CASE STUDY
1. Consider the following statement: “Government-funded projects intended to serve
as prestige projects, such as the Sochi Olympics, should not be judged on the basis of
cost.” Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Why?
No, I do not agree with this statement. Since the prestige projects are government-funded
they are essentially paid for by the civilians and national of that country (taxes etc.).
The Olympics are a big event as they bring many tourist and attention to your country,
however how the development of the Olympics is managed could bring good and bad
attention. Sochi had a budget of $12 billion yet they spent $51 billion for the
development of the Olympics. The main question is “how does this affect your local
economy”? Other countries may perceive you as being careless and uncaring to the
opinions of your people. Secondly, much of the spending was careless, for example there
were many problems inresource planning and simultaneously, site and geological testing
flaw is another prominent factor, therefore reworking was required.Therefore, Activity
based costing method should be implemented where we know the driver, assign cost and
compute cost rate and volume.
2. Project success is defined as adherence to budget, schedule, functionality
(performance), and client satisfaction. Under these criteria, site evidence that
suggests that Sochi Olympics project was a success and/or failure.
The Sochi Olympics was a failure. Although the project was completed on time, all
events ran smooth and the athletes and spectators were pleased with the overall
experience, but the budget spent was not worth it as this could have been saved for future
expenditure of Olympics or on state where its required. Lastly, the budget was kept on
exceeding just to keep things on schedule and this doesn’t reflect that everything
remained on schedule as cost and schedule are directly proportional factor. Poor planning
will either increase task timing or will increase cost.
3. When a project has a “hard gate,” like being ready on time, how does that affect
normal success criteria? Is it fair to judge a project with a critical completion date
by normal project success standards? Why or why not?
First of all, Hard Gate Criteria is built into your planning, so that funds for the project
have to be requested in increments. The normal success criteria require limited increment
of each task, but hard gate criteria broaden the limit of budget for each task.
Projects with critical completion dates should be judged by normal success standards.
Project completion is probably the most important measure of a project. All projects have
a timeline and other factors they must adhere to. Strict time completion dates can lead to
errors and oversights. Testing and evaluation steps may be skipped which can lead to
project failures.
4. Consider the problems with the RIO Olympics sites that quickly occurred following
completion of the 2016 Summer games. Access the internet to find evidence of the
current state of the Sochi Olympic cite. How is it being used and what are the
current problems and opportunities for Sochi?
According to Russia’s Welcom2018.com there are many venues that were constructed for
the Olympics in Sochi still being used today. A few of the venues are: The Mandarin
recreational center and beach has shopping, restaurants, and a concert hall for
performances. A new port in the Azov and Black Sea basin was built for the delivery of
the cargo carriers delivering construction materials. Olympic Villages was built next to
the park to house athletes, coaches, and delegates. The village has been renamed and is
now used as residential housing. In the center of the park is the Medals Plaza. The Plaza
is used for concerts and performances. The House of Fans has been transformed into a
automobile museum. The automobiles displayed were produced between 1930s-1990s.
Although many of the sites have been transformed, most of the venues are sitting and
have not been used since the Olympic games. Currently the Russia economy has
plummeted, and the country is in crisis. The $51 billion that was poured into the Olympic
construction has not been recovered and in 2015 funds were still being poured into the
sites to be maintained (such as the ice rink). Several of the companies funding these sites
are on the brink of bankruptcy.
