The Economic Factors that Help Explainining the Expansion of Low-Cost Research Paper

The Economic Factors that Help Explainining the Expansion of Low-Cost Airline Carriers - Research Paper Example Accessibility of alternative modes of transport that are rationally close substitutes for air transportation diminishes with distance travelled. Globalization and free movement of merchandise and people between and within regions have a positive effect on air travel demand. Business travel market consists of time sensitive passengers; therefore, these customers are price inelastic in terms of fares. If the airline firm offers high quality service to this market segment, such as frequent and reliable frights, flexibility, comfortable seats, and excellent, frequent flyer programme rewards, business class customers will be willing to pay high prices (Junwook, 2011). However, with the introduction of low cost airlines the price elasticity of this business class market has changed and they display price elasticity. In previous years, airline industry relied heavily on business travel market as a major source of profit, however, this trend has changed, and the industry has noted that a hig her percentage of passengers considers price over service. Business class customers are willing to give up luxuries, food quality, flexibility or choice in return to lower prices. According to Rosario & Eddy, 2010, the economy travel market is largely determined by the costs being charged by the airlines; they are price sensitive. The first class air travel market does not generate much profit to the airline industry, as a result, many airlines are moving from three to a two-class cabin. The levels of consumer income influence the passenger’s choice of the air travel class; the choice of consumers with high levels of income will differ with those of consumers with low levels of income (Bijan, & Tom, 2008). The demand for leisure travel is influenced by the number of independent holidays and short term breaks; in this market passengers book flights, accommodation and car by themselves. According to Airport International, the changes in demand of leisure travel indicate that cu stomers are expecting and preferring low fares. Low fares in this market segment are the main stimulus for growth in luxury travel, and passengers are willing to change destination for fabulous deals. According to Susan, 2009, the prices of air tickets are largely influenced by the fuel prices, the exchange rates, and the costs of financing airline projects. High costs of financing, unstable exchange rates, and high fuel prices lead to high air fares. Other natural calamities, such tsunami and earthquakes among others results to decline in tourism and business travels thereby, affecting the air travel demand in the affected areas (Roger, 2008). The following diagrams and tables show the effects of fuel prices on operating costs of the airline industry. Prices of air tickets are determined by the price of fuel; fuel price is influenced by the prevailing economic conditions such as the exchange rates. Industry Fuel Costs and Net Profits. Source: Industry Financial Forecast Table (IATA Economics). Fuel Impact on Operating Costs Year % of Operating Costs Average Price per Barrel of Crude Break-even Price per Barrel Total Fuel Cost 2003 14% $28.8 $23.4 $44 billion 2004 17% $38.3 $34.5 $65 billion 2005 22% $54.5 $51.8 $91 billion 2006 26% $65.1 $68.3 $117 billion 2007 28% $73.0 $82.2 $135 billion 2008 33% $99.0 $88.9 $189 billion 2009 26% $62.0 $55.4 $125 billion 2010 26% $79.4 $91.0

Cultural Awareness, Understanding, and Acceptance Research Paper - 3

Cultural Awareness, Understanding, and Acceptance - Research Paper Example Hinduism is the religion followed by Indian people, however, they are very well known for their tolerance and respect for other religions and hence, people from different religions like Sikhism, Muslim, Jainism, Christianity etc., are important part of Indian culture (Fenton, 1998, p.156). The open approach to other cultures has helped Indian people to assimilate easily with other cultures. When they migrate to other counties, they adopt their customs easily but at the same time, follow their own ethics and traditions in their private lives (Fenton, 1998, p.43). Indian values are shaped mostly by their religious beliefs and teachings and they value the oneness of God even if in their culture, God is manifested in different forms and deities (Shah, 2002, p.26). Values Even in today’s modern times, rituals related to God and scriptures are very much practiced and followed by Indian people (Muesse, 2011, p.144). The two great epics that are revered by Indian people are ‘Ram ayana’ and ‘Mahabharata’ (Muesse, 2011, p.144). ... The rituals and beliefs of Hindu religion are given in the sacred texts of ‘Vedas’, which are composed of hymns and songs (Winternitz, 1998, p.106). People follow the rituals given in the sacred texts religiously and with complete devotion (Muesse, 2011, p.102). Food The culture, identity and history of India is linked and represented strongly in their food and habits (Henderson, 2002, 99). Indian people value vegetarian system of food and most of the Indian people, who follow their religion sincerely, follow vegetarian diet (Henderson, 2002, 102). Cow is a symbol of sacredness and