Knowledge Management

The Concorde and So On

Over budget and overdue were (and still are) characteristics in many U.K. public projects such as the Channel Tunnel and its rail link, the British Library, the Concorde, the Limehouse Link road tunnel, the Cardiff Bay Barrage, the Luton Airport extension, the Welsh Assembly, and the Scottish Parliament—the latter ending up at 11 times its original budget (£391 million) and 3 years overdue. The experience of several of London Transport’s projects over the 10-year period to 2000 is particularly striking. Against the background of managers’ insistence of long-time underfunding on the London Underground, the National Audit Office’s (NAO) conclusion that much of the £10 billion investment on the Jubilee Line Extension, the ...