Project management issues: A case of Malaysian construction industry
https://ilokabenneth.blogspot.com/2016/08/project-management-issues-case-of.html
Author: Iloka Benneth Chiemelie
Published: 22nd August 2016
Published: 22nd August 2016
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1.Background
It
has been noted that the Malaysian construction industry is a clear
representation of a strong push adopted by the government as an important
aspect of the country’s economic growth, not only as a stand-alone strategy,
but also as a scope that is linked with other parts of the country’s economy.
Even at that, the Malaysian construction has also been viewed in numerous cases
as a sector of the economy that is faced with bad publicity in terms of
overrunning costs, uncontrolled and unrealistic schedules, accidents, conflict
in the workforce and most significantly abandoned and unfinished private and
public construction projects, that usually require high capital investment in
order to be corrected. Naturally, there is no doubting the fact that
construction is a very risky business that is filled with numerous
uncertainties. The industry encompasses numerous elements which can be
synchronized together in order to ensure that the project becomes a success. On
that same note, there are numerous human factors, material factors, side
conditions factors and other issues that arise form machining and equipment. In
order to ensure success in the project delivery, all these issues need to be
managed and controlled throughout the project process.
Ting et al (2008) in their analysis of
issues that negatively influences project delivery in the Malaysian setting
noted that project management is a clear representation of numerous powerful
vehicle that consists of tools and techniques as well as procedures, planning,
managing and controlling that can be used to mitigate or even completely
eliminate the numerous issues and challenges that have been linked with project
delivery above and it can almost certainly prevent the occurrence of such issue
by controlling the possible causes and reducing the effects and impacts these
courses have on the system. The implication of the above statement is that the
practice of project management can yield the necessary tools, knowledge and
techniques that can actually be used to enhance and possible guarantee the
possibility of the project manager to attain the objectives and set goals, and
ultimately succeed in the project process..
Ting et al (2008) also continued with
their discussion by stating that while the concept of project management has
been tremendously growing for the past 4 decades in Malaysia, the development
of knowledge and application of project is still very slow and this led the
authors to question whether the country’s engineers understand the importance
of the concept and the contributory role it plays in determining the success of
project design in the modern economy.
This
is the background from which this paper will be developed and it is based on
the understanding that project management is very important in the Malaysian
setting, but it is not well adopted in the construction industry and it is
influencing the project delivery negatively. As such, there is a need to
conduct a study that will present a clear understanding of the project
management issues that companies face in the project process in order to define
the right approach to ensure that the project actually becomes a success.
1.2. Research problem
Project
management and adoption has seen a surge to a new frame of considering, with
projects now being viewed as being critical in both the private and public
sectors of businesses. The reason for the increase in adoption of project based
work is based on the view that the environment is creating numerous challenges
and opportunities as well and as such it has enhanced the level of
technological development, which is shifting the boundaries in terms of
knowledge base, dynamism in the market conditions, change in environmental
regulations, driving towards a shortened project lifecycle, increased
involvement of customers in the production process and complexity that is
created through inter-organizational relationships (Bredillet,
2005).
Nowadays,
business are being opened under high level of uncertainties in the market, and
the implementation of projects is being influences by a number of external
influence, unexpected events that occur in the business environment, increase
in requirements, changes in control features and fluctuations in the resources
flows. Basically, there are numerous indications that point to the fact that
there is a need to properly manage the project process in order to ensure
sustainability.
1.3. Importance of
study
From
the above discussions, it can easily be seen that this study is important for a
number of reasons. Basically, the paper is designed to understand the issues
that influence project management in Malaysia negatively in relation to the
fact that these issues have been noted to causes limitations on the potential
of project managers to achieve their project objectives. On that account, the
finding is geared towards defining new approach to project management in
Malaysia, in which the focus will on understand how these issues can be reduced
of effectively eliminated in order to enhance the project process and increase
chances of successful project design in the country. On that account, this
paper is important for a number of reasons and to different people in different
segments of an economy as described below:
While
project management is generally conceived to be a global practice, the underlying
definition from such practice is that it is undertaken in different forms in
different sections of the world economy. As such, the differences in approaches
means differences in expected outcome and issues that face project design
process. Such an identification will serves as added value to the already
identified issues or a new dimension of issues that past researchers might not
have looked into.
Project
management as earlier stated is an important new dimension in the project
process as it outlines how the project will be undertaken in order to ensure
that the project meets the set objectives. On that note, this paper is also
valued to be significant to managers in the sense that it would allow them the
opportunity of understanding issues that result to project failure in the
process of completing a project and as such better position them towards
ensuring that they are better informed in handling a project and making it
become a success.
Besides
the researchers and mangers described above, this paper is also significant to
the general readers. This is based on the fact that it would shade a new
meaning, interpretation and presentation on the concept of project management
as it relation to the fact that it would allow them to understand the issues facing
project management in Malaysia and use such an understanding as a background
for suggesting either in government forums or other related forums on the way
that the industrialization process in Malaysia can be moved towards and
enhancing the technological development of the country. Basically, all these
factors round up to form the reasons why this paper is considered important and
such a background is justifiable based on the fact that it relates to improving
the effectiveness and efficiency of project management through a subsequent
understanding of the issues in project management and how to handle such
issues.
1.4. Research purpose
The
purpose of this research is as described in the research topic and it is geared
towards understanding the project management issues facing the Malaysian
construction industry. On point with the statement is that the level of
industrialization in Malaysia needs sustainability in order to ensure that the
country is able to maintain its economic performance through a subsequent
increase in the level of sustainability in its construction industry, but
supporting statements acknowledged that while Malaysia just like order
countries has recognized the importance of project management, the country
seems to overlook such importance as it noticeable in the low level of
adoption. On that account, the proposed research topic is designed to
understand the issues that limit such adoptions in the form of negative
influence that these issues lay on successful project management, as well as
define the new platform from which these issues can be handled.
1.5. Limitations
Although
the purpose of this research is highly significant as reflected in the
description above and the positive influence it would have on a number of
readers as discussed as well, it is still important to understand that there is
no research topic that is not limited in its own nature and this is no difference
with the case of this paper. The main limitation comes in the form of the
research scope. The limitation in the scope comes in the form of the paper
focusing only on the issues that relates to project management in the country.
Project management is a broad field and it has numerous features that needs to
be accomplished by different people in order for the project process to become
a success. For instance, accountants have a role to play, so do marketers,
geologists and other professionals. Additionally, the construction industry is
inter-aligned with other sectors as stated earlier and this means that even
people for other sectors also have role to play in order to make the project a
success. Although difference sectors have a role to play, this paper focuses on
the construction industry alone and this means a limitation in understanding of
the issues on project management.
