"As Project Manager, juggling all of the balls is important, but keeping your eye on the right ball is the key to delivering truly successful projects" - RG
While understanding the causes of project failure is important, without a common definition of "success", there is no clear basis for differentiating a success from a failure. Clearly none of the projects in the Catalogue of Catastrophe can be regarded as great successes (some resulted in bankruptcies, many were cancelled before completio...
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Failed Project
US Department of Defense – U.S. Air Force
The following entry is a record in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” - a list of failed and troubled projects from around the world.
Department of Defense - USA
Project type : Integrated supply chain and logistics system
Project name : Expeditionary Combat Support System (ECSS)
Date : Nov 2012 Cost :$1B
Synopsis :
When you have 5,400 high-tech aircraft to deploy and maintain, plus 330,000 active personnel to coordinate, you have a major logistics problem on your hands! To manage those logistics...
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Boeing Commercial Aeroplanes
The following entry is a record in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” - a list of failed or troubled projects from around the world.
Boeing Commercial Aeroplanes - USA
Project name : 787 Dreamliner
Project type : Commercial aircraft development
Date : Jan 2003 - Jan 2013
Cost : Additional $12B to $18B on top of original $5B cost estimate
Synopsis :
For Boeing Commercial Aeroplanes the week of January 14, 2013 has been a bad one. Images of firefighters tackling a fire onboard a Japan Airlines 78...
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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 of their e...
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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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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 complete. ...
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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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Department of Transport – West Coast Railway Franchise
The following entry is a record in the "Catalogue of Catastrophe” - a list of failed and troubled projects from around the world.
Department of Transport - UK
Project name : West Coast Rail Franchise Competition
Project type : Tendering process for operations of passenger rail system
Date : Sep 2012
Cost : £40 to £100 Million estimated
Synopsis :
Operated by private companies, the British rail system is divided into a number of distinct regions. The contract for the West Coast line linking ...
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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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