26 134 1 PB

Journal of International Academic Research (2011) Vol.11, No.2.
31 August 2011
Practical Implication Issues of Project Management in Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) Pakistan
Saad Aslam MS Scholar, Department of Management Sciences, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Abbottabad, Pakistan. Sohaib Shah MS Scholar, Department of Management Sciences, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Abbottabad, Pakistan. Khalid Zaman (corresponding author) Assistant Professor, Department of Management Sciences, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Abbottabad, Pakistan. khalidzaman@ciit.net.pk Zeeshan Hamid MS Scholar, Department of Management Sciences, Air University, Islamabad, Pakistan. Musharraf Master of Business Administration at Liverpool John Moores University, UK Abstract
The objective of this study is to recognise practical implication issues of project management in Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) Pakistan. The main interest of the study is to see how these issues affect the project performance and how the negative impact of these issues can be minimised. Further, the study is concerned with developing procedures which will help organisation to enhance the chances of project success. The study is based on primary data collected from fifty project managers in Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) Pakistan. Structured questionnaire was used for data collection. The questionnaire used three point Likert-type style statements which the respondent had to rate from disagree to agree. The study made use of deductive approach which was the right choice according to the nature of research. Positivism approach was used in research because study was based on socially managed observations and realities. The research findings identified several implication issues that OGDCL is facing in project management which include issues regarding Project Financial Management, Employees Management, Project Planning and Project Scheduling. The report concludes with some reasonable recommendations that can bring positive change in relation to improved performance of projects in OGDCL Pakistan.
Keywords
Project management, Risk management, Organisational structure, Deductive approach, Oil and Gas Company, Pakistan.
1.
Introduction
Traditionally, Project management was taken as a field sort of engineering or construction sector but now the age has been changed and various sectors like education, IT, media,
Practical Implication Issues of Project Management in Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) Pakistan 15
31 August 2011
health care, etc are now adopting project management to gain best results and share the expertise. In the industrial sector, employees are now redefined as project employees. More and more, project management has been proved as a universal tool of Excellency that can be fit for both public and private sector by enabling the tight control over discontinues work process, with showing particular potential for the control of expert manpower and resources. Some time organisations face the problem of mismanagement of different projects due to many reasons. Project may fail due to lack of good planning, lack of guideline, poor supervision, poor administration of resources, and lack of time management. As an end result, organisations face unwanted flow of capital and resources. Some project is considered at least partial failure; they at least recover their parent cost and achieve half of objectives and goals. There are several issues that can be the cause of failure and terrible end of projects. These can be: Client displeasure Missed deadlines Budget constraints Employees conflicts Lake of planning and administration Communication breakdown impractical Time scale poor self-confidence of employees Unclear requirements Poor planning No feedback and control system at each step No back up plans
It is really hard to detect all these issues and all these issues harm the projects really badly. For example low performance of employees will make it hard for manager to meet deadlines and this situation will create tremendous pressure on mangers and on all employees to perform and keep the project on track. Sometimes these pressures and critical situations attach a few more big issues with them for example a vague situation can arise conflict between employees and mangers which can lead to high employee turnover. This will reduce efficiency and effectiveness of project and will certainly reduce overall quality of project. Developing countries like Pakistan, mostly project failed due to political involvement, lack of planning, corruption, countrys political instability and time and budget constraints etc. The objective of this study is to identify all the major practical implication issues of project management and after identification, recommend appropriate ways to overcome these issues and provide solutions to the problems. Why project fails in Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) Pakistan. To pinpoint all the major practical implication issues of project management Identifications of those factors lead to these issues during project? Find out the ways to minimise these problems
Project management is a multifaceted and tricky job having various stages and procedures. It must go after the full business lifecycle, from description, validation and rationalisation of the project, through to conveying verifiable remuneration for the
31 August 2011
business. The capabilities and skills of project manager are really important from the start. The outcome of the project is dependent on managers understanding of the project process besides dependable estimation and cautiously measured planning. As it is obvious that a project mangers most important goal is to provide results, there are a lot of supporting methods and disciplines. These must make sure that the project will provide good results without any revelation. The very important part is to actively have an eye on expected level of benefit and make regular favourable changes to ensure that project will provide most advantageous results. The management team should also enthusiastically recognise and control risks, problems, favourable change requirements, superiority standards, plus a host of other side issues. All processes do not follow conventional development lifecycle. Most importantly it is incorrect to think that when new system goes live its the end of the project. By doing this you will not be in a position to correctly judge the benefit it has provided or you perhaps have achieved them or not. The Managing party concentration must be retained to provide the value - through to the Post-Implementation Review (PIR) and beyond. A few of the management processes will become ongoing line management procedures which will be used in entire life of the solution. Figure 1 shows several features of project management processes.
