project management profession – a critical...

Project Management – A Critical Competency for Delivery of

Infrastructure Projects in Zimbabwe.

Engineer Tororiro Isaac Chaza B. Sc. Eng, MBA, MIET, MZwIE, PMP

Torchpmo (Pvt.) Ltd. [email protected]

9th ZIE Biennial Congress 2017 (5-9 Sept. 2017)

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

ABSTRACT

• Zim Asset policy document (Government of Zimbabwe, 2013).

– The envisaged economic recovery spearheaded by massive infrastructure projects carried out at Public Sector level, Private

Sector level, and collaborative Public-Private-Partnership level.

• For successful implementation of Zim Asset:-

– the critical need for developing the project management profession to buttress the competencies of subject matter experts (accidental project managers) within the public sector.

– project governance framework to enable the appropriate oversight of public sector projects, a number which qualify to be termed ‘mega projects’ by their sheer complexity, capital budget and societal impact.

9th ZIE Biennial Congress 2017 (5-9 Sept. 2017) 2

Zim Asset Programme1

• Zim Asset programme intends to role out a number of key infrastructure development project, chief of which are, inter alia:-

– Water and Sanitation Infrastructure

– Public amenities,

– Information and Communication Technology,

– Energy and power supplies,

– Transport (road, rail, marine and air).


Zim Asset Implementation

• Implementation of Zim Asset through:-

– acceleration in the implementation of Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) and other private sector driven initiatives,” and

– secondly the Integrated Results Based Management (IRBM) system, which is based on generating a number of key performance metrics and monitoring and reporting on their progress.


• The overseeing and coordinating organization is given as the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC).

• The ZIM ASSET strategies are not explicit on the need for proper project management practice and project governance.

• Reliance on processes and methodology such as IRBM without the requisite project management skills and project governance can result in a high rate of project failure.

Zim Asset Oversight


• (Chima 2016):-

– Corruption

– Lack of project management skills,

– Lack of resources,

– failure to include the local community in planning, project implementation, operations and

– no arrangement for maintenance and operation of the project deliverables.

Causes of Public Sector Projects Failure 1


• For the purposes of this paper, project success criteria is basically deemed as:-

– project completed within the project’s scope, time and cost baselines, even with acceptable variances,

– quality and functionality met to the client’s satisfaction, and

– the stated benefits realization is being achieved.

• Outside these criteria a project is deemed highly stressed if it has significant overruns on the baselines, or

• it is considered a failure as it may be abandoned before completion, or it fails to realize the intended benefits.

Project Success Criteria


• Rwelamila, 2007 – studied large infrastructural departments in South Africa - public sector project-oriented organisations (POO) were performing poorly in terms of project delivery mainly due to employment of untrained ‘accidental’ project managers.

• The study recommended the adoption of project management as a core competence, which entails overhaul of the POO management structures and cultures, and establishing project manager’s development programme.



• Amponsah 2012 – in a study of why public sector projects fail in Ghana, found out that:-

– only 46% of public sector interviewees involved in project imlpementation had some form of knowledge of project management techniques,

– whilst a whopping 54% had no knowledge in project management.



• In identifying a Croatian mega water project’s causes of failure, Penović, L 2014 cites three issues as

– absence of program leadership in program management,

– undeveloped mechanism of harmonizing stakeholders’ interests, and

– undefined ownership of the program.



• The Comptroller and Auditor Report (2011) on the Zimbabwe National Water Authority’s (ZINWA) attributes poor project performamce to a litany of shortcomings, which are:- – delays (schedule overruns) in the completion of projects leading to

unnecessary increase in costs(cost overruns) because of failure to prioritize projects,

– selection of incompetent contractors, – awarding too many contracts to one company, – delays in payment of certificates of contractors, – failure to adequately monitor and supervise projects, – delays in the release of counterpart funding by Government , – delays in approving design changes, – lack of adequate technicians and engineers and unavailability of

equipment for the projects.

