English Partnerships; the Government's urban regeneration agency at a peppercorn rent can be remarked as a very good initiative for the start of project. Hence it can be concluded that at initiating stage everything was in favor of the project. Deliverables were ambitious and well defined. And good location with multiple benefits was selected.
3.2. Project Planning
After initiating the project, next and the most important phase is planning of the project. At the planning stage the Millennium Commission was planning to involve private sector for execution of this project, for this purpose bids were also invited. Later on it was assed that private sector is not accepting the project because of associated risks. (National Audit Office, 2000) At that time, if government arranged a private sector firm for executing this whole project; that would be more beneficial for the project and government itself. As private firms work for financial incentives and they keep on changing their financial plans as per requirements. While for a government operated organization, amendments in proposed plans are not that much easy, because of length bureaucratic procedure. Because of unwillingness of private sector in 1997 it was finally decided that the project will be delivered through public sector organization i.e. government itself. This can be remarked as a major mistake in planning of such a huge project. For this a private firm was taken into public ownership and a new company named as New Millennium Experience was founded under companies act. And a Government Minister accountable to Parliament was nominated as sole shareholder. If instead of taking a private firm into public ownership, a private-public consortium would be established, which may provide good results. And in case of failure government might not face such a hard time, as responsilibty was shared between government and private sector. Complex organizational procedures from start of the project can also be one of the main causes for failure. Three shareholders were defined, all of them were part of government i.e. the company itself, the Millennium Commission and the Department of Culture, Media and sport. As by eliminating complex structures, projects can be made more valuable. (Giezen, 2012) Involvement of experts at planning stage can be noted as positive practice. As for the estimation of number of visitor an external consultant was arranged. Who presented an estimate of 12 million paying visitor (National Audit Office, 2000). As estimate was too high and very crucial for project, it was necessary to get these results verified from some other experts. This practice may help the company to get refine results and all the things may be planned may be arranged accordingly. Perhaps this is the only inappropriate estimate that ruined the whole project. Financial budgets were based on the visitors estimate. All the costs and budgets were planned in accordance with 12 million paying visitors estimate. Planning 12 million paying visitors is an ambitious estimate, but there were huge risks involved with it; which were required to be analyzed. Significant planning was required at this stage to counter risk associated with number of visitors. May be at planning stage, this risk might not be significantly addressed. Main motivation for approval of £758 million budget for the whole project was 12 million paying visitors. As expected revenue from 12 million visitors was calculated to be £404 million. For countering the risk of reduction in number of visitors only £359 million were included in budget and rest of £45 million were kept for contingencies plan. Planning contingency is an appreciable approach and £45 million is a considerable amount, it is almost 11 percent of income generated from tickets. But it was not defined that this amount can’t counter risk up to which stage. Was it able enough to counter any of the expected risk such as short fall in income or less paying visitor. This means contingencies were planned but not adequate as compare to risk involved. As expectations of achieving 12 million visitors proves to be impracticable. From the financial data provided in National Audit Report only £399 million grant was required for successful completion of project and additional £50 million was requested for ease of cash flow. Such planning of cash flow reflects good budget planning, but not adequate as risk factor was very high. Several revisions in budget during execution stage shows that risk were not properly analyzed and financial matters were not planned accordingly.
3.3. Project Execution and Monitoring
After planning stages various revisions were carried out during the execution process. As revisions become mandatory when there are flaws at planning stage. Monitoring and control process moves parallel to execution process. Where defects are observed, remedial measures are recommended and corrective actions are taken. (PMI, 2008) During the execution of project, sometime revision are required in plans. Even sometimes redefinition of baseline both in term of finance, and schedule may be required. Modifications in duration of activities, revision in productivity and availability of resources may be carried out during this process. Unanticipated risks may also be evaluated and remedial strategies can be worked out during this process. (PMI, 2008) Monitoring and control process runs parallel to execution process. In this process progress and performance of the project is tracked, reviewed and regulated. During this process potential areas for modifications are identified and changes are imitated. Major benefit of monitoring and control process is consistent identifications of variations in the project management plan. Continuous monitoring, keeps informed all stakeholders regarding health of the project and identifies areas requiring special attention. (PMI, 2008) Despite all the financial problems The Millennium Dome was constructed within a very short period of time and opened for the general public at the proposed time. Completion of The Millennium Dome in such a short time is remarked as tremendous achievement. (Sir John Bourn, 2000). Such comments from higher government officials shows that management of the project was strong enough to meet the deadlines. On one hand opening the Millennium Dome for public at given time is achievement, but on the other hand enormous increase in budget is questionable. Construction of the dome was one milestone that company achieved within time, but company was also assigned the task to operate it for certain timer period. And company fails to operate, because of financial problems. As all the grants were utilized and income was not satisfactory. This all happened because of wrong estimate of visitor. If number of visitor were rationally estimated, there will be no such problem. During construction