Figure 1: Project Management process A project is usually defined as a collection of activities to complete one or more definite objectives. These objectives might include solution of an issue or making improvement in a product or system, executing a strategic plan, introducing a new product, changing a process, or any unique effort. Projects are different than programmes based on few differences like time frame, objectives and specific performance aspects. Projects are
31 August 2011
structured to provide specific tasks so they are temporary with definite starting and ending point. Ongoing processes cannot be considered as projects. Programmes are normally of longer duration and require more efforts than projects. As compared to projects, programmes are ongoing. Programmes are combination of several projects and usually more complex than projects. Projects are mostly divided smaller parts called activities based on functional and functional discipline like manufacturing, engineering, procurement and testing. Few projects can be divided among product lines instead of activities. The connection between programmes, projects, and activities are shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2: Project and Programme A person who is responsible to organise and coordinate all activities of a project as well as responsible of projects outcomes is called a project manager. The success of a project is heavily affected by the selection of a project manager. The project manger should have sound knowledge, abilities and attitudes to bring maximum possible outcomes from a project. In addition to these qualities the project manger should have necessary level of authority to perform his job effectively and efficiently. Now a day, in project-based sector everyone is becoming aware of the relationship between performance and managers competencies. A lot of emerging sectors and industries such as Management consultancy, IT and product design and manufacture are increasingly project based. A project summarises and effectively coordinates different activities in defined period of time with clear objective. Due to various activities and short term interactions it is hard for managers to effectively manage the performance of employees or workers working on a specific project. Different people from different industries are brought together for short period of time to work together towards a defined goal. Due to unique nature of projects and unpredictability of scenarios stipulate managers to respond supplely to rapidly changing circumstances of the project. That is the reason why a project manager has a key role in project management. Organisations having sound structures want their employees to acquire a range of core competencies. This enables employees to better understand job requirements and they perform better and enable themselves to manage their performance. By this they help the organisation in supporting Performance management and development functions. Managers are one who takes care of a business or entity or who is responsible for the performance of a team or an individual. Managers handle a business or corporation or a part of an organisation and have the authority to make independent judgments and decisions about the body he is controlling. If managers clearly understand and use project management standard then it add to the chances of success and positively affect performance of Project managers. Project managers roles differ depending on the structure of the organisation. The organisation structure can be project oriented, function oriented or some type of mix in
31 August 2011
between. If the organisation is project oriented then project managers have more authority and report directly to upper management only. While on other hand in a function oriented organisation project manager has relatively limited authority. In these organisations the project manager has to deal with line managers and bargain for resources. A lot of organisations lie between two extremes. Figure 3 shows the level of authority of project manager in different organisations.
Figure 3: Project Manager Authority Matrix It is really important that a project manger clearly know his level of authority which will help him or her to perform his or her job better. Upper management support has a significant impact on performance of project manager and outcomes of the project. Keeping in mind that project manager do not have direct control on some participants of a project. The project manager has no authority to influence neither the leadership nor the external or internal contributor. There can be other participants in project team like parttimer, sub contractor or loaned staff who may not have their major faithfulness with the project. So by going through project mangers responsibilities its clear that a project managers responsibility is a 360 degree responsibility regarding a project which is shown in the Figure 4.
Figure 4: 360 degree responsibility of a project Manager
31 August 2011
This paper is organised in five sections. Section 2 shows a brief overview of Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) in Pakistan. Section 3 provides literature review. Data source and methodological framework are presented in Section 4. The empirical results are presented in Section 5, while the final section concludes the study.
2.
Overview of Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) in Pakistan
OGDCL is the largest exploration and production listed company in Pakistan. It is listed not only on all three stock exchanges of the country, but also listed on London Stock Exchange since December 2006. The most important land mark in OGDCLs history occurred when it was made self-financing in July 1989. Over the years, OGDCL has developed into a premium up-stream company, whose strength lies mainly in its highly qualified professional human resource base a pool of professionals who can undertake and supervise almost all phases of exploration and production (E&P) business from carrying out preliminary geological surveys to operation of integrated oil and gas processing plants. The company holds the largest oil (30%) and gas (32%) reserves in the country. Companys share in countrys total oil and gas production stands at 61% and 24% respectively with average production level of 36,300 BPD oil and 847 MMCFD gas per day. As of April 30, 2009 the Company had a total number of 43 Exploration Licenses in hand covering 81,620 square Kilometres which is 34% of total Countys exploration acreage the largest exploration acreage held by any single company in Pakistan. In addition to having aggressive E&P plans within the country to expand its indigenous production base, the company is also actively pursuing international E&P opportunities to further add value to its base line. There is a list of 14 major projects was delivered and presented by the officials of OGDCL to the Ministry of Petroleum of Pakistan. These projects were reported as delayed due to several reasons such as changes in environmental and geographical conditions, political influences, security factors and many more. Mr. Basharat Mirza, the official spokes man of OGDCL, submitted a report of those projects to the media representatives that are been delayed or near to stop just because of security constraints in those areas where projects were installed. He also argued that some projects are not been fertilized due to the political forces and stakeholders in exploration zones. Since of last view years of war against terror, OGDCL is facing embarrassing situation and losing some potential projects that make an important contribution to the economy and help to resolve energy crises.
