A study the Reason of Failure of Amrapali Group Projects in Noida

Report submitted to

Jamia Millia Islamia

in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree

of Master of Business Administration

By

Md Dawood Alam

Under the Supervision of

Mr. Syed Zakir Hussain

Centre for Management Studies

Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi-25

April 2019

1
 DECLARATION

I, Md Dawood Alam, hereby declare that The thesis entitled “To study the Reason of Failure of

Amrapali Group Projects in Noida” in fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree of

Master of Business Administration (Executive) which is submitted by me to the Centre for Management

Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi has been done by me and that, to the best of my

knowledge and belief, it contains no material previously published or written by another person nor

material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma ,Associateship,

Fellowship or other similar title or recognition. This is the original work and is the result of my own

efforts.

Dated: 18-04-2019

Place: New Delhi Md Dawood Alam

2
 CERTIFICATE

On the basis of the declaration submitted by Md Dawood Alam, a student of MBA-Executive, I hereby

certify that that the project report titled “To study the Reason of Failure of Amrapali Group Projects in

Noida” which is submitted to the Centre for Management Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia University, New

Delhi in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree of Master of Business

Administration, is an original contribution with existing knowledge and faithful record of research

carried out by him under my guidance and supervision. Certified further, that to the best of my

knowledge the work reported herein does not form part of any other project report or dissertation on the

basis of which a degree or award was conferred on an earlier occasion on this or any other candidate.

Dated: 18th, April 2019 Mr. Syed Zakir Hussain

Place: New Delhi Centre for Management Studies

Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Words are indeed inadequate to convey my deep sense of gratitude to all those who have helped me in

completing this summer project to the best of my ability. Being a part of this project has certainly been a

unique and a very productive experience on my part.

I am grateful to Mr. Syed Zakir Hussain, Jamia Millia Islamia for making all kinds of arrangements to

carry the project successfully and for guiding and helping me to solve all kinds of queries regarding the

project work. His incomparable guidance has inspired the pace of the project largely. I am also grateful

to Ex-employee of Amrapali Group, Vendors’ staff and other seniors/colleagues whose time to time

guidance helps me to complete the report effectively.

In the end, I would like to express my utmost gratitude towards my Parents, Wife and Friends whose

tremendous help and support is my biggest inspiration.

Dated: 18th, April 2019

Place: New Delhi Md Dawood Alam

4
 CONTENTS

DESCRIPTION PAGE NO.

Cover page 1

Declaration 2

Certificate 3

Acknowledgement 4

Contents 5

Abstract 6

Introduction 7–9

Literature review 10 – 34

Motivation of study 35

Objective of the study 35

Research Methodology 36 – 51

Conclusion 52

References 53 - 55

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 ABSTRACT

Failure to projects is one of the foremost concerns of any industry especially for Amrapali Group

which creates Problems for 42000 Homebuyers. The Failure to the projects is affecting the economies

throughout the world. Failure to projects mean the slowdown of development in all other related fields.

The main aim and objective of this report is to evaluate the reasons for those Failure that were

affecting the projects of the Amrapali group.

To know where exactly Amrapali group was lagged in race of leading developer in Noida, study focus

on best practices in the industry by top project management organizations and reason of construction

failure of similar projects and Amrapali group Practices towards completion of Project.

To find the main reason of Amapali’s Project failure a set of questionnaires has been circulated among

employee & associates of Amrapali group and based on their responses main reason is found.

The main reasons for Failure was ignorance of Top management with some reason like Planning

Failure and Failure due to Monitoring & Control.

Suggestion given to avoid such failure in future based on the Finding of this study.

INTRODUCTION
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The reasons for the Failure of Amrapali projects are identified so that the effect on similar construction

projects can be reduced. What are the major factors that should be consider avoiding this type of failure

by learning lesson from Amrapali Group?

Projects are envisaged and visualized with the foresight of achieving the primary objective of timely

completion. Some projects are planned and executed successfully whereas others get failure due to

reasons, Amrapali failed Projects will analysed and evaluated in this report.

Failure to projects is one of the common problems in the construction industry. Failure have a negative

effect on the project in terms of performance, time and cost. Thus, it is essential to identify the reason

of Failure that normally occur in a project.

This project report will ensure the reason of failure that can help to home buyer to evaluate the

progress, process of construction activities at site and how project management implementation is

essential towards successful completion of projects. So that before taking final decision of purchasing

home, shops, offices etc. they can evaluate it and decide accordingly.

Amrapali Group has failed to hand over possession of flats to around 42,000 homebuyers. This is big

concern of the study so that after getting main reason of failure proper preventive steps should be taken

to avoid such failure again in the construction industry.