In
any case, this limitation doesn’t devalue the importance of this paper as
discussed above and this is based on the notion that limited scope will allow
the research to focus on specific research outcome and such focus will
positively influence the research process. On that account, it will be stated
that this research is still very important as described earlier.
1.6. Organisation of study
Figure
1.1: organization of study
The
above illustration is how the research will be organized and it can be seen
that the first step is the introduction. The purpose of the introduction will
be to present a background understanding of the research scope and objectives,
and it will set the base from which the whole research paper will be developed.
Earlier,
it was stated that project management is an important concept in modern studies
and as such it is expected that numerous theories must exist as value for the
below statement. On that account, it is argued that there must be existing
theories related to the concept and this will be the main purpose of this
section. The literature review will look into understanding the existing theories
on the concept and the notions that these theories present as related to the
research topic and process.
The
third chapter points the base for developing the primary research and in this
chapter; the methodology that will be adopted for the primary research will be
discussed. This methodology will also define the variables that will be loaded
into the primary research and how these variables will be measured.
The
fourth chapter will analyse the findings from the primary research and this
will be based on a number of dimensions that will be predefined as subsections
in this chapter. This chapter will also test the reliability, validity and
sources of the data that have been gathered as well as present factor and
regression analysis in order to understand the true value of the gathered data.
The
fifth chapter will be the discussion and conclusion of the research process. In
this chapter, the focus will be to discuss the relationship between the
findings from the primary research and the secondary research. On that account,
the focus will be to understand the importance of the research process as it
related to applying the findings as a measure of whether the research objective
has been achieved.
CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Chapter introduction
As
described in the organization of study above, the purpose of this section is to
present a theoretical background of the research topic. As such, the purpose of
this chapter is to present an understanding of theories that exist in project
management by defining what project management is all about and how success can
be measured in the project process.
2.2. Defining Project
Management
A
project features some elements that can be in the form of objectivity as this
is used to define the outcome or output, result, complexity with in relation to
interrelated activities and a huge numerous of numerous tasks, which can be
unique in its own in cases where it is “one-off” project, uncertainty as it
related to the elements of risk, which can also be temporary in its
well-defined beginning and ending and lastly applicable to the project
life-cycle as emphasized and resources that are required to change the project
during the course of the project process. However, this is not the main base
for defining project management as it is defined as a process of controlling
the project design and execution in order to ensure the achievement of the
project objectives, adopting the current organization structure and resources
to manage the project by utilizing the tools and techniques in the system
without interrupting the routine operation of the given company that is
undertaking the project (Munns & Bjeirmi, 1996).
Some of the functions involved in project management include the definition of
requirements that must be observed in order for the project to become a
success, allocation of needed resources, planning and execution of the required
works, monitoring the progress of the work and taking necessary actions as it
related to the unexpected events that occur in the project process (Munns & Bjerimi, 1996). Clarke (1999) did present
a view that stresses on project management as a tool used to aid the process of
change, and can yield the right solutions for solving problems of critical
issues in any organization.
Basically,
the underlying points that can be highlighted from thee above discussion is
that project management is used to define the process of controlling the
project phases in order to ensure that the project process is moving through
set guidelines and heading towards the path of making set objectives
achievable. On that account, project management is something that deals with
the project being controlled by applying necessary measures to ensure that it
doesn’t drift from focus in order to make it easier for the project purpose to
be achieved without also shifting the focus or operation of the company as it
relates to other activities. The phrase “shift in focus”, is a definitional
meaning which points finger to the concept of sustainability in the industry,
in which project management is used as the control measure to ensure that all
activities in the industry are regulated and controlled in order to eliminate
the potential for failure. Sustainability as a concept is important because
when a project is successful, the stakeholders will have higher room for
happiness but failure is detrimental as it will mean that the shareholders will
have to suffer the pain of loss and it can also lead to further failure in
cases where other projects are model on the base of the concept used in the
present project design.
2.3. Defining project
success
Success
as a word is very interesting and it is also a word that is so general and
widely used in relation to measuring the performance of any given program, but
it is also a word that is difficult to define and obtain mutual agreement when
asked from different individuals. Judgev and Muller
(2005) mentioned in their article that what success actually means in
the context of a project is something that deals with gaining an agreement from
a group of people on the definition of “good art.” Project success as a topic
has been frequently discussed but it is still yet to be agreed upon in relation
to what it actually means (Baccarini, 1999: p. 26).
Form the current study that has been conducted by Crawford,
Pollack and England (2006), the objective was to reveal the emphasis
presented by journals in the last decade in the field of project management,
and the finding reveals that the study of project evaluation and improvement
has gained increase in terms of its importance. The implication is that a
number of studies have been conducted in the area of project management and
project success. On a more general ground, the view on project success have
changed over the years from the more simple definitions that were lacking in
the implementation phase of the project life-cycle to definitions that are a
reflection of the appreciation of success over the entire project and lifecycle
(Judgev & Muller, 2005).
2.5. Criteria for
measuring project success
Traditionally,
the well-known and famous “Golden Triangle” or “Iron Triangle” has been adopted
as the criteria for measuring success in a project. The “Golden triangle” is a
reflection of the basic criteria for cost, time and quality. Under that
criterion, project is deemed to be successful if it is completed within the
time, with budgeted cost and meets the quality standards. However, these
criteria have received a number of criticisms in the form of it being
inadequate for determining the process success, customer opinion and contact
are minimal, and no long-term follow is established. As such, a number of
efforts have been made over the course of time to either add more dimensions or
to abstract some dimensions form the criteria (Atkinson,
1999).
In
later case, numerous other researchers have been directed toward extending the
measurement of process in order to include the perception from the client’s own
view, but this is not to be surprising as the current business environment is
such that focused on understanding and applying the concept of Total Quality
Management (TQM), which is an evolution in which customer satisfaction is one
of the most vital element used in measuring the performance of a business.