hence, killing cow for food purpose is considered a sin (Henderson, 2002, 102). At the same time, the fast food which is sold on street side and is full of different spices, is also enjoyed and loved by Indian people. Moreover, Indian culture, being an assimilation of different cultures, is full of variety of different cuisines and food customs. Hence, Indian culture is rich in tradition, spir ituality, customs and variety. Mexican Culture Religion People of Mexico follow a Roman Catholic faith and follow the Catholic Church as the religious authority (Huck, 2008, p.54). Important family events like â€Å"baptism, communion, confirmation, marriage, and novenas†, are carried out in religious traditional way by Mexican people (Kittler& Sucher, 2008, p.238). Hence, people from Mexico can be called religious as they still follow traditions sincerely. Values People from Mexican culture are family centered by nature and value family bonding (Kittler& Sucher, 2008, p.248). They value the ancient sayings, called ‘Dichos’, which give an insight into their traditional, religious and cultural beliefs (Samovar, Porter & McDaniel, 2009, p.260). From the sayings, it is evident

If you were in charge of the MTA of New York, what three changes would Essay

If you were in charge of the MTA of New York, what three changes would you make that would better or improve the system - Essay Example I would also concentrate on the problem of maintenance, such as dirt and trash, food on the trains, broken elevators, dilapidated facilities, etc. For the amount that they are paying to ride on the MTA, straphangers deserve a clean and respectable place to commute. I also believe in the theory that if things look bad, they start to go bad, sometimes called the â€Å"broken windows† theory. Finally, if given charge of the organization, I would work hard to fight corruption. It is the overall assumption of the current report that by operating without secrecy and with a high level of accountability, in addition to installing measures of performance or results based management, the MTA under my tenure will be looked upon as possessing integrity and fairness in its operations, and will gain the trust of the public and increase the level of responsibility required of its own employees and society as a whole. Theoretically, it all seems rather simple for performance based management to promote this sort of behavior, backed up by an effective ethics program.

Anglo-American Special Relationship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Anglo-American Special Relationship - Essay Example Since Britain joined the then European Community in 1973, it has had an uneasy ride with its European partners. The relations have often been turbulentï‚ § Since Britain joined the then European Community in 1973, it has had an uneasy ride with its European partners. The relations have often been turbulentThe UK’s membership in the European Union (EU) that have a self-proclaimed goal of â€Å"ever closer union† was suggested by Rachman (2001) is a question that mattered more in London than in Washington. The US also have special relations among other countries such as Israel, Canada, Mexico (Wright, 2002), Japan and, also the EU.  Economically, there was a difficulty in totally integrating in to the European Union despite the low economic growth in Britain due to the high value of the pound making Britons believe that economy is doing well even while outside the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU).   The UK shares 15.3 percent of export to the US while it has considerable larger export to the EU members Germany, France, Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and Italy at around 50 percent. UK also lists Germany, France, Netherlands, Belgium, China, and Italy along with US (9.3 percent) as its leading import partners.While the US lists Canada, Mexico, Japan, China, along with UK (4.4 percent) as its export partners, it has only Canada, China, Mexico, Japan and Germany as its leading import partners.The British have had their national sovereignty slowly eroded by EU laws and regulations.   While mainland Europe such as Germany rates 43.6 to 56.6 percent and France's rate is 41.6 percent, the UK taxes only about 20 percent considered the lowest in the European Community (Expatica, 2005) making Britons Euro-sceptic as former president of Germany's Central Bank announced "A European currency will lead to member nations transferring their sovereignty over financial and wage policy, as well as in monetary affairs. It is an illusion to think that states can hold on to autonomy over

Subhas Chandra Bose Essay Example for Free

