HS2 Stakeholder Analysis

What is HS2?

High Speed 2 is the Labour party’s initiative to connect the North and South of the UK with a high speed, low carbon train network. It was officially launched in 2009 by Labour and has faced difficulty after difficulty trying to get the work started.

Phase one of HS2 is to connect London to Birmingham, and this has the green light from the government. Opposition has arisen from the constituencies that have been split, residents that have had their homes demolished and parties, such as UKIP and the Greens have slandered the project, calling for it to be stopped. However, the work to start phase one was green-lighted in parliament in 2017. Phase two, connecting Manchester and Leeds has not had complete permission granted yet and is in jeopardy of being stopped completely.

Stakeholders

Stakeholders will need to be identified, there are many ways to do this, like brainstorming, advice and guidance from similar projects and continual monitoring will help identify stakeholders as well.

Stakeholders:

Internal Stakeholders		External Stakeholders
Demand Side	Supply Side	Private	Public
·        Department for Transport (sponsor) ·        British Government ·        Allan Cook, Chairman HS2 Ltd	·        Engineers ·        Contractors ·        Material Suppliers ·        Railway Industry Association ·        Staff	·        Local Residents ·        Local business and landowners ·        Special interest groups ·        Environmentalists ·        Conservationists ·        Archaeologists ·        Other Rail networks ·        Transport businesses ·        Taxpayers	·        Local Councils ·        Regulatory Agencies ·        Newspapers /media ·        European Rail Freight Association

Once you know who the stakeholders are you should analyse this further, creating a register with their information to determine how they should be managed.

Mendelow’s Power-Interest grid can help to breakdown the stakeholders into categories to help establish the best ways to communicate with them:

 

Procurement Type 2

Design and Build 

The procurement process ‘Design and Build’ is an integrated procurement process, meaning that the design and construction phases can overlap. Differing from the traditional process (described in my last post), the responsibility of the design and the construction lies mainly with the contractor as opposed to the client. The client and the contractor are tied together through a single contract however the client may hire a project manager to protect their interests. This type of procurement system would be reimbursed through a fixed lump sum or a GMP (Guaranteed Maximum Price). The risks undertaken in a design and build contract are carried by the contractor which usually safeguards the client. This route is good for time constrained projects because the design and construction phases are integrated.

 

There are 4 Design and Build options:

1. Develop and Construct 2. Novated Design and Build 3. Package Deal 4. Turnkey

1. Develop and Construct

Where the client appoints the design team and the detail they achieve varies as the contractor is responsible for the development of the design, going into more detail before submitting bid proposals. Design normally progressed to outline planning stage and possibly to full planning approval point and then the client can invite competitive tenders based on a detailed project concept. This process still requires one organisation to take responsibility for design and construction of the project

2. Novated Design and Build

Client appoints consultants to carry out the conceptual design and tender document. Once the contractor has been appointed, the client transfers the design team to the successful bidder to carry out the detailed design. The contractor takes on responsibility for the design work carried out to date, sometimes together with the original design team. The consultants’ fees are normally predetermined by the client. Some designers resist this practise because the contractors and consultants may have a conflict of interests.

3. Package Deal

A package deal is used for repetitive projects whereby projects are relatively simple. The client would need to be relatively flexible. You would gain a complete ‘off the shelf’ product but it would probably be quite a standard design.

4. Turnkey

A contractor is responsible for overseeing absolutely everything and at completion it would just be a case of handing it over. This is used in more complex projects and is also known as EPC.

Design and Build Advantages

• The client has only to deal with one firm, giving single point responsibility
• Benefits from the contractor’s experience during design
• Friendly relationship between the design team and the construction team (not adversarial as in traditional)
• Price certainty before construction starts, provided the ERs are adequately specified and changes are not introduced
• Reducing the project duration by overlapping design and construction phases.
• The total cost may be reduced by reducing changes to minimum due to early collaboration between designers and constructors

Design and Build Disadvantages

• Difficulties in preparing comprehensive brief or set of ERs.
• Client commitment to a concept design at an early stage; often before the detailed designs are completed.
• Bids are difficult to compare different design solutions, proposals and programmes.
• No design evaluation: unless consultants are appointed
• Client changes can be expensive: no BOQ, no competition
• Design liability is limited by the standard contracts available.
• Quality may be compromised as the client relinquishes control to the design and build contractor.
• Total cost may be increased due to higher risks transferred to contractor

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The Beginning of Semester 2

(Projects in a commercial environment)

Introduction to Procurement

Returning to University in the 3^rd week of January after a good Christmas holiday, we kick-started the day with an introduction to procurement. Firstly learning that: The Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply defines procurement as: “Procurement and supply management involves buying the goods and services that enable an organisation to operate in a profitable and ethical manner.” Basically, procurement involves a lot more thought than simply purchasing something, taking more care to consider things such as price, quality, time, location and reputation.