Effort by Kerzner (1998) in his book titled: “In
Search of Excellence in project Management,” laid down 5 criteria that can be
used to measure the success of a project. The criteria are that the completed
must be completed within the stipulated time, with the given budget, at the
desired level of quality, accepted by the customers and result in the customers
allowing the contractor to use them as references (Kerzner,
1998: p. 25). Other explorations in the literature will reveal that the
researchers are also presently extending the measurement of project success
down to the activities that occur after delivery and transfer of project, which
is contrasting with the earlier literature where emphasis is based only on
measurement of criteria used in the project management stage. Atkinson (1999)
is one of the researchers that have extended the measurement of project
management beyond the “Golden Triangle;” by proposing a new way to consider
project success which is known as the “Square Route.” The three additional
success criteria loaded into this new means are information system which looks
into understanding the maintainability, reliability, validity and quality of
information used in the project process, benefits which are perceived in the
organization that can be measured in terms of improvement in efficiency,
effectiveness, increase in profits, organizational learning and the benefits of
the project as is understood and perceived by the stakeholders which comes in
the form of satisfaction from usage, impact on the society and environment and personal
development. The new elements that are contained under this new criteria are
not conclusive are they are widely definitional and can be added wherever it is
deemed appropriate and applicable based on the identifications made in relation
to individual project that is being measured. This new criteria is as
illustrated in the figure 2.1 below.
Figure
2.1: The Square Route (Atkinson, 1999)
Basically, criteria are defined as
the set of principles or standard from which judgements are made. Lim and Mohamed (1999) wrote an article that was
proposed to clarify project success into two categories as the macro and micro
viewpoints. In the macro viewpoint, project success is measured by the
completion time and level of satisfaction gained from using the project, while
the micro viewpoint involves the measurement of project success by only the
completion criteria (Lim & Mohamed, 1999).
From that ground, the macro viewpoint of project success is designed to address
issues such as whether the original project concept was achieve, where the
project can be considered as a success or vice versa. This is only possible to
be known in the operational phase of the project and the achievement gained
highly depends on the people using the project or the stakeholders. From the
micro pint of view, project success deals with the achievement gained from the
project on a minor view and usually come to life in the conclusion stage of the
project. This viewpoints is as illustrated in the figure below.
Figure
2.2: project criteria and viewpoints
While
a number of criteria have been identified for measuring project success, the
fact is that the criteria that will be adopted needs to be identified from the
beginning of the project, else the team members and the project manager might
end up heading the project into a different direction than it is intended to be
measures and the outcome will be that the project will not be measures
successfully because of the differences in perception, emphasis and objectives
(Baccarini 1999). Shenhar (1997) classified four
success dimensions with the firm being that of efficiency, which is not limited
by the time dimension, cost and quality, but it can be extended to a number of
engineering changes before the final design release, production efficiency and
yield, and efficiency in purchase order and safety. Companies need to take
caution because this doesn’t only limit the measurement of success through
efficiency, but also doesn’t present a clear representation of the total
success achieved from the project. The second dimension comes in the form of
impact on the organization, while the last dimension if the need for the
project to be measured by the way it helps the organization to forge ahead and
prepare for the future. A number of questions can be asked t determine whether
the project explores new opportunities for expanding into further market,
ideas, innovation and product design. Additionally, it needs to be determined
whether the management is building on new skills, developing new technologies
and core competencies that are needed to address issues in the project process.
2.6. Factors that
contribute to project success
Since
the 1980s, the factors that are used to develop or identify the success of
project have been dominating the field of project management. Numerous
researches have looked into testing certain criteria in order to identify the
success factors in project management and some of these researchers include Kerzner (1987), Pinto and Slevin (1987), Pinto, Slevin and
Dennis (1989), Clarke (1999), Cooke Davis (2002) and Muller (2003). The
following paragraph will now look to understand the conceptions presented by
these researchers as it related to understanding the factors that contribute to
project success based on the views of some of the researchers identified above.
2.6.1. Pinto’s Model:
Ten Critical Success Factor in Project Management
From
1987 to 1990, Pinto and other researchers published a number of articles on
critical success factors in project management, and these have established a
widely known concept based on 10 accepted critical success factors. Pinto
adopted a fifty-item instrument that is referred to as Project Management
Profile (P.M.P) to conduct a measurement of the project’s performance in each
of the ten factors through a study that compared 400 projects. The author then
went ahead to identify ten critical success factors that influences project
success as (Pinto 1986):
1. Project
mission – the goals and general direction needs to be clarified from the on
point.
2. Top
Management support – the top management must be willing to commit their efforts
towards providing the necessary resources and authority of power in order for
the project to become a success.
3. Project
schedule/plan – there should be a detailed specification of the individual
items and steps required to be undertaken in the whole project phase.
4. Client
consultation – the project needed to be communicated with the client in order
to ensure that it is in line with what the affect parties need.
5. Personnel
– recruitment, selection and training of the right personnel is vital for the
project to become a success.
6. Technical
task – the necessary technology and expertise needed to make the project a
success should be made available.
7. Client
acceptance – the final project must be acceptable by the clients and the client
should be willing to make purchases for it.
8. Monitoring
and feedback – during the course of the project, a comprehensive control
information should be provided at each stages in the implementation process in
order to ensure that all the project process are in line with the drafted
project plan.
9. Communication
– appropriate network and necessary data should be provided to all key actors
in the project process in order to ensure that what is being done is as
accepted by all members involved in the project process.
10. Trouble
shouting – the project team should be able to handle unexpected crises and deviate
from fixed plans in order to make the project a success.
From
the ten factors listed and discussed above, the first seven factors can be
described as a sequential critical factor, while the outstanding three can be
viewed as the monitoring and feedback, communication and troubleshooting
factors that are necessary to be made presented in all the stages of the
project implementation process. As the project continues to move along its
life-cycle, different factors are called into play. The first of such factors
(mission, top management support and schedule) are in relation with the early
“planning phase” of the project, while the other seven have focus on the
execution stage of the project process. Since both strategy and tactics are
important to ensure project success in project management, their importance
will be shifted as the project moves through its lifecycle. Strategic issues
are the most abounding in the early stages of the project, while tactical
issues come in as the project begins to gain important towards the ending
stages. It is very important that successful project managers should be able to
make transition between strategic and tactical consideration as the project
moves forward.
Additionally,
Pinto also stressed on the important for both the client and project team to
conduct assessment in order to determine the health of the project on regular
basis and also to involve the project team members in the early planning and
conceptualization scope. This is because they will be able to reinforce the
goal of the client in the minds of the project team by so doing and it can also
influence their expectation of team member to enhance the project process by
functioning through a common goal. Regular and revolving communication is very
necessary in order to ensure that the team is moving in a common direction and
members are made aware of the transition and they are also capable of
emphasizing on the importance of joint efforts in the process of achieving the
project gaols.
