Coursework Scenario
Construction projects are difficult but not impossible to manage!
Construction Project Management is the art of managing projects so that they are delivered successfully.
It has been described as the overall control and coordination of all activities necessary, from inception to completion, towards the realisation of a completed asset that meets a client’s expectations with respect to function, utility, schedule and budget.
The track record of project management in fulfilling this description, in the case of construction projects, is significantly less than perfect. Empirical evidence suggests that construction projects in the UK have approximately a 50% chance of being completed in accordance with their targeted objectives. Outside the UK it has been reported that approximately 65% of all infrastructure projects it supports encounter budget and schedule overruns.
Despite this, it is clear that SOME construction projects are managed and delivered successfully. Academics, theorists and practitioners have debated the causes of project failure and various recipes for success.
Since some projects are delivered successfully while others aren’t, it is reasonable to suppose that there could be some ‘ingredients’ that can be found within the successful projects that are missing from the unsuccessful projects. On the other hand, construction projects are inherently uncertain, complex, and extremely varied one from another, so it could be countered that success or failure may not be directly within the direct control of individual project managers or project management teams, rather being determined by certain factors within the projects themselves. However, if true, this second position would substantially undermine much project management thinking and would certainly cause significant problems for the project management profession!
For this coursework, you are to assume that you work within a large project management practice, and you have been invited by a leading UK Project Management Institute to be a keynote speaker at a national conference that has as its theme: “Project Management for successful Construction Project delivery”.
As the basis for your keynote presentation, you have been asked to produce a research paper that will be included within the Conference Proceedings. These Proceedings will be published by the conference organisers and will be made available to the delegates.
The title of the conference paper that you have been invited to submit is: –
“Evaluating construction project success; investigating the PM role in delivering success and appraising the propensity for PM success”.
Your coursework task is to prepare and submit this conference paper.
To do this you will need to research ideas on the subjects of project management success; this should include examining what criteria should be used to determine whether or not a construction project has been delivered successfully and why these criteria valid. You will also need to investigate the project management role in relation to delivering a successful project; this requires examining literature on the expectations that can be reasonably demanded of those discharging the project management role. Lastly, to complete this conference paper you will need to appraise the things within the construction project management process that may aid the project manager in delivering successful projects and those which hinder the same and in so doing understand those things upon which the project manager may need to place greatest attention on – this is likely to include factors related to the project managers skills and abilities and organisational aspects within the PM process.
The conference paper should be structured in a logical way.
A suggested structure for the discussion section would be: An Introduction; in which the purpose, aims and objectives of the paper are explained: An Examination of Project Success; in which you examine the various criteria and/or indicators that can be used to estimate how a construction project has performed: An investigation of the role of the project manager in delivering project success; in which you assess the project manager’s role in relation to project success and the expectations demanded of the PM: An appraisal of the propensity for PM success; in which you appraise the things that can aid or hinder project success and therefore the areas that might demand the PM’s greatest attention. Finally, a Conclusion in which you sum up the main findings and the contribution that your paper has made.
Note: Your paper must not exceed 6 printed pages (sides) of A4 paper – this applies for all the content of the paper from the Abstract to the Conclusion, but it excludes the list of references. Any text exceeding the 6 pages limit WILL NOT be read or marked.
STRUCTURE:
Contents
Abstract 1
Introduction 1
Examination of Project Success 1
Investigation of the role of the PM in delivering project success 1
Appraisal of the propensity for PM success 1
Conclusion 1
References 1