About Amrapali Group:

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Amrapali group of builders is based at Noida and currently developing several residential and

commercial projects at Noida, greater Noida and Ghaziabad. At Amrapali the focus is on big

residential projects with huge open spaces filled with all games. Projects of Amrapali are unmatched

in its strategic location and construction speed. Different kind of residential properties like villas, flats,

duplexes, row houses, studio apartments and theme based residential flats are under development at

current projects. Most of the projects have reached in final stages of construction and remaining are

also at very fast pace as Amrapali group have hired best contractors like L&T for structure work of

some of its projects. Factors like tower placement, loading area, firefighting measures, landscaping,

eco friendliness and good outer façade have been specially taken care in all our projects.

Why Amrapali?

If you are looking to buy good residential and commercial property at most prime locations of Noida,

greater Noida and Ghaziabad, you should buy property of Amrapali group. With Amrapali your hard-

earned money is not only safe but would also reap financial benefits for you. (Claimed by

AMRAPALI Group.)

We take great pride in the fact that we have completed and handed over all of our housing

developments well before the scheduled time. Move into an apartment of Amrapali in Noida and you

will certainly be pleased.

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Amrapali Group Projects in Noida

9
 LITERATURE REVIEW

Amrapali Group in News

News 1: Supreme Court warns Amrapali Group

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Supreme Court asked the realty firm to reveal by Dec 3, 2018 the details of all its properties in the

name of directors, their family members, relatives, Chief Financial Officers and statutory auditors in

India and abroad. (Nov 21, 2018)

News 2: False promises land Amrapali Group in serious trouble

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Delayed possession and false promises land Amrapali Group in serious trouble, as homebuyers cry foul,

celebrities backing off and political connections deserting.

After taking the homebuyers for a ride long enough, the Amrapali Group seems to have ran out of luck

with the homebuyers taking to social media to mobilise support, the brand ambassador Mahender Singh

Dhoni exiting as face saver and the political support to the builder deserting.

Amrapali Group, after much-publicised “Mission Possession” has only been diverting the attention of

the buyers till the residents of Amrapali’s Saphhire project in Noida lost their patience and went viral on

Twitter. They also tagged the brand ambassador Mahender Singh Dhoni in their tweets asking the

cricketer to dis-associate himself from the builder.

Residents are complaining about the pending civil and electrical works in the project. The company said

it would complete the same in next three months.

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Amrapali Group CMD Dr Anil Sharma said, “Sometimes there are so many unforeseen reasons. There

are so many force majeure, which are beyond the control of a developer. So, during those periods’

construction is stopped for two years, three years, four years, and five years. Those periods can’t be

contracted. There are two losses, one is time loss, and another is finance loss. We are not burdening that

finance loss to our esteemed customers, but time loss we can’t make up. Ultimately, time loss has to be

extended.”

As the homebuyers were welcoming the Dhoni’s rebuttal to Amrapali, another cricketer Harbhajan

Singh tweeted: “Well done @msdhoni for dropping #Amarpali builders’ brand ambassadorship. They

didn’t gave us VILLAS they announce after 2011 worldcup win”. (Track2reality Apr 17, 2016).

News 3: Amrapali Group Case Supreme Court Orders Sale of Directors' Assets

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(NBCC will conduct valuation of the properties belonging to the directors of the Amrapali group).

Amrapali Group has failed to hand over possession of flats to around 42,000 homebuyers.

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The Supreme Court on Thursday identified 16 estates belonging to beleaguered property developer

Amrapali Group to raise funds for stalled projects. The court directed sale of assets owned by all of the

company's directors, their family members and related companies. The case relates to the

embattled Amrapali Group which has failed to hand over possession of flats to around 42,000

homebuyers. The property developer has been facing the wrath of Supreme Court after homebuyers

moved the court for not getting their flats delivered on time. Setting September 12 as the next date of

hearing in the case, the Supreme Court asked for a list of unencumbered assets of the company's

directors.

Here are five things to know about Amrapali case:

1. National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) will conduct valuation of the properties

belonging to the directors of the Amrapali group, the court ruled on Thursday. State-run

construction company NBCC had earlier this week told the Supreme Court that it was ready to

undertake projects of the Amrapali Group of companies.

2. On Thursday, the Supreme Court ordered a forensic audit of bank accounts from 2008. In August

this year, it had directed the group companies to produce before it details of all the bank accounts

since 2008 and ordered freezing of bank accounts of the directors of its 40 firms, slamming the

group for playing "fraud" and "dirty games" with the court.

3. Assuring NBCC of funds to complete 46,575 flats of crisis-hit Amrapali Group at an estimated

cost of Rs. 8,500 crore, the court had on Tuesday asked the Amrapali Group to cooperate with

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 the auditors or face sealing of its premises and forensic audit of accounts of all entities including

directors, their wives and daughters, according to news agency Press Trust of India.

