When it comes to improving success rates, the commercial aviation sector has been one of the most successful. In 1930 taking a commercial flight was risky business. When you board a flight today, the chances of an accident taking your life is about 1 in 30 million. Through rigorous accident investigations and a willingness to challenge every facet of the problem, the industry has continually improved its safety record.
Sadly, success rates for the projects in today's businesses are far worse ...
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Why projects fail
Sanctuary of Mercy Church – Borja, Spain
The following entry is a record in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” - a list of failed and troubled projects from around the world.
Sanctuary of Mercy Church - Borja, Spain
Date : Aug 2012
Cost : Unknown
Synopsis :
Granted, this is the smallest project in the catalogue, but it is a good illustration of one of the most basic building blocks of a successful project: the need for people with the right knowledge, skills and experience! Ecce Homo (Behold the Man) by Elias Garcia Martinez w...
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Project Orca – 2012 US Presidential Campaign
The following entry is a record in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” - a list of failed and troubled projects from around the world.
2012 Mitt Romney Presidential Campaign - USA
Project name : Orca
Project type : Political campaign - Operations management system
Date : Nov 2012
Cost : Unknown
Synopsis :
The 2012 US Presidential election illustrates how the failure to properly test a key system can cause an embarrassing failure at a critical point in time. To help manage the logistics...
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Sinclair C5
The following entry is a record in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” - a list of failed and troubled projects from around the world.
Sinclair Vehicles - UK
Project name : C5
Project type : Personal transportation device
Date : 1985 (filed under historical failures)
Cost : $12M, plus significant damage to the reputation of the Sinclair brand
Synopsis :
Sir Clive Sinclair was one of the visionaries who made personal computing a reality. Launched in 1980, his ZX-80 PC helped usher i...
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HealthSMART – Victoria
The following entry is a record in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” - a list of failed and troubled projects from around the world.
Department of Health - Victoria - Australia
Project name : HealthSMART
Project type : e-health records
Date : May 2012
Cost : $566 Million AUD
Synopsis :
Efforts to integrate patient health records with functions for financial management, patient management, resource management and medical image archiving are stopped after the project exceeds its origin...
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US Census Bureau – Field Data Collection Automation (FDCA) – Case Study
Read the full case study - US Census - Field Data Collection Automation Case Study - or read the abstract below.
Abstract
Requiring up to 1 million temporary workers to be hired, trained, deployed and managed, the US decennial census is one of the world's grandest administrative tasks. Taking a snapshot of American life, the census requires every living person in America to be accounted for. Conducting the census is a $10B project that takes a full ten years to plan, execute and co...
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The Millennium Experience
The following entry is a record in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” - a list of failed and troubled projects from around the world.
Millennium Experience and the Millennium Dome - UK
Project type : Public exhibition
Date : 2000 (filed under recent classics)
Cost : £789M (initial investment) - £189 (recouped from ticket sales)
Synopsis :
The Millennium Dome in London, UK was a purpose built structure created to house a year long "Millennium Experience" exhibition that was to celebrate...
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British Rail – Advanced Passenger Train
Following entry is a record in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” - a list of failed and troubled projects from around the world.
British Rail - UK
Project name : Advanced Passenger Train (APT)
Project type : Design and development of high speed trains
Date : 1981 (filed under historical failures)
Cost : £50M (1981 costs estimated) – £150M (2012 inflation adjusted cost)
Synopsis :
With the goal of decreasing travel times between the UK's major cities, in the 1970's the then publicly o...
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De Havilland Comet
Following entry is a record in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” - a list of failed and troubled projects from around the world.
De Havilland Aircraft - UK
Project name : Comet
Project type : Commercial aircraft design and development
Date : 1949-1954 (filed under historical failures)
Cost : Unknown
Synopsis :
Developed in the late 1940's, the de Havilland Comet was the first jet airliner to enter commercial service. A technological leap forward, the Comet ushered in the jet ...
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Swedish Navy
Following entry is a record in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” - a list of failed and troubled projects from around the world.
Swedish Navy
Project name : Vasa
Project type : Military vessel design and development
Date : 1628 (filed under historical failures)
Cost : Unknown
Synopsis :
The Swedish Navy's new flagship sinks on its maiden voyage after completing less than 1 nautical mile. Due to the ship being top heavy a gust of wind was able to capsize the ship resulting in the ...
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