• These shortcomings are considered indicative of weaknesses in project management skills and project governance in government bodies.

Causes of Public Sector Projects Failure - Zimbabwean Example


• These shortcomings in one government body are considered a telltale display of the common condition of State financed projects.

• The Comptroller and Auditor Report (2011) cites serious schedule overruns and hence cost overruns.

• For example the Tokwe Mukosi Dam’s – schedule baseline was 1998 to 2004, i.e. 6 years. – At the time of the Audit report (2009) it was 60% complete and

experienced a 5 year delay. – It was recently completed in December 2016, a total schedule of 18

years, representing a schedule overrun of 300%. – The Zimbabwe Government (www.zim.gov.org) reported on 19 May

2017 states that the project capital cost (baseline) was $250 million.It is not clear if the actual project costs where within the baseline at completion.

Causes of Public Sector Projects Failure - Zimbabwean Example


• The PMBOK® 5th ed 2013 defines project governance as an essential framework which “provides the project manager and team with structure, processes, decision-making models and tools for managing the project, while supporting and controlling the project for successful delivery.”

• It is deduced then that for a project to be successfully executed, an organization needs to implement the following mandatory pillars:- – a well-defined project management practice, inculcated across

the organization,

– a project governance structure aligned with corporate governance,

– the requisite project management skills and tools, and

– skilled SMEs.

Project Governance



PMBOK®5thedition2013

KnowledgeAreas Initiation Planning ExecutionMonitoringand

Controlling

Closing

ProjectIntegrationManagement

ProjectScopeManagementProjectScheduleManagement

ProjectCostManagementProjectQualityManagement

ProjectHumanResourcesManagementProjectCommunicationsManagement

ProjectRiskManagementProjectProcurementManagement

ProjectStakeholderManagement

ProjectManagementProcessGroups

Project Management Processes

47 Processes

• Government led infrastructure projects are normally very large (mega) and related projects are clustered into one program.

• Hamdy, K. (2010) describes mega projects as combining the following characteristics, inter alia:- – Monetary budget

– Physical size (height, length, width)

– Size of labor force

– Complexity and uniqueness

– The nature of the project impact (economic, social, political)

– The spread of the project impact (local, national, regional, international)

Mega Projects 1


• Current public sector governance for project implementation is implied in, inter alia:- – The Procurement Act [Chapter 22:14], establishes the State

Procurement Board (SPB) mandated to regulate and manage the public procurement process in all government ministries, public entities and local authorities in line with public procurement law.

– The Prevention of Corruption Act [Chapter 9:16], which focuses on prevention of corruption by prescribing a code of conduct, policing thereof and criminalization for non- compliance.

– The Public Finance Management Act [Chapter 22:19], which seeks to secure accountability, transparency and sound management of public resources.

– The Joint venture Act – governing and enabling PPPs.

Current Project Governance in the Public Sector in Zimbabwe 1


• The Zimbabwean legislation, as amended, emphasize:-

– ‘procurement’ procedures,

– prevention of corruption,

– and sound management of public resources,

• Legislation is mute on execution, monitoring and controlling and project closure.

• There seems to be no enacted guideline or procedure on project management and project governance for public sector in the laws of Zimbabwe which.

• This constitutes the fundamental problem in the delivery of state capital projects.

Current Project Governance in the Public Sector in Zimbabwe 2


• Governments worldwide undertake mega projects and hence the need for robust project management governance in order to increase the probability of success and hence save millions/billions in taxpayers money. In the developing countries governments take an active role in project management advocacy

• The United Kingdom – The Government set up a central Major

Projects Authority (MPA) in 2011, by way of a Prime Ministerial Mandate

• Canada - The Government made a policy directive to set up the Major

Projects Management Office (MPMO) in 2007.

PM Practices Within The Public Sector – Best Practice Case Studies 1


• European Union (EU) - The PMI issued a press release commending the EU Council for adopting the Common Provisions Regulation for EU Cohesion and Structural Funds for 2014-2020. Embedded in the provisions are specific recommendations regarding project management.

