Public Sector Infrastructure Projects Research Articles

Critical success factors for cost overrun minimization in public construction projects in developing countries: the case of Ghana

Purpose It is widely accepted that one criterion for determining if a construction project is successful is whether it is completed within the expected budget. There have been advancements in the management of building projects throughout time but cost overruns remain a key concern in the construction sector internationally, particularly in emerging economies such as Ghana. This study aims to answer the question, “What are the critical success factors (CSFs) that can assist reduce cost overruns in public sector infrastructure projects in the Ghanaian construction industry?” Design/methodology/approach This study used a quantitative survey method. The questionnaire was pre-tested by interviewing 15 contractors to ascertain the validity of the content. Factor analysis and multiple regression were adopted to analyze the data. Findings This study discovered that the critical factors that can reduce cost overruns in construction projects in Ghana are directly linked to five themes: early contractor involvement in the project planning stage, adequate funding, good project team relations, competent managers/supervisors and project participant incentives/bonuses. This study identifies indestructible, empirically measurable important success criteria for reducing cost overruns in public building projects in Ghana. Practical implications When well thought through from the project initiation stage to completion, these critical successes can also be used to deal with damaging economic effects such as allocative inefficiency of scarce resources, further delays, contractual disputes, claims and litigation, project failure and total abandonment. Originality/value The uniqueness of this research resides in the fact that it is, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, a first-of-its-kind investigation of the CSFs for reducing cost overruns in public building projects in developing countries.

Risk Evaluation of Cost Overruns (COs) in Public Sector Construction Projects: A Fuzzy Synthetic Evaluation

In the Small Island Developing States (SIDS), public sector infrastructure projects (PSIPs) fail to both meet targeted performance metrics and deliver on the intended benefits to society. In terms of the cost performance metric, cost overruns (COs) beyond the initial contract value are more of a norm than a unique occurrence. Therefore, to ensure economic sustainability for SIDS, and value for money on PSIPs, there is a need to investigate and evaluate the risk impacts on COs. The purpose of this research was to identify and evaluate the perceived cost overrun risk factors that are within the primary project stakeholders’ sphere of control, and to reduce the ongoing ambiguities that exist in the prioritization of these risks. This was achieved by extracting critical risk factors from selected comparative studies in developing countries to formulate a closed-ended questionnaire to be administered to construction professionals in Trinidad and Tobago. Thereafter, the process of fuzzy synthetic evaluation (FSE) was used to develop a risk model based on three tiers of risks: 11 critical risk factors, 3 critical risk groupings (CRGs) and an overall risk level (ORL). The results showed that the two highest-ranked critical risks were project funding problems and variations by client. The leading critical risk grouping was client-related risk (5.370), followed by professional-related risk (4.815) and physical risk (4.870). The ORL was 5.068. Based on the FSE’s linguistic scaling, the CRGs and the ORL are perceived to be high risks in PSIPs. This research adds to the CO body of knowledge in primarily three ways. Firstly, the study extends the comparative assessment previously undertaken in scholarship into the context of SIDS to build on the generalizability of this context-specific phenomenon. Secondly, the FSE evaluation undertaken provides a practical tool to be promoted for use in SIDS’ construction industry among practitioners to focus and prioritize the critical risks in the planning phases and improve on contemporary risk practices in the execution phases of projects. Finally, this quantitative model approach is recommended to supplement the traditional qualitative risk management practices adopted in SIDS, thus contributing towards the overall improved economic sustainability and viability of PSIPs.

Stakeholder Management in Public Sector Infrastructure Projects

Stakeholder Management in Public Sector Infrastructure Projects

Decision-making Process in Infrastructure Projects and Losses due to Delayed Decision-making in Public Sector Projects of Pakistan

In recent years, the subject of decision-making in public infrastructure projects has become an important topic not only in project management but also in programme and portfolio management literature. Today, interdisciplinary projects are becoming a key focus in the collection, design and execution of government-sponsored programmes. With the various underlying risks and uncertainties, developed countries greatly depend on strategic planning regarding decision-making in infrastructure projects, whereas, in developing countries, the public sector programmes and projects are greatly affected by the lack of standardised and robust decision-making. This is primarily due to the lack of expertise to deal with the increasing complexity of the projects. This article aims at analysing the decision-making process in infrastructure development programmes/projects and discusses the factors affecting the decision-making process and thereby statistically chalking out the key losses caused by the delay in decision-making process in the public sector infrastructure projects of Pakistan. The findings will contribute towards understanding the criticality of decision-making process and mitigating the delay factors by encouraging to introduce standardisation in decision-making processes in the public sector. JEL Classification: C51, D7, D91, L74, O18

