Topic: Business case

By Jonathan Norman
January 24th 2018

Are we getting better at Project Initiation? Highlight Report

The UK has demonstrated a good track record for major project delivery when the conditions for success are right. But too often insufficient time is spent at the start of projects creating those conditions. This means that too often the UK track record for major project delivery has been poor.

As the Major Projects Association Chairman Sir Tim Laurence explains, “We do know that we should take time on initiation, but we are not always firm enough in our demands for time and resources to make sure everything is as clear as we can get it.”

Given the scale of the UK’s ambition to invest in major projects as a critical driver for the economy, it is vital that this performance in the early stages of projects is turned around. Since the Major Projects Association’s formation in 1981, many events have been held and many reports have been written in the attempt to understand why major projects go well and to learn when they go wrong. Getting major projects set up right from the start is repeatedly highlighted as the critical factor in project success and, conversely, its absence usually leads to failure. The Major Project Association’s recently published handbook on the subject highlights some fundamental lessons to aid major project professionals avoid the mistakes of the past. Delivered as the “ten tenets of major projects initiation” it is intended to help senior level sponsor, client and supply chain leaders across the public and private sectors.

Despite this major effort across the sector to analyse and improve performance, the question remains “are we getting better at Project Initiation?” It is a question that will be tackled at a forthcoming Major Projects Association discussion designed to help project delivery professionals to better understand how project initiation techniques are evolving to provide major projects with the best possible start.

By Jonathan Norman
April 17th 2013

Responding to the National Infrastructure Plan: HS2 as a case study Full Report

The Government in its National Infrastructure Plan of November 2011 set out a comprehensive and detailed strategy for coordinating and planning public and private investment in UK infrastructure. It provides investors, builders and operators of infrastructure with the transparency and commitment which they lacked for a decade. Its three key strands focus on cross-sectoral coordination, funding and efficiency in delivery. High Speed 2 (HS2), a new national high speed rail network, is included in the Government’s 40 priority infrastructure investments.
The seminar will hear from HS2 Ltd how it is responding to the Government’s strategy. HS2 Ltd is a company wholly owned by the DfT, and are responsible for preparing a hybrid bill to be submitted to Parliament by the end of 2013 for the proposed line between London and the West Midlands. HS2 Ltd is also continuing to develop proposals for the line of route beyond Birmingham. Meanwhile the development of the scheme has a major influence on the strategic planning of the stakeholders as all parties seek to explore the opportunities and minimise the impacts which a new long distance rail system offers. The seminar will hear from the key stakeholders comprising Birmingham City Council, Network Rail and Transport for London of the challenges of integrating a scheme of this magnitude into their strategic planning

By Jonathan Norman
February 16th 2011

Crossrail – lessons for initiating large public sector projects Full Report

At £15.9bn Crossrail will be the UK’s largest public sector infrastructure project. There are already many lessons to be learnt and shared across all sectors in developing and initiating a sensitive project with high political profile and in the country’s capital city with all its attendant pressure groups and close media interest.

The timing of this seminar is planned to be well after the new Coalition Government’s Autumn Spending Review with the heightened necessity to demonstrate value for money. The Government’s position will have been declared both in respect of Crossrail as well as related strategic and national transportation strategy.
The aim of the seminar is to learn how, in conjunction with evolving and changing Sponsorship, the project was formulated through a combination of London’s transportation strategy with that of the national rail network. An agreement between Government, public and private sectors on the value and terms of funding was paramount in establishing the financial backing to make this a credible project. The successful steering of this project through the numerous stakeholders in London and through the Parliamentary approvals process was ultimately achieved with the provision of the necessary Powers.

In addition to receiving on overview of the current scope and status of the overall programme it is intended that delegates will take away new knowledge to help their organisations better prepare for the initiation of very large projects within the public sector.

The seminar will be chaired by Sir Michael Hodgkinson, TfL’s nominee non executive director on the Crossrail Board. The speakers will comprise the two Project Directors representing the joint Sponsors, DfT and TfL, together with three Directors of Crossrail Ltd.

By Jonathan Norman
April 18th 2007

Benefits Management and the Business Case Full Report

A business case brings together the strategic information necessary to support governance and decision making from conception through to the final realisation of the intended benefit. It is therefore of crucial importance throughout the life cycle of a major project.

The seminar examined different aspects of benefits management and the business case, such as ways of articulating vision, objectives and value drivers, the essential building blocks of best practice and how to communicate alternative implementation strategies.

By Jonathan Norman
April 20th 2005

Lessons from a Major IT Project Full Report

Using the introduction of the Pensions Credit programme as a case study, this seminar demonstrates what happens when client and supplier have skin in a highly politicised project.

By Jonathan Norman
April 22nd 2004

Strategic Planning of Major Projects Full Report

Strategic Planning frameworks need to be reviewed and revised on a regular basis to adapt to the fast-changing needs of society and enable the decisions and the projects that usher in the future.

By Jonathan Norman
September 28th 1999

17th Annual Conference – Managing the Environmental Risks to Major Projects Full Report

This seminar from 1999 first raised the question of how to deliver major projects that are sustainable.

By Jonathan Norman
May 19th 1998

Project Evaluation Full Report

How do you evaluate the economic and financial viability of a project; whether to bid, whether to fund, whether to approve?