3.
Literature Review
Classical approach in project management undertakes those tools and techniques that follow and emphasis on structured work, estimation of detail studies of work duration, cost and other factors (Nicholas, 1990). Classical approach uses graphical reports, observations, and experiences to communicate and coordinate while managing a project. Classical approach is the concept that each project is unique in nature and each project experience vary by its core elements. So therefore, classical project managers emphasis on decomposing project elements into parts and each part should be structured accordingly. By structuring the project, they mean that to indicate relationship between factors, estimation of supplies, human capital needed, cost determination, and allocation of funds. Project organisation counters the integration of project work structure, which allocates responsibilities to the project people at a decided frame of work and capacity. In classical setup controlling and planning starts simultaneously in the implementing stage and there is no continuous feedback is discussed. From this point of nature, classical approach is seems to be rigid argued by Davidson and Huot (1992).
31 August 2011
There are a lot of factors that leads to project failure. These factors may include external and internal factors. But mostly internal factors are heavily discussed as the root cause of project failure. (Nicholas 1990) argues that mostly internal factors include a poor managing system and poor implementation of organisational practices. He further says that many unpleasant external factors during a project resolve automatically by implement good project management system. Nevertheless of the fact of good project management, projects still fail. (Morris and Hough 1987) argue on the behalf of a survey that some time projects fail due to political, social, legal, and environmental constraints. These factors usually do not cope strategically in classical way project management. In classical project management, mostly managers draw such models those are informal and based on their own past experiences and results. They do not follow the changing role of technology and techniques. They just decide and draw conclusions. These sorts of decision do not participate and contribute efficiently in strategic decision making and organisational strategic planning. Those classical managers create a cause that do not support towards strong planning phase during a project handling. Due to crucial mistakes in planning phase, implementation phase disturbs and strategic analysis phase leads to informal and inaccurate tactical findings and at the end project is failed. These issues are mostly faced by those organisations that resist change and dont reconsider their policies and systems (Senge, 1990). Classical organisations lose their competitive edge and their survival becomes crucial. Western theories about project management have created issues when applied in others countries. Turner (1993) observed that when western project management standards are used in other countries these are partly unsuitable and irrelevant. Timeframe estimation is an important factor in project management, it helps to identify the accurate relationship between the strategic and operational analysis of a project. The timeframe estimation can be realised by the working employees productivity level in a day. By making this assumption, project in-charge design project model by considering workforce motivation factor, workforce diversity, experiences, random errors and environmental factors. A misguided estimation of time analysis phase may leads whole efforts into wastage drawer and all the development go to zero output. So for this, project manager must be qualified accordingly and have a strong grip on project handlings. On the other hand, monitoring factor also has a significant importance in managing projects. It based on what a human perceives about the project status. Theorists argue that project analysis must be backed with a strong strategic platform that ensures the high level of professionally sound project management system, employees expertise, and resourceful organisation. Men design projects and perceive outcomes. These outcomes may seem to be random and unsound. So individual conclusion based on previous experience and knowledge may affect the actual outcomes which may be negative, so therefore, there should be clear understanding about the strategic importance of a project and management must have the capability to identify and resolve the core issues timely in a project. In system dynamic approach, a continuous improvement and feedback system takes place. In this approach, managers go towards an exact method to cope with the multifaceted project description and explore the ways to identify the common issues and their solutions. As a whole, this approach is based on the holistic environment perspective. Roberts (1964) suggests a model to explore the modern approach of project management, according to Roberts model, the development efficiency in projects can be demonstrated by comparing the real and perceived results. This model was also appreciated by Kelly; he used this model to wrap up various projects at the same time. Project management is a methodological process of appropriate planning, implementing and controlling and both, classical and dynamic system, approaches discussed this but in different way. Planning refers to the particular code of actions that lead to implement and perceived results. Where control deals with the monitoring concept and assessment of
31 August 2011
project results. According to control view, the project performance is assessed and redesigned planning if needed, till the completion. Figure 5 shows comparative analysis of classical and dynamic approach of project management.
