MSc PROGRAMMESPOST MODULE ASSIGNMENTPROGRAMME AND PROJECT .docx

MSc PROGRAMMES
POST MODULE ASSIGNMENT
PROGRAMME AND PROJECT STRATEGY
You may elect to answer ONE of the following questions:
1. Research and analyse the conduct of ONE of the following
high-profile programmes: (30%)
a) The UK London Olympics 2012 Legacy Programme
b) The BBC W1 Programme (2012)
c) The London Ambulance Service (LAS) Computer Aided
Despatch
(CAD) system programme 1987-1993
Then:
(ll) Discuss why this programme was considered
successful, to what degree you agree that that is so, and the
ways in which good programme strategy may have contributed
OR suggest how utilisation of programme strategy best practice
might have improved the situation or even avoided the
problems. (70%)
OR
2. Research and analyse the conduct of ONE of the following
high-profile projects:
a) The UK ‘Firecontrol’ project
b) The UK new Wembley stadium project

c) Boston’s (USA) ‘Big Dig’ project
Then:
(ll) Discuss the problems encountered
consequent of errors in the programme or project strategy and
planning
(lll) Suggest how utilisation of programme or project
strategy best practice might have improved the situation or
even avoided the problems.
Word Limit: - There is a word limit of 4000 – 5000 words for
this assessment. Penalties will be applied to assessments longer
than 5000 words.
Post Module Assignment
Programme & Project Strategy
Zhang Handan 1451005
I have read and understood the rules on cheating, plagiarism and
appropriate
referencing as outlined in my handbook, and I declare that the
work contained
in this assignment is my own, unless otherwise acknowledged.
No substantial part of the work submitted here has also been

submitted by me
in other assessments for any other assessed course, and I
acknowledge that if
this has been done an appropriate reduction in the mark I might
otherwise have
received will be made.
Signed: Zhang Handan
(for on-line submission it is only necessary to type your name in
this space)
MODULE TITLE: Programme and Project Strategy
MODULE CODE:ES94R-10 03PR
MODULE DATE: 17th – 21st November 2014
NAME: Zhang Handan

NUMBER: 1451005
- 1 -
Title
Research on the UK ‘FiReControl’ Programme from the Aspect
of Programme Strategy
PMA Question
Research and analyse the conduct of the UK ‘FiReControl’
programme:
Then:

Discuss the problems encountered consequent of errors in the
programme or
project strategy and planning.
Suggest how utilisation of programme or project strategy best
practice might have
improved the situation or even avoided the problems.
Executive Summary
This study describes the background of the UK ‘FiReControl’
programme, and
analyses the conduct of it with PESTEL analysis and KIVIAT
diagram. On this basis,
this study discusses several problems encountered consequently
of errors in the UK
‘FiReControl’ programme’s strategy and planning process----
wrong definition of
programme, unsuccessful blueprint design, unclear business
case, unsuccessful
communication with important stakeholders, poor leadership in
the programme and low
capability of avoiding risks . In order to improve the situation
or even avoid the
problems, this study uses the MSP to solve the problems,
especially in the themes of

the business case, blueprint delivery & design, leadership &
stakeholders engagement
and risk & issue management. At the end of this study, some
suggestion about the UK
‘FiReControl’ programme will be gave out.
Author’s Declarations
I have read and understood the rules on cheating, plagiarism and
appropriate
referencing as outlined in my handbook, and I declare that the
work contained in this
assignment is my own, unless otherwise acknowledged.
No substantial part of the work submitted here has also been
submitted by me in
other assessments for any other assessed course, and I
acknowledge that if this has been
done an appropriate reduction in the mark I might otherwise
have received will be made.
This study has 4010 words, which is the sum of the executive
summary and the
main body.

