Influence of Project Management Practices on Construction Projects in Rwanda
Abstract
The construction industry is among the leading sectors in economic growth of Rwanda. Most of construction projects failed to maintain their schedules, and remain within budgetary costs; this despite there being knowledge of project management practices introduced in construction project. Generally this study aimed to investigate influence of project management practices on construction project in Rwanda. 99 survey questionnaires were administered to 99 active contractors and consultants registered in RPPA. It was found that 91.9 % of respondents confirmed that they applied project management practices in their daily assignments however 74.7 % got skills from experience, therefore majority in industry are not professional managers. Construction planning like risk plan, communication plan are not done satisfactory, 77.7% confirmed that risk plan analysis is less applied; few analysis done the top management involvement is not satisfactory, uncertainties contribute a lot in time and cost overruns. Other researches revealed that the best organization structure is project-based and matrix while it was found that in Rwanda 85.8 % confirmed the functional structure, the later was proved not suitable in multidisplinary projects. The study concluded that industry has not professionals in management therefore less application of management practices. The contractors and consultants are recommended to encourage their engineers to go ahead management classes or profession trainings (PMI, PRINCE 2, AGILE….) to save the construction industry.
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Introduction
The construction industry is one of the major industries contributing significantly to the socio-economic development growth (Choge&Muturi, 2014). Project management emerged because of the growing demand for complex, sophisticated, customized goods and services and the exponential expansion of human knowledge (Bakouros&Kelessidis, 2000). Standish (2013), according to a recent Standish Group survey report, 61% of the projects either failed or was challenged to meet success criteria; and 74% faced schedule overruns.
Numerous researches have outlined the issue of poor time and cost performance of construction projects worldwide. In a study of 8,000 projects, found that only 16% of the projects could satisfy the three famous performance criteria: completing projects on time, within budgeted cost and quality standard, while in a global study on cost overrun issues in transport infrastructure projects covering 258 projects in 20 nations concluded that 9 out 10 projects face cost overrun. Time and cost overrun has been reported as major problems globally (Aftab, Ismail, & Ade, 2012).
Rwanda has seen a significant rise in infrastructure developments in the recent past, especially in the fields of real estate development. However, many house construction projects have failed to achieve project success due to increase risk and uncertainty (Njagi, Mbabazi, & Kibachia, 2016). There are also various failed or abandoned projects which have denied beneficiaries envisaged facilities and services. Contracts for 78 projects worth Frw 126,052,898,036 delayed and were not completed within contract period. Out of these, 14 projects worth Frw 3,368,946,434 failed to proceed or contracts were abandoned after paying Frw 1,898,334,461 to the contractors (OAG, 2014). In addition, report on 8th July, 2016 by KT Press Team an editor in Kigali Today newspaper stated that Regional Convention Centre get opened after failing 3 times, Kigali convention centre is worth$300 Million, commenced in 2009, was initially supposed to be completed and opened in 2011 but had to be postponed several times till 2016. 1.1 Statement Of The Problem Most of construction projects failed to maintain their schedules, and remain within budgetary costs; this despite there being knowledge of project management practices introduced in construction project. According to Munns& Bjeirmi, (1996), the definition of project management suggests a shorter term and more specific context for success. The outcomes of project management success are many. They would include the obvious indicators of completion to budget, satisfying the project schedule, adequate quality standards, and meeting the project goal. Construction managers plan, coordinate, budget, and supervise construction projects from development to completion. In spite of so many efforts, man hours and resources, we still find it very difficult to finish construction projects on time within budget and available resources (Pranam, Madhusudan, & Sudharshan, 2013). This brings to focus the effectiveness of the said project management practices introduced in construction sector. 1.2 Aim And Objectives The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of Project management practices on construction project in Rwanda. The specific objectives are: 1. To describe the context of project management practices that are applied in Rwanda, 2. To identify the most required practices and characteristics of an effective project manager, 3. To develop a project management framework that will be used in construction project in Rwanda.
Conclusion
This study used literature review and questionnaire survey methods, to achieve its aim of investigating the influence of Project management practices on construction project in Rwanda. The study concludes that there is a lot that the construction industry itself can do to improve the performance in construction project management. The weakness of construction project management is a key cause of most of project failures like lack of professional managers. The generalization of this study can be applied on entire population as the sample data used was efficient. The results of this study are the paramount academic