Figure 5: Comparative analysis of classical approach of Project Management In the classical view of project management, different tools are used to plan, implement, and control the project. These techniques include work breakdown structure, CPM network, and cost estimation. In classical approach, project management is dominated into various intergradients. In classical approach, project current status assessed by comparing current status of the project with the planned one. During assessment stage, information can be generated whether it is needed to re-design the phase or not. If it is needed, then project manager re-consider cost estimation, time duration, and employment estimations. On the other hand, the core processing of project management in modern approach starts from taking feedback on project behaviours with all the project ingredients. In dynamic approach, projects are put into various frameworks to check their critical affects on the project sustainability. Dynamic approach focuses on human capital more as compare to other factors because it is considered that human capital is the only source of quick feedback. Figure 6 shows dynamic approach of project management.
Figure 6: Comparative analysis of dynamic approach of Project Management
31 August 2011
Eisenhardt and Tabrizi (1995) and Lynn, Morone and Paulson (1996) suggested an "iterative, experimental" project management strategy when environment is rapidly changing or extremely vague. Other researchers proposed that several solutions should be considered in Parallel and choose the best one when outcome is visible (e.g., Sobek, Ward, Liker, 1999). Normally projects failures are due, inefficient budget and time management and missed opportunities (e.g., Morris and Hugh, 1987 and Tatikonda and Rosenthal, 2000). The term task scheduling introduced in late 1950 which gave mangers a flexibility to identify the critical path even there are thousands of activities are going on (Lockyer, 1969). This term extended incorporating project risk analysis (e.g., Elsner, 1962, Elmaghraby, 1964). Pritsker (1966) presented Graphical Evaluation and Review Technique (GERT) a graphical Monte Carlo application that introduced probability of outcomes and task looping. When risk is low in projects the managers use slack" or timeand-cost buffers in their projects to cope with risk (Leach 1999). It was also proposed to build a team to manage the buffers (e.g., Gutierrez and Kouvelis, 1991 and Goldratt 1997). Another shape of Slack is flexibility use of technologies to deal with numerous expected results of risk (e.g., Thomke, 1998 and Bhattacharya, Krishnan and Mahajan, 1998). In summary literature of operation research and decision theory has emphasised on subjective probabilities that the team know the event is likely but have no idea whether it will happen or not. Accessible work has absolutely looked it as impractical to "control events that cannot be forecasted" (Wideman, 1992 and Williams 1999). Making policies that will govern usages and disposition of resources (Steiner, 1969). On the other hand, Tactical planning is defined as "the detailed deployment of resources to achieve strategic plans" [Steiner, 1969, p. 37]. In addition to outlining hypothetical variations among strategic management and tactical management, many writers have addressed the relationship of managerial roles with tasks. As an example, Ansoff, Declerk and Hayes (1976] have stated that there are a lot of diverse tasks and structured desires of the organisations depending on the sort of procedure passed: strategic management. Schleh (1974) contributes a wide framework of deliberate management, distinctive strategic activities from those relating to tactic. Finally he further argues that both strategic and tactical approaches are differing in theoretical and practical frameworks. Organisational maturity is also really necessary and plays an essential role in projects and overall success of any organisation.
4.
Research Methodology
4.1. Data Collection: Questionnaire was used for data collection. Prior to the distribution of the actual survey, a pilot study involving a sample of 7 project managers were conducted to validate the content of the questionnaire in terms of relevance, accuracy, and wording. Appropriate changes were made in the final questionnaire. Three point Likert Scale ranging from 1 (disagree) to 3 (agree) was used to measure responses. The respondents scores for each construct were obtained by summing across all the item scores of the individual variables. 4.2. Sampling: Total sixty questionnaires were randomly distributed among the project managers of Oil and Gas Development Company limited in Federal province of Pakistan. Forty questionnaires were returned. Thus, the response rate was 66.6%.
5.
