Establishing Project Controls in a Financial Environment

摘要

This paper is about establishing project controls in a financial environment, and there ate two projects used as case studies for supporting the argument for project controls. The two projects referred to in this paper are projects A and B. Project A - This project is done by a manufacturing company. This company manufactures generators for the fossil and nuclear industry. The project ranges from USD50 thousand to USD250 million. Before project controls was re-introduced to this company its cost and schedule performance had been steadily deteriorating to the point where it was obvious that the financial system was not a project control system. Project B - This is a project being done by a mining company. This company is completing a mining operation. They are about 70 percent complete and have one year and USD200 million left to complete it. Historically it was very difficult to keep project control personnel particularly cost control. Management thus decided that these persons may not be necessary and cost control was not practiced for at least the last year on this project. The panic button was pressed in December 2004, and the president and his top management team decided that this overspending, overrunning to date and trend needs to be stopped. Cost control was sought and a strategy for implementation put into place. Again an obvious need for a cost control system to compliment the financial system was required.