4. In May, the apex court had spotted diversion of funds to the tune of over Rs. 2,700 crore by the

Amrapali Group and sought details of financial transactions made by the company and its

statement of accounts.

5. The company had earlier told the top court in an affidavit that it was not in a position to complete

the projects and hand over the possession of flats to over 42,000 homebuyers in a time-bound

manner. (Business Today, Dec 6, 2018)

A. Standard Reasons of Failure based on review Literature

For commercial contractors, both GCs and subs, a successful project is one completed on time and

within budget. The client is happy with the finished product and the contractor walks away with a tidy

profit. Everybody wins. When a project fails, it’s typically due to conflicts and issues that cause cost

overruns and delays in the schedule.

If not properly managed, it will eventually lead to going over budget and blowing past the scheduled

date for substantial completion. Going over budget eats into the contractor’s profit in addition to being

hit with liquidated damages for every day past the agreed upon completion date. It can also impact

upcoming projects if a contractor’s workers and equipment are tied up trying to finish up a failing

project.

“Failure is not an option.” – Ed Harris as NASA Flight Director Gene Kranz in Apollo 13.

So what causes construction projects to fail? Any number of factors can lead to project failure, but most

of the time it boils down to how well the project manager or project management team performs

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overseeing the project. Even the most difficult, issue-laden projects can be successful if properly

managed.

Here are five reasons construction projects fail and how to prevent it from happening on your next

project:

1. Inadequate Planning

Poor planning leads to poor execution. The more time and effort put into planning out the project, the

better off you’ll be when work gets underway. This starts by carefully reviewing and fully understanding

the plans, specifications, scope of work and client expectations. Good planning involves working with

working with the client, architect, subcontractors and suppliers to establish construction schedules and

project milestones.

Planning goes beyond just creating a construction schedule. Additional items include conducting a risk

assessment and management strategy, developing site-specific safety plans, establishing contingency

plans, site logistics and lining up the delivery of materials and equipment. Keep in mind that the plan

and schedule are living documents that will have to be updated and adjusted as work on the project

progresses.

2. Failure to Communicate

Good communication is crucial to delivering a successful construction project. When communication

among stakeholders breaks down or is mishandled, it can lead to delays, accidents, costly rework, and

unhappy clients. Keeping everyone up to date on changes to the work or schedule goes a long way in

preventing major problems from developing that cause projects to fail.

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Develop a communication plan and establish document control procedures. Designate a main point of

contact that all communication will flow through. All communication should be documented and shared

with the appropriate stakeholders. These include meeting notes, submittals, and requests for information,

invoices, daily reports, change orders and submittals. All correspondence, whether it’s emails, phone

calls or in-person conversations should be documented and saved. This goes a long way in settling any

disputes or disagreements that might arise throughout the course of the project.

The flow of communication affects the flow of a construction project. Problems and delays occur when

people stop communicating or responding to inquiries. Projects run smoother and get completed on time

and within budget when everyone is communicating and collaborating effectively.

3. Scope Creep & Change Orders

Scope creep is the continuous expansion or changes to the project’s initial scope beyond what was

initially intended. Factors that lead to scope creep include poorly defined scope, incomplete plans and

specifications, poor communication, mismanagement of change orders and clients changing their minds

about what they want.

Change orders are similar in that they involve changes to plans outside of the original scope. Change

orders differ from scope creep because they can involve both additions and deletions from the original

scope. They can also be initiated by the owner, but GCs and subs can also request change orders and

they don’t always result in additional costs or deadline extension.

Obviously, you shouldn’t take on a project with a poorly defined scope or incomplete plans and specs.

All construction methods finishes and materials should be determined long before you sign a contract

and begin work.

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The construction contract should clearly state how any work outside of the original scope should be

requested and documented. No additional work should commence until a written change order has been

executed and authorized by the client. Additional costs and timeline extensions should be determined

and agreed upon. Don’t forget to work with your subs to determine how change orders might impact

their schedule before signing off on additional work.

4. Productivity Issues & Delays

We’ll ignore delays caused by events, such as natural disasters, that can’t be controlled by any of the

parties involved. These excused delays are handled under force majeure clauses in construction contracts

and protect the contractor from having to paying damages due to not performing or completing the

project on schedule.

Project schedules are based on productivity expectations. Each task or job requires a certain number of

man-hours to complete and are used to determine how many workers you will need to complete each

one within a given amount of time.

When workers don’t show up, get injured or goof off on the job, it can lower your productivity levels,

cause delays and throw your schedule out of whack. This could force you to bring in additional workers

or sub out more work which in turn lowers your profit margins.

Labour shortages and fewer skilled workers have only made the problem of productivity worse over the

past several years. Newer workers don’t have the skills and confidence to complete tasks at the same

speed as experienced veterans on your crew. Understanding the capabilities of your workers is vital

when determining your project schedule.