Subhas Chandra Bose Essay Subhas Chandra Bose ( listen (help ·info); 23 January 1897 – unknown) also known as Netaji (Bengali/Oriya/Hindi): â€Å"Respected Leader†), was one of the most prominent Indian nationalist leaders who attempted to gain Indias independence from British rule by force during the waning years of World War II with the help of the Axis powers. Bose, who had been ousted from the Indian National Congress in 1939 following differences with the more conservative high command,[2] and subsequently placed under house arrest by the British, escaped from India in early 1941. 3] He turned to the Axis powers for help in gaining Indias independence by force. [4] With Japanese support, he organised the Indian National Army (INA), composed largely of Indian soldiers of the British Indian army who had been captured in the Battle of Singapore by the Japanese. As the war turned against them, the Japanese came to support a number of countries to form provisional governments in the captured regions, including those in Burma, the Philippines and Vietnam, and in addition, the Provisional Government of Azad Hind, presided by Bose. 4] Boses effort, however, was short lived; in 1945 the British army first halted and then reversed the Japanese U Go offensive, beginning the successful part of the Burma Campaign. The INA was driven down the Malay Peninsula, and surrendered with the recapture of Singapore. It was reported that Bose died soon thereafter from third degree burns received after attempting to escape in an overloaded Japanese plane which crashed in Taiwan,[5] which is disputed. 6] The trials of the INA soldiers at Red Fort, Delhi, in late 1945 caused huge public response in India. [7][8] Clement Attlee, the British Prime Minister during whose rule India became independent, mentioned that INA activities of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose (which weakened the Indian Army – the very foundation of the British Empire in India) and the Royal Indian Navy mutiny in 1946[9][10][11][12] were major reasons that made the British realise that they were no longer in a position to rule India.

The Eight Principles Of Total Quality Management Information Technology Essay

The Eight Principles Of Total Quality Management Information Technology Essay Total Quality Management is a process that ensures continuous improvement for an organisations future. It is a management system with customer satisfaction as a continual goal. It is TQMs goal to integrate a sense of quality into the culture of how an organisation is run. It hopes to merge different internal branches of an organisation (finance, Communications, RD etc.) and link them all with quality being their main goal, with a view to continual customer focus. This system of management contains 8 principles which are vital in implementing this strategy into an organisations culture. These principles combined with effective leadership should result in a company doing The Right Things Right, First Time. TQM stems from the principle that It is easier to control systems than it is people. Companies depend on their customers to keep them in business. It is essential that a company can keep their customers happy by ensuring that the products received are fit for their intended use. It is also very valuable if a company can foresee future customer needs to ensure they keep the customer base in the future. Here the company can ensure that all its new objectives are customer satisfaction based and can later apply measuring techniques to see if their approach is effective (customer surveys etc.) Leadership Total quality should be adopted into the culture of the organization so proper leadership should create an environment where this is possible. The objectives should be clearly laid out with an emphasis on customer satisfaction. A leader should ensure that all employees are fully aware of their importance to the organisation and should eliminate fear and promote trust. Involvement of People Every person within the organisation must be utilized for their specific skills so everyone is contributing to the organizations goals. This helps create a sense of unity and purpose and leads to a better working environment. This leads to people being accountable for their work and serves as a baseline for quality. It involves people sharing ideas and practices and leads to better trouble shooting. Process Approach The objectives should be clearly outlined and all personnel should be aware of hoe the process will be managed and undertaking. This removes the waste of resources and ensures all efforts are placed on defined essential tasks. This helps increase the rate of work and processes are finished faster. If the process has been properly defined and it has to be repeated, the exact same system can be used as it has been documented and this will further increase efficacy of the work in the future. Systems Approach to Management If you can define interrelated systems, they can be correlated and run under one management guise. Running these various operations under one system leads to more effective work and allows the system to be monitored more easily and have data compiled on the systems efficacy. Through this monitoring continual improvement can be scored and documented. By aligning different departments within an organisation, more focus can be placed on key goals and confidence in the work will be widespread. This can lead to greater results faster. Continual Improvement This is to be a permanent goal for every process undertaken within the organisation. By training staff to use the various continual improvement tools available, a company can leap on an improvement opportunity before others. This could possible open up a new customer market that was previously unavailable. Factual Approach to Decision Making Decisions should be made based on analysis of sound data and intensively researched information. This removes poor decision making from an organisation and sets a baseline for