Analysis of Cost and Schedule Performance of Public Sector Infrastructure Projects of Bangladesh

Projects completed beyond its stipulated time and budget is a chronic problem in public sector infrastructural project ofBangladesh. The present study aims to know the average time and cost overrun including identifying significant factorsencountered for delay and cost escalation. Data from 92 completed projects in FY 2016-17 were collected from theannual reports of Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) of four selected executing agenciesresponsible for infrastructuredevelopment in Bangladesh. Considering COVID-19 pandemic, data were also collectedthrough phone interview from 20 selected experts involving the major project stakeholders such as consultants,contractors and project management’s team of implementing agencies. The study found that completed infrastructuralprojects experienced both cost and time overrun by 38.45% and 90.47% respectively. Projects were implemented under4.7 numbers of Project directors on average. The time overrun of a project is positively correlated with the number ofProject Directors worked in a project with Pearson Correlation Coefficient of 0.268** (n= 92) at .01 level ofsignificance. Delay in land acquisition and change of design and schedules of rates were the prominent causes for costescalation. On the other hand, Complexity in land acquisition procedure and lack of proper coordination among theparties contributed greatly for schedule delays in construction project. Lack of institutional capacity of implementingagencies to implement the project, natural disasters, designchanges, project approval and implementation withouthaving complete feasibility study also hamper on time project completion. Although there are no straightforwardsolutions, estimating justified project scheduling with clear scope definition preferably through feasibility study wouldlessen the necessity of project revision. Strong coordination among various parties and effective communication amongthe stakeholders are vital at implementation stage. Systematic HRM especially recruitment and transfer of projectpersonnel, development of project management competency and strengthening government ME system throughdecentralization would be effective for implementation and monitoring and thereby improving project success in termscost and schedule. The findings of this study will assist project managers and practitioners to control any potentialdelaysfor successful completion projects within the stipulated budget

Analysing outsourced and insourced public infrastructure projects’ performance in a provincial department of public works: a grounded theory approach

PurposeAn increase in outsourcing of consultancy services has been observed during procurement and delivery of public-sector infrastructure projects. However, the incidence of project failure has continued unabated despite this shift by public-sector entities. Also, there appears to be limited literature focussed on seeking to provide the rationale governing the decision to outsource or insource consultancy services by public-sector organisations. The purpose of this study was to appraise the performance of public-sector projects in which consultancy services have been outsourced or insourced. These are the gaps which this study was undertaken to fill.Design/methodology/approachA grounded theory methodology (GTM) research design was adopted based on the nature of evidence sought and gathered from a Provincial Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (PDPWI) in South Africa. Data was obtained from a mixture of semi-structured interviews and project-specific documents spanning a five-year period and was analysed according to the procedures associated with GTM. Accordingly, open coding, axial coding and pattern matching were carried out at several intervals to develop categories and themes.FindingsThe findings of the study showed the absence of a structured approach within the PDPWI for facilitating decisions pertaining to outsourcing or insourcing consultancy services within construction projects. Furthermore, the study established that both approaches yielded similar results across all performance facets of cost, time and quality. In addition, a detailed insight into the steps required for the successful application of GTM in built environment research has been provided in the study.Originality/valueLimited studies have been undertaken to compare the impact of either outsourced or insourced services on the organisational and project performance. This was the gap to which the study reported in this paper was undertaken to contribute.

EXPLORING THE ROLE OF PROJECT GOVERNANCE AND STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT IN PUBLIC SECTOR INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS

In developing countries, governance of public sector projects is becoming increasingly more complex due to the varying nature of stakeholders and their expectations from the government to address their interest. As a result, policymakers and sponsoring agencies are more focusing on stakeholder management to ensure smooth execution, high performance and achieving desired outcomes. This study has conducted a systematic appraisal of the relevant literature to explore the thematic discussions on the role of project governance and stakeholder management in public sector infrastructure projects of Pakistan. The analysis reveals that project governance and stakeholder management is not widely been discussed in the Pakistan specific studies. Therefore, this research proposes project governance and stakeholder management as key concerns of government decision-making strategies.

Public Policy and Projects: Impact of Intranational Jurisdictional Concurrency on Construction Disputes

Without conclusive settlement of disputes, uses of public sector infrastructure projects as public policy instruments might risk impeachment. With this in mind, we set out in this study to explore how public policy impacts the finality of dispute resolutions conducted within public sector infrastructure project spaces. We used empirical data obtained from opinion coding of 220 decided disputes conducted in the United Arab Emirates between 1992 and 2018. Findings suggest differences in attitude among the courts in the United Arab Emirates in the interpretation and application of public policy as a basis for nullifying arbitral awards. This finding suggests that the existence of a series of parallel courts, a mixed legal jurisdiction, and multiple and concurrent intranational laws, combined with the intractable nature of public policy, can significantly impact the conclusive settlement of public sector infrastructure project disputes.