CONTENTS
TITLE
...............................................................................................
................................................................... 1
PMA QUESTION
...............................................................................................
.................................................. 1
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
...............................................................................................
........................................ 1
AUTHOR’S DECLARATIONS
...............................................................................................
.................................. 1
RESEARCH ON THE UK ‘FIRECONTROL’ PROGRAMME
FROM THE ASPECT OF PROGRAMME STRATEGY
............... 1
1. INTRODUCTION
...............................................................................................
........................... 1
1.1. The background of the ‘FiReControl’ programme
........................................................ 1
1.2. Defining the ‘FiReControl’ as a programme
................................................................. 1
2. ANALYSIS OF THE UK ‘FIRECONTROL’
PROGRAMME........................................................................

... 1
2.1. Analyse the ‘FiReControl’ programme by PESTLE analysis
........................................... 1
2.2. Analyse the ‘FiReControl’ programme by KIVIAT diagram
........................................... 2
3. THE PROBLEMS IN THE PROGRAMME STRATEGY AND
PLANNING ............................................................ 3
3.1. Wrong definition of programme
.................................................................................. 3
3.2. Unclear business case
...............................................................................................
... 3
3.3. Unsuccessful blueprint design
...................................................................................... 4
3.4. Unsuccessful communication with relevant stakeholders
............................................ 4
3.5. Weak leadership and unclear organisational structure
............................................... 4
3.6. Low capability of avoiding risks
................................................................................... 4
4. IMPROVE THE SITUATION AND EVEN AVOID THE
PROBLEMS WITH MSP .................................................. 4
4.1. The business case
.......................................................................................... .....
.......... 5

4.2. Blueprint delivery and design
....................................................................................... 7
4.3. Leadership and stakeholders engagement
.................................................................. 9
4.4. Risk and issue
management............................................................................
........... 10
5. CONCLUSION
...............................................................................................
............................ 12
REFERENCES
...............................................................................................
...................................................... 13
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 2-1 the KIVIAT Diagram of the ‘FiReControl’
Programme ...................... 3
Figure 4-1 the MSP framework and concepts
........................................................ 5
Figure 4-2 the B-O-O-P routes of the ‘FiReControl’

programme.......................... 7
Figure 4-3 the stakeholder map of ‘FiReControl’ programme
.............................. 9
Figure 4-4 the stakeholder impacts of ‘FiReControl’ programme
....................... 10
Figure 4-5 circle of management
......................................................................... 11
Figure 4-6 ‘Bow Ties’ of UK ‘FiReControl’ Programme
.................................... 12
file:///E:/PPM/PPS/PPS-
PMA（Zhang%20Handan%201451005）.docx%23_Toc40699605
5
1
Research on the UK ‘FiReControl’ Programme from
the Aspect of Programme Strategy
1.Introduction
1.1.The background of the ‘FiReControl’ programme
According to the report which is named as ‘The Failure of the

FiReControl Project’
(National Audit Office, 2011), the UK ‘FiReControl’
Programme was commenced in
2004 by the Department for Communities and Local
Government (the Department) and
was expected to finish before October 2009 within £120 million.
This programme was
committed to making the Fire and Rescue Service more flexible,
efficient and
technology-oriented by replacing 46 local control rooms into
nine regional control
centres which were related by a national computer system. In
2007, the Department
employed European Air and Defence Systems (EADS) to
complete the project of
national computer system. However, it suffered a number of
delays and cost overrun
during its lifetime. In December 2010, the Department had to
declare that the
‘FiReControl’ Programme was cancelled because it cannot be
delivered in an
admissible schedule. At that time, the programme had already
spent 245 million pounds,
and it might cost 635 million pounds to complete.

1.2.Defining the ‘FiReControl’ as a programme
Programme is a portfolio composed of multiple interrelated
deliverables which will
occur with changes and bring benefits (PPS Module Notes,
2014). The UK
‘FiReControl’ programme had many projects, such as computer
system projects, new
centres projects, new employees’ training projects and
mobilising projects. Each of
them was independent but interrelated as well. Once, this
programme completed, a
series of changes would be brought ---- organisation structure
streamlined and higher
work efficiency. According to these points, the ‘FiReControl’
programme can be treated
as a programme.
2.Analysis of the UK ‘FiReControl’ programme
2.1.Analyse the ‘FiReControl’ programme by PESTLE analysis
PESTLE analysis is a useful tool for understanding
organisation’s external macro
environment from the aspect of political, economic, social,
technological, legal and