Procurement can be like a process; it requires contracts and relationships between parties and becomes more complicated and thorough depending on the risks involved with the project.

A procurement route is all about deciding on allocation of risks in respect of: Time, Cost and Quality. And has responsibilities of Design, Construction, Management, Operation, Funding

The main characteristic of a traditional procurement route is the “separation of the responsibility for the design of the project from that for its construction.”

The History of Procurement Routes:

The traditional method would consist of competitively priced, staged lump sum payments. This method became popular in the mid-1850s. The lack of co-ordination between trades such as design and build became an obstacle and lead to the decrease in popularity for the traditional method after the 2^nd World War. Involving a contractor in the early stages of the project proved to be good.

Another reason that the traditional route began to fail was in 1973 – oil crisis caused major rise in fuel prices and interest rates which meant that people were prioritising quick completion to reduce cost. This led to building work commencing before some plans are complete.

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The Process:

Preparation – creating a business case and appointing a Project Manager.

Design – Appointing the design team and beginning the design process, it is important to take time and communicate with the design and build teams as rushed plans leads to errors and conflict.

Under the traditional procurement route, design is normally completed:

• Before competitive tenders are invited.
• Before the main construction contract is let. But:
• Contractor may have some design liability, where identified and contractually stipulated.

Preparing and Obtaining Tenders – finalise documentation (BOQ – bill of quantities), specifications, drawings, etc. The design must be fully prepared before the BOQ is created for pricing accuracy and fairness.

Construction Phase – assuming there are no changes, construction cost can be identified with reasonable accuracy.

To ensure good communication throughout the process, the PM should oversee the teams.

 

Advantages of traditional procurement route:

• Has stood the test of time
• Understood by many clients, contractors etc.
• Client able to select the most appropriate design team
• Client able to have direct influence, thus facilitating a high level of performance and bespoke quality in the design
• Client can monitor and control all phases of the project
• High degree of certainty based on the cost and specified performance before a commitment to build

High risk of disruptions and variations, especially in cost if the design is not fully prepared before the tender is obtained or the BOQ is inaccurate.

Disadvantages of traditional procurement route:

• Design-bid-build sequence takes long period of time
• Designers design, don’t manage
• Contractor unable to contribute to the design.
• No benefit from contractor’s experience while designing the project (buildability)
• The traditional standard forms are adversarial in nature, mentality of “that’s not my job”
• Accelerating the process by producing tender documents from an incomplete design, or inaccurate BOQ, can result in less cost and time certainty. Leads to: Variations Time and cost overrun Expensive disputes
• Client bears the risk of design and cost (quantities)
• Client can think bid is a lump sum (therefore final cost) but is still vulnerable to claims
• Strategy based upon price competition, which can result in adversarial relationships developing

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In other, unrelated news – I sold my house! You can see completed pictures in the gallery on my website…

 

Summary of Scope & Project Definition

This weekly upload is going to be a study blog, written to help me revise my course, Project Management BSc. Hopefully, it will also create a good overview for anyone else looking to study the same thing.

According to the APMBoK 6^th edition, “Scope comprises the totality of the outputs, outcomes and benefits and the work required to produce them”. Simply put, the scope is the entirety of a project, from the beginning to the end of project, what it comprises of and the benefits realised after its completion.

Scope management is the process that is used to control the outputs and outcomes and identify the benefits. “Scope management is the process whereby outputs, outcomes and benefits are identified, defined and controlled (APMBoK 6^th)”  

Without scope management, a project is at risk of scope creep, whereby the project exceeds its intended criteria and therefore increasing in cost, time, disputes, quality, etc. and can ultimately cause the project to fail. 