Conduct background checks and provide training to your employees to ensure they have the skills to

perform their job. Assign specific roles and responsibilities so that everyone knows what they should be
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doing each day. Equip your workers with the proper tools and equipment needed to complete tasks

efficiently. Work with your subcontractors to determine whether they have the workforce available to

perform their contracted work as scheduled.

5. Ignoring Red Flags

When projects are running smoothly, it’s easy to ignore early warning signs that trouble may be

brewing. Little issues can quickly snowball into major problems if left unchecked, causing projects to

fail. This can be caused by workers failing to report issues or not monitoring projects closely.

These minor issues are often put on the back burner while dealing with other aspects of the project. All

problems should be prioritized and handled accordingly when they arise. Project managers should be

able to analyse and troubleshoot issues as early as possible to avoid delays. Quick thinking and good

decision making are what sets great project managers apart from good ones.

B. Standard Reasons of Failure based on review Literature

Most organizations have experienced projects that did not end on time, were over budget, or changed in

scope over time. There are many pitfalls that can sink projects. Here we will focus on some basic

reasons why projects fail.

 Lack of senior management

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Senior management must prioritize requirements and make decisions. If any person is not actively

involved in a project, that project is doomed for failure.

 Unclear Project Objectives

Most organizations have more opportunities and project initiatives than they can ever hope to fulfil.

Many companies embark upon more initiatives than they probably should, causing over worked and

often unhappy team members.

 Scope creep

Scope creep is a serious issue in many projects. Scope creep means an increase in what you have to

deliver, without a corresponding increase in resources or an extension to the project timeline.

 Gaps in communication

Once a project is in full swing, a common issue is communication. Most project teams use email to

communicate about their projects and tasks. The biggest complaint here is that project communication

resides in everyone’s email box. So, if a new resource joins the project, there is no centralized view of

the project history.

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 Lack of visibility of all projects

A common reason why projects fail is related to visibility. All three tiers of the project team, executive

management, project managers, and team members, need access to the right level of information at the

right time.

BEST PRACTICES FOR SUCCESSFUL PROJECT MANAGEMENT IN INDUSTRY

Managing a project can be daunting. Whether planning your wedding, developing a new website or

building your dream house by the sea, you need to employ project management techniques to help you

succeed. I'll summarise the top seven best practices at the heart of good project management which can

help you to achieve project success.

1. Define the Scope and Objectives

Firstly, understand the project objectives. Suppose your boss asks you to organise a blood donor

campaign, is the objective to get as much blood donated as possible? Or, is it to raise the local company

profile? Deciding the real objectives will help you plan the project.

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Scope defines the boundary of the project. Is the organisation of transport to take staff to the blood bank

within scope? Or, should staff make their own way there? Deciding what's in or out of scope will

determine the amount of work which needs performing.

Understand who the stakeholders are, what they expect to be delivered and enlist their support. Once

you've defined the scope and objectives, get the stakeholders to review and agree to them.

2. Define the Deliverables

You must define what will be delivered by the project. If your project is an advertising campaign for a

new chocolate bar, then one deliverable might be the artwork for an advertisement. So, decide what

tangible things will be delivered and document them in enough detail to enable someone else to produce

them correctly and effectively.

Key stakeholders must review the definition of deliverables and must agree they accurately reflect what

must be delivered.

3. Project Planning

Planning requires that the project manager decides which people, resources and budget are required to

complete the project.

You must define what activities are required to produce the deliverables using techniques such as Work

Breakdown Structures. You must estimate the time and effort required for each activity, dependencies

between activities and decide a realistic schedule to complete them. Involve the project team in

estimating how long activities will take. Set milestones which indicate critical dates during the project.

Write this into the project plan. Get the key stakeholders to review and agree to the plan.

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 4. Communication

Project plans are useless unless they've been communicated effectively to the project team. Every team

member needs to know their responsibilities. I once worked on a project where the project manager sat

in his office surrounded by huge paper schedules. The problem was, nobody on his team knew what the

tasks and milestones were because he hadn't shared the plan with them. The project hit all kinds of

problems with people doing activities which they deemed important rather than doing the activities

assigned by the project manager.

5. Tracking and Reporting Project Progress

Once your project is underway you must monitor and compare the actual progress with the planned

progress. You will need progress reports from project team members. You should record variations

between the actual and planned cost, schedule and scope. You should report variations to your manager

and key stakeholders and take corrective actions if variations get too large.

You can adjust the plan in many ways to get the project back on track but you will always end up

juggling cost, scope and schedule. If the project manager changes one of these, then one or both of the

other elements will inevitably need changing. It is juggling these three elements - known as the project

triangle - that typically causes a project manager the most headaches!