environmental. This study uses PESTLE analysis to analyse the
‘FiReControl’
programme is for recognising the feasibility of this programme
in the view of
macroscopic.
2
2.1.1.Political factor
This programme might bring convenience to the civilisations if
the ‘FiReControl’
programme finished successfully, and then the reputation of
government would be
better. Because of this the ruling party may get more votes in
the United Kingdom
general election in 2005 and even in 2010. So from the aspect of
the political factor, the
political environment should have a positive impact on this
programme.
2.1.2.Economic factor
UK suffered an economic crisis from the year of 2008. In order
to against it, the

government needs to pay more attention to infrastructure for
driving economic
development and even stimulating consumption. So the
economic environment
encourages the ‘FiReControl’ programme.
2.1.3.Social factor
With the development of society, people tend to use an
intelligent system. There is
a massive demanded of intelligent system and terminal platform
nowadays. The
‘FiReControl’ programme will deliver data terminals that will
be installed on vehicles.
This data terminal project caters to the need of individuals, so
the plan of this part
matches the social need.
2.1.4.Technological factor
The limited on technology may be a problem to the
‘FiReControl’ programme
because the demands of this national computer system are too
much (Department for
Communities and Local Government, 2011). Firstly, the system
needs to relate each

centre in order to support each other automatically when call
pressure or failure occurs.
Secondly, it needs to ensure each centre can get the same
information and can manage
resources on each level. Thirdly, this programme needs to
deliver caller identification
location technology, satellite positioning equipment and mobile
data terminals. All of
these requirements need high-level technical support.
2.1.5.Legal factor
As for the legal factor, UK is a nation of laws, so the
programme operates under
the supervision of legislation. It can avoid the corruption and
accepting bribes in the
programme.
2.1.6.Environmental factor
The site selection of new centres is all in an urban area. Many
people work and live
there. While building the centres, the noise and dust pollution
may cause the unsatisfied
of civilisations.
2.2.Analyse the ‘FiReControl’ programme by KIVIAT diagram

KIVIAT diagram shows changes before and after the programme
in several aspects.
3
This study explains the ‘FiReControl’ Programme with the
factors of efficiency,
technology, people-oriented, resource utilisation, political
necessity and reliability.
From the KIVIAT diagram, people can recognise what changes
will be made by the
programme and ensure whether the changes are advantageous or
not.
Figure 2-1 the KIVIAT Diagram of the ‘FiReControl’
Programme
From Figure 2-1, it is not hard to find that the changes brought
by this programme
can improve the Fire and Rescue Service, especially in the
aspect of technology. That
is to say the UK ‘FiReControl’ Programme can bring changes in
benefits, so this
programme is feasible.

3.The problems in the programme strategy and planning
3.1.Wrong definition of programme
The most significant problem in the programme strategy and
planning process may
be the wrong definition of this programme (Department for
Communities and Local
Government, 2011; Hodge, 2011). As the study mentions and
explains in section 1.2,
‘FiReControl’ is a programme, but the official report of
Department for Communities
and Local Government called this programme ‘FiReControl
Project’, which means the
project sponsor treated this programme as a project but not a
programme. The other
implication of managing it as a project but not a programme is
that a small number of
attentions were paid to different tasks, and the goal of the
was ignored when the programme operated.
3.2.Unclear business case
Two mainly problem of ‘FiReControl’ programme was budget
overrun and delay,

and the programme was broke down at last, so the cost, risk and
benefits were not in a
0
2
4
6
8
10
Efficiency
Technology
People-oriented
Resource
Utilization
Political
Necessity
Reliability
KIVIAT Diagram of the 'FiReControl' Programme
Current State
Expect State

