Titanic

This case study is optional. It examines the causes of project failure leading to the sinking of the Titanic and the loss of 1,328 lives. The key causes include a lack of governance over powerful individual interests, poor management of scope, self-deception and breakdowns in communications across the huge project team.

View the Youtube video “Titanic Project Management Blunders” by Mark Kozak-Holland and reflect on how (in hindsight) the project should have been stopped or corrected in earlier stages well before launching on its maiden voyage.

It is also worth reflecting on the belief of the project team that the ship was “practically unsinkable” all throughout the project. The video lasts for approximately 19 minutes.

 If you are short of time, you can skip to the following points in the video:

•  4:10 Project Design – looking good so far
• 5:24 – 6:33  Compromised Design – the start of the problems
• 9:10 – 9:57 Maiden voyage of Olympic, which created huge expectations for Titanic
•  9:54 – 11:40 Fitting-Out - Last Minute Changes
• 12:46 – 13:08 Last minute changes to journey plans – towards Iceberg Alley
• 14:47 – 15:32 Compromised feedback systems
• 15:34 Titanic’s Inevitable Collision
• 17:34 Titanic’s Inquiries