2.6.2. Kerzner’s
Critical Success Factors
Kerzner
(1987) conducted a study to understanding the critical success factors with a
definition that critical success factors are elements that are very common in
the organization and helps in the creation of an environment where project can
be managed with excellence on a consistent basis. The author noted a number of
areas that the project team must ensure that things are in the right form if
the project is to become a success. They include:
Corporate understanding
of the project management – in order for the
project to be a success, the project management need to be well understood by
all members of the organization that ranges from the management to staffs and
even stakeholders. This is because such an understanding will present a more concise
base for argument and judgement as it related to the project of the project and
also recommendation that can be used to rephrase the project process in order
to ensure that it becomes a success in the long-run.
Executive commitment
– this is very important and it has been described by the author as having the
power to influence success or failure in the project process. This is because
the executive are the direct force from which the project is undertaken as they
define what is expected, how the project will be performed and even move on to
perform the project in its actual state. On that account, their level of
commitment which includes aligning the project with set corporate goals and
defining the approaches to be used in the project process will have a direct
influence on the project design and outcome.
Organizational
adaptability – sometimes the project might
include processes that are not presently obtainable in the organization or
require skills and technologies that the organization doesn’t present at the
moment the project was executed. As such it is important the organization
understand the need to be flexible and apply necessary measures to enhance
their flexibility as such will mean that they will be better positioned to
adapt to changes in the project process and make available at all times the
resources and expertise required to ensure that the project becomes a success.
This approach normally involves training employees on the new and required
skills, purchasing or hiring necessary machineries and clearly defining the
objectives of the project and expectations from the employees.
Criteria for selecting
project management – four criteria have
been identified in the selection of project management and it includes
result-oriented, possession of the necessary interpersonal skills, in-depth
understanding of the organization and commitment towards set corporate values.
Leadership style
– basically this can influence success or failure directly and it is based on
the understanding that the project manager has the full responsibility of
coordinating the project process, as such where the project manager has strong
leadership style, the project process is ensured to become a success and this
means that there is a need for the project manager to have strong leadership
style that is based on defining the right approaches to be adopted in meeting
the set project objectives.
Commitment to planning
and control – as notes in the discussions
above, there are chances of the project process being shifted from its fixed
approach in order for success to be enhanced or as a troubleshooting solution
to eliminate the dangers posed by the lack of such shifts. As such, the need
for the project team to be committed with the planned project process and adopt
necessary control measures in all phases of the project is significant as it
will influence the project success.
2.6.3. Belassi and
Tukel’s Critical Success Factors
Belassi and Tukel (1996) presented a
group of critical success factors in project as being made up of four factors
and also defined the interaction between these factors. The four groups are
factors that are related to the project, factors that are related to the
external environment, factors that are related to the management and teas, and
factors that are related to the organization undertaking the project.
Basically, these factors are very much aligned with the discussion above in the
sense that the organization needs to be committed to the project, the
management need to exercise quality leadership, the team need to stick with the
plan and the influence of the external environment need to be controlled.
2.7. Project risk
mitigation
As
stated by the Project Management Professionals (PMP)
(2011) release, risk is inherent in any business and project management
is no exception. As such, understanding the associated risk with any given
project is very important as it will help to define new ways to mitigate these
risks or refine existing ways in cases where they don’t seem to serve the
purpose they have been designed form. On that account, the issue should be
managing risk when they occur, instead the focus should be shifted towards
understanding the best approaches that can be used to reduce such risk from
occurring or probably eliminate its potential occurrence. On that note, PMP
developed a framework for mitigating risk as shown below
Figure
1: Framework for risk mitigation
Source
as adapted from: PMP (2011)
From
the framework above, it can be seen that risk mitigation is not something that
occurs within a given department, but is inherent in all departments in the
organization. As such, this framework will be used to understand the best way
to mitigate risk in the new project design.
From
the remote instrument enclosure installation work above, the major external
risk comes in the form of the road crossing section where the staffs have to
cross from one point to another in the process of excavating the connection
between the control room and the switch system. This is high risk zone because
staffs can easily fall into the excavated pit and danger themselves from risk
of injuries or possible death. Additionally, there is also a need to ensure
that the materials being used don’t pose any threat to the life of staffs
around.
As
such, the staffs will be pre-prepared on the approaches towards handling of
such issues and the best way to protect themselves from the machineries in the
workforce, and on the same ground, the road cross will be well constructed with
solid materials to ensure that there is no such chances of the road crossing
network collapsing and endangering the staffs. Basically, all necessary steps
will be taken in the form of precautionary messages on machineries and areas
that will pose high danger to the life of staffs, as well as ensuring that the
staffs are well trained about how to handle dangers in the workplace as is
related to the project on hand.
2.7.1 Change control
management
Still
on the verge of understanding how to manage risk, PMP (2011) stressed on the
issue of managing changes that occur in the process of undertaking a given
project. Changes are inherent in projects are can sometimes be very difficult
to handle. As such, it is important to have contingency plans on how to look
into change issues and provide the right solutions for it. In the case of the
project being planned, changes will likely come in the form of the machineries
not being adequate to excavate up to the needed depth or with the right precision.
As such, it is important to understand the best approaches to handle such
changes.
If
the issue of inadequacy of machinery occurs, the solution for such will be to
hire new machinery for the project to keep moving ahead. However, new
machineries might require new skills and as such the change process will be
done by adopting machines that have similar skills, as well as training
employees on the necessary skills required for the running of different
machines.
Another
issue that might occur will be the death of important employees. Such case will
result in the need for a new employee to take over the vacant position. Since
this is an issue of death, the change process will involve looking into the
issues that resulted in the death at the firm place, if related to the
operations; such issues will need to be resolved before putting the new
employees into such position. Employees that work in related departments will
be trained on multitasking in order to help build them right to take the vacant
positions that might occur as a result of change process or help them to
understand the necessary approaches required to ensure that change process is
something that doesn’t take much of the project’s time as such will result in a
subsequent increase in the projected time for completion of the project.
2.7.2. Project time
improvement
Another
issue that is of high importance in project management is the potential of the
manager to deliver the project on or even more efficiently before the projected
time. Delivering projects before the projected completion time has numerous
economic benefits to the project manager. This is because the machineries used
in the project process are usually hired on a daily bases, and if the manager
is able to deliver the project on time, then he will be saving the cost of
hiring the machinery for the period of time that the project was delivered on
time as compared to the project delivery date.
On
that note, I will adopt two strategies in order to deliver the project before
the projected time. The first strategy will be a combined patch production in
which all batches in the project will be going on at the same time. The
excavators will be excavating, while the engineering will be installing the
control system. Additionally, there will be a round the clock operations.
