Causations of Failure in Megaprojects: A Case Study of the Ajaokuta Steel Plant Project

This paper uses project organizational theories to draw lessons from a historic megaproject, the Ajaokuta Steel Plant (ASP). Archival reports on the ASP were explored to identify the unique attributes of the project; the political wrangling that underplayed its evolution, its economic significance and organizational impacts. Findings suggest the goals of the ASP project were, and still are, unambiguous. Failure occurred as socio-political forces aggravated the project’s complex milestones. Stakeholders were impatient with pre-project investigations. During planning, owners ignored opinions that were contrary to their expectations. While delays lingered, pressures from the global economy weakened the project’s motivation to succeed. These combined to turn the project’s outcomes into a chaotic situation that triggered dire implications. Despite about 1400% overrun in cost, the success achieved on the plant was 28% at commissioning. Contractors remained on site until eight years after commissioning. Six key elements of the 482 items in the ASP project contract were not delivered nearly 40 years on. A simplistic look at these suggests poor planning is the main problem. However, planning issues is not entirely strange in greenfield projects. The paper draws strength from project organization theories to explain what was poor about the planning. Socrates’ generic management theory was used to explain the role of leadership in the failure of the ASP project. McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y explain the significance of stakeholders’ integration in megaprojects. Systems and chaos theories were used to explain the sensitivity of the ASP project to uncertainties. Narratives on these combine well to inspire stakeholders of megaprojects on where and how to seek courage in making effective plans that can help achieve success in complex projects. While normative literature only recognizes project success in a definitive perspective, this study provides insights from failure as an instrument to trigger sublime reflections

Elucidating the Functional Relevance of BAP1 in the Liver

Prognosis for primary liver cancer remain poor due to a combination of factors including late presentation of disease, genetic heterogeneity and ineffective therapies. Therefore, there is an urgent need to disentangle genetic heterogeneity by characterizing individual mutations and investigating potential vulnerabilities that these mutations may harbor. BAP1 inactivation is one of the most common genetic alterations in liver cancer with prevalence up to 25% in intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA) and up to 7% in Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC), indicating a potential role in these diseases. BAP1 is an epigenetic modifier that deubiquitinates the mono-ubiquitinated K119 residue on histone 2A. In addition to its deubiquitinase activity, BAP1 also contains a HBM motif that mediates the interaction with host cell factor-1 (HCF-1), O-linked N-acetylglucosamine transferase (OGT), and the polycomb group proteins ASXL1 and ASXL2 and thus is a central point for epigenetic regulation. However, despite its functional properties and mutational prevalence in liver cancer, the role of BAP1 in the liver remains unknown. In order to dissect the functional relevance of BAP1 in the liver, I employed Tet-regulatable shRNA mouse strains and in-vivo CRISPR/Cas9 technology as well as in-vitro models of BAP1 depletion in this study. Surprisingly, liver specific Bap1 depletion (using shRNAs) in dietary models of metabolic distress (CD-HFD and HFD) led to acute fatality and severe hepatic injury characterized by elevated serum transaminases (ALT and AST) and Bilirubin, as well as TUNEL positive hepatocytes. Conversely, endogenous restoration of Bap1 rescued fatality and attenuated liver damage, thereby highlighting the importance of BAP1 in this process. Transcriptional profiling and lipidomics analyses revealed elevated unfolded protein response pathway and dysregulated fatty acid metabolism upon Bap1 depletion under metabolic stress. Moreover, to elucidate the role of BAP1 in liver tumorigenesis and liver plasticity, I combined Bap1 loss with other prevalent oncogenic events in liver cancer in-vivo by hydrodynamic tail vein injection. In contrast to the observations in non-tumorigenic livers, Bap1 loss accelerated liver tumorigenesis in combination with Pten-deficiency and enforced YAP expression (YAPS127A) resulting in HCC like tumors. Furthermore, Bap1 loss also co-operated with YAPS127A alone to drive liver tumorigenesis, thereby reinforcing the notion that BAP1 is a bonafide liver tumor suppressor. Similarly, a cocktail comprising Bap1 loss in combination with Arid1a loss and YAPS127A, delivered to murine hepatocytes resulted in a phenotypic switch and liver cancer lineage reprograming exemplified by tumors bearing hallmarks of iCCA, thereby implicating BAP1 in liver cancer plasticity. Additionally, BAP1 deficiency (in tumorigenic and non-tumorigenic livers) was demonstrated to inversely correlate with strong CHOP (ER stress sensor) expression, thus providing a molecular hallmark and point of convergence for BAP1 deficiency in liver pathologies. Finally, using in-vivo and in-vitro models, I identified BAP1 deficiency as a therapeutic vulnerability in TP53 depletion driven tumors. This highlighted the unexpected utility of a tumor suppressor as a genotype specific therapy in liver cancer. Together, the results from this study implicate BAP1 as a critical determinant of hepatic survival in metabolic distress states, as well as a bonafide liver tumor suppressor. Furthermore, BAP1 deficiency was unraveled as a therapeutic vulnerability in TP53 null tumors. Thus, this study unveils previously undiscovered context dependent functions of BAP1 in the liver