Improving the Performance of Public Sector Infrastructure Projects: Role of Project Governance and Stakeholder Management

Project governance and stakeholder management have been acknowledged as substantial areas of organizational concern for the successful delivery of projects. However, its full functions are yet to be explored for the performance of government-sponsored infrastructure projects due to the inherent complexities and uncertainties that arise from their unique socioeconomic perspective in developing countries. Therefore, this research investigates the dimensions of project governance (i.e., portfolio direction; sponsorship effectiveness and efficiency; and disclosure and reporting) effects on project performance through the correlation of stakeholder management. Based on the stakeholder theory, a moderation model was proposed and a survey questionnaire was designed to get feedback from the respondents of the government policy and planning departments of Pakistan. Structural equation modeling was the core statistical technique for testing the hypotheses. The findings of moderation analysis show that project governance has a positive relation with project performance at medium and higher regression coefficients values of stakeholder management. Inversely, at low regression values, this relationship is negative and insignificant. This research contributes to the literature as the significant interaction of stakeholder management could amplify the effect of project governance, subsequently enhancing the performance of public infrastructure projects.

Exploring the Role of Project Governance and Stakeholder Management in Public Sector Infrastructure Projects

In developing countries, governance of public sector projects is becoming increasingly more complex due to the varying nature of stakeholders and their expectations from the government to address their interest. As a result, policymakers and sponsoring agencies are more focusing on stakeholder management to ensure smooth execution, high performance and achieving desired outcomes. This study has conducted a systematic appraisal of the relevant literature to explore the thematic discussions on the role of project governance and stakeholder management in public sector infrastructure projects of Pakistan. The analysis reveals that project governance and stakeholder management is not widely been discussed in the Pakistan specific studies. Therefore, this research proposes project governance and stakeholder management as key concerns of government decision-making strategies.

Management competencies, complexities and performance in engineering infrastructure projects of Pakistan

PurposeThe complexity of projects has become a serious issue and obstacle in their successful completion. In order to overcome these complexities, it has become imperative to identify the relevant management competencies of project managers. The purpose of this paper is to address the problem of cost, time and scope in engineering infrastructure projects due to their complexities through management competencies.Design/methodology/approachIn the first phase of the study, 32 experts were interviewed through semi-structured pre-tested questionnaire. In this phase, essential elements of complexities were identified initially. This was followed by finding required dimensions of competencies to counter these complexities and to acquire improved performance. In the final stage, required levels of competencies for specific elements of complexity were identified. In the second phase, 85 “project managers” were also approached to get feedback about their recently completed public sector engineering infrastructure projects in Pakistan.FindingsThe study identified additional dimensions, i.e. honesty, enthusiasm and dedication, in the case of competencies and adverse law and order situation, political instability, land issues, energy crisis and weak authorization of project managers in the case of complexities. Leadership, management skill, communication skill, effectiveness and result orientation were identified as top quality traits required. The study concluded that there is a significant impact of management competencies and complexities on project performance.Originality/valueThe study contributes to a better understanding of how to improve performance in complex engineering infrastructure projects through adopting management competencies. It also empirically illustrates the relations among project management competencies, complexities and project performance. Although the research is grounded on public sector infrastructure projects, its findings may also be helpful for practices in project management of other sectors.

Deficiencies in Project Governance: An Analysis of Infrastructure Development Program

The governance of public sector infrastructure projects became an important topic of interest in the project, program, and portfolio management literature during the last decade. Today, it is becoming a central focus for policymakers seeking to ensure success in selecting, designing, and implementing government-sponsored programs of multi-projects. Due to the multiple underlying risks and complexities, the governance of infrastructure programs constitutes a critical element in strategic planning in developing countries. This paper has analyzed the infrastructure development program in Gilgit-Baltistan (Northern Pakistan), and revealed major shortcomings in the areas of decision-making, stakeholder management, and role ambiguity. Approaches to remedy these shortcomings have, thus, been proposed.