decision making in the future. This can also help the ability to demonstrate how effective past decisions were by checking factual data. The factual data can help access the outcome of the decision and help removes decision making based on intuition alone. Mutually Beneficial Supplier relationship A relationship based on mutual benefits is very healthy and ensures that both parties have each other interests in focus. This will help create value for both companies if some parameters are set correctly. Open communication must be maintained and key objectives and future plans must be known to both parties. If both parties can pool their resources and both have a strong view towards customer satisfaction then waste of resources can be minimised and activities can be improved on both sides. Implementing TQM: TQM is a complex management system that will require a lot of input from all people involved in the company. However, the most important initiating step is to get full commitment from the companys senior management. Without this a proper plan cannot be devised and TQM will not work. A quality team or quality council must be set up among senior managers. Here ideas can be exchanged and improvements to specific parts of the company devised. Here it will also be decided who is to implement certain changes and a system of quality reporting must also be set up. There should be a quality improvement team and also a quality planning team set up. These teams should contain people who represent all areas of the organisation and have a high standard of knowledge of their individual departments. It is essential that the individual department are not run separately, but rather as one large system to ensure full communication remains and key objectives can be achieved faster. Once senior management have become involved the next step is to make middle management aware of the transition. This will involve meeting between middle management and the personnel who report to them. Here all staff will be educated about the forthcoming move to TQM and a series of plans will be set in motion. Here the staff should constantly retrain and each department should develop new experts to keep a focus on continual improvement. A mission statement of the organisations quality policy is a great way to start. From here a series of plans and a systematic approach can be developed to convert the companys operations to one of total quality. This change is very serious and without full commitment and proper planning can fail easily. The first thing a company must do is assess their current state. Here a management audit is a valuable tool and can easily identify the companys health. If the company is in poor health (quality standards low, reactive decisions, and poor managerial skill) then TQM will be near impossible to implement. However, if a company can agree that its current level of management, organisational culture and work ethos are suitable to TQM, then the process can develop from here. Benefits of TQM: Once an organisation has been converted to a system of total quality management, the organisation may be able for ISO 9000 accreditation. This is an internationally recognized standard of quality that has a major impact on how your organisation itself and the process that are undertaken are viewed by the public/possible customers. Having this accreditation will also greatly benefit the organisation from a financial point of view. Getting insurance for large companies can a massive financial burden and being ISO 9000 approved means you are more likely to be insured. This will help protect the organisation from possible liable action. The main benefits internally are a new streamlined system for operations. Increased workmanship due to work ownership/accountability and this leads to constant quality. Increased readiness for the future market and a removal from a reactive decision making process and overall improved stability within the market and increased staying power. Disadvantages of TQM: A main concern of implementing total quality management is the initial set up cost. Here employees will have to attend training that will take away from their usual duties and cause a dip in productivity. Due to all the changes implementing TQM will cause, there is a school of thought that thinks employees will doubt the security of their positions. This may lead them to becoming resistant to change and as a result, slow down the implementation stages and the efficacy of TQM. The results which are desired from TQMs implementation may also take years to see, this can lead the employees feeling that their input was of little use and the project was a waste of time. TQM can also tie a business to a certain set of plans that may span years. This can lead the company down an inflexible route when it comes to future prospect and developments. Instead of the company continually focusing on the goals TQM was supposed to tackle, the main focus in put on finishing the implementation stage. As a result, the company ends up with a major organisation change but the highlighted problems still exist and more time will have to be delegated to solving these at a later time. This again all leads to a drop in current productivity and the business retains its previous efficacy with no notable improvements being recognisable.