Causal relationship between material price fluctuation and project’s outturn costs

Purpose: A section of project management literature attributes overruns to estimators’ deceit and delusion. An example of this is Flyvbjerg’s theorisation of strategic misrepresentation and optimism bias. To show that such a notion is not true entirely, the study elicits evidence relating to how costs of projects often fluctuate erratically as prices of construction materials change throughout contract cycle times. The purpose of this paper is to examine the causal relationships between persistent changes in prices of construction materials and project’s outturn costs. Design/methodology/approach: The authors obtained and analysed price data of construction materials published in a Nigerian national daily in the 16 years between 2000 and 2015. Additional data were obtained from a quantity surveying firm to validate the archival data on material prices, and to compare the firm’s robust database of project estimates and the corresponding outturn costs of specific building elements (detailed in the study). The goal of the analysis is to explore spontaneity and causal impact in the relationship between changes in prices of construction materials and project costs. Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Anderson-Darling tests were used to obtain the probability distributions of the causal relationships. Findings: Findings show disproportionate positive correlations between changes in material prices and outturn costs in Nigeria. An important dimension to this, however, is that although fluctuations in material costs often trigger variations to project costs, outturn price only accounts for about one-third of actual cost variability. Recovery of costs, not least profit making, under these conditions is a complex process. Originality/value: This paper concludes that dynamism in cost attributes is neither a deceit nor a delusion; understanding and tolerating them is not a systemic weakness, rather an essential key to project success and stakeholder satisfaction. Findings from the study also bring measured certainties to the transformation of variable costs into fixed price outcomes, an important consideration that will help contract estimators and project managers to understand the likelihood of fluctuation in material costs and how these might trigger variability in project costs

Modelling organizations' structural adjustment to BIM adoption: a pilot study on estimating organizations

Building information Modelling (BIM) promises a fairly radical revolution in all segments of the construction industry. Vital evidence has been used in many studies to elicit how fragmented processes in conventional construction systems, predominantly manual design systems and entity-based CAD often render design and project performance vulnerable. BIM is presented as having attributes that strengthen the frameworks for servicing efficiency in design and project performance. As BIM adoption continues to improve, various stake-holding practices that are involved in developing projects through integrated systems do require process models to help them simplify issues relating to multi-disciplinary integration - a direct opposite of what they are used to in fragmented systems. They also need to develop appropriate skills and strategies, including new marketing and administrative stratagems, to service intensive collaboration and other ethos of BIM. These are some of the inevitable changes to which organizations must respond in order to generate efficient results when adopting and deploying BIM. To examine organizational response to those process changes as promised in BIM, different organization models are explored with emphasis on their functional structures, namely: (1) matrix (2) networked (3) functional (4) divisional structure models. Data were collected from 8 construction and software development organizations in Australia through focus group discussions. 18 participants in core BIM skills took part in the study. Some interesting discoveries were made and reported on the industry's reactions to BIM adoption. Conclusively, this study confirms the nature and direction of potential changes that BIM trigger

Causations of failure in megaprojects: A case study of the Ajaokuta Steel Plant project