Although this might incur more costs, the cost will be relatively low as
compared to the potential millions that will be saved from delivering the
project on time. However, I will only choose one of these strategies as combination
of the strategies will be a subsequent increase in the risk level of the
project. In order to ensure that the risk is mitigated, the first option is the
most preferred option as it doesn’t require additional hiring of new employees
as is applicable with the second option. In any case, any of the two options
have a high chance of reducing the projected time of installing the enclosure
system.
2.4. Key findings from
literature review
A
number of revelations have been made from the above analysis, and they come in
the form of new dimensions that are used to measure the success of a given
project. The most significant of such is the transition from the traditional
“Golden Triangle” used in the measurement of the success of a project towards a
broader view in which a number of variables have been loaded into the measure
triangle to include factors such as the understanding of customer satisfaction
and management integration into the measurement approach in which the measure
of performance is no longer something that is company specific, but instead
puts into consideration the stakeholders in order to ensure that the outcome
from the project meets the needs of the customers. From this, factors that
influences the success of a project where identified to be the commitment of
management, leadership of project manager, planning and control adopted by the
project team, project time, project resources, adaptability of the
organization, criteria for selecting protect manager and the level of
satisfaction gained from the project process.
CHAPTER 3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 CHAPTER
INTRODUCTION
The
research methodology is all about the concept and method adopted in conducting
the primary research. As stated earlier, this paper will involve both secondary
research and primary research. The secondary research is only used as a support
for the primary research. Thus, this paper is mainly based on primary research.
In that case, this section will include an analysis and overview of all methods
and factors adopted in the primary research. It includes the way the data will
be gathered, analysed and presented; software to be used for the data analysis;
questionnaire design and approach; how the hypotheses will be proved; and
documentation of finding from the data analysis.
3.2 RESEARCH PURPOSE
The
purpose of the primary research is still in line with the defined purpose of
this paper, and it is to understand the project management issues that face the
Malaysian construction industry. Such an understanding has been identified to have
the potential to influence the project outcome positively as the project team
will be better positioned to adopt necessary measures that will reduce the
negative influences of such factors and increase the chances of success in the
project lifecycle.
3.3 RESEARCH PHILOSOPHY
The
major philosophies for this research are quality, reliability, and
applicability. This implies that the data for this research will be gathered
from reliable responders that are deemed capable of understanding the
questionnaire and responding in their true ingenuity and reasonability. Quality
and reliability are without a doubt a determining factor as a result of the
fact that this study deals with understanding how the future is shaped with
present practices in the Malaysian Universities.
3.4 RESEARCH APPROACH
The
research approach is quantities. The implication is that the research will be
based on questionnaire and survey. In a qualitative research, the researcher
prepares questionnaire that contains the questions which have been designed to
handle the issue in hand, then the respondents are given the opportunity to
present their view about the issue by rating based on point-scale as contained
in the questionnaire. The purpose is to allow the responders to present their
own view about the situation in hand, then the research will analyse the
finding with software in order to determine the issue that lays the highest
level of significance on the problem being studied.
3.5 RESEARCH STRATEGY
This
research will be intercept based and face-to-face study. This implies that the
questionnaire will be distributed directly to the intended audience by the
interviewer, and the interviewer will take extra time to sit down and guide the
responder through the whole questions, as well as obtained their deep thought
about the whole variables loaded into the paper. This is the best strategy because considering
the fact that this is more like a social research designed to understand the
influence of curriculum on the performance of students from the quantity
surveying department after a successful graduation. Thus, the approach is
unique and significant in the sense that it allows interviewers to have a
one-on-one experience with responders and as such improve their analysis of
response because they will have a clear understanding of response pattern from
interaction with respondents.
3.6 TIME HORIZONS
The
data gathering consumed a period of 20 days (2 working weeks). The reason is to
allow the researcher to gather enough information in order to validate the
research process, and also to re-gather more data in cases where the gathered
data are deemed invalid.
3.7 RESEARCH METHODS
The
methods adopted for data collection and analysis is as described below.
3.7.1 SAMPLE AND DATA
COLLECTION
This
study was conducted in Taylor’s University and UTAR
(Universiti Tun Abdul Razak), which are the two universities loaded into
the survey. The purpose of being University specific is to ensure that the
respondents are actually in the position that will aid the meeting of the
research objectives effectively. Convenience based sampling was adopted and it
is based on the understanding that the best time to meet the students is when
they are all in class, as such the interview took place in front of their
classes during break period in order to ensure that the interview doesn’t
actually distract them from their class session.
3.7.2 INSTRUMENTATION
For
this survey, the main instrument loaded into the question is the new curriculum
as compared with the old curriculum in terms of the added courses that reflect
the changes in the responsibilities of quantity surveyors in order to
understand how the new curriculum will help them to become better quantity
surveyors in the future.
3.7.3 RESPONDERS’
PROFILE
The
criteria that was considered in choosing the responders is that they must be
currently enrolled with the school or working with the school as a staff. The
need for such is to ensure that the data gathered can easily be verified and
responders can easily be contacted in cases where the data are deemed to be
insufficient. Additionally, it wills east the data gathering process and makes
the research much easier to be conducted with the stipulated time. A total of
100 data were gathered form 89 students in different fields and 11 staffs.
While they staffs are not enrolled like they student, they were made to clearly
identify the department that they work in, in order to ensure that the research
outcome will be in line with the idea of gathering data from people in the
business, engineering and computing department. The notion for such is based on
the understanding that they are better positioned to present the best of ideas
in relation to the question being asked for this research.
3.8 ETHICAL
CONSIDERATIONS
In
primary research such as this case, a number of ethical issues occur and this
is mainly because of the fact that the researcher is in direct contact with the
respondents and can influence the response process in order to ensure that the
outcome of the research meets the set research objectives. As such a number of
issues where considered in this case and they include:
3.8.1 Direct influence
of the researcher on the research outcome
– the research can easily influence the research outcome by attending to
respondents questions or guiding them towards presenting the best response that
has the highest chances of influencing the research outcome positively. This is
very unethical because it must generally be understood that the outcome from a
research process is normally intended for real-life application and in cases
where the outcome is actually influences by the researcher in the response
pattern, it can be easily be noted that it would yield negative influence in
the sense that the outcome from the research might not be what is obtainable in
the real world setting. However, this is not applicable in this paper because
the research ensured that the response patter is not influenced by not contributing
to the respondents’ pattern and giving precise guidelines that doesn’t
compromise with the potential of the respondents to be influenced in the
research process. On that account, this issue was successfully eliminated and
the research outcome is genuine, with real-life applicability enhanced.
