VIEWPOINTS

Beyond Project Management

Dr Emmanuel Camilleri
University of Malta

There are two important questions that any organisation undertaking projects needs to consider: Why are some projects perceived as failures when they have met all the traditional standards of success, namely, completed on time, completed within budget, and meeting all the technical specifications? Why are some projects perceived to be successful when they have failed to meet two important criteria that are traditionally associated with success, namely, not completed on time and not completed within budget?

This article is not about project management. It is about developing a framework for ensuring that an organization undertakes successful projects. This is not to say that project management is not an essential aspect but we must probe deeper into what makes a successful project. The expression “Project Success” is an elusive term. Some time ago I was having a discussion with one of the senior executives at the European Investment Bank and he stated: “Even though a host of literature has been written about project management, we experience again and again weaknesses in exactly that domain.”

So there must be something wrong with how we visualize project success. The biggest problem with project management today is that we must look beyond its traditional meaning.  To illustrate let me mention a few examples. The Sydney Opera House cost sixteen times its original estimate, it took four times longer to complete, and had fundamental design faults. Yet it is one of the most recognisable images of the modern world. The West Gate Bridge in Melbourne and the Euro Channel project are other examples where cost and time estimates were a complete disaster. But can we really say that these projects are a failure!

From the traditional project management point of view these projects are definitely a failure. However, as I had implied, project success goes beyond just project management success. I think that projects are mistakenly judged as having succeeded or failed because there is an incorrect notion of what the project success process consists of. Sutton (2005) and Cooke-Davies (2002) imply that projects are not dichotomous. It is not a matter of success or failure, but there are degrees of success and failure. These researchers and others have identified four distinct levels of success, each level having its own discipline, tools and techniques. These four levels of success include the following:

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About the Author Dr Emanuel Camilleri Author Dr Emanuel Camilleri, B.Bus.(Acc); Dip.Bus.(EDP); Dip.Bus.(Acc); C.P.A; Eur.Ing.; C.Eng.; M.Phil.; M.B.A.; D.B.A.; M.B.C.S; C.I.T.P. is Visiting Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Economics, Management and Accountancy, University of Malta.   Before his retirement, Emanuel Camilleri was the Director General (Strategy and Operations Support) at the Maltese Ministry of Finance, the Economy and Investments. He has had a long career in the public sector in Australia, and has managed many large projects. Dr Camilleri obtained his Business Studies bachelor's degree at FIT, currently Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia; has an MBA from Brunel University, UK (prize winner); and a DBA from Maastricht School of Management, The Netherlands. He is a certified accountant; a Chartered Engineer (British Engineer Council); European Engineer (FEANI, Paris); and member of many professional bodies. He represented Malta on a number of international bodies, the more predominate ones being UNCTAD Inter Governmental Group of Experts on International Standards of Accounting and Reporting; European Union Advisory Committee for Own Resources; and the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development. Emanuel Camilleri has written and published a number of conference and peer reviewed academic papers, and is the author of the book Project Success: Critical Factors and Behaviours, published in 2011 by Gower.  Dr. Camilleri can be contacted at Camilleri.DBA00@msm.nl. (Book information at http://www.gowerpublishing.com/isbn/9780566092282 )