Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master's Degree in Project Leadership and. The research problem addressed in this study is to identify project management strategies, activities and principles that will improve the ability of the National Public Works Department (NPWD) of the Eastern Cape to ensure ongoing successful project delivery.
INTRODUCTION
Chapter l: Introduction, problem statement and research summary 2 Since its establishment, the main policies of the Public Works Department (NPWD) have been to encourage the completion of work correctly, timely, effectively and efficiently. The theory of project management in the public sector seems simple: the client department submits a complaint or request and the project management component executes the required services to meet the needs of the client departments.
THE MAIN PROBLEM
The Chief Operating Officer (COO), Dr Sean Phillips (26 March 2003) further informed all senior government officials that the client department, namely the South African Police Services (SAPS) had made a decision to apply to the Treasury National for the transfer of the construction and maintenance budget from PKDHR to PSSP as a result of the inability of public works to complete the projects on time. What project management strategies, activities and principles will enhance the ability of the Eastern Cape National Public Works to ensure the continued successful delivery of the project.
SUB-PROBLEMS
In order to assess whether these project management strategies require regional input, we will be reaching out to the operational staff and management team of the Eastern Cape National Public Works Department to assess their views. Based on the announcement made by the COO, it became apparent that the failure of the strategies was due to the lack of involvement of the operational staff and management team of the Eastern Cape National Public Works Department in formulating the strategies.
OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH
Several separately developed strategies led to dissatisfaction among customer departments. Mintzberg argues that the "CEO should not typically be the one intimately involved in the detailed execution of the strategic planning and control process" as that person is not in the best position to ensure successful strategic planning.
DELIMITATION OF THE RESEARCH
- The organisation
- Geographic delimitation
- Respondents
- Scope of the research
The research was conducted to evaluate the existing project management strategies that are part of the organization's overall operational activities. A research instrument (questionnaire) to establish the existing and possible future project management strategies, procedures and activities in the organization was developed.
OUTLINE OF THE STUDY
This chapter discusses the requirements that project management strategies place on the employees and management of the organization. One of the most important things required in project management is managing expectations and relationships with stakeholders.
Contributing factors to successful project management. This chapter presents the nature of
CONCLUDING REMARKS
In the following chapters, a literature study will be conducted regarding the theories and practices available to develop strategies to improve the overall performance of a non-profit organization like NPWD. The empirical data obtained from the survey and brainstorming session will be analyzed and used to make recommendations to improve the project management effectiveness and efficiency of the NPWD in the Eastern Cape.
INTRODUCTION
The remainder of this chapter will discuss the term "strategy" and how it fits into overall strategic decision-making in the organization.
WHAT IS STRATEGY?
- Assessment of the present and future environment
- The internal environment: corporate self-appraisal
- Consistency in strategies
- The need for contingency strategies
Kerzner further advocates that even career planning for individual project managers ultimately plays a role in the organization's project management excellence or its mediocrity. This is the approach chosen for regulating resource flow in the transformation process by organizing the physical layout of equipment and labor around each operation (Hellreigel, Jackson and . Chapter 2: Literature Research on Project Management Strategies and Related Issues 21 Slocum.
THE IMPORTANCE OF A STRATEGY
STRATEGIES AND ETHICS
THE STRATEGY CONCEPT
FORMULATING A STRATEGIC PLAN
FORMULATING OF A PROJECT MANAGEMENT STRATEGY
- A project management implementation plan
Is the organization prepared to implement the operational restructuring that will be necessitated by a project management approach. It is clear that applying a project management approach will affect the well-being of a structure in place.
INTRODUCTION
The emphasis in this chapter will be on all the factors that contribute to successful project management. Since project management itself is such a diverse function, the chapter will continue with a focus on project planning and control techniques, and the role of leadership in the project context to assist with the intervention that will be addressed in the chapter five.
SYSTEMS THINKING AS A PERSPECTIVE
- What is a system?
- What is a function?
- Systems thinking
- How to deal with our most difficult problems
- A system model
- The essence of systems
- Learning
- Learning as a system
In the short term, there is a greater emphasis on the interactions with other parts of the system. The successful operation of a system requires the interrelationships of the outcome of events and behavior.
SYSTEMS THINKING WITHIN PROJECT MANAGEMENT
In response to these views, there are specific areas of concern within project management practice. When project management is clearly absorbed as a system, performance improvement capability becomes alive and realized.
PROJECT PLANNING AND CONTROL TECHNIQUES
- Project management tools
- Project life cycle
- Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
- Gantt charts
- Pert! Critical Path Method (CPM)
After the project manager has accepted the standard and quality of the building, permission will be given to take over the client. The WBS shows the effort needed to achieve predetermined goals that are critical to the project's success.