Holyrood Project Case Study

Holyrood Project Case Study ABSTRACT: The need to adequately implement a project successfully with the required Project Management indices has ensured that project managers are continuously seeking ways of ensuring that projects meet and satisfies customers cravings. A project is said to be successful if it is implemented with an efficient and effective cost, quality and time management approach thereby meeting customers expectation; it is a failure when it fails to met these set objectives. The Holyrood -Scotland Parliamentary Building project management approach is critically analysed in a post mortem approach in this paper with a view to discussing how each of the stages in the project lifecycle culminated in the failure of the project to meeting certain criteria of an effective project. INTRODUCTION The Holyrood: A project of the Scottish government which was undertaken to provide a magnificent structure for the use of the Scottish Parliament. The advent of the Devolution proposal in 1979 gave rise initially to the project, however, the project became main-stream in 1998. The project became a key issue for the stakeholders due to key project management controls. A successful project is judged to be efficient, cost effective, quality, on time, and meet customers satisfaction. An appraisal of the Holyrood project indicated that some of these indices were not achieved especially in terms of cost and duration, hence the need to evaluate and analyse the entire project life cycle from initiation to closure to ascertain what went wrong and what could have been done. This paper aims to diagnose the indices of a successful project with respect to the Holyrood project, and critically evaluates how the project deviated from the expected project management indices. It identifies the problems of project management associated with each stage of the Holyrood project life cycle using project management theories of the like of P. Gardiner 2005 and J. Westland 2006 to define each stage of project life cycle Initiation Definition; Planning Development; Execution Control and Closure and analyse it to the Holyrood project. The first section reviews the background of the Holyrood Parliament building project. Section two identifies the problems associated with each stage of the project Initiation and definition; Planning and development; Execution and control and Closure. Section three analyses the problems that are most significant to cost increase and schedule slippage using the Auditor General report as well as other authors. Section four will evaluate the problems identified in section 3 and relate it to PM writers (Cimil J.K 1997), (Pinto 1998), (OGC, 2005) to identify why project fails; section five is a summary of findings and conclusion. Chapter 1 1.0 Background of the Holyrood Parliament Building Project The devolution proposals of 1979 may have given room for the incoming labour administration in 1997, to implement the proposal which included the building of the Scottish parliament. The Scottish parliament was and is still an important symbol for Scotland. It is expected that the parliament building should possess the best of quality, durability as well as represent civil importance. The Holyrood project from the initiation process faced enormous challenges starting from the quest for early completion and the high expectation in terms of quality. The major hindrance started with first, the cultural difficulties in the joint venture which did not allow them to work effectively. Secondly, the construction management approach of the project adopted, and the selection criteria for design procurement. Harnessing the ideas of different project team was a major concern for the project, as virtually all teams had different ideas indicating no clear direction, leadership, and project stage c ontrol. This ensued that there were lot of scope creep during the implementation of the project. A major creep was the cost creep: the initial capital cost was estimated at  £40million in 1997, which rose to  £90 million and from then rose to  £195 million. By April 2001 the cost had crept again to  £359 in June 2003 and the  £414.4million by 2004 resulting to a 20month delay. Lord Fraser report and the Auditors Generals report have scrutinized what must have gone wrong with the project. Chapter 2 2.0 Problems with the stages of the Project For a proper evaluation of what went wrong with the Holyrood Project, it is important to understand what really makes up a project life cycle. According to Paul D.Gardner (2005) the project life cycle indicates the phases a project has to go through from beginning to completion in an orderly from ensuring that the successful completion of one stage leads to the beginning of another, till the end of the project. It is imminent to state here that a well structured project phase of a project help in proper controlling and monitoring of the project, and ensure that timely corrective actions are implemented when deviation from plans are observed. 2.1 Initiation and Definition stage This stage kick starts the lifecycle of the project and establishes the ‘sum of the products and services to be provided by the project (PMI 2000). The business justification for the project is firmly established at this stage. The sponsors strategic plan is investigated by conducting a feasibility study which includes the project assessment in terms of its cost and benefits. For the Holyrood project whose objective was to provide a home fit for the Scottish parliament indicated a right step as a business case was made to justify such a proposal. However, the project encountered political problems which included the selection of an appropriate site to house the parliament, the PM drawing a time table to fulfill the political objective of early completion. It is of note mention that given the proposed cost estimate of the project one would have concluded that a poor feasibility study was conducted which drew a budget that can never have been a realistic estimate for anything other than a basic building for the new parliament. It also showed that adequate risk assessment was not carried out as the time frame approach for the completion of the building indicated. Overall impression for the initiation stage indicated that the project scope was not well defined, which would have indicated where the priority should be laid on , either on cost, quality, or early completion of the building . The project did not put into consideration the evolve of the clients need which does not fit into Cimil success criteria. 