Instagram -@huntersparkdesign

There are 6 steps to defining a project: 

1. Requirement management – this involves assessing, capturing and documenting the needs and objectives that are required by the stakeholders.
2. Defining the project scope – to do this you need to confirm the key aspects of the project, such as, project objectives, deliverables, milestones, technical requirements, limits and exclusions and reviews with customer.
3. Determining the Priorities – essentially you will need to establish what areas within the project are critical and which can be compromised if necessary. E.G. time, cost or quality. These priorities should be made clear within the development phase but can change throughout the life cycle. 
4. Create a Work Breakdown Structure – a WBS is a hierarchical outline (map) that identifies the work elements involved in a project. This is a helpful way to plan a project because you can use it to break down the scope. It also helps manage plan, schedule, and budget as well as defines communication channels and assists in coordinating the various project elements.The lowest level in the WBS is the work packages.
5. Integrating the WBS with the Organisation – You can use an Organisational Breakdown Structure (OBS) to do this. An OBS shows how an organisation is going to manage its work responsibility within the project.
6. Coding the WBS for the Information System – this highlights the levels and organisational levels of the WBS, it’s work packages, and budget and cost elements.

 

The Responsibility Matrix

Using the WBS and OBS you can construct a Responsibility Matrix, RAM. A RAM is used to allocate the work packages to people, organisations or 3^rd parties. A RAM can include information such as who is responsible, should be consulted or informed about certain tasks.

https://www.apm.org.uk/body-of-knowledge/delivery/integrative-management/organisation/

Thank you to the continued support on this blog series 🙂

 

Golden Gate Bridge Example

Simplified Business Case for the Golden Gate Bridge

This weekly upload is going to be a study blog, written to help me revise my course, Project Management BSc. Hopefully, it will also create a good overview for anyone else looking to study the same thing.

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In response to my last post, I wanted to share a rough draft of a simple business case. Using my University’s description of a business case, I have tried to come up with something similar, referring to the Golden Gate Bridge. I haven’t addressed all the key elements of a business case here, because I either struggled to find any research on that specific part or I wasn’t confident enough with my answer. If anyone does have any good feedback, that would be helpful. However, this is just my take on a quick task, nothing serious, perhaps as my course matures, I will be able to return to it and extend it a bit further.

Strategic Case: A solution is needed to connect the almost 2-mile gap between Marin County to San Francisco as there was no way round at the time.

Options Appraisal:

	Option	Cost
1.	Do nothing	Minimum
2.	Build a Bridge (recommended)	Maximum
3.	Invest in Boats	Average

Expected Benefits and Disbenefits:

Option	Benefits	Disbenefits
Do nothing	Saves cost, saves resources	No direct link between Marin County and San Francisco Bay
Build a Bridge	Direct link between Marin County and San Francisco Bay, opens up employment (on construction and between the 2 areas), more roads leading to less congestion.	High cost, high risk construction, disapproval from business owners and civic leaders, ruin the view of the bay, obstruct ships, requires maintenance
Invest in Boats	Increased access across the bay, increased revenue and employment for the shipping business	Requires maintenance, will not allow car access between the 2 areas

Financial Case:
Engineers estimate of $25-30 million to construct.

$35 million in bank bonds granted

Bank of America President Amadeo Giannini, who provided a crucial boost by agreeing to buy $6 million in bonds in 1932. https://www.history.com/topics/landmarks/golden-gate-bridge

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Risks of Building the Bridge:

1. Hazardous working conditions – impacts the workers and their family’s health and wellbeing
2. There was risk of insufficient funding after the Great Depression – may cause the bridge to remain uncompleted, or could lead to a delay in the project
3. Earthquake – after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake there would be worries of insufficient measures to avoid bridge collapse, which would incur additional costs and endanger lives.

Time Scale:
Drawings for the bridge were submitted in 1921 and were passed in 1933. Building work was completed in 1937.

Benefits realised after one year “June 30, 1938: During the first full fiscal year, the Golden Gate Bridge serves 3,892,063 motor vehicles, carries more than 8,000,000 passengers, and in excess of 400,000 pedestrians walked the sidewalks (GGBHD Annual Report FY37/38).”

According to http://goldengatebridge.org/research/GGBTraffToll.php, the toll for the bridge was 50 cents each way in 1937, so according to above study, in the first year the bridge would have roughly earned $1,946,031.50 in it’s first year.

If you have any tips on how to improve this, please let me know!

OTHER SOURCES

http://goldengatebridge.org/research/dates.php

http://goldengatebridge.org/research/GGBTraffToll.php

https://www.history.com/topics/landmarks/golden-gate-bridge