“Why Good Projects

Fail Anyway ”
 Case-2
1)Nur Afsar Shuvo -17303038

2)MD Nafiur Rahman – 17303091

3)MD Ariful Gani – 17303095

4)Polash Ahmed-17303108

5)Rafi Uddin Ahmed: 17303121

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 Porject ??

A project is any undertaking carried

out individually or collaboratly and
Possibly involving research or design,
that is carefully planned to achieve a
Particular aim.

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 Big Projects Fail At An Astonishing Rate

Traditional approach to project management

shifts focus away from end results toward
developing recommendations, new technologies, and
partial solutions

Managers use project plans, timelines, and

budgets to reduce execution risk, but often
neglect

White space risk some required activities

wont be identified in advance

Integration risk disparate activities will

not properly come together at the end

Project teams can execute their tasks flawlessly,

on time and under budget, but overall project may
still fail to deliver intended results
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 Rapid Results Initiatives Concept

Based on 20 years of experience with hundreds of

teams

Basic Concept Inject into the overall plan a

series of mini-projects each staffed with a team
responsible for a version of the hoped-for
overall result in miniature, and each designed to
deliver its result quickly

Not the same as pilot projects, which are

typically designed to test a preconceived
solution, or means, and to reduce execution risk

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 Example World Bank Initiative

Goal Improve productivity of

120,000
small-scale farmers in
Nicaragua by 30 in 16
years
World Bank and Ministry
Launched five teams with
of Agriculture conducted
representatives from
surveys and interviews,
work streams and farmers
analyzed data, and
each team was results
identified essential work
oriented, vertical, and fast
streams

Establish an information
management system that
Reorganize government
would help agricultural
institutions that give
RD institutions direct
technical advice to
their RD to most
farmers
productive areas of
research

Strengthen National Encourage creation of a

Institute for Agricultural private-sector market in
Technology agricultural support services

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 Results Oriented

Intentionally commissioned to produce a

measurable result but on a scale smaller than
overall objective
Increase Grade A milk production in Leon from 600
to 1600 gallons/day in 120 days in 60 small and
medium-sized producers
Increase pig weight on 30 farms by 30 in 100
days using enhanced corn seed

Secure commitments from private sector to provide

technical advice and support to 150 farmers in El
Sauce within 100 days
Allows project planners to test whether
activities in overall plan will add up to
intended result and to alter plans if needed
Produces real benefits in the short term

Delivering results is more rewarding and

energizing for teams

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 Vertical

Encompasses a slice of several horizontal

activities, implemented in tandem in a very short
time frame

Cross-functional teams

Key to reducing white space and integration

risks

Team can succeed only by uncovering and and

properly integrating any activities falling in
the white space between horizontal streams

Example World Bank team working on securing

commitments between farmers and technical experts
in the dry farming region

Discovered missing marketing of technical

services and added to horizontal work stream

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 Fast

▪ Generally last no longer than 100

days
▪ Not quick fixes they change the way
teams
approach their work
▪ Fosters a sense of personal challenge,
ensuring
team members feel a sense of
urgency
▪ Leaves no time to squander on big
studies or
inter-organizational bickering
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 Shift in accountability

Typically executives assign execution risk to

team but hold responsibility for white space
and integration risk
In rapid results initiatives, teams are assigned
responsibility for total risk of project

Example Milk productivity team

Discovered distributors dumped almost half of

milk produced due to contamination and spoilage

Added customer to team to help team learn how to

produce milk that meets international quality
standards
Then team discovered growth goal was threatened
by inadequate storage facilities for additional
milk being produced
Rather than build additional facilities, customer
suggested they collect milk daily rather than
twice weekly

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Team met goal of tripling sales in 120 days
 Leadership Balancing Act

▪ Balance use of rapid results initiatives

longer-term horizontal activities, which are more
cost-efficient due to economy of scale
▪ World Bank Initiative
▪ Vertical team members continued working on
horizontal streams and fed improvements to these
streams
▪ Horizontal training team adjusted design of
overall training program when milk productivity
team discovered need to educate farmers on
clean-milk practices
▪ When choosing vertical teams
▪ Identify aspects of an effort that have high
probability of failure if they are not closely
coordinated
▪ Think of projects that can replicate longer-term
goals on a small scale in a short time and
provide maximum opportunity for learning and
discovery
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 Example Avery Dennision

▪ Launched fifteen rapid-results teams accelerate

achievement of business growth goals horizontal
activities continued
▪ Secure new order for an enhanced product, refined
in collaboration with one large customer, within
100 days
▪ Sign up 3 large retail chains so experience could
be used to develop method for moving into new
distribution channels
▪ Book several hundred thousand dollars in sales in
100 days by providing all parts needed by a major
customer
▪ Teams yielded more than 8M in new sales by end
of 1QFY03 and were forecasting 50M in sales by
end of year

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 Example Zurich Financial Services

▪ Overall long-term objective was to improve

financial performance and strengthen
relationships with core clients
▪ Launched dozens of rapid results initiatives
▪ Combined vertical teams focused on such goals as
increasing payments from a small number of
clients for value-added services with horizontal
activities targeting staff training, internal
processes, and the technology infrastructure
▪ In less than 4 years, loss ratios in the property
side of the business dropped 90, the expense
ratio was cut in half, and fees for value-added
services increased ten-fold

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 Example Johnson and Johnson (Pharmaceutical RD)

▪ Goal Integrate QA functions for two

traditionally autonomous clinical RD units with
people located around the world
▪ Full integration involved many horizontal
activities and would require many years
▪ Developing training standards
▪ Devising a system for standardizing disparate
automated reports
▪ Created rapid results teams
▪ Example Quickly put into place several standard
operating procedures that cut across horizontal
work streams
▪ Focused on areas that would put company in
greatest danger of failing to comply with U.S.
and European regulations and on areas wit
opportunities to generate knowledge that could be
applied company wide

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 Summary

▪ Rapid results teams can be used to effectively

reduce or eliminate white space and
integration risks in large, complex projects
▪ Use of these initiatives should be balanced with
the use of lon-term horizontal activities
▪ Teams should be formed in areas with highest
probability of failure if not properly
coordinated
▪ There really are no wrong choices when it comes
to deciding which initiatives to pursue
▪ Each 100 day initiative focused on a targeted
result is a relatively low risk investment
▪ Even if it does not fully realize its goal, each
project will produce valuable lessons learned and
help illuminate the path forward
▪ These initiatives have been used with notable
success by many large companies
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 Thank YOU

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