3.8.2 Manipulation of
gathered data – even when the researcher doesn’t
influence the respondents response pattern towards gathering that that will
yield high influence on the research objectives, it should be noted that the
research also has the power of manipulating the gathered data in the process of
computing the research analysis. This is also very unethical as it will yield
the same negative influence as discussed below. The researcher have been
trained in the essence of conducting ethical research process and it this was
helpful as the research ensured that all data analysed in this paper as genuine
as gathered from the research process.
Data
analysis is a very sensitive aspect of any paper, and it is very important the
researchers always ensure that the research process is conducted in the most
ethical and reliable way as this will have a great positive influence on
research outcome and applicability. This is the case for this paper as the
research ensures that all necessary approaches where adopted in order to
increase the quality of the research process, eliminate factors that will yield
negative influences and maintaining the highest order of ethicality throughout
the research undertaking.
3.9 DATA MEASUREMENT
The
measurement adopted is in the form of a liker rating scale in which the value
was loaded from 1 to 5, with “1” representing totally disagree, “2”
representing disagree, “3” representing neutrality, “4” representing agree, and
“5” representing totally agree. Likert’s rating scale is by far the most
commonly adopted rating scale in primary research.
CHAPTER 4
RESULTS
4.1. Chapter
introduction
Following
the research approach discussed above, a primary research was conducted in line
with the set guidelines and the focus of this chapter is to analyse the finding
from the primary research. The data analysis will begin with a review of the
research reliability. Based on discussions presented earlier in the chapter 3
above, it was noted that the level of reliability that is obtainable in a
research will influence the applicability in the case where the higher the
reliability, the higher the level of applicability and obviously the outcome
will yield more positive influence and vice versa is the case where the
gathered data is not reliable. Following the reliability test is the
demographic analysis of the respondents and descriptive analysis of the variables
loaded into the research.
4.2. Data reliability
Data
reliability as described earlier is very important in primary research as it
would serve as prove of the quality of the given research. There are numerous
ways in which the reliability of any given data can be tested, but the most
frequently used is that designed by Lee Crombach in 1961, which is referred to
as the cronbach alpha. From the crombach analysis, it is noted that in order
for any given data to be considered reliable, the data needs to meet a value of
0.50 or more in the case where the higher the value the higher the reliability
and if the data is not able to meet this value then the data can be considered
to be unreliable.
Table
4.1
|
Case
Processing Summary
|
|||||
|
|
|
N
|
%
|
||
|
Cases
|
Valid
|
61
|
61.0
|
||
|
Excludeda
|
39
|
39.0
|
|||
|
Total
|
100
|
100.0
|
|||
|
a. Listwise deletion
based on all variables in the procedure.
|
|||||
|
Reliability
Statistics
|
|||||
|
Cronbach's
Alpha
|
N of
Items
|
||||
|
.779
|
28
|
||||
From
the above analysis, it can be seen that the gathered data is highly reliable.
This is because it doesn’t just meet the stipulated figure of 0.50, but it
instead exceeds this figure and achieves a value of 0.678 which can also be
approximated to 0.7. Such a high level of reliability further validated the
importance of this research in the sense that it is an essence in terms of
justifying the efforts and resources invested towards meeting the set research
objectives.
4.3. Demographic
analysis
In
this section, the focus is to present an understanding of the demographic
features of the respondents and how such features will influence the research
outcome either positive or negatively.
Table
4.2
|
Are you student or staffs in the university?
|
|||||
|
|
|
Frequency
|
Percent
|
Valid Percent
|
Cumulative Percent
|
|
Valid
|
student
|
89
|
89.0
|
89.0
|
89.0
|
|
Staff
|
11
|
11.0
|
11.0
|
100.0
|
|
|
Total
|
100
|
100.0
|
100.0
|
|
|
From
the above table, it can be seen that the responders are in line with the
description of respondents profile presented earlier in the sense that the
analysis shows that 11 out of the 100 respondents are staffs, while the
outstanding 89 are students from different departments in the university.
Table
4.3
|
What department are you in?
|
|||||
|
|
|
Frequency
|
Percent
|
Valid Percent
|
Cumulative Percent
|
|
Valid
|
Business
|
28
|
28.0
|
28.0
|
28.0
|
|
Engineering
|
56
|
56.0
|
56.0
|
84.0
|
|
|
Computer
|
16
|
16.0
|
16.0
|
100.0
|
|
|
Total
|
100
|
100.0
|
100.0
|
|
|
The
department that the respondents are in will also influence the research outcome
in the sense that certain departments will have a better understanding of the
research question and significantly influence the research outcome. From the
analysis, it can be seen that majority of the respondents are from the
engineering department as they make up 56% of the total response, followed by
those in the business department with 28% and finally by those in computer
department with 16%.
Table
4.4
|
What is your professional qualification?
|
|||||
|
|
|
Frequency
|
Percent
|
Valid Percent
|
Cumulative Percent
|
|
Valid
|
diploma
|
28
|
28.0
|
28.0
|
28.0
|
|
degree
|
54
|
54.0
|
54.0
|
82.0
|
|
|
master
|
18
|
18.0
|
18.0
|
100.0
|
|
|
Total
|
100
|
100.0
|
100.0
|
|
|
Additionally,
the level of academic qualification or currently being pursued by the students
will also influence the research outcome. This is because the higher the level
of education, the better the responder is positioned to understand the research
questions and present reliable outcomes in the sense that the responder might
actually be presenting response based on real-life experience and might have
worked in the position where the search question is addressing.
4.4 understanding the
duties of project managers
In
order to present an understanding of project management issues in Malaysia, it
is important to understand the duties of project managers as such understanding
will help to highlight how lack of undertaking such duties will negatively influence
the project management outcome.
Table 4.5
|
Descriptive Statistics
|
|||||
|
|
N
|
Minimum
|
Maximum
|
Mean
|
Std. Deviation
|
|
Prepare project brief
|
100
|
2.00
|
5.00
|
4.4800
|
.88169
|
|
Advice on budget or funding arrangement
|
100
|
1.00
|
5.00
|
4.3400
|
1.29662
|
|
Advise on site acquisition, grants and planning
|
100
|
2.00
|
5.00
|
4.5000
|
.78496
|
|
[Select project team members
|
100
|
1.00
|
5.00
|
4.0200
|
1.39971
|
|
Participate in contractor selection
|
100
|
1.00
|
5.00
|
4.2600
|
1.28409
|
|
Monitor progress
|
100
|
2.00
|
5.00
|
4.3600
|
1.03981
|
|
Organize communication or reporting systems
|
100
|
1.00
|
5.00
|
3.9400
|
1.26187
|
|
Monitor budget and variation orders
|
100
|
1.00
|
5.00
|
3.7800
|
1.36759
|
|
Develop maintenance programme and staff training
|
100
|
1.00
|
5.00
|
4.0200
|
1.29474
|
|
Organize handover and occupation
|
100
|
3.00
|
5.00
|
4.4000
|
.85280
|
|
Valid N
(listwise)
|
100
|
|
|
|
|
Earlier
in the research methodology, it was noted that the research outcome will be
measured with a value from 1 to 5 in the order of disagreeing to agreeing with
the questions contained in the questionnaire. The first approach is to
understand what the respondents think are the responsibilities of project
managers. From the above analysis, it can be seen that all the questions
averaged 4.0 as its means except for two with 3.9 and 3.7 respectively, which
can also be approximated to 4.0. The indication is that respondents agree that
all the functions discussed above as being the responsibility of project
managers in the sense that they agree will all the indications presented.