2.2 Planning and Development stage In this phase of the project three elements are important and they are; the creation of all the required plans to support the project (the scope management plan, the work plan, timeline, risk management plan and quality management plan), the mobilization and organization of all resources required for the project and infrastructure to support the resource as well as ensuring effective communication across the network of project stakeholders. The project lacked a sense of appreciation of plan, which made the project budget under estimated. A key setback for the planning stage was the disparity in choosing the proper design procurement approach. The selection criteria for the chosen procurement approach designer competition showed that the entire process lacked clarity; as a systematic approach was not adopted towards the handling of PQQs. This attributed to the lack of coordination from personnel undertaking visits in verifying the applicants/Competitors informations thereby leading to unfairness in choosing the appropriate candidate. This singular act ensured that all applicants including the joint venture partners presented drawings that extended outside the required size in the brief- a major signal of a possible project scope creep. Secondly in a project of this magnitude the choice of a project sponsor a very vital role to the success of a project should not be guided by political undertone as it appears in the choice of Mrs Doig who lacks expertise in matters of projects and construction. This to a large extent gave room for a lot of poor decisions which is evident in the choice of adopting construction management as the building option. Another problem at this stage in the project was that the project initiator, Mr. Dewar was too attached to the project. This often made him opt for unpopular choices like the choice of opting for a designer competition as against a design competition as specified by the RIAS team. Moreover, the competition process was conducted in an unprofessional manner that lacked finesse and proper coordination. For a project of this nature with very high risk content the lack of a contingency risk plan is inexcusable. The critical path of the project was not mentioned. The project lacked proper communication and coordination at this stage, sight of the terms of the brief was lost 2.3 Execution and Control stage (Westland Jason 2006) described this phase as the longest phase of a project. This is the stage were the deliverables are physically built and presented to the customer for acceptance. (Paul D. Gardiner 2005) described it as the phase where new information from other phases can lead to change, and a good project manger should know that some changes are inevitable, therefore there is need to maintain control over these changes to the project plan. Change Management for this project was out of control as most changes done in execution stage of the Holyrood project was not agreed by the parties involved. This exhibited the lack of good leadership, control and good management associated with the project. The reporting system did not encourage effective communication as well as flow of information between the teams which lead to the resignation of the 1st PM (Mr Armstrong) and subsequent managers. This lack of control saw the cost of the project skyrocketing with a lot of changes done in the design plan. 2.4 Closure stage Closure is the last phase of the project life cycle; it represents the end of a project. Money is no more paid out, all documentation and administration of the project is closed and opportunity for evaluation and performance review. The finished product is transferred to the care, custody and control of the owner (Paul D Gardnier 2005). In the Holyrood project, there were delays in the project handover as conflict between the contracted parties remains unresolved till the end of the project. The project closure and handing over lack some merits as potential risk elements were ignored in the final documentation. Some examples are 45,000 defects were discovered after handover and issues regarding the infrastructure. Chapter 3 3.0 Problems with the most significant cost increase and schedule slippage 3.1 Significant Cost Increases The project from inception has suffered successive increases in its cost forecast, but the most significant is in the construction stage (Execution and Control phase). Increase in construction cost was (caused by) as a result of design development and delay in construction process as the project progressed. The construction cost increases fall into three main areas Design development  £68m Prolongation, disruption and delay  £73m Inflation and Risk certainty  £19m Most of this cost was incurred from the year 2000, though this increase was as a result of poor planning, control and management attributed at the planning and development stage. 