Buy an essay: Identify and briefly describe the five most common classifications for ways that projects end

One of the important aspects of project management is project termination. Any project uses different resources, such as people, finance and materials. Also, during all stages of the project, many stakeholders are involved. These stakeholders, as well as availability of resources and external environment have a great impact on the progress of the project and existing challenges.
The stage of project closing does not always take place when planned. Sometime projects are ended earlier than it was planned. Sometimes finishing the project takes more time and resources than the stakeholders might afford. Moreover, there can be many situations when the project is not formally ended, but it cannot be ended successfully due to drained resources, changed conditions or some other reasons. It can even happen that it is better to start another project or change the existing one since it has become outdated.
The task of project manager is to identify all situations when the project is closed, or comes to closure, analyze benefits and failures of current project realization, and make conclusions for future project implementation. The aim of this essay is to consider five types of project termination, analyze their features and discuss their implications for a project manager.
In general, there are five types of terminating projects: normal, premature, perpetual, failed and changed priorities (Gray & Larson, 2007). Let us consider each type of project closure in detail.
Normal termination of project takes place when everything is completed as it was planned. All requirements are met, such as schedule, cost and quality objectives (Lock, 2007). Although certain extent of modification compared to initial project plan is allowed, the differences should not be significant. The project and its results should be passed on to sponsors. Normal ending of a project implies also possible awards and gratitude for high quality job done. However, this perfect situation does not always take place.
There might be premature ending of a project: due to certain reasons the project team might be forced to finish the project earlier than it was suggested, with some possible loss of functionality, or absence of some features. This type of project closure can be initiated by sponsors or other stakeholders. However, this type of project termination involves a high risk level and the decision about premature ending of a project should be seriously considered.
Another type of project ending is perpetual project. This is a peculiar type of projects that are also referred to as “runaway” projects (Meredith & Mantel, 2008). They are not likely to come to an ending. There might be many reasons for a project to become perpetual: for example, if scope and timetable are constantly delayed, or when sponsors require adding new functionality, new features and step by step extend the project. In some cases, it is undesirable for the project’s group to close the project: due to career issues, corporate culture, high payoff of the project etc. Also, the “perpetual” state of the project might be caused by the lack of timely reviews and control over the project’s development. Nevertheless, even if the project has good perspectives of high payoff, after certain time the resources are drained, and perpetual project has practically no possibility for successful ending (Jones, 2007). To avoid such situations, proper monitoring and control should be maintained during all phases of the project.
Project can be failed. It can happen due to initial overestimate of possibilities or as a result of underestimation of external factors. Project can be considered as failed when the costs of completing the project are greater than the benefit created by this project.
Finally, a project can be ended due to a change in priorities. The decision of closure due to changed priorities might be done due to financial or economic reasons, or due to the decrease of importance. Also, managers might decide that the resources used for current project will be better used at other projects. Such type of closure is most common to long-term projects or to projects in quickly changing spheres
Analysis of project closure types showed that there are various types of project ending, with some of them being greatly different from formal ending. For a manager, it is important to be able to recognize such situations and make the decision about project termination. Also, it is important to detect the possibility of perpetual project (Meredith & Mantel, 2008), and change in priorities, and undertake timely actions. For different types of project termination, different actions and solutions are appropriate; thorough analysis of most common variants of ending projects is essential for any project manager and his efficient work.

Gray, Clifford F. & Larson, Erik w. (2007). Project management: the managerial process. McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
Jones, Richard. (2007). Project management survival: a practical guide to leading, managing & delivering challenging projects. Kogan Page Publishers.
Lock, Dennis. (2007). Project management. Gower Publishing, Ltd.
Meredith, Jack R. & Mantel, Samuel J. (2008). Project Management: A Managerial Approach. John Wiley & Sons.