4
balanced situation (Hodge, 2011). In the ‘business case’
process, the plan and
constraints did not be clarified clearly, or the programme could
not go so far away to
the vision, and nothing was done to prevent it get worse.
3.3.Unsuccessful blueprint design
As the report announced by the Department, their vision
statement of this
programme is to help the government spend money in a smart
way (Department for
Communities and Local Government, 2011). So the benefit that
the Department want
to gain from this programme is ‘cost avoidance’. However, the
projects it includes
needing a massive investment, such as establish an IT system,
produce mobile data
terminals and built nine new control centre. Neither of these can
save money for the
nation. Moreover, this programme did nothing to the old control
rooms, which could be

rent or sold to earn money.
3.4.Unsuccessful communication with relevant stakeholders
Another issue in the ‘FiReControl’ programme is lack of
communication with local
Fire and Rescue Authorities (FRA) and Fire and Rescue
Services (FRS). Early in the
programme, the Department released several inconsistent
messages about regionalism
information, so FRA and FRS did not trust this project and even
defiant with it
(Department for Communities and Local Government, 2011).
FRS was the primary user
of the new fire control system and organisation, while the
Department did not try to
have a good relationship with it and did not communicate with
it successfully.
3.5.Weak leadership and unclear organisational structure
In the duration of the ‘FiReControl’ programme, the Senior
Responsible Owner
had been changed four times (Department for Communities and
Local Government,
2011). It is a ridiculous phenomenon that consultants and
temporary staff finished

nearly fifty percent of the programme without a monitor or
assess department to follow
up their work. So when the senior executives managed the
process of the programme,
administrative omission must occur.
3.6.Low capability of avoiding risks
Poor risk and issue management is another problem in the
strategy and planning
process. This programme met delays many times and ran out of
the budget quite early
in the programme (Department for Communities and Local
Government, 2011). No
barriers were set in the planning of risk management, so when
terrible issue happened,
no emergency preparedness could be used immediately to
decrease the negative
influences.
4.Improve the situation and even avoid the problems with MSP
First of all, a conception that the UK ‘FiReControl’ programme
was unsuccessful

5
should be mentioned, because the budget of this programme was
overrun, and it was
cancelled at last.
In order to improve the situation or even avoid the issues in the
UK ‘FiReControl’
Programme, using Managing Successful Programmes (MSP)
might be a good choice.
MSP is a project management framework developed by the UK
Office of Government
Commerce (OGC), which is aimed to help organisations in all
sectors identify business
opportunities, improve practices and achieve a successful
transition.
Figure 4-1 the MSP framework and concepts (source: PPS
Module Notes, 2014)
Figure 4-1 shows the structure and concepts of MSP. The seven
items in outer ring
are programme management principles, the nine items in second
ring are governance
themes, and the inner circle shows the transformational flow
elements. This study will

choice some key points of governance themes, and improve the
situation or even avoid
the problems from these aspects.
4.1.The business case
When people choose a programme under uncertainty, balancing
cost, risk and
benefits and comparing alternatives are necessary. The UK
did not do any of these two obligatory step well. In a business
case, project outline, plan
and constraints should be described, the success criteria needed
to be set, and the
6
deliverables and benefits needed to be clarified. Justifications
like financial appraisal,
risk and opportunities and stakeholders and sponsorship are
necessary to be understood
(PPS Module Notes, 2014).
The first part of the business case is description. First of all, the
main projects of

this programme are cutting down the old control rooms and
building new control
centres. Equipment and facilities are also needed to improve the
new centres. Employee
recruitment and training are also quite important, because an
efficient fire control
organisation is constituted by skilful individuals and tacit team.
After the new centres
and efficient organisation establish the Department need to
mobilise policies and
expedite procedures across all relevant organisations, such as
FRA and FRS. Secondly,
the plan of each step should be arranged. Establishing the IT
system needs to be the
first step of all the procedures, because this system is the core
part of new fire control
centres. During this time, mobilising and expediting the
relevant organisations could
not be ignored as well. After half of these have been done, the
new centres should start
to be built. All these steps are arranged by considering the
balance of cost, risk and
benefits under uncertainty. Thirdly, there are still some
constraints in these projects that