3.2 Significant Schedule Slippage The rush for early delivery of such huge project resulted to lot of schedule slippage. The complexities in the design variation as well as the late communication/supply of information during the construction phase were the most significant cause of the 20 months delay of the project. This delay started in 2000 and this still fall under the Execution and control phase. Apart from the complexity and late supply of information, other factors also attributed to the schedule spillage are 19-24 weeks delay in the Foyer roof, Glazing and assembling of the windows 15 Months each for the debating chamber and Canon Gate There was no contingency plan for spillage in the initial timetable. Chapter 4 4.0 Evaluation of the Project Management Problems Corresponding to those Identified in the Literature This section brings us back to the question why do project fail? And the writer is going to relate some of this failure to the problem associated with the Holyrood project. Writers like (OGC, 2005), (Cicmil 1997), (Carlos 2005) theory of why project fail will be used to evaluate the Literature. OGC, 2005 gave eight reasons why project fails and some of the reasons are lack of clear senior management and ministerial ownership and leadership. In the literature it was seen that was no clear direction, control as well as leadership among the different civil servants groups that handled the project. The project manager had no single point of authoritative command and could not use his authority and influence to control the project. In the literature decisions were made without communicating them to the stakeholders, this shows lack of effective engagement with stakeholders. Also there was lack of skills and proven approach to project management and risk management. The project sponsor knew very little about construction and this showed when no further inquiry was done on the construction management choice which has much risk on the client was not appreciated by the sponsor because of her incompetence. Risk was never incorporated in any of her decisions. (Cicmil 1997) also researched on principal sources of project failure where he talked about poor understanding and identification of client need. The joint venture never understood the clients need that was why from the beginning they never adhered to the clients brief, which would have minimised the risk that exists in undertaking a project with tight time frame. (Cicmil 1997) talked about organizational behaviour factors. The organisation of Holyrood project d id not provide the necessary clear direction and leadership and this led to lack of control, communication and poor management that existed in the project. The project was conceptualized as one without any provision for change. Such deficiency highlights the lack of (Cicmil 1997) bounded rationality approach to project management. The literature is rife with instances where proper procedures were not adhered to. Examples include the architects (Snr Miralles) reluctance to fit his designs into the project brief even when he was informed to. (Carlos 2005) talked about why project fails and most of it boils down to what existed in the Holyrood project which was lack of teamwork, cultural differences, communication, politics, control and poor management. This inevitably led to cost increase, and delays seen in the project. 4.1. RECOMMENDATIONS (Gardiner 2005) Valuation should have been applied to all the stages of the Project life cycle by PM The important key positions should not have been handled by Civil Servants Plan for contingency risk should have been made. The implementation of multi perspective framework on projects. In my opinion if this had been used issues like the choice of construction management would not have been made the content context and organisational character would have been analysed and a more suitable method like PFI/PPP would have been selected 5.0 Conclusion The Holyrood Project in the long run became a huge success, however most critics believed that the time and cost slippage would have been avoided if proper project management indices were followed. The author has been able to diagnose this key indices and is of the opinion that the success of every project is dependent on the effectiveness of the project manager , a major problem of the Holyrood Project .It is also worth mentioning that my recent visit to the Parliament Building afforded me the opportunity to have my personal take on the building and it is indeed a magnificent piece and so despite the many problems encountered it met the clients expectations of quality, â€Å"Past Glory of Scotland flowing within the present into the future† PRIMARY SOURCE Lord Fraser, Holyrood Inquiry, Blackwell Bookshop, (2004) Reid G., The Scottish parliament: Holyrood project closure (2007) Books Andersen E.S, Grude K.V, Haug T, Goal directed project management: effective techniques and strategies Kogan Page 3rd edition (2004) Gardiner P.D, Project Management: A strategic planning approach Palgrave Macmillian (2005) Kerzner H. Project Management, a systems approach to planning scheduling and controlling (John Wiley and sons Inc) (2006) page 66 Leech D.J, Turner B.,Project Management for profit, Ellis Horwood publishing (1990) Lockyer K.and Gordon J, Project management and project Network Techniques (6th Edition Pitman Publishing), (1996) Page 3 Lock D, Project Management Gower publishing limited, Pg 6, 12-14 Maylor H, Project Management (Pitman Publishing ) (1996) Page 25 Nickson D Siddons S, Project management disasters: And how to survive them, Kogan Page Limited, (2006) Page 25-74 Westland J., Project Management lifecycle: A complete step by step methodology For initiating, planning, executing and closing the project successfully, Kogan Page (2006) Articles Cicmil S.K , Critical Factors of effective project management the TQM magazine Volume 9 Number 6 1997,390-396 INTERNET SOURCES Architecture week, http://www.architectureweek.com/2005/1019/news_1-3.html ( Last visited on 20th July 2009)   BBC, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4343690.stm ( Last visited on 25th July 2009) Project Management, http://www.pmhut.com/project-phases (Last visited on 20th July 2009) The Scottish Parliament, ,http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/corporate/spcb/publications/docs/Holyrood_closeout_report.pdf http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/committees/audit/or-04/au04-1402.htm (Last visited on 20th July 2009)