The
responsibilities of manager as identified from the primary research include:
1. Prepare project brief
– it is the responsibility of project manager to plan and prepare a project
brief of the whole project in relation to it set objectives and expected
outcome from the whole process.
2. Advice on budget or
funding arrangement – since the project
manager helped set the project objectives and brief, it is also the
responsibility of the project manager to present necessary advice on how the
budgeted fund will be spent.
3. Advice on site
acquisition, grants and planning – just like the
function above, the project manager also need to present necessary advice on
how the fund will be sourced.
4. Select project team
members – once the needed funds have been
sourced, it is the responsibility of the project manager to select the right
people for the project.
5. Participate in
contractor selection – in cases where the
project or some process in the project will be contracted out, it is the
responsibility of the project manager to participate in selecting the contractors.
6. Monitor progress
– monitoring of project has been described as essential in ensuring that the
project outcome meets set objectives and this is also the responsibility of the
project manager.
7. Organize communication
or reporting systems – in order to ensure
that the project is moving in line with set guidelines towards achieving
project objectives, there is a need to constantly communicate value of the
project and it is the responsibility of the project manager to ensure such
process.
8. Monitor budget and
variation orders – while the project is ongoing,
the project manager also need to monitor the project and differences in terms
of expenditure in order to ensure that the incurred expenses is in line with
the budget.
9. Develop maintenance
programme and staff training – in order to ensure
that the project achieves its set objectives, the staffs need to be trained on
new skills that will improve the project process and the equipment need to be
maintained during the course of the project. It is the responsibility of the
project manager to do such.
10. Organize handover and
occupation – following the completion of the
project, the project manager also has the responsibility of organizing the
handover and occupation of the project to the respective shareholders.
4.5 Understanding the
skills required to become successful project manager
From
the above functions of project managers described above, it can easily be
deduced that project managers require certain skills in order to be able to
tackle the responsibilities discussed above and this sections looks to
understand the skills required by project managers as noted by the respondents
is described below.
Table
4.6
|
Descriptive Statistics
|
|||||
|
|
N
|
Minimum
|
Maximum
|
Mean
|
Std. Deviation
|
|
Communication
|
100
|
2.000
|
5.000
|
4.62000
|
.896458
|
|
Planning and organizing
|
100
|
4.00
|
5.00
|
4.8400
|
.36845
|
|
Co-ordination
|
100
|
4.00
|
5.00
|
4.7800
|
.41633
|
|
Controlling
|
100
|
2.00
|
5.00
|
4.5600
|
.96735
|
|
[Leadership
|
100
|
1.00
|
5.00
|
4.3400
|
1.21622
|
|
Motivation
|
100
|
2.00
|
5.00
|
4.3600
|
1.07797
|
|
[Judgement
|
100
|
1.00
|
5.00
|
4.5200
|
1.30639
|
|
Initiative
|
61
|
4.00
|
5.00
|
4.8525
|
.35759
|
|
Valid N
(listwise)
|
61
|
|
|
|
|
From
earlier discussion, it was noted that the analysis is based in the value range
between 1-5, in which the value is used to represent strongly disagree to
strongly agree. Still on that same account, it can be seen that all the
variables studied above have a mean greater than 4.3, which is a strong
indication of the responders agreeing with the statement as it is just 0.7
lower than the higher value of “5” used to represent a case where the responder
“strongly agree” with a given statement.
On
that account, the skills required to become a successful project manager are:
1. Communication
– used to communicate the whole project process and other factors.
2. Planning and organizing
– for ensuring that the project is well
planned and organized.
3. Co-ordination –
for ensuring that the workers are doing what they are assigned to do.
4. Controlling
– to ensure that the whole process is controlled and risk minimized.
5. Leadership
– the manager needs to be a competent leader.
6. Motivation –
employees need to be motivated and manager needs to have the skill.
7. Judgement –
quick decisions can influence success and the manager needs to be decisive.
8. Initiative
– the manager needs to initiate new ideas that will enhance the business
process.
4.6 Project management
issues in the Malaysian construction industry
With
the above discussion focusing on the required skills and responsibilities of a
project manager, this section will now look to understand the project
management issues that facing the Malaysian construction industry. Such an
understanding is very important as it is the main purpose of this research
paper.
Table
4.7
|
Lack of project management skills
|
|||||
|
|
|
Frequency
|
Percent
|
Valid Percent
|
Cumulative Percent
|
|
Valid
|
3.00
|
10
|
10.0
|
10.0
|
26.0
|
|
4.00
|
22
|
22.0
|
22.0
|
48.0
|
|
|
5.00
|
52
|
52.0
|
52.0
|
100.0
|
|
|
Total
|
100
|
100.0
|
100.0
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The
first issue loaded into the analysis is that the lack of project management
skills influences the project management process. This is without a doubt a
reality in the sense that if a manger wishes to be successful in project
management, then the manager must possess the necessary project management
skills. The respondents also agree with this statement as 74% of the total
respondents stated agreed with it.
Table
4.8
|
lack of adequate construction technology
|
|||||
|
|
|
Frequency
|
Percent
|
Valid Percent
|
Cumulative Percent
|
|
Valid
|
3.00
|
24
|
24.0
|
24.0
|
24.0
|
|
4.00
|
12
|
12.0
|
12.0
|
36.0
|
|
|
5.00
|
64
|
64.0
|
64.0
|
100.0
|
|
|
Total
|
100
|
100.0
|
100.0
|
|
|
The
second issue loaded into the questionnaire is based on understanding the
influence of construction technology. In the introductory stage of this paper,
it was noted that sustainability is now a necessity in the construction
industry and sustainability is much ensured through an adequate adoption of
necessary technologies that eliminates the level of error in a system. This is
the case presented in the above analysis, and the respondents agree that lack
of adequate construction technologies will influence project management
negatively because availability of such will help ensure that the project
process is well defined and right approaches followed in the process.