LEADERSHIP IN THE PROJECT MANAGEMENT CONTEXT
- Leading versus management
- Accuracy of the trait approach to leadership
- Behavioural approach to leadership
- The leadership grid
- Comparative analysis of the situational theories
Although extremely important, inclusion and empowerment are not part of the final chosen operation. According to Kreitner and others, the current situation, as suggested by situational theories, determines the effectiveness and efficiency of a certain behavioral leadership style.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
In South Africa, this change is amplified by the incredible political, social and economic transitions that began in the 1980s and continue at the beginning of this new century (April, Macdonald and Vriesendorp). To support the author's recommendations, an overview of the current practice situation of NPWD will be provided in the next chapter.
INTRODUCTION
ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE AND WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE
- The organisational structure
- Project flow and responsibilities
- Client services
- Emerging Contractors Development Programme (ECDP)
The client is then informed of the costs and only after approval of all relevant funds, the requests are returned to the Operations Department to start with the projects. It is also important to mention that project management was formally introduced to NPWD only five years ago, which resulted in the selected project managers focusing more on project management rather than leading the project team to achieve successfully the predetermined organizational objectives.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT CONSTRAINTS
- Project Manager
- Procurement and contractors
The transformation of the construction industry policy of the Government, which refers to the involvement of the PDIs, leads to a decrease in quality in the end product and increases the cost and dissatisfaction of customer departments. The NPWD faces many challenges in the form of criticism from the client communities and departmental contractors.
PROJECT DELIVERY
Contractors (PDIs) are not always available and sometimes are not financially able to begin the project immediately when an emergency repair is required. This results in the offer being canceled and must be returned to the purchasing department to re-invite offers.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
In this chapter, the author provided a brief overview of the current situation within NPWD to identify areas of concern that will be included in the intervention. The following chapter details the methodologies used for the study, describes the structure of the questionnaire, the process of the brainstorming session and the analysis of the biographical information of the respondents.
INTRODUCTION
RESEARCH DESIGN
Analysis of the findings of these three subproblems, together with the information obtained from the literature search for solving subproblem one, will solve the main problem. Leedy and Ormrod state that a common instrument for observing data beyond the physical reach of the observer is the questionnaire.
BRAINWRITING SESSION
- The process of brainwriting
- Affinity diagram
- Interrelationship
What is considered important is that the brainstorming rules must be strictly followed to ensure a desired outcome. Skymark (2003: 1) states that the affinity diagram was not initially intended to manage quality, but evolved to become the most widely used tool for planning and management.
DESIGN AND STRUCTURE OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE
The results of the questionnaire were used to identify critical areas within the project management department. The instructions in the questionnaire were to ensure that all respondents were treated equally.
THE USE OF STATISTICS TO ANALYSE A QUESTIONNAIRE
- Statistical packages
According to Wikipedia, SPSS for Windows is considered one of the most technically comprehensive packages on the market today. For the purpose of this study, SPSS Version 13.0 for Windows was used to analyze the findings.
CONDUCTING THE EMPIRICAL STUDY
- Pilot Study
- Administration of the Questionnaire
- Brainwriting Process
- Response rate
The questionnaire was faxed, emailed and personally delivered to the operations officer and representatives of the four main customer departments. An analysis of the answer information of the respondents was made using tables and a pie chart.
INTRODUCTION
The research results from part two are organized in tabular form and presented in the same order as the questions in the questionnaire. The SPSS Version 13.0 for Windows program was used to tabulate and process the collected data, and then converted the data into bar charts.
ANALYSIS OF OVERALL RESPONSES
- Project Management Strategy
- Structural and infrastructure decision areas
- Knowledge management strategy
Section two concentrated on the level of importance and the level of performance of structural and infrastructure decision areas within the project management department. The analysis and interpretation of the results of the empirical study was undertaken in terms of the objectives of the research as stated in chapter one.
INTRODUCTION
PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED
Phone calls proved fruitless and the researcher could only assume that those who did not respond were on leave or out of the office indefinitely or did not wish to respond.
SUMMARY OF THE RESEARCH FINDINGS
- Findings from the empirical study
- Findings of the brainwriting session
It was clear that while respondents understood the importance of a project management strategy to an organization, some key employees were not fully aware of NPWD's project management strategy. Another concern is that only a few employees had any input into formulating the strategy deployed within NPWD.
OBSERVATION DURING THE BRAINWRITING SESSION
Everyone in the organization must pull together to ensure that the strategy implemented in NPWD works. It is therefore extremely important for the organization to ensure that all divisions work towards a common goal.
SECTION 1
Please complete the following questionnaire by circling it for all who have direct contact or dealing with Operations: Project Management of the National Public Works Department (NPWD).
SECTION 2
SECTION 1: PROJECT MANAGEMENT STRATEGY
SECTION 2: STRUCTURAL AND INFRASTUCTURAL DECISION AREAS
You are invited to participate in a research project entitled "Identification of Strategies, Activities and Principles of Project Management for successful implementation in the Public Sector". Master's Degree: Leadership and Management of Research Project Research Project: Shahied Davids full names of the participant) I confirm that I understand the content of this document and the nature of the research project and I agree to participate in the research project.
