In conducting the Study a number of limitations were identified. Phase 1 (alliance participants' self-evaluation):
• Some difficulties arose in identifying contact details of all ALT members, particularly where projects had been completed a number of years ago.
• Some survey responses were incomplete. Where only one incomplete response was received, the Research Team determined whether or not there was sufficient data to include it in the response. Where multiple responses were received, only those that were sufficiently complete were used.
Phase 2 (detailed case studies):
• It was often difficult to obtain access to the individuals who had significant decision making roles at various stages of the project due to the effluxion of time and the lack of traceability of who the individuals were.
• Similarly, in some instances access to documents (e.g. business cases), data collection and assessment was problematic given that some projects had been completed and sometimes relevant project information was lost or archived.
• The use of price competition to select NOPs is not common hence limiting the number available for case study analysis to only two projects. However, this compares reasonably with the population of Phase 1.
• The case studies available to the Research Team in Phase 2 did not always reflect the population of projects which were identified as coming within the Study parameters (refer Section 4.6.1).
• To maintain confidentiality, some detail regarding certain alliances could not be included.