Table
4.9
|
Lack of necessary building materials
|
|||||
|
|
|
Frequency
|
Percent
|
Valid Percent
|
Cumulative Percent
|
|
Valid
|
2.0
|
6
|
6.0
|
6.0
|
6.0
|
|
3.00
|
10
|
10.0
|
10.0
|
16.0
|
|
|
5.00
|
84
|
84.0
|
84.0
|
100.0
|
|
|
Total
|
100
|
100.0
|
100.0
|
|
|
An
essential factor of success in any business be it in project management or
other businesses is the resources used to aid the production process. This is
because when the resources are available the production will be enhanced but
lack of resources can hinder the business process. This is the main reason why
84% of the respondents agree that lack of building materials is a project
management issue in the Malaysian construction industry.
Table
4.10
|
Lack of project measurement guidelines
|
|||||
|
|
|
Frequency
|
Percent
|
Valid Percent
|
Cumulative Percent
|
|
Valid
|
4.00
|
16
|
16.0
|
16.0
|
16.0
|
|
5.00
|
84
|
84.0
|
84.0
|
100.0
|
|
|
Total
|
100
|
100.0
|
100.0
|
|
|
As
discussed in the responsibilities of a project manager is that the project
manager should be able to always measure the project process and ensure that it
is in line with the set objectives. As such, this factor was loaded into the
question and the surprising thing is that all the respondents agree that lack
of measurement guidelines is an issue in project management. The implication
now become planning and adopting project measurement guideline is very
necessary in the project management process.
Table
4.11
|
Bad economics of the construction industry
|
|||||
|
|
|
Frequency
|
Percent
|
Valid Percent
|
Cumulative Percent
|
|
Valid
|
4.00
|
22
|
22.0
|
22.0
|
22.0
|
|
5.00
|
78
|
78.0
|
78.0
|
100.0
|
|
|
Total
|
100
|
100.0
|
100.0
|
|
|
While
project management has its associated positivity, it is important to understand
that it comes with costs. This is because the project manager will need to be
paid, as well as all the staffs working under the project manager and this can
become an issue in the sense that it would influence decisions to either adopt
or not to adopt the project management in the construction industry. This is
most significant in period of back sales and just like the table 4.10, all
respondents also agree that this is a serious issue and should be address in
order to ensure a successful project process.
Table
4.12
|
Lack of proper contract administration
|
|||||
|
|
|
Frequency
|
Percent
|
Valid Percent
|
Cumulative Percent
|
|
Valid
|
2
|
8
|
8.0
|
8.0
|
8.0
|
|
3.00
|
10
|
10.0
|
10.0
|
18.0
|
|
|
5.00
|
82
|
82.0
|
82.0
|
100.0
|
|
|
Total
|
100
|
100.0
|
100.0
|
|
|
When
the project or some part of the project is contracted out, it is important that
the project manager administers the contract in order to ensure that the people
it has been contracted to be doing as they are designated to do. 82% of the
respondents agree that the lack of proper contract administration is an issue
in project management and should be looked into by the project manager.
Table
4.13
|
Poor construction law
|
|||||
|
|
|
Frequency
|
Percent
|
Valid Percent
|
Cumulative Percent
|
|
|
3.00
|
2
|
2.0
|
2.0
|
14.0
|
|
4.00
|
18
|
18.0
|
18.0
|
32.0
|
|
|
5.00
|
68
|
68.0
|
68.0
|
100.0
|
|
|
Total
|
100
|
100.0
|
100.0
|
|
|
Earlier
discussion indicated that the government have a role towards ensuring that
project management in the country becomes a success and this section of the
analysis is in line with that statement by proving that the issue of poor
construction laws is plaguing the project management process in the country.
86% of the respondents agree that this is an issue and it will influence the
project management process negatively with the main focus being on lack of
standards.
Table
4.14
|
lack of proper financial management
|
|||||
|
|
|
Frequency
|
Percent
|
Valid Percent
|
Cumulative Percent
|
|
|
3.00
|
10
|
10.0
|
10.0
|
10.0
|
|
4.00
|
20
|
20.0
|
20.0
|
20.0
|
|
|
5.00
|
70
|
70.0
|
70.0
|
100.0
|
|
|
Total
|
100
|
100.0
|
100.0
|
|
|
For
every project, there is a budgeted amount that must be complied with in order
for the project to become a success, and lack of compliance will mean that the
project will be negatively influence. This is the notion presented in this case
in which it is being argued that lack of
proper financial management is an issue in the Malaysian construction industry
and the respondents have proven such to be right with 90% of the respondents
agreeing to such statement.
4.7 Summary
Project
management is an integral aspect of the modern economy and this is based on the
understanding that successful project management will help to create the right
wind of success in the sense that sustainability will induce constant inflow of
productivity and profitability. The Malaysian construction industry is widely
valued in the economy and this is because of the significant role that it plays
in economic development. This is the background from which the primary research
was conducted to understand the responsibilities of project managers, skills
needed to become a successful project manager and the issue facing project
management in the Malaysian construction industry. The finding from the paper reveals that the
responsibilities of project managers revolve around the four duties of
planning, executing, controlling and measurement. These factors will ensure
that the project process meets its set objectives. As such, project managers
are expected to have necessary skills for such, where lack of such will mean an
issue in the industry.
CHAPTER 5
DISCUSSION AND
CONCLUSION
From
the first stage of this paper, the purpose was identified as being designed to
understand the project management issues facing the Malaysian construction
industry and this is based on the understanding that such paper will yield high
significance in terms of improving the economic performance of the country.
Secondary
research was conducted to understand the theoretical background of the research
topic and present the right base for argument. The findings from the secondary
research reveals that the adoption of project management is fast growing and
this is because companies are now very sensitive to increasing profitability
through a subsequent increase in sustainability. The roles of project manager
have also noticeably changes and this is because of the changes in the present
economy which is shifting towards increased competition.
Based
on the secondary research, primary research was conducted to understand the
responsibilities of project managers, required skills and regulation. From the
analysis it was shown that the responsibilities of project managers revolves
around the four facets of plan, executive, control and measure, and project
managers need the skill sot ensure such process is a success.
The
conclusion presented from the analysis is that project management is a serious
issue and the lack of necessary guideline and steps will mean that project is
poorly managed and the project management process becomes incomplete. On that
account, numerous issues face project managers in Malaysia and these issues
influences the project management process. They come in the come of poor
planning, monitoring, controlling and execution.
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