are mentioned above, such as the time, budget technology limit
and pressure from
public opinion.
Another part of the business case is project success. Success
criteria should be set
at first. A conception of generic critical success factors (CSFs)
should be mentioned
here. Vision of the programme, stakeholder expectations and
needs, client requirements,
technical tasks, project mission, senior management support and
internal and external
communication can cause success (Friesen and Johnson, 1995).
In the UK ‘FiReControl’
programme, the vision of programme and stakeholder
expectations and needs are the
most important. Only the vision and the stakeholder
expectations and needs are
achieved, can people identified that this programme successful.
The vision of this
programme is ‘cost avoidance’, which explains the benefits, and
the stakeholder
expectations and needs are new fire control centres, which are
the deliverables in this

programme.
The last part of the business case is justification of financial
appraisal, risk and
opportunities and stakeholders and sponsorship. Because it is a
non-profit organization,
and the vision of this programme is to help the government
spend money more clever,
the financial appraisal in this programme should pay more
attention on figuring out how
much money can be saved in a reasonable and predictable time,
and judging whether it
worth to spend millions of pounds on it or not. As for the risks,
barriers should be set,
and a monitor department is also needed, or the problems the
UK ‘FiReControl’
programme had met could not be avoided. This part will be
explained clearly in section
4.4.Risk and issue management. The last part is stakeholder and
sponsorship. It is
important to know the identity these two roles. According to the
report ‘The Failure of
the FiReControl Project’, the stakeholders are the Department,
FRA, FRS, EADS, sub-
contractor and taxi companies and the sponsor is the

Department (Department for
7
Communities and Local Government, 2011).
4.2.Blueprint delivery and design
Blueprint of a programme is an elaborate internal description of
the last state when
all the outcomes and capability have been delivered (Knight and
Howes, 2003; PPS
Module Notes, 2014). This study mainly explains the process of
deriving projects from
the programme by using the B-O-O-P routes module, and the B-
O-O-P map is showed
below as Figure 4-2 the B-O-O-P routes of the ‘FiReControl’
programme. The B-O-O-
P routes module is put forward by Parker, Benson and Trainor
in 1988, and the
framework of it is ‘projects deliver outputs, programmes deliver
outcomes and
outcomes realise benefits’ (Parker, Benson and Trainor, 1988).

Figure 4-2 the B-O-O-P routes of the ‘FiReControl’ programme
According to the vision statement of UK ‘FiReControl’
programme, the benefits of
Benefits Outcomes Outputs Projects
cost avoidance
more
effective and
economical
fire control
service
system
efficient
organisation
transfer, hire
and fire
employees
training
projects
9 new control
centres
cut down 46
local control
rooms

build 9 new
control
centres
procure
equipment
and facilities
new IT system
produce data
terminals
establish IT
system
all relevant
organisations
use this
system
relevant
organisations
know and
understand
this system
mobilise
policies and
expedite
procedures

across all
relevant
organisations
8
this programme are cost avoidance (Department for
Communities and Local
Government, 2011). In order to achieve this benefits, a more
efficient and economical
fire control service system should be established, and at the
same time, all relevant
organisations should have a strong will to use this new system
to support their work.
After making sure what the outcomes are, the outputs are easier
to decide. An
efficient organisation can maximise the resource utilisation and
reduce unnecessary
expenditures in daily administrative work. Nine new fire control
centres across the
nation can balance the reaction speed, optimised regionalism
and resource. These

centres can not only reduce the repeatability of resource and cut
down the appropriation
expenditure on equipment and facilities, but also enhance the
work efficiency, because
each centres has specific monitor area. The most important part
of a more effective and
economical fire control service system is the national computer
system, which needs to
relate each centre in order to support each other automatically
when call pressure or
failure occurs and ensure each centre can get the same
information and can manage
resources on each level as well. This IT system makes the work
save time, money and
other resources. In order to make all relevant organisations use
this fire control
computer system, the Department needs to let them get well
know of this system,
especially its advantages.
The projects in the UK ‘FiReControl’ programme are mentioned
in section 4.1, and
this paragraph will mainly focus on how the projects deliver
outputs and how to finish
the projects guaranteeing quality, cost and time. Transferring,