Results and Discussion
The study has designed a questionnaire to identify the possible project implication issues in OGDCL Pakistan. It could also help him to understand what the project managers think about project management and issues relating to project failure. How these issues affect
31 August 2011
project performance. What are the critical success factors according to the managers? The questionnaire starts with five general questions related to the project managers. It is worth stressing that, certain personal information such as date of birth and marital status were deem immaterial to the research findings; as such, questions that sought such data were not asked. After those sixty questions, the questionnaire has seventeen statements which the answerer has to rate by using the scale from strongly-agree to stronglydisagree. These statements give an impression of the answerer regarding his/her feelings about Conception, requirements and issues related to project management. Determining and inferring patterns in data, classifying those patterns and simplifying the results highlights the real meaning of data analysis. 5.1. Sample Characteristics The introductory questions asked the respondents about their experience, education and about age. The principal questions address directly the research questions, giving the respondent an opportunity to air their views on the concept of PM work, PM requirements and issues related to all aspects of project implementations. Section one is about personal details of project managers. This section includes their education age and experience etc. Table 1: Sex Analysis Respondent Percentage
Male Female Total
36 4 40
90.0 % 10.0 % 100 %
Table 1 show that 90 percent of the respondents are male while 10 percent are the female. Project manager job requires a lot of field work, so it is relatively hard for women to do field work as compared to men. Table 2: Age of participants in the survey Age Group Less than 25 years 26-35 years 36-45 Years 46-55 Years Above 55 Years Total No. of Respondent Percentage 0 0% 5 18 10 7 40 12.5 % 45 % 25 % 17.5 % 100 %
Table 2shows that 12.5 % of respondents are in between 26 to 35 years old, 45% are in between 36 to 45 years old, 25 % respondents between 46 to 55 years old and 17.5 % respondents are above 55 years of age. No one of respondent was below 25 years of age. It means that almost 57.5 % more than half of respondents are below 45 years of age and 42.5 % are above of 45 years of age.
31 August 2011
Table 3: Total Work Experience No. of Experience Respondent Percentage 1-10 years 16 40 % 11-20 15 37.5 % years 21-30 6 15 % years 31-40 3 7.5 % years Total 40 100 % Table 3 shows the length of employment of each respondent. An individuals length of employment is defined as the number of years a person has been employed by any employer in any role. 40 % of respondent have 1 to 10 years of job experience, 37.5 % of respondents have 11 to 20 years of job experience, 15 % of respondents have 21 to 30 years of job experience and only 7.5 % respondents have 31 to 40 years of job experience. These numbers shows that OGDCL have a lot of experienced professionals which is good for any organisation to enhance organisational maturity. Table 4: Work Experience as Project Manager
Experience as a Project Manager No. of Respondent Percentage
01-05 years 06-10 years 11-20 years 21-30 years Total
17 9 11 3 40
42.5 % 22.5 % 27.5 % 7.5 % 100 %
Table 4 shows the length of employment of each respondent working as project manager. 42.5 % of respondent have 1 to 5 years of job experience as project manager, 22.5 % of respondents have 6 to 10 years of job experience as project manager, 27.5 % of respondents have 11 to 20 years of job experience working as project manager and 7.5 % of respondents have 21 to 30 years of job experience working as project manager. The majority of OGDCL working project managers have 1 to 10 years of job experience. Table 5: Education status of the respondents No. of Education Respondent Percentage Below 2 5% Bachelor Bachelor 11 27.5 % Master 20 50 % Specialised 7 17.5 % degree in Project Management Total 40 100 %
31 August 2011
Table 5 shows the degree statues of each respondent. 5 % of respondents have education below bachelor level, 27.5 % respondents have bachelor degree, 50 % of Respondents have Masters Degrees and 17.5 % of respondents have specialises
degrees in Project Management. Its really good that 17.5 % of respondents have specialised degrees in Project Management and 50 % respondent have masters degrees which is really high percentage.
After these general questions, the study has designed twenty statements that are specifically related to the requirement and conception of project management, risk and performance management of a project, employees involvement/Synergy, organisational culture and different issues related to Project management. The respondents were asked to rate those statements by using the scale of strongly agree, agree, neither agree nor disagree, disagree, and strongly disagree. The discussion on those statements is as follows: Statement 1: The Projects miss deadlines/targets. This statement is designed to determine whether projects at OGDCL miss deadlines/targets. Missed deadlines/targets normally leave bad impact on projects performance. When asked from respondent following answers were collected regarding the statement. Table 6: Risk Analysis-1 Agree Disagree Total Frequency 29 11 40 % Frequency 72.50% 27.50% 100.00%
72 % project managers agreed that projects miss deadlines/targets in OGDCL. This is alarming because the percentage is very high. The possible reason could be poor planning, poor task scheduling, unstable political and environmental conditions. 28 % project managers think that projects do not miss deadlines/targets. Statement 2: The Missed targets/deadlines prove fatal for the project. Missed deadlines always add to the difficulties of project managers. A lot theories justified projects that missed deadlines or targets usually do not able to get desired results. Following answers were collected when respondents were asked what they think about this statement. The researcher was expecting a lot of mangers to agree with the statement. Table 6.1: Risk Analysis -11 Agree Disagree Total Frequency 38 2 40 % Frequency 95.00% 5.00% 100.00%
95% managers agreed that missed deadlines/targets prove fatal for the project. There are a lot of activities going on in a project at same time. Any missed deadline/target affet the whole project all activities and functions.
