Case Study: The Case of the Unidentified Risks
In September 2010, ALFA Fabricators advised its staff that their new factory and offices out in semi-rural Angle Vale would be ready for completion by the end of April 2012. ALFA was a responsible company and liked to keep their premises clean and tidy and their staff happy. The new premises at Angle Vale were developed on a 4.5-hectare site, previously used for grain crops. Consequently, ALFA decided that significant landscaping would be required to enhance the amenity of the otherwise bare land.
The senior executive group pictured some land contouring with an attractive green lawn, and trees and shrubs to soften the impact of otherwise stark commercial buildings. Accordingly, they notionally allocated Tsh. 2.32billion for the project, and developed a tender document that called for the work to be completed by the time they moved to the new premises. They then invited proposals for landscaping and quotes for the work.
A company called Abbott Industries submitted an artist's sketch for the ALFA evaluation team to picture what the landscaping would look like. Abbott was selected with a bid of 1.75billion, substantially lower than any other submission. Abbott then prepared a detailed landscaping plan based on existing drawings of the site provided in the tender. Abbott met with the ALFA senior executives to agree project start date, access and security of plant and equipment, and a fixed price contract. A contract was duly signed.
The project was scoped and planned by Abbott, with specific milestones for site works, irrigation, turf laying, and tree and shrub planting. Abbott had undertaken many similar jobs on city sites in the past and based on the knowledge and skills of the project team, they did not think that a formal project management plan would be needed. All they wanted was agreement on the scope of the project and the key deliverable dates. From experience, they wanted to deal with