Investigating the Practices of Project Governance in Public Sector Infrastructure Program in Pakistan

The governance of public sector infrastructure projects became an important area of interest in the literature on project management. Today, it is a focal point for policymakers to ensure successful appraisal and implementation of government‐sponsored programs. This paper aims to investigate the current practices of project governance (PG) for steering the public sector infrastructure program in Pakistan. An empirical investigation was carried out among professionals of public sector organizations involved in different infrastructure development projects. Latent construct of PG was validated through second‐order confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and quantified the three dimensions of PG, i.e., portfolio direction (PD), sponsorship, effectiveness, and efficiency (SEE), and disclosure and reporting (DR) through the relative importance index (RII) method. The result showed that DR is among the least practicing dimension having RII = 0.55, while PD and SEE have shown similar prevalence with RII = 0.70 and 0.69, respectively. Overall, the most practicing item in the PG was “the alignment of portfolios with objectives and strategy” whereas the lowest practicing item relates to the “completeness of project information distribution due to the multi‐layered bureaucratic system.” The findings of this study will guide the decision makers to take appropriate measures for enhancing the effectiveness of PG in Pakistan.

Lessons from transforming a South African special-purpose vehicle into a project implementation agency

The Trans-Caledon Tunnel Authority was established in 1986 as a special-purpose vehicle to implement the South African side of the binational Lesotho Highlands Water Project. In 2000, it was transformed into a generic public project implementing agency. In this role, it has funded and implemented the timely and economical delivery of large strategic water projects. Its implementation methodologies avoided many of the risks associated with such projects, due largely to the disciplines imposed by its financing model. However, the organisation remains subject to political uncertainties, which means that its project pipeline is dependent on unpredictable mandates, which limits its ability to plan its operations. It nevertheless provides a useful case study of the mobilisation of private finance for public sector infrastructure projects as well as the political challenges inherent in public sector institutional reform.

Comparison of two infrastructure project implementation models in a developing country

A comparative analysis of public sector infrastructure projects implemented using a traditional public sector model against projects implemented using a modern management contractor model is presented. Traditionally, the implementation of public sector construction projects in South Africa is undertaken by an implementer such as the Department of Public Works. However, in 2014, the Western Cape Education Department created a framework contract and employed two management contractors with single-point accountability to implement maintenance and upgrading projects alongside those implemented in the traditional manner. A total of 122 projects implemented by management contractors are evaluated and compared with 35 implemented by the Western Cape Department of Transport and Public Works based on the cost performance, time performance and professional services costs of the two approaches. The practice of including contingency and provisional sums in contracts distorts the cost performance analysis, and superficial comparisons can be misleading. The management contracts delivered more projects on time. The professional services costs associated with management contracts was 9·2% compared to 15·6% for public works projects. The overall evidence demonstrates that the management contracting system is efficient and suited to the nature of maintenance and upgrading projects and delivers significant advantages.

Cost performance of public infrastructure projects: the nemesis and nirvana of change-orders

The cost performance of a wide range of public sector infrastructure projects completed by a contractor are analysed and discussed. Change-orders after a contract to construct an asset was signed were, on average, found to contribute to a 23.75% increase in project costs. A positive association between an increase in change orders and the contractor’s margin were identified. Taxpayers pay for this additional cost, while those charged with constructing assets are rewarded with an increase in their margins. As the public sector embraces an era of digitisation, there is a need to improve the integration of design and construction activities and engender collaboration to ensure assets can be delivered cost effectively and future-proofed. The research paper provides empirical evidence for the public sector to re-consider the processes that are used to deliver their infrastructure assets so as to reduce the propensity for cost overruns and enable future-proofing to occur.

Partnered Project Performance in Texas Department of Transportation

Partnering traditionally refers to strategic alliances or agreements between private sector owners and construction contractors to work together for extended periods of time to deliver completed facilities. Private sector partnering typically begins before the preproject planning phase of a project. The public sector is constrained by laws that ensure the presence of fair competition in all contract awards and prohibits establishment of long-term relationships. Therefore, public sector partnering usually begins after the bid has been awarded for construction. Despite the existence of these constraints, the Texas Department of Transportation has been successful when partnering on a project-by-project basis. Quantitative data are presented that indicate partnering is having a positive effect on completion times, dispute resolution, and project team relations. Subjective data from nearly 900 participants are also provided that further support an emergence of partnering as a viable contract administration alternative for public sector infrastructure projects. Finally, based on the results of the analysis, conclusions and recommendations are presented to serve as benchmarks for future studies of the use of partnering on infrastructure projects.

INTRODUCTION TO THE HONK KONG AIRPORT CORE PROGRAMME.

The US$ 20 billion Hong Kong Airport Core Programme is one of the largest infrastructure developments in the world. In addition to a brand new airport on reclaimed land capable of handling up to 87 million passengers and 9 Mt of cargo a year, it includes a highly complex 34 km road and rail link to the Central district of Hong Kong and a variety of associated development schemes. Completed on time and to budget despite a background of economic and political upheaval, the project serves as a role model for major public sector infrastructure projects and is a testament to Sino-British co-operation.