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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 4 page paper discussing top-down cost estimation of large projects to assess the method's overall reliability. Though it may not be possible to devise totally accurate cost estimates of projects filled with unknowns, certainly it is necessary to gain a better understanding of final cost than has been possible with traditional bottom-up methods. The bottom-up approach is preferable in some instances, top-down in others. As yet there is no cost estimating process that can return a guaranteed cost that will not be exceeded, but the top-down method offers advantages and can help to improve common failure and cost overrun rates. Bibliography lists 7 sources.
Page Count:
4 pages (~225 words per page)
File: CC6_KSprojMgCostEst.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
highway project is a decade over schedule and the amount by which it exceeded its original budget is in the billions range. Denvers International Airport opened nearly a year
late and millions over budget. Defense projects start out at a range between hundreds of millions and well over a billion dollars and go up from there. Information
technology (IT) projects likely are the most notorious for far exceeding cost estimates, primarily because they are so numerous and so many people are associated with IT projects in one
way or another, far more than are involved in designing the next level missile defense system or baggage handling process. Though it may
not be possible to devise totally accurate cost estimates of projects filled with unknowns, certainly it is necessary to gain a better understanding of final cost than has been possible
with traditional bottom-up methods. The purpose here is to assess the value of the top-down method of cost estimation. The Need No
organization plows into a project from the perspective of "money is no object." On the contrary, organizations seek to gain all the information they can about a potential project,
and total cost is a primary factor. There is nothing new about this concept: even Jesus said, "who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost
to see if there is enough money to finish it? Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money" (Luke 14:28-29a NLT).
As stated above, IT projects in particular offer challenges that leave many confused. IT is famous for its failed projects, unintentionally expanded projects and slipped development
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