Professional project management practices in Kuwait: issues, difficulties and recommendations

Abstract

The constant need for improved contracting systems to deliver projects gave rise to a whole new project delivery system that came to be known as Project Management (PM). The goal was to cut down the delivery time, control the projects' cost, and assure the quality of the executed works. In recent years, the government sector in Kuwait started employing firms, especially American firms including Turner, Bechtel and Parson, to essentially provide management services required to control their projects during construction. This paper presents the results of a survey questionnaire which is supported by a series of interviews to investigate the shortcomings, difficulties and limitations encountered by the project/construction management (PM/CM) system implementation at some government and semi-government projects. The questionnaire was guided by personal interviews with top experts in this field from the different participants in the project life cycle. The paper concludes by highlighting the successes and shortcomings of this arrangement, along with recommendations for better implementation of project management in Kuwait. The results of this research are applicable, to a large extent, to other developing countries, especially those in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) since these countries share similar economical, political, governmental, geographical, technical, social and cultural characteristics.