Two examples of massively mismanaged projects are TAURUS and the “Big Dig.” The first, formally called the London Stock Exchange Automation Project, cost $575 million before ft was finally abandoned. Although most IT projects have a reputation for cost over-runs, delays, and underperformance, TAURUS set a new standard.
But even TAURUS Paled next to the biggest, most expensive public works project in U.S. history—Boston’s 15-year-long Central Artery/Tunnel Project. Called the Big Dig, this was perhaps the poorest and most felonious case of project mismanagement in decades. From a starting $2 billion budget to a final price tag of $15 billion, the Big Dig cost more than the Panama Canal, Hoover Darn, or Interstate 95, the 1,919-mile highway between Maine and Florida.
Read about one of these two projects (or another of your choice) and explain why ft faced such problems. How and why do project managers allow such massive endeavors to fall into such a state? What do you think are the causes?