Vilka faktorer påverkar beslut om förtida projektavslut?
En fallstudie av utvecklingsprojekt hos svenska industriföretag
Today many industrial companies invest a lot of resources on research and development to resist the tough competition on the global market. This leads to a high risk game when the companies start many development projects, with uncertain outcome where some of the projects have to be terminated prematurely. The main purpose with this study is to identify factors, both internal and external, that influence the decision to terminate projects prematurely in Swedish development projects. Factors mentioned in the literature will be compared with case studies on three Swedish industrial companies to demonstrate the most important ones when taking such decisions. First a literature study was made to identify basic terms, a general project model and factors affecting the decision. The case studies are based on interviews with project managers from Scania, Astra Zeneca and ITT Water & Wastewater. This study shows that development projects are affected by many factors. It is important to terminate unprofitable projects in an early stage, so companies do not waste time and money when it can be spend more wisely on other projects. To manage this, companies should have following conclusions in mind:Companies must pay attention to deviation from the project plan, the strategic goal or the environment.It is important to find the deviations as soon as possible.Companies should be aware of emotional factors affecting the decision to terminate projects prematurely.Companies must be aware of factors that are specific for their type of business.Companies should improve their project model to the decrease the impact from the negative internal factors.