• Pakistan - the Chief Minister’s Project Management Initiative (CMPMI) mandated the creation of the Project Management Unit (PMU) to oversee government projects.



• United States of America - In 2016, the outgoing President Barack Obama signed into law S.1550, the Program Management Improvement and Accountability Act of 2015 (PMIAA). The purpose of this bill is to enhance accountability and best practices in project and program management throughout the federal government. Among the key objectives of the bill is the institution of best practice project management within the public sector.



• In order for successful implementation of infrastructure projects in Zimbabwe, there is need to develop policies which seek to emulate the best practices as seen in other countries:- – Talent development in Project Management: public sector subject matter

experts and their private sector partners and consultants to train and acquire internationally recognized Project Management certifications.

– Public Sector Bid Conditionality: the bidder for public sector infrastructure projects must have proof of project management capabilities such as Project Management certification from internationally recognized certifying institution.

– A Public Sector Project Governance Framework: to enable the formation of centralized or decentralized public sector Project Management Offices (PMOs).

– Funding Conditionality: infrastructure project funding to be tied to the proof of implementation of the Project Governance Framework and the use of trained and certified resources rather than ‘accidental’ project managers.

Implementation of Best Practice in Zimbabwe


• Governments in various parts of the developed and developing world are putting in place policies that enhance success in delivery of public projects by the instituting project management capabilities and project governance within the public sector.

• Implementation of such policies in Zimbabwe will result in hundreds of millions of dollars being saved in infrastructure project implementation.

Conclusion 1


• Without such, the failure rate of projects will be high, accompanied by opportunistic corruption.

• Further studies are required in Zimbabwe in order to establish project management metrics for success and to ascertain the current level of public sector projects failure or success rate.

• Policy formulation has to be tailored to suit the local environment.

Conclusion 2

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References

• Amponsah, R. ( 2012). The Real Project Failure Factors and the Effect of Culture on Project Management in Ghana. Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (Gimpa) Accra, Ghana Investment Climate and Business Environment Research Fund (ICBE-RF) Research Report No. 45/12

• Chaza T. I. (2016) Project Governance, The Missing Link, inter alia, in the Fight Against Corruption in Public and Private Sector Projects. PM World Journal, Vol. V, Issue XI – November 2016

• Chima Okereke O. (2017) Causes of failure and abandonment of projects and project deliverables in Africa. PM World Journal Vol. VI, Issue I – January 2017

• Darrell, Vanessa (2010) - Demystifying the folklore of the accidental project manager in the public sector - Project Management Journal, Vol. 41, No. 5, 56–6

• Flyvbjerg, B. (2014) - "What You Should Know about Megaprojects and Why: An Overview," Project Management Journal, vol. 45, no. 2, April-May, pp. 6-19, DOI: 10.1002/pmj.21409

• Government of Zimbabwe 2011 – Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General on the Management of Dam Construction and Water Supply Projects by the Zimbabwe National Water Authority, Presented to the Parliamnet of Zimbabwe 2011.

• Government of Zimbabwe 2013 -Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (Zim Asset) “Towards an Empowered Society and a Growing Economy” OCTOBER 2013- DECEMBER 2018

• Hamdy, K. (2010). The essential role of leadership in managing mega projects. Paper presented at PMI® Global Congress 2010—North America, Washington, DC. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute.

• Khan, K. A. (2006) Project Management Reform Experience in a Public Sector Environment. Originally published as a part of 2007 PMI Global

• Penović, L. (2014) - Structuring of Public Infrastructure Mega Projects. PM World Journal Vol. III, Issue I – January 2014

• Project Management Institute 2013 - A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) 5th Edition.

• Rwelamila, P.M.D. (2007). Project Management Competence in Public Sector Infrastructure Organisations. Construction Management and Economics 25, 55-66, Congress Proceedings – Hong Kong.


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