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The 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup – a mega project model
This article seeks to draw on the major management disciplines of project, operations, programme and strategic management to develop an integrated conceptual management model for planning and integrating mega projects; and is then evaluated against Western Cape-based planning and management activities of hosting the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup.
Mega projects and the paradox
Mega projects are typically defined as costing more than US$1 billion (Flyvbjerg, B et al, 2003) and are physical, very expensive, and public (Altshuler, A. 2003).
The mega project paradox was first identified by Flyvbjerg (2003) as a consequence of their size and complexity; “the cost-benefit analyses, financial analyses and environmental and social impact statements that are routinely carried out as part of the mega project preparation are called into question, criticised and denounced more often and more dramatically than analyses in any other professional field we know.”
The paradox consists in the fact that more and bigger mega projects are being planned and built despite their poor performance record in terms of cost overruns, schedule delays and benefit shortfalls.
While little consensus appears to have been reached concerning the paradox, it serves to suggest that normal project management approaches and success criteria may not be optimal toward planning and managing mega projects.
The mega project model
Figure 1 above depicts the different management approaches and shows the temporary and unique nature of projects, the cyclical and repetitive nature of operations, the fact that the programmes outlive the composite projects, and that strategic management is ongoing and long term.
The objective of project management is doing things correctly (efficiency); programme management is doing the correct things; and operations management is doing the correct
things correctly.
The purpose of project management is therefore to get the job done, focusing on outputs. Programme management, however, is focused on outcomes (Reiss, 2006), and occurring within the directorship of strategic management will ensure that the ongoing long-term vision, mission and objectives of the organisation or system are met.
A project may deliver a new factory, hospital or information technology (IT) system. By combining these projects with other deliverables and changes, their programmes may deliver increased income from a new product, shorter waiting lists at the hospital or reduced operating costs due to improved technology.
Figure 2 on the left shows some of the tools and techniques of the different management approaches as well as their objective and means of measurement.
Figure 3 introduces the concept of the mega project as comprising all the management disciplines of project, operations, programme and strategic management.
It shows the success of the mega project to be influenced by, among other things, the output of the composite projects, the throughput of the operations and the outcomes of the programmes.
The efficacy of the mega project will be managed at the strategic level.
Application of the model
The 2010 FIFA World Cup™ Cape Town and Western Cape Business Plan, dated 31 October 2006, splits the mega project into programmes such as bulk infrastructure, Green Point precinct, transport, IT and telecommunications, training venues and base camps, public viewing areas and fan parks, accommodation and the international broadcast centre.
It details, in an operational management sense, the event services such as safety and security, disaster risk management and health.
Event support activities such as marketing, signage and communications, volunteers and Fifa events are dealt with both as projects as well as operational plans.
And tourism, environmental sustainability, arts and culture, sport development and economic and human development can be seen as strategic.
The business plan (Figure 4) therefore covers all elements of the conceptual model for managing mega projects.
The 2010 FIFA World Cup™ Cape Town and Western Cape Business Plan, dated 31 October 2006 (2006 Business Plan), deals with risk management in a project sense where risks are evaluated in terms of probability and impact.
However, risk mitigation is dealt with in a programme management or even strategic sense in terms of making it possible for the facilities to be used every evening throughout the World Cup tournament.
While the “iron triangle” of focusing on delivering within time, cost and quality is relevant to the projects, process optimisation around rail and bus transport fall into the realm of operations management.
Evaluation of the model
The comparison of the model against the business plan illustrates the shortcomings of the simplistic notion that project and programme management adequately deal with the complexity of mega projects, as less than half of the objectives and activities would be described.
The problem with the simplistic notion that programmes are comprised of numerous projects and require a similar management approach to project management, but somehow adapt to facilitate project scheduling and resourcing rather than task scheduling and resourcing, is that the focus is on outputs and optimal resource utilisation.
This is potentially what leads to the failure of many mega projects because the management model is unable to deal with the outcome requirement of large complex mega projects – the ongoing sustainability of the system.
The mega project paradox may be positively influenced by the model in that the strategic management component should reduce the risk of overambitious reporting at conceptualisation stage.
Furthermore, it will keep a check on project performance and cost, and compare it against changing long-term beneficiation of the project output.
Andrew Radford
Lecturer: Department of Management and Project Management
Cape Peninsula University of Technology
E-mail:
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References:
Altshuler, A. and Luberoff, D. Mega-Projects: The Changing Politics of Urban Public Investment (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 2003). ISBN: 0815701292.
Flyvbjerg, B., Bruzelius, N. & Rothengatter, W. 2003. Mega projects and Risk: An Anatomy of Ambition. Cambridge University Press.
ISBN: 0521009464
Nokes, S. 2007. The Definitive Guide to Proj
ect Management. 2nd Edition. London (Financial Times / Prentice Hall). ISBN: 978 0 273 71097.
Reiss, G., Anthony M., Chapman, J., Leigh, G, Pyne, A. and Rayner, P. 2006. The Gower Handbook of Programme Management. ISBN: 9780566086038
2006 Business Plan. The 2010 FIFA World CupTM Cape Town and Western Cape Business Plan dated 31 October 2006 http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/2010/Documents/Bus_Plan31Oct2006Final.pdf [21 September 2009]
