introduction:
this assignment focuses on the concept of the “iron triangle” of time, cost and quality as a measure of project success
context:
sydney opera house is famous as one of the 20th century’s iconic buildings for the unique design it has brought to the global building architechture and construction industry – indeed, a masterpiece of contemporary architecture and engineering. despite the fame associated with the design of the building and the successful management of tis operations, the construction phase of the sydney opera house building has no pleasant tale to share in project management circles following the series of cost and time overruns that characterised the project. For example, the construction cost infalted astronomically to over 1400% (i.e. from 7 million to 102 million dollars). the initial construction time for the project was four yearsl however, the project was finished 14 years later. Thus, the time and cost overruns to funders, clients and stakeholders were massive.
in project management , project success is often assessed based on three fundamental parameters: time, cost and quality, often referred to as the “iron triangle” at the end of the project phase. while the construction project phase of the sydney opera house was a colossal failure following the preceding cost and time overruns above, paradoxically, the operation phase of the project is viewed as being successful. this implies that the face of the “iron triangle” as a success parameter measure simply depends on the perspective of view.
Task
you are required to develop a report with two sections as follows:
-
to critically discuss or analyse the iron triangle as a measure of porject success using two contextual case studies
sydney opera house
and a local famous building project in your country (west kowloon cultural district) -
critcally ealuate the use of the “iron triangle” as a project performance measure
NOTE:
the expectation for critical analysis is to examine in very close detail and identify important features/ components or points, which may involve some level of questioning or criticism.
the expectation of a critical evaluation means questioning or assessing a subject’s strengths and weaknesses (or assessing the strength of the evidence on both sides).
the expectation of a critical disccussion is to write about the most critical aspects of the subject matter and should include critiscism (i.e. an even-handed discussion or presentation of fats and arguments). this also means to give arguments for and against and consider the associated implications of each