31 August 2011
Statement 3: The Missed deadlines result in loss of the company. This question is designed to know whether missed deadlines results in loss of the company. Following answer were collected when respondents were asked to express themselves about this statement. Table 6.2: Risk Analysis-111 Agree Disagree Total Frequency 31 9 40 % Frequency 77.50% 22.50% 100.00%
Amost 80% project mangers agrred that the missed deadlines result in loss of the company. When missed deadlines affect the performance of the project and due to this projects do not give the outcome what is required by clients. So clients do not come again evuantlly resulting in big loss of thhe company. Statement 4: The Project manger defines measures to cope with deadlines issues. This is a very important questions asked from project managers to describe whether they define measures to prevent the project from missing the deadline. Extra measure can be adopted to keep the project on track. When project managers were asked whether they define measures to cope with deadlines issue they provided the following answers. Table 6.3: Risk Analysis-1V Agree Disagree Neutral Total Frequency 25 5 10 40 % Frequency 62.50% 12.50% 25.00% 100.00%
Regarding this question the researcher got mixed response from the respondents. 62 % project managers agreed that they define measures to keep the project on track and to manage its performance effectively and efficiently. 25 % of project managers were unsure about the measures define to deal with deadlines issues. 13 % mangers disagreed that mangers define issues to deal with deadline issues. Statement 5: If the Project suffers any unnecessary hiccups, there are back up plan to get it back on track. This is a very important question regarding risk management of a project. Projects are different from each other and there is no thumb rule for project success because each project have different requirements, time frame, scope and done in different circumstances. So every project should have a backup plan to face any kind of catastrophe. The following answers were collected when the respondents were asked about this statement. Table 6.4: Risk Analysis-V Agree Neutral Total Frequency 31 9 40 % Frequency 77.50% 22.50% 100.00%
31 August 2011
77 % project managers agreed that they made backup plans to get project back on track if project face any natural or unnatural disaster. 23 % project managers are nor sure whether there are any back up plans if project face any unwanted circumstances. It is necessary for project manager to always have back up plans and be reday to face any type of severe conditions. Employee Involvement / Synergy Next, the respondents fill the questionnaire is about Employee involvement/ synergy in a project. In this section the study has designed number of statements to determine what is the level of employees contribution in projects is. How much value they are creating and what issues the managers are facing related to employees. Statement 6: Employees match the skill required. This statement is to assess the availability of required and retained skills of employees. If required and current skill set match then it reduces time losses and enhance productivity. Following answers were collected when project managers were asked about this statement. Table 7: Employee Involvement in Project Management-1 Agree Disagree Neutral Total Frequency 24 10 6 40 % Frequency 60.00% 25.00% 15.00% 100.00%
60 % project managers agreed that the employees match the skill required which is good and add value to each aspect of project success. 15 % project managers were unsure whether employees match the skills required. 25 % project managers disagreed that employees match skill required which is a bad sign. Because when the employees do not match the skills required it put extra pressure on manager, reduces efficiency and ultimately leave bad impact on project overall performance. Statement 7: Employees clearly know their responsibilities This is really important question because if employees know their responsibilities clearly then they would be in a position to at least do their work correctly. If they dont know their responsibilities clearly then it would create a gap between the required services and actual services performed. Following answers were collected when project managers were asked about this statement. Table 7.1: Employee Involvement in Project Management-11 Agree Disagree Total Frequency 29 11 40 % Frequency 72.50% 27.50% 100.00%
72 % project managers agreed that employes know their responsibilities clearly which is agood sign. 28 % project managers think that employees do not know their responsibilities clearly. The possible reason could be incompetencies of employees, communication gap between manager and employees or ogranisational structure flaw where employees do not take things seriously and act casually.