6. Change Management

Stakeholders often change their mind about what must be delivered. Sometimes the business

environment changes after the project starts, so assumptions made at the beginning of the project may no

longer be valid. This often means the scope or deliverables of the project need changing. If a project

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manager accepted all changes into the project, the project would inevitably go over budget, be late and

might never be completed.

By managing changes, the project manager can make decisions about whether or not to incorporate the

changes immediately or in the future, or to reject them. This increases the chances of project success

because the project manager controls how the changes are incorporated, can allocate resources

accordingly and can plan when and how the changes are made. Not managing changes effectively is

often a reason why projects fail.

7. Risk Management

Risks are events which can adversely affect the successful outcome of the project. I've worked on

projects where risks have included: staff lacking the technical skills to perform the work, hardware not

being delivered on time, the control room at risk of flooding and many others. Risks will vary for each

project but the main risks to a project must be identified as soon as possible. Plans must be made to

avoid the risk, or, if the risk cannot be avoided, to mitigate the risk to lessen its impact if it occurs. This

is known as risk management.

You don't manage all risks because there could be too many and not all risks have the same impact. So,

identify all risks, estimate the likelihood of each risk occurring (1 = not likely, 2 = maybe likely, 3 =

very likely). Estimate its impact on the project (1 - low, 2 - medium, 3 - high), then multiply the two

numbers together to give the risk factor. High risk factors indicate the severest risks. Manage the ten

with the highest risk factors. Constantly review risks and lookout for new ones since they have a habit of

occurring at any moment.

Not managing risks effectively is a common reason why projects fail.

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“Following these best practices cannot guarantee a successful project but they will provide a better

chance of success. Disregarding these best practices will almost certainly lead to project failure”

Project Success Practice:

Is the project a success or a failure? Is there any way to determine or measure the success or failure of a

project? Success is perceived in different ways by all stakeholders involved. Atkinson8 notes that,

whilst there may exist differences in the project success definition, authors agree on the inclusion of the

triple constraint, to define the achievement or attainment of project objectives. The project success

definition has been studied and developed from the simple attainment of cost, time and quality criteria,

also known as the “iron triangle”, or “triple constraint”. But these criteria are part of a multi-

dimensional variable, which includes factors involving not only the project results, but also the

customer’s satisfaction and, ultimately, the organization6. The definition of success is so broad that it’s

meaning varies across the different communities or cultures.

Project success and stakeholder’s perception

As project success depends more on the perceptions of the stakeholders, probably there is no

“absolute success” in project management, but simply a “perceived success”. Projects that failed to

meet the original goals of the “iron triangle” criteria were not necessarily perceived as failed project.

In the literature we found many examples of projects that successfully fulfil the “iron triangle”

criteria but turned to be an unsuccessful business experience. On the other hand, there are projects

that haven’t meet the time, cost and quality constraints, but later became successful.

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Pinto & Slevin, after analyzing a sample of more than 650 project managers’ opinions, concluded

that achieving project success is undoubtedly more difficult and far more complex than simply meet

the “iron triangle” criteria. Extending the project performance perspective, several authors state that

even a project incorrectly managed can achieve success and, conversely, cannot achieve the

expected results, despite being well managed. Project management objectives differ from project

objectives, the “iron triangle” is directly tied to a project management and for this reason is easy to

measure, and therefore there is a tendency to evaluate project success by project management

success.

Project success is evaluated against the overall objectives of the project, whilst project management

success is mostly evaluated against the “iron triangle. As project management evolved, however,

there was an increased focus on the behavioural aspects of project management and on the

management skills of project managers. In the last decades, a growing consensus has been reached

where upon that project success requires a wider definition than project management success.

Project success criteria (PSC) and critical success factors (CSF)

Some researchers suggested that PCS should be specific to each project and that they should

therefore be determined by stakeholders at the start of each project. The CSF are those components

that are necessary to deliver the PCS and can be described as the set of situations, factors or actions

that contribute to the final results or the achievement of success criteria.

The PSC are used to measure project success whilst CSF facilitate the achievement of success.

Projects are developed in different contexts and environments and naturally have different critical

27
factors for consideration. Accordingly, “iron triangle” criteria are the classic answer to the problem

of how to measure project success. It is easily applied and normally gathers consensus within

stakeholders. The definition of project success became broader, with the addition of dimensions like

client satisfaction, realization of customer objectives, end-users satisfaction, and the satisfaction of

other groups of stakeholders.

Benefits Management Approach and Benefits Dependency Network

“The purpose of Benefits Management (BM) process is to improve the identification of the

achievable benefits and to ensure that decisions and actions taken over de lifetime of the investment

lead to realizing all the feasible benefits”. BM allows the sponsor to have the correct information for

the investment viability studies and clearly shows the way for the delivery of the expected benefits.

