The Failure of Westinghouse
Case number:
A08-17-0010
Abstract
Westinghouse Electric Company (WEC) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on March 29, 2017. The bankruptcy arose from billions of dollars of cost overruns on four nuclear power plants (NPPs) it was designing and building for two utilities in the United States. The cost overruns were a direct result of a completely new NPP design, the AP1000, and its innovative modular construction. Although WEC's core engineering intellectual content would live on (that was, in part, the objective of the Chapter 11 process), many questioned whether WEC's failure didn't signal the end of nuclear energy for electrical power generation.
Teaching
This case has been used in both graduate business and management degree and non-degree programs to provide a platform for discussions of the challenges associated with managing complex mega-projects, and the identification and management of risks in those same mega- projects.
Case number:
A08-17-0010
Year:
Setting:
USA
Length:
17 pages
Source:
Library