31 August 2011
Statement 8: Employees like working in team Working in a team is key to success in project management because in projects there are several types of skill needed and different people work in a team to achieve the desired outcome. Good team player create synergy in the team and increase efficiency of work. Following answers were collected when project managers wre asked about above atatement. Table 7.2: Employee Involvement in Project Management-111 Agree Disagree Neutral Total Frequency 24 10 6 40 % Frequency 60.00% 25.00% 15.00% 100.00%
60 % project manager agreed that employees like working in a team which is good for the manager and also for the project. 15 % project managers were unsure whether employees like working in a team or not. 25 % managers think that employees do not like working in a team. The possible reasons could be the cultural difference, personall conflits and to some extent there are credit grabbers which decrese the morale of the team. Statement 9: Employees are involved in decision making process. Employees involvement is all about creating environment where emloyees can made contributions to decision maing and their actions imapct decision making process. Its a philosophy which is about about how people are most enabled to add to continuous development and the ongoing success of their work organisation. Following answers were collected when respondents were asked about above statement. Table 7.3: Employee Involvement in Project Management-1V Agree Disagree Neutral Total Frequency 17 18 5 40 % Frequency 42.50% 45.00% 12.50% 100.00%
42 % project managers agreed that employees are involved in decision maing process. 13 % project managers are not sure about employees involvement in decision maing process. 45 % project managers do not think that employees are not invloved in decision making process. The possible reason could be authorian style of management where employees are not involved in decision making , low motivation level of employees, lack of skills , abilities and technical background to paticipate. It could also be due to lack of communication skills. Statement 10: Employees are given incentives/bonuses based on their performance Employees bonuses/incentives encourage them to become more productive and maintain high standards of performance. It helps a lot to retain quality employees. Following are the answers collected when the respondents are asked about above statement.
31 August 2011
Table 7.4: Employee Involvement in Project Management-V Agree Disagree Neutral Total Frequency 16 14 10 40 % Frequency 40.00% 35.00% 25.00% 100.00%
40 % project managers agreed that employees are given incentives/bonuses according to their performance which is a good sign to improve performance and retain talented employees. . 35 % which is a high percentage of project managers believed that employees are not patd incetives based on their performance. 25 % project managers were not sure wheteher employyes get incentives based on their performance. The possible reasons for this could be that employees performance is not evaluated critically to pay them incentives according to their performance. Secondly there is issue of implementation of ploicies to ensure that employees are being treated according to their performance. Statement 11: Conflicts among employees are solved by Project Manger. If employees have conflicts among them it leave bad affect on team work also on their individual performance. In project management it is the also the duty of project manager to solve those conflicts among employees to create a atmosphere where there is better understanding between employees and they all are adding value to the project. Following answers were collected when project managers were asked about above statement. Table 7.5: Employee Involvement in Project Management-V1 Agree Neutral Total Frequency 30 10 40 % Frequency 75.00% 25.00% 100.00%
75 % project managers agreed that conflits between employees are solved by project managers which is impressive and show signs of good understanding between employees and project managers. 25 % project managers were not whether conflits among employees are solved by project managers or not. The possible reason for this could personal differences, lack of communication between employees and managers. Statement 12: Employees suggestions are welcome. To bring more creativity and efficiency it is preferred that employees suggestions should be welcomed by management staff. It can bring some fresh thoughts to increase effectiveness of systems. Following were the answers collected when project managers were asked about above statement. Table 7.6: Employee Involvement in Project Management-V11 Agree Disagree Neutral Total Frequency 18 13 9 40 % Frequency 45.00% 32.50% 22.50% 100.00%
31 August 2011
45 % project managers agreed that employees suggestions are welcomed. 23 % project managers were not sure whether employees suggestions are welcomed or not. 32 % project managers think that employees suggestions are not given a thought are not encouraged which is not a healthy sign. The possible reasons for not welcoming the employees suggestions could be organisational culture or managers personal liking or disliking. Organisational Culture Next section of questionnaire is about organisational culture. In this section the study has designed multiple statements to asses to which extent researched organisational culture supports the managers and employees. Organisations that have good policies and processes in place and people follow them is the single most factor which bring success to the organisation. If the corporation act on a first-class, measurable project management process, there are more chances that it will bring success to projects of organisation. The whole project team normally knows how to make and pursue a work plan, and can use standard processes to effectively handle risk, scope change, and issues. Statement 13: Organisational Culture plays an important role in project success. This is a really simple statement because theories have proven that organisational culture always plays an important role in any organisational success or failure. Following answers were collected when respondents were asked about above statement. The researcher was expecting a lot of managers to agree with this statement. Table 8: Organisational Culture-1 Agree Disagree Total Frequency 33 7 40 % Frequency 82.50% 17.50% 100.00%
Near 83% project managers agreed that organisational culture plays an important role in project success. If organisationla culture id procedure oriented, possess good governce , training oriented and role and responsibilities are cleared to everyone than this can help a lot to bring desired reaults in given time frame. Statement 14: Project Mangers higher authority means higher chances of Project Success. The lack of a decision can be quite unfavourable to any project. Projects must continuously make forward progress to be successful. Since the project managers performance is measured by the success of their project(s) it is of highest importance that project managers have the authority to make decisions about the projects. Table 8.1: Organisational Culture-11 Agree Disagree Neutral Total Frequency 29 6 5 40 % Frequency 72.50% 15.00% 12.50% 100.00%
72.5 % project managers agreed that higher project management authority bring better chances of success. 15 % project managers are disagree and opine that whether higher project managers authority bring better chances of success or not to project.