The Benefits Dependency Network (BDN) is the core technique of this methodology. First

introduced by Ward and Elvin was developed to promote the relationship between the investment

objectives and its promised benefits linked strategically and structured for business.

Based in the theoretical model of Soh and Markus (1995) this framework explains the steps involved

in creating value from IS/IT, and highlights the importance of business change in this process. BDN

provides explicitly the linkage between investment objectives and the related benefits (the ends),

business transformation necessary to deliver the expected benefits and IS/IT capabilities (the ways),

and the facilities that enhance the changes (the means).

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The BDN construction starts with understanding of the internal and external driver’s context and the

general agreement on the business benefits identification that will result if the investment objectives

are achieved. Is also needed to identify the changes to the ways individuals and groups works that

are a fundamental part of realizing the potential benefits identified. Each benefit should be

considered in turn and the changes that would be necessary to realize those benefits should then be

identified and described on the BDN.

To reach a consensus on the benefits and changes in business, it is advisable to organize workshops

with all the relevant stakeholders to facilitate the alignment of the IS/IT investments and business

strategy. A wide range of different types of organizational changes could be performed, namely:

redefined or new processes, updated roles or responsibilities, changing of governance rules,

redefined measures and metrics and new practices and politics for managing and disseminating the

information.

There is also a set of changes that may be necessary in order to produce the expected changes in the

business, leveraging the attainment of the identified benefits. These enabling changes are only

required to be carried out once, and may be necessary for triggering business changes, mainly

through training, design new processes, defining new roles, redefinition of responsibilities, changing

organizational structures, establishing rules and practices or defining new governance structures.

The organization, the problem and the solution

The organization that hosted the case study was founded in 1973. It is a small-medium company,

leader in the field of geographic engineering, specialized in providing digital geographical products

and geo-referenced databases. Following on from the growing boom of road construction,

29
authorities soon realized that the large network of highways that had been created would require

continued financial investment for their subsequent maintenance and conservation.

The maintenance and upkeep of this infrastructure is a continuous process, which consumes a

significant amount of time and financial resources. The main difficulty found by managers was the

absence of digital information, much of it still in the paper form. This unorganized knowledge

prevented the timely decision-making process based on an adequate technical support. The situation

was further aggravated by several EU directives which imposed the standardization of conservation

procedures to reduce road accidents.

In contrast to the considerable time and money that was spent in collecting and cataloguing all their

road assets, the proposed solution consisted of recording all road infrastructure components in just

one single trip. This approach was immediately adopted and had a considerable impact on the road

sector. The solution consisted in designing vehicles that combine a set of different sensors, video,

laser and image for geo-referenced information collection supported in global positioning system

and the inertial navigation technology.

Defining PSC and CSF

The authors examined the effect of applying BM at CSF level to maximize the final results of the

project. Initially the study identified what PSC were relevant and what CSF increased the chances of

project success. Based on the BM approach, two workshops have been performed to gather

agreements on business objectives and related benefits.

These workshops brought together all the most important stakeholders from the client and

organization in order to design a plan to achieve objectives and related benefits and get an

30
agreement on which business changes were needed to be implemented. Within these two sessions, a

list of PSC and CSF was presented and voted.

A ranking was constructed based on the number of times each criterion was cited by the participants.

This list cannot be considered to be a measure of importance of each factor, but rather a means of

selecting them (Table 1).

Table 1- Project Success Criteria and Critical Success Factors

Project Success Criteria Critical Success Factors

1. Time 1. Scope Control 2. Top Management

Support
2. Cost 3. Team Engagement 4. Resource

Availability
3. Technical Requirements 5. Risk Management 6. Business

Opportunity
4. Customer Satisfaction 7. Market Impact

5. Objectives Achievement 8. Financial Resources

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Benefits management and the benefits dependency network

Driven by the internal and external challenges (Figure 1) the organization chose which IS/IT

investments were needed, identifying the business objectives (short-term) and business benefits

(medium and long-term) that will be achieved through organizational changes. The linkage of

strategic objectives was supported by a business case. The business case included a benefits

realization plan which maps the way to realize the benefits.

The value proposition for the customer is the focus of the business strategy. That included a unique

set of products, the service attributes, the customer relationship strategy and the corporate image.

The value proposition identifies how the organization stands out from competitors and helps connect
32
its internal and external processes to achieve better results. The internal and external drivers remind

us that organizational activity is driven by objectives and targets that intends to ensure full

satisfaction of customer/stakeholder’s needs, and pursuing financial goals. Once the organization

understands its customer and financial perspectives, it can then determine the means by which it will

achieve the differentiation and the necessary productivity improvements and the required business

changes. In order to enhance, control and evaluate the CSF achievement we apply the BM

investment lifecycle. Setting up the strategic objectives and benefits, then we proceed to build the

BDN. In Table 2 we list all the elements needed to the organizational changes and IS/IT enablers

agreed by the stakeholders. Each CSF was running as a particular project with a responsible

allocated to deliver the final goal. The application of the BM lifecycle to the CSF leads to a better

monitoring and achievement process.