This paper uses project organizational theories to draw lessons from a historic megaproject, the Ajaokuta Steel Plant (ASP). Archival reports on the ASP were explored to identify the unique attributes of the project; the political wrangling that underplayed its evolution, its economic significance and organizational impacts. Findings suggest the goals of the ASP project were, and still are, unambiguous. Failure occurred as socio-political forces aggravated the project’s complex milestones. Stakeholders were impatient with pre-project investigations. During planning, owners ignored opinions that were contrary to their expectations. While delays lingered, pressures from the global economy weakened the project’s motivation to succeed. These combined to turn the project’s outcomes into a chaotic situation that triggered dire implications. Despite about 1400% overrun in cost, the success achieved on the plant was 28% at commissioning. Contractors remained on site until eight years after commissioning. Six key elements of the 482 items in the ASP project contract were not delivered nearly 40 years on. A simplistic look at these suggests poor planning is the main problem. However, planning issues is not entirely strange in greenfield projects. The paper draws strength from project organization theories to explain what was poor about the planning. Socrates’ generic management theory was used to explain the role of leadership in the failure of the ASP project. McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y explain the significance of stakeholders’ integration in megaprojects. Systems and chaos theories were used to explain the sensitivity of the ASP project to uncertainties. Narratives on these combine well to inspire stakeholders of megaprojects on where and how to seek courage in making effective plans that can help achieve success in complex projects. While normative literature only recognizes project success in a definitive perspective, this study provides insights from failure as an instrument to trigger sublime reflections

b u i l d i n g a b r o a d procurement of construction and reconstruction projects in the international context DUE PROCESS AND CONTRACTOR SELECTION FOR PUBLIC WORKS IN NIGERIA

Abstract Contract procurement processes have a lot of challenges in the construction industry. These challenges are evident in procedures used for selection of contractors and consequent, performance of projects. This study explores the challenges of Due Process Policy Model (DPPM) procedures for the selection of contractors for public projects between 2002 and 2008 in Nigeria. The procedures mandate certain categories of the procurement of public construction contracts to undergo a sequence of activities. Such procedures include advertisement, prequalification, short-listing, invitation, tender action and project execution. Observations are made on procedures of selection of contractors for 47 projects using DPPM. Moreover, interviews were conducted to seek clarifications on some of the challenges identified in DPPM processes. Arguably, DPPM is gaining more popularity in Africa. Thus, observations made on the challenges of DPPM will improve its capacity for adoption within and outside Africa; motivate innovative procurement processes, with significant impact on international contract procurement policy makers and contract procurement officers. International contractors willing to explore the growing capacity of the construction market in Africa will discover significant and appropriate understanding of the basic requirements of DPPM

Innovation in the globalised world: educating future building professionals

Guest Editoria

Self-regulation amongst South African contractors in achieving legislative requirements on occupational health and safety

The study examines how self-regulation helps construction contractors in South Africa to achieve legislative requirements relating to national and international standards of Occupational Health and Safety (OHS). Despite considerable studies on OHS, self-regulation and its impact on health and safety performance on construction projects are under-researched. In this paper, we report a critical review of literature on OHS in the South African construction industry. The review identifies the various forms of self-regulation practices within construction organisations in South Africa. A mixed method approach was used in determining the relationships between self-regulation of construction organisations in relation to OHS and health and safety performance of projects undertaken by the observed construction organisations. Findings suggest, although there is a high level of self-regulation amongst South African construction organisations, construction organizations are still poorly incentivised. The implication of this is significant, in that businesses loose motivation to succeed in a course unless they are incentivised appropriately. Recommendations are drawn on the forms of strategic incentives that are likely to work in South Africa and in other developing countries

Scholarship of BIM and construction law: myths, realities and future directions

Misinformation about BIM is rife. BIM has been claimed to be a tool, a software, a philosophy, a system, a platform, and a set of interacting policies, processes and technologies. BIM has been espoused as though it is revolutionary; a dedicated practice for object-oriented design and accurate [or automated] estimating, and a virtual planning tool that is reliable for construction contracts. This chapter argues that the attributes often credited to BIM are not entirely accurate and thus could jeopardize the very foundation of BIM understanding in construction law education. The practical drawback regarding this is that BIM is not shaped by actual contract data but by virtual (imaginary) project data, bounded by software cognition protocols. In addition, BIM is not supported by an established contract instrument either. Although a section from the recent construction literature has shown significant excitement about BIM in the political space, business communications, teaching and learning (praxis inclusive), and, not least, for theory formulation, the reality is that not all the information about the potentiality or actual attributes of BIM is legally correct. Neither useful education nor training or research should be based on misinformation. Therefore, it is important to correct extant claims and distil extant knowledge about the legal implications of BIM’s actual deliverables. This chapter explains key realities and the challenges in legal constructs around BIM, and elicits appropriate directions for future research and for curriculum development regarding various aspects of professional and business liabilities in BIM. The implications of these are important for the development of students and graduates, as well as for politics, construction professional practice, and educational management