Critically analyse the above case study and construct an argument around why you believe the project had failed. In your discussion explain which elements of good project management were absent and how this affected the outcome of the project
Critically analyse the above case study and construct an argument around why you believe the project had failed. In your discussion explain which elements of good project management were absent and how this affected the outcome of the project
Chapter17: Advertising And Public Relations
Section17.2: Greenwashing Harms Companies And Consumers
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Critically analyse the above case study and construct an argument around why you believe
the project had failed. In your discussion explain which elements of good project
management were absent and how this affected the outcome of the project
Transcribed Image Text:Synopsis :
One of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG's) is to increase access to clean water and
sanitation facilities for communities that currently lack such facilities. In many rural areas of
subSaharan Africa, it is not uncommon to walk a few miles to the nearest borehole to get clean water
for daily consumption. International donor agencies are responding in good measure and although
many positive strides have been made, reports indicate that as much as $360 million USD have been
a spent on building boreholes and wells that quickly became inoperative (and in some cases
irreparable).
Reasons cited for about 50, 000 non-functioning water are amongst others; poor construction, lack of
expertise and experience, poor supervision, failure caused by good users, and poor technology choice.
"People tend to make assumptions about why water sources fail and blame a lack of spare parts,
financing, maintenance problems or climate change, for example. But often, the cause is not clear"
(Casey and Carter, WaterAid Global). Those reasons for failure make sense but may not tell the full
story.
The UN's 2030 SDG goals call for local community level participation in water and sanitation
management projects. Funding initiatives from donors are commendable, however, they sometimes
fall short where it matters most. Establishing borehole and well infrastructure requires more than just
implementation, it requires post-project support. In many cases, the implementation of water
infrastructure projects is a battle half won because the donors/sponsors fail to consider elements that
guarantee that projects deliver long-term value. The scope of such projects needs to consider not only
the installation but also the capacity building activities that ensure the infrastructure receives the
appropriate servicing and levels of support needed to ensure its long-term viability. Lack of capacity
building underlies many failed donor-funded projects. To overcome the problem, sponsors need to
direct their efforts and advocate for mandatory project skills related to capacity building at local
authority level to increase chances that projects deliver on the value they were intended for in the
first place. National agencies in respective countries who receive funding and tasked to implement
national initiatives should insist that skills development to ensure sustainability are an integral part of
the funding proposition.
Project management training from reputable organizations can increase the financial investment
value to establish clean water infrastructure, and more importantly, add to the sustainability that will
guarantee that borehole and well users can benefit over the longer term from clean water.
Contributing factors as reported in the press:
Operational dysfunction, lack of support to ensure long-term sustainability (Focal imbalance
failures), insufficient capacity building at the local level, failure to ensure availability of sufficient
resources, lack of project management training and support.
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