Table 2 - Objectives and business benefits

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 Objectives Business benefits Enablers IS/IT Enabling Business Changes

Changes
O1 – Market B1 – Better T1 – CRM E1 – PM C1 – Project planning

leadership O2 competence profile T2 – training C2 – Formal

– Innovative B2 – Benefits to Intranet T3 E2 – Quality management

products and employees – Hard & training C3 – Performance

services O3 – B3 – More reliable software T4 E3 – Intranet evaluation

Marketing and processes – Project training C4 – Lessons learned

communicatio B4 – Better time managemen E4 – CRM C5 – Personal

n O4 – Geo control t tool training evaluation

Information B5 – Costs T5 – Website E5 – Creating C6 – Customer

systems reduction KPI´s management

reinforcement B6 – Better E6 – C7 – New services

O5 – Quick services Redesign

answer to B7– Better services

market communication E7 –

O6 – Customer B8 – Better Processes

management customer design

satisfaction E8 – Training

The network of cause and effect depicted in Figure 2 illustrates a framework that explicitly links the

investment objectives with expected benefits, identifying the processes and business activities that

are needed to realize the benefits required with the help of technological enablers.
34
PREVENTION OF FAILURE

35
Failure can be prevented by applying methods which can be implemented from the project

commencement itself like planning and analysing the requirements in detail which will allow the

mapping of resources. The risk can be identified to allow the estimation and allocation of works which

is required to be modularized. Escalation of issues at the appropriate times also ensures that the Failure

can be prevented.

The prevention of Failure is possible when all the project stakeholders work as a team to ensure the

success of the project. It is also important for the client to employ a proactive consultant, freeze the

design and details before the commencement of the project and employ good reputed contractors for the

project.

MOTIVATION OF STUDY

36
The motivation of this study is to evaluate the reason of Failure that occur in the Amrapali Group &

the reasons why Failure occur and to compare this with best practice of project management in the

industry.

To achieve the aim extensive study was made to understand the process & steps of Project

management and where Amrapali group was failed to analyse its future?

OBJECTIVES OF STUDY

 To identify the main reason of Failure of Amrapali projects in Noida.

 To study the best practice of Project management in the construction industry and suggest

accordingly for project completion successfully.

 To prevent failure of similar projects in future which creates problems for home buyers.

 To identify how Project management tools and technique is essential for successful completion

of project on time.

 To help home buyers to evaluate the basic progress, Process of construction activities and

implantation of project management as per PMI guidelines.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research Technique

37
Research methods adopted to take Primary data from Amrapali Employee and secondary data through

various past projects failed in the industry and news related to Amrapali group. After data collection it

is analysed to find out root cause of failure of Amrapali Projects. A questionnaire has been circulated to

take response towards failure reason.

Research Problem

What are the main Reason of the Amrapali Group projects failure? And to suggest the best method

which Amrapali group failed to Practice.

Data Collection

To solve the Research problems primary data has been collected from Amrapali Employee & associates

with the following Questionnaire and their responses is analysed.

Secondary data has been collected from past failed projects and compare the gap with the best practices

in the industry.

Research Analysis and Data Interpretation.

This data analysis will help us to understand the actual failure reason of Amrapali projects based on the

data collected. We will analyse the responses and discuss the findings here.

Data Analysis

After extensive analysis in the questionnaire & responses I find main 5 failure reasons are as below:

 Top Management ignorance

38
  Planning Failure

 Failure due to Monitoring and Control

 Execution Failure

 Audit and Reconciliation Failure.

After analysis on these failure reasons and their response in % which help us to understand root cause

of the Failure of Amrapali Group.

Findings

Based on the Analysis Top five failure reasons find with the average percentage of response on the

five main reasons are:

 Top Management ignorance (75%)

 Planning Failure (63%)

 Failure due to Monitoring and Control (65%)

 Execution Failure (57%)

 Audit and Reconciliation Failure (64%)

Thus, it is found that it is complete failure due to Top Management ignorance whereas Planning,

Monitoring & Control Failure are also among the top reasons of Failure.

39
Following Questionnaire has been circulated among the Amrapali employee or its associates and their

responses collected.

Advice based on Findings of the study

Following suggestion can be given based on the finding in Amrapali group for the betterment of the

future projects of any developers in Noida or anywhere: -

 Top Management should focus on Overall Performance of team otherwise their ignorance will

be costly for entire organisation.

