For example, the company did create a monthly cash flow chart for the modernization project. However, this flow chart was not regularly re-evaluated over the course of the project on a regular and timely basis, once delays became a problem. There was no talk of scaling back or reformulating the approach, once it became clear that the project was going to be more expensive and take longer than anticipated. Additionally, there was no careful monitoring of the external market environment for opportunities or threats that could affect the future profitability of the project.

The lack of close monitoring was especially detrimental to the company because of the fact that the contracted firm, EIS, was paid at an hourly rate: once delays began to spiral out of control, so did costs. Another poor strategy was evident in their criteria for selecting members of the leadership team. For example, Ian Leadbetter did...
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