hiring and firing
employees and training them is for establishing an efficient
organisation, which can
avoid nonfeasance of employees and make their cooperation
more tacit than ever before.
In this part, an employees’ performance appraisal system should
be used to judge
whether an employee should be hired or dismissed. Cutting
down 46 local control
rooms, building nine new control centres, and procuring
equipment and facilities are
for reasonable regional planning for fire control service system.
In this part,
demographic factor, road traffic factor and building density
should be considered while
selecting the location of new centres. The 46control rooms
should not be abandoned
without of any thinking, but it should be rend out or sold for
saving money. The national
computer system includes two projects ---- producing data
terminals and establishing a
national computer system. According to the report published by
NAO, the Department
contracted this national computer system with EADS, but it did

not even do a same or
similar project ever before. Moreover, EADS gave this project
to an anonymous sub-
contractor (Department for Communities and Local
Government, 2011). To avoid this
situation, while contracting the computer system, the
Department should choose a
reliable contractor, which is the leader in the computer software
industry. A monitor
department is necessary as well, and each part of the system
should be tested and
assessed iteratively until an acceptable computer system is set
up. This procedure is for
making sure the project can deliver on time and in the budget.
The last project is
mobilising policies and expediting procedures across all
relevant organisations. This
9
part is quite important as will. In the report, the FRA and FRS
are unwilling to support

this programme and some of them even against this programme
(Department for
Communities and Local Government, 2011). In order to let this
national computer
system really achieves its vision, the relevant organisations like
FRA and FRS should
know it and use it, so the Department should explain how this
national computer system
works and persuade these organisations to use it.
4.3.Leadership and stakeholders engagement
The leadership in this programme is an obvious problem.
According to the report,
the Senior Responsible Owner had been changed to five person,
and consultants and
temporary staff finished nearly fifty percent of the programme
(Department for
Communities and Local Government, 2011). Firstly, the Senior
Responsible Owner
should set a monitor department to establish and maintain the
programme governance
arrangement. Under the monitor and assess of this department,
the schedule and budget
can be run in a reasonable route. At the same time, the direction

of the programme
should be pointed out by the Senior Responsible Owner for
ensuring the whole
employees in this programme know what they should do.
As for the stakeholder’s engagement, the stakeholder map and
stakeholder impacts
of the UK ‘FiReControl’ programme are showed as Figure 4-3
and Figure 4-4. From
the stakeholder map, it is not hard to find that the FRA and FRS
have high interest and
power, so they play important roles in this programme. The
Department should keep a
good and close relationship with these organisations.
From the stakeholder impacts figure, the FRA and FRS are tend
to be moaners and
opponents instead of waivers, if the Department’s explain on
the new computer system
is lack of clarity on how a regional setting approach would
enhance their work
efficiency. Only if the Department persuades FRA and FRS to
use this new national
Figure 4-3 the stakeholder map of ‘FiReControl’ programme

10
system in their daily work, can these two organisations tend to
be allies rather than
moaners and opponents.
Another stakeholder problem is caused by current employees. If
the new system is
setting up and coming into service, more work can be done by
machines instead of
people, which means many current employees will lose their
jobs. So the dismissal of
employees should be arranged acceptable, or some conflict and
strike may cause
troubles to the programme. In order to avoid this problem, high-
quality
recommendation letters and termination allowance should make
the employees who
have to be fired fell comforting. In this case, less voice of
against this programme will
appear, and the firing project can be executed smoothly.

Figure 4-4 the stakeholder impacts of ‘FiReControl’ programme
4.4.Risk and issue management
In the risk and issue management, this study will use ‘Circle of
Management’ to
explain risks and issues in different phases and use ‘Bow Ties’
to analyse the UK
‘FiReControl’ programme. The ‘Circle of Management’ has
three phases ----
deterministic phase, stochastic phase and miskentic phase. The
framework and explain
of ‘Circle of Management’ is showed as Figure 4-5. The first
two phases are solving
the risk and issue problems with technical elements, such as the
Gantt Chart and the
‘Bell Curve’ distribution (PPS Module Notes, 2014). The third
phase of ‘Circle of
Management’ means the programme is at risk. In this phase,
technical tools cannot solve
the problem, so using ‘Bow Ties’ is an acceptable approach to
imagine and understand
what the threats and risks are, and how to set barriers for them.