 Separate planning team for each project or at least for 4-5 projects which regularly review their

Planning and achievement.

 Time analysis (Proposed & actual) should be consider very seriously, Past project experience

should be considered.

 Proper Monitoring Control should be implemented on Projects and for that review meetings

should be planned.

 It is very important to provide the opportunity to the employees of the organization to express

their ideas; Appraisals should be there which will further help to remove bottleneck from the

process.

 Regular Material audit and reconciliation should be done to avoid misuse.

 Well experienced Professionals can be used in Project Execution to have thorough knowledge of

work and its completion process.

40
  Proper Project management practices increases chance of project success and for that PMI

instruction should be follow.

 Nowadays Project management consultant (PMC) is there who is ready to help technically and

professionally for successful completion of projects.

Questionnaire and Response:

Received 32 response in which 30 from the employee of Amrapali group and its associates which

needs to be analysed.

41
Projects at which respondent were worked.

We can see that project was going on without planning team as more than half of the respondent

(53.1%) agreed that No planning team was there.

42
Almost 65% agreed that they were not serious towards Planning & Scheduling activities which is

required for any Project success.

We can analyse that 75% respondent accepted that Planning failure is the main reason of Amapali’s

project failure.

43
 Here

we can also say that almost 60% respondent agreed that projects was not managed professionally.

This means non-professionalism practices.

Corru

ption was involved in execution (56.3%) which leads to hamper project completion and even false

billing was there.

44
 Mean

s they neither achieved nor trying to achieve the Execution Schedule as 75% response says if we

combine both.

45
Most of the respondent agreed that top Management & Finance Department were accountable for

financial crisis in Amrapali group.

46
 Finan

ce Department was failed to handle cash flow perfectly and professionally as 65% response with

combination of irregularities in book of account.

47
 Top

management was failed in financial management and ignoring finishing cost of already ongoing

projects (81%) that’s why most of the project failed.

47% response was not clear about Contesting election was creates financial problem by CMD of

Amrapali group.

48
85% answer says that they were not monitor the projects and no review meetings. It means no

one was bother about project successfully completed.

49
 Al

most 56% agreed they were not serious as project goes out of control.

50
 R

espondent feel that if the project monitor & Control professionally then they may not failed.

(78%)

51
 A

udit was conducted (53% agreed) but just for formalities as result shows because in audit they

may found the problems.

52
No material reconciliation happens as 66% accepted.

53
 Tr

ansparent audit was missing that’s why almost all problems & corruption was hidden (78%).

54
72% answer says that Top management was failed to identify accountability and responsibility

of project successful.

55
56
Here also 84% agreed that Top management was responsible.

85% RESPONDENT FEELS THAT TOP MANGEMENT WAS MAIN REASON OF

FAILURE.

57
22. Can you describe in brief the actual reason of Failure in Amrapali Projects?

1. Corruption

2. Senior management

3. Top management ignorance

4. Top Management Carelessness

5. According to my opinion it was completely irresponsibility of top management and their

relatives who was taking care of top activities of the projects who done the complete corruption

in the company for their personnel.

6. Politics and self-benefit.

7. Collective responsibility should be there.

8. Poor management

9. NA

10. Finance department not share actual position to top management.

11. The reason of failure is competition of loot money of investor or create personal assets by cmd

(anil sharma) or ed(shiv priya)

12. No planning work to complete the project.

13. Main reason was there was no planning and lack of coordination between employee

14. No

15. Corruption

16. Proper Monitoring and quality is main reason behind failure .

17. yes management failure.

18. yes
58
 19. Yes project management

20. None

21. Top management

22. Yes, Lack of senior Involvement

23. Failure top management coordination

24. Yes,

25. Lack of communication

26. Lack of capital

27. Politics and corruption

28. Lack of management

29. Ignorance of top management

30. Miscommunication

31. Politics

32. Lack of material

In the above response mostly feels that Top management was mainly responsible for failure of

Amrapali group.

CONCLUSIONS

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It is conclude that based on data analysis and findings main reason of Amrapali projects failure is

ignorance of Top Management and to avoid failure like Amrapali group every organization needs to

adopt best practices of Project management as per PMI standard, use PMP certified staff, manage

finance and never let the project goes beyond control.

Homebuyers should also check the given advice while going to purchase home so that they cannot be

make fool easily.

It is summarising that after having 42 projects in Noida and one of the leading developers at that time

was not able to survive due to top management failure, planning failure, monitoring & Control failure.

The major gap found between well managed organization that practices project management perfectly

(as per PMI) and whereas Amrapali group was not managed professionally. This ignorance and

cheating behaviour created problems of 42000 house buyer in Noida who still fight for getting homes.

This was mainly because of ignorance of top management who failed to analyse properly to adopt best

project management practices in the Amrapali group.

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