Avoid common pitfalls in large-scale projects using these smart strategiesOver half of large-scale engineering and construction projects—off-shore oil platforms, chemical plants, metals processing, ...dams, and similar projects—have miserably poor results. These include billions of dollars in overruns, long delays in design and construction, and poor operability once finally completed.Industrial Megaprojectsgives you a clear, nontechnical understanding of why these major projects get into trouble, and how your company can prevent hazardous and costly errors when undertaking such large technical and management challenges.Clearly explains the underlying causes of over-budget, delayed, and unsafe megaprojectsExamines effects of poor project management, destructive team behaviors, weak accountability systems, short-term focus, and lack of investment in technical expertiseAuthor is the CEO of the leading consulting firm for evaluating billion-dollar projectsCompanies worldwide are rethinking their large-scale projects. Industrial Megaprojectsis your essential guide for this rethink, offering the tools and principles that are the true foundation of safe, cost-effective, successful megaprojects.
Cellular life emerged ∼3.7 billion years ago. With scant exception, terrestrial organisms have evolved under predictable daily cycles owing to the Earth's rotation. The advantage conferred on ...organisms that anticipate such environmental cycles has driven the evolution of endogenous circadian rhythms that tune internal physiology to external conditions. The molecular phylogeny of mechanisms driving these rhythms has been difficult to dissect because identified clock genes and proteins are not conserved across the domains of life: Bacteria, Archaea and Eukaryota. Here we show that oxidation-reduction cycles of peroxiredoxin proteins constitute a universal marker for circadian rhythms in all domains of life, by characterizing their oscillations in a variety of model organisms. Furthermore, we explore the interconnectivity between these metabolic cycles and transcription-translation feedback loops of the clockwork in each system. Our results suggest an intimate co-evolution of cellular timekeeping with redox homeostatic mechanisms after the Great Oxidation Event ∼2.5 billion years ago.
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DOBA, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Behind the design of any engineered project is a set of parameters that govern the design. These parameters express the science underlying the engineering design of the facilities that will be built. ...These parameters, taken together, are called, like many in the industry, the Basic Data. The Basic Data sit behind and govern the design. They tell the engineer what materials to use, how to size things, how to sequence things, and what things are dangerous. Because different functional groups are often responsible for the development, those developing the design may be only dimly aware of how the Basic Data were generated and may be completely unaware of the quality. This chapter discusses some questions about the Basic Data. It describes the Basic Data for different kinds of projects so that the breadth and complexity of the issues involved could be appreciated.
Project Outcomes Merrow Edward W
Industrial Megaprojects,
2011, 2012-01-02
Book Chapter
This chapter presents how well the projects turn out distributes in the usual way in the world of normal‐sized projects. The chapter provides an overview of the two groups that the megaprojects are ...separated into: successes and failures. It also provides a table that shows the five dimensions of project effectiveness and also included are the thresholds to establish what would constitute failure. The thresholds for success and failure are less arbitrary than their round numbers would suggest. The chapter discusses why execution schedule is the forecast of the time that will be required from full‐funds authorization until the project is ready to start up and why production versus plan is the most economically leveraging outcome. How trade‐offs are made tells a lot about how decisions around major projects are made. The chapter illustrates why megaprojects are rarely mediocre as they tend to be either very good or they are horrid.
Organization is a necessary part of any discussion of projects. Teams do not spontaneously come together and everyone somehow magically knows what to do and when. Rather, individuals are drawn into a ...structure with reporting lines, rules, and norms. Some forms and approaches to organizations are discussed in this chapter. If information flow is the key to good organization for all projects, it is doubly important for megaprojects. The chapter illustrates the various types of complexity in megaprojects and how that affects organizational performance. It also highlights why organization charts are important, the problems that megaprojects pose, and how to approach organizational design. The chapter explains that most megaprojects are designed in largely the same manner as smaller projects but with some accommodations. Most are set up in the “strong project manager” mode with a project director taking that lead position. Beneath the project director are a set of subprojects (e.g., on‐plot scope, utilities scope, and off‐plot scope), each of which is organized as a traditional project with its own project manager, lead engineer, disciplinary engineers, and so on.
Contracting Merrow Edward W
Industrial Megaprojects,
2011, 2012-01-02
Book Chapter
This chapter focuses on the importance of contracting and describes that contracting for the services needed to engineer, procure materials, and construct megaprojects is an area of intense ...disagreement and almost religious‐like fervor among project professionals. There are four basic types of contracts for megaprojects with endless variations. The chapter defines each one and then shows the relationships between success and the use of the different approaches. In addition, the chapter also discusses some fundamentals of successful contracting for large complex projects. As the contracting strategy is discussed in a section, there are three important considerations that need to be kept clearly in mind: the capabilities of the sponsors, the nature of the project, and the state of the EPC services markets. The chapter explains the use of a Project Managing Contractor (PMC) and illustrates that the PMC arrangement involves hiring a contractor that will act for the owner team or augment the owner team in managing the execution of a project.
Focus on Success Merrow Edward W
Industrial Megaprojects,
2011, 2012-01-02
Book Chapter
Sponsors actually have an enormous amount of control over the risk on the projects that had disappointing outcomes. But, if that control is exercised and the outcomes of these projects are markedly ...improved, sponsors will have to make some basic changes to their approach. This chapter discusses in detail those that are most important, like the importance of addressing the business‐technical divide, formalizing and institutionalizing the shaping process, development of the team staffing strategy, the role of front‐end loading as the best capital investment, and restoration of professionalism to the owner‐contractor relationship.
This book explains how and why one so often finds oneself lost when trying to develop and execute very large industrial projects. If it is understood how and why one tends to get lost, one will ...better recognize when one is leaving the trail, find one's way back if one does get lost, or at least know when to plead for directions. The goal of the book is to help those who sponsor, direct, or work on large projects guide the projects to safe and successful outcomes. Special focus is on “industrial megaprojects”, very large projects sponsored by the petroleum, chemicals, minerals, power, and related industries. Megaprojects display some attributes that are common to megaprojects and uncommon in smaller projects and the book focuses on those. This chapter discusses what an industrial megaproject is, the four compelling reasons to study and understand megaprojects, and the organization of the book.
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