Free Essay Sample on Project Commercial Identity

The process of ascertaining commercial integrity of projects involves examining many different facets within an organizations environment before making final decisions on the commercial identity of any project. A carefully conducted business environment appraisal can benefit a company immensely through reduced project costs and increased benefits (Van Weele, 2014, pp. 23). Nevertheless, regardless of the significance of business environment appraisal, some major and mega projects still encounter challenges in during their implementation stages. These difficulties emanate from the projects failure to meet its short term, medium term, and long-term projections (Waters, 2008, pp. 37).

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Professor Bent Flyvbjergs study on the failure of some major infrastructural projects exposes massive discrepancies in the planning stages. These differences eventually account for the failure of the project to achieve its intended objectives. According to Professor Flyvbjerg, most major projects fail due to misrepresentation of facts during the planning stage. The discrepancies between projections for demand and benefits expected with the actual data range between 20%-70% (Waters, 2008, pp. 41). The professor identifies three possible factors that account for the mishaps in project planning namely technical errors, psychological errors, and economic and political reasons. Technical errors relate to insufficient data during the planning stages while psychological errors emanate from bias. Conversely, economic and political issues occur as a result of deliberate misrepresentation of facts to get approval for the project. For example, one may underestimate costs while overstating the benefits to make the project look worthwhile.

For some reason, some worst projects continue to be built; often leading to massive failures. Part of the reasons why some of the worst projects are initiated is because of the focus on profits rather than sustainability of the project. Secondly, some of the worst projects have been initiated as a result of poor preparations and a failure to consider different options related to the project. Also, other worst projects are marred in political considerations, which often obscure the real issues related to the project.

Among the recommendations for a robust environment appraisal data include the fact that there is need to separate politics from project planning. Political arguments mainly focus on distribution of resources rather than the real issues such as the feasibility and integrity of the project itself (Lysons and Farrington, 2012, pp. 63). Therefore, effective environment appraisal data can only be achieved if politics is left out of the equation. Also, the environment appraisal has to be based on scientific principles, which will help eliminate any bias that is likely to arise.

As a portfolio manager for a major project such as the Brazil Olympic 2016, the priority would be ensuring strict adherence to scientific principles when gathering and analyzing the project data. This will help eradicate issues of bias, technical errors, or any political motives for running the project (Atrill and Mclaney, 2014, pp. 38). Secondly, the environment appraisal will involve engaging different stakeholders in the project. Above all, the project must ensure that it considers all the issues within its environment, which ultimately affect its viability.

References

Atrill P. And Mclaney E.J., 2014. Accounting and finance for nonspecialists. 9th ed. Harlow: Pearson.

Lysons, K. And Farrington, B., 2012. Purchasing and supply chain management. 8th ed. Harlow: Pearson. Ebook.Van Weele, A., 2014. Purchasing and supply chain management. 6th ed. Andover: Cengage Learning.

Waters, D., 2008. Supply chain management: an introduction to logistics. 2nd ed. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.