11
Figure 4-5 circle of management
The ‘Bow Ties’ of UK ‘FiReControl’ Programme is showed as
Figure 4-6. Before
the ‘loss of control occurs’, if no barriers are set for the threats,
the programme may be
destroyed sooner or later. If the technical limit leads to the
problem, the management
team can hire some senior specialists to overcome technical
challenges. If the contractor
is lack of capability or qualification to finish this national
computer system project, the
Department should verify the capability or qualification before
sign the contract.
However, the contractor was signed already, so the Department
should change another
contractor as soon as possible to make up the mistakes. If the
contractor does its job
with low efficiency, a monitor department should be established
to track and assess the
work, and monitor the schedule and budget as well. If the
programme is lack of funding,

there are two approaches to choose. One is to bid for the
projects, and the competitive
tender company which requires the lowest get the project.
Another way is to sell the
control rooms for recouping funds.
If the ‘loss of control occurs’, there are still some barriers to
mitigate risks. As the
report says, the UK ‘FiReControl’ Programme was cancelled at
last because the
Department no longer had confidence to deliver in an acceptable
time (Department for
Communities and Local Government, 2011). In order to avoid
this situation, the
Department can trial operate some parts of the fire control
centres and the national
computer system to prove the programme has the ability to help
the nation spend money
smarter. If the budget is overrun even in the design part of the
computer system, the
Department can decrease the expenditures on fixed assets, for
example, the control
centres. Extension of the original main control rooms instead of
building new centres

12
can save money visually. Though this approach is quite simple
and crude, it can help
the programme getaway from the budget overrun.
Figure 4-6 ‘Bow Ties’ of UK ‘FiReControl’ Programme
Risk and issue management is not only includes these theories.
But the approaches
above can still do some help to the strategy and planning
procedure of UK ‘FiReControl’
Programme.
5.Conclusion
All in all, the failure of UK ‘FiReControl’ Programme was
caused by many factors,
but in the strategy and planning procedure many problems are
really serious to the
programme. From this failure example, some conclusion in
strategy and planning
procedure can be summarised.

At the beginning of a programme, the vision should be clarified,
because this is the
direction of the whole programme. After that, sponsor should
recognise and understand
the relationship among important stakeholders, especially the
shareholders. It can
prevent an embarrassing situation that important stakeholders
do not support the
programme or even against it. Then the B-O-O-P map is needed,
because it is able to
show the delivery relationship of projects, outputs, outcomes
and benefits, which can
help the programme managers get their ideas into shape. Last
but not the least, the risk
and issue management in a programme can not be ignored.
Uncertainty always confuses
the programme managers, and many emergency situations are
hardly foreseen, so a
detailed ‘Bow Ties’ is necessary for preventing the risks and
negative issues while the
programme has already started to operate.
If this programme will restart sometime in the future, the
sponsor of this
programme should consider the problems mentioned in the study

of avoiding the same
problems occur again.
13
References
National Audit Office, (2011). Department for Communities and
Local Government:
The Failure of the FiReControl Project. [online]. National Audit
Office (NAO).
Available at: http://www.nao.org.uk/report/the-failure-of-the-
firecontrol-project/#
[Accessed 4 Dec. 2014].
Department for Communities and Local Government, (2011).
Response to the
Department for Communities and Local Government Committee
report on
‘FiReControl’. [online]. GOV.UK. Available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attach
ment_data/file/5613/1
869822.pdf [Accessed 7 Dec. 2014].

Parker, M., Benson, R. and Trainor, H. (1988). Information
Economics: Linking
Business Performance to Information Technology. Englewood
Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-
Hall.
Friesen, M. E. and Johnson, J. (1995). The success paradigm:
Creating organisational
effectiveness through quality and strategy. Greenwood
Publishing Group.
Knight, T. and Howes, T. (2003). Knowledge management: a
blueprint for delivery: a
programme for mobilising knowledge and building a learning
organisation. Oxford:
Butterworth-Heinemann.
Hodge, M. (2011). The failure of the FiReControl project.
London: The Stationery
Office.

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