process from 1997 to 2000 budget was revised several times. In the approved budget of 1997 a contingency plan of £88 million was kept other than £45 million approved for the shortfall in income. Although these are huge amounts but involved risks were even bigger, that these amounts failed to accommodate variations and additional grants were requested. In 1998 and 1999 various revisions were carried out, but no positive measure is addressed for returning project back to the track. Many solutions were possible at this stages to avoid increase in budget. Options like income generation were required to be worked out. Contingencies plans were required to revise and company should be forced to work out some other means to generate funds. If such an exercise carried out instantly, than the project can be saved from being ruined. In April 1999 when risk became evident and company was asked for preparation of contingency plan and saving finances where possible but no positive measures were taken. By November 1999 the Company was left with only £7 million of the Commission's £449 million grant and £5.7 million from its cost contingency. At that time, company was totally depend on its forecasted income in the form of tickets and sponsorship. And by January 2000 it was evident that there would be no surplus income from ticket sales. (National Audit Office, 2000) New contingency plan was required at this stage but company rely on the broad contingency strategy approved in April 1999. This was again a major drawback in managing the project. Various costs were reduced, human resources were reduced and health and safety was compromised to save some costs. But no fruitful results were generated. After 1 January 2000 commission requested grants and was awarded additional grants of £179 totaling grants amount to £628 million. (HICKLEY, 2007)
3.4. Project Closing
As discussed above due to financial problems, smooth running of the project was becoming difficult day by day. Company failed to generate expected income and was totally relying upon government grants. This can be stated as was the failure of the project. Project can be saved even at this stage, if proper planning was carried out considering the available resources. Company was required to take positive decisions to stabilize the project. Advertising and media can be used for attracting more visitor. Discounts on tickets for visitor can be a good option for attraction of more visitor. Other marketing techniques can be used for saving the project. But nothing good happened and finally the government finalized to get rid of this project and decided to sale out the dome. Even sale of such a project was not an easy task, it took large time for searching an interested buyer. And finally the Millennium Dome was handed over. But the project did not ended with a good note. Despite adding a valuable feature to public this project resulted in embarrassment for the government and executing agency.
4. Conclusions and Recommendations
Based on above discussion it can be concluded that project was not properly managed. Project management skills as mentioned by Project Management Institute should be applied at every stage of project throughout its lifecycle. Application of these skills is mandatory for successful completion of project. Technical sound project management team should be deployed for execution of such projects. Organizational structure should be simple and properly defined and there should be proper distribution of powers and a strong communication system. Well trained technical staff, especially for management of financial matters should be employed. Decisions making process should be improved and decisions should be taken instantly and applied for improvement. Proper monitoring and control techniques should be applied and revisions should be carried out as and where required. Financial plans for such a huge project should be planned in such a way that incase of financial problems project may able to generate income or reduce running costs without comprising quality, health and safety. Grants from funding sources should be asked only, if no other measure for income generating is workable. Public private partnership can be proved as a better option for success of such projects. Risks should be properly assessed and contingencies should be planed for same magnitude. Proper funding for contingencies should be allocated and revised along with progress of projects. Risk analysis methodology should be properly adopted and only achievable targets should be set. Proper planning of project location is mandatory. Environment, approach and feasibility of site should be assessed before finalization of project. If required additional works should be carried out from improvement of approach to the project site. Advertisement and other relevant tools should be used for publicity and awareness of public. Public should be attracted by offering discounts and other attractive measures. Media should be used for positive advertisement and negative role of media should be avoided. From all of the above discussion, it can be concluded that for success of such a huge proper project, proper planning and management is mandatory. Ambitious targets are attractive, but can only be achieved with proper planning. Simple organizational procedure and well-worked financial estimates with adequate contingency planning are essential requirement for successful completion of such projects.
References
D. R. MYDDELTON, 2007. They Meant Well: Government Project Disasters , London: The Institute of Economic Affairs. Flyvbjerg, B. B. N. a. R. W., 2003. MegaProjects and Risk: An Anatomy of Ambition. Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press. Giezen, M., 2012. Keeping it simple? A case study into the advantages and disadvantages of reducing complexity in mega project planning. International Journal of Project Management, Volume 30, pp. 781-790. HICKLEY, M., 2007. Millennium Dome 'was bankrupt' within weeks of opening. s.l.:Mail Online. Julia Kollewe, 2009. Trinity College Cambridge buys lease of O2 complex at Millennium Dome, London: The Guardian. Kerzner, H., 2009. Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling. 10 ed. s.l.:Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Merrow, E. W., 1988. Understanding the Outcomes of Megaprojects: A Quantitative Analysis of very Large Civilian Projects. s.l.:Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation. National Audit Office, 2000. The Millennium Dome: The Comptroller and Auditor General Report, London: The Stationery Office. PMI, 2008. PMBOK: A guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge. 4 ed. Newtown Square, Pennsylvania: Project Management Institute, Inc.. Sir John Bourn, 2000. National Audit Office. [Online]
Available at: http://www.nao.org.uk/report/the-millennium-dome/
[Accessed 12 4 2013].