31 August 2011
Statement 15: Communication Barriers between Managers, Higher Authorities and Employees negatively affect project performance. Communication barriers can create disaster in pressure situation. So it has utmost importance to make procedures in practice which ensure clear communication between managers, higher authorities and employees. Following answers were collected when respondents were asked about above statement. Table 8.2: Organisational Culture-111 Agree Disagree Total Frequency 33 7 40 % Frequency 82.50% 17.50% 100.00%
Almost 83% project managers agreed that lack of communication of communication barriers between prject mangers , higher authorities and employees negetively affect the project performance. It can end up by creating a gap between desiured results and actual results. Statement 16: Organisation allows Mangers to be creative. Projects of all kinds commonly reach a point where all the analysis is done, and the next step is like a question mark to everyone. The project manager must be creative, to figure out what to do. This question will give us insight about the culture of researched organisation that how much the organisation allows manager to be creative. Following answers were collected when respondents were asked about this statement. Table 8.3: Organisational Culture-1V Agree Disagree Neutral Total Frequency 26 5 9 40 % Frequency 65.00% 12.50% 22.50% 100.00%
Majority of project managers agreed that organisation allows managers to be creative. Which will certainly explore new knowledge and techniques for the organisation. 23 % project managers were not sure about organisation allows it managers to be creative or not. 12 % managers thinks that the organisation does not allow managers to be creative. The possible reasons could orgainastional culture is to be on safe side and do not allow experiments so managers can not use their own creativity to solve issues. Statement 17: Organisation Allows Mangers to take risk. This is an interesting question to ask because in project management there is always a debate on risk management. So is it acceptable for organisation to allow manager to take risk. Following answers were collected when managers were asked about this statement. Table 8.4: Organisational Culture-V Frequency % frequency Agree 11 27.50% Disagree 21 52.50% Neutral 8 20.00% Total 40 100.00%
31 August 2011
53 % Respondent think that project managers are not allowed to take risk. 20 % project managers are not sure that managers are allowed to take risk or not. 27 % res[pondents agrred that managers are allowed to take risk.
6.
Conclusion and Recommendations
The practical implication issues of project management are a very imperative, significant and central issue and need to be taken care of at very high priority level. Whenever a project starts each and every requirement should be laid down and then definite arrangement and schedule should be prepared to deal with all the problems of project management during the life cycle of the project. The research findings identified
several implication issues OGDCL is facing in project management. Many project managers expressed different opinions about issues they are facing. Many project managers agreed that the clients do not have control over problems related to project management from their side or whether they are not able to express their problems clearly, in some cases project managers were not able to understand the problem completely or clearly. Majority of project mangers agreed that they and their clients have difference of opinion another issues on which many project managers agreed that resource allocated for the projects are not sufficient which resulted in shortage of finance and project slow down. Results about project management conception were satisfactory which shows majority of project managers are well aware of project management basic concepts and theories. Furthermore a lot of project managers agreed that projects normally miss deadlines/targets and few were unsure about any defined measures to prevent it. Few managers were also unsure about back up plans to get the project back on track.
There was observation about negative effect of concurrently running projects which resulted in slowed down pace of the projects and majority of managers agreed that current running projects require higher level of skill set. Another issue is related to employee performance management. Many managers agreed that are not given bonuses/incentives according to their performance. Majority of project managers agreed that employees are not made part of decision making body neither employees suggestions are welcomed. Another issue was related to the organisational culture.
Majority of managers agreed that managers are not allowed to take risks to complete a certain task and few managers disagreed that their organisation does not allow them to be creative.
6.1. Recommendations There should be some proper procedures and structure to allocate resources for the projects. Resource allocation should be done while keeping an eye on future economic and environmental conditions. The project managers should be clear and precise about which resource will be needed and when. Project managers should make sure that
resource usage is being monitored and right tools are being used. Risk management is not a very complex task. If project managers follow a proper procedure than there are lesser chances that they will miss deadlines/.targets. They should follow a five stage process to deal with deadlines issue.
Step 1: Risk Identification Step 2: Risk Quantification Step 3: Risk Prioritisation
31 August 2011
Step 4: Risk Response Step 5: Risk Monitoring & Control

Above proposed is just a simple model process for effective risk management. It is highly recommended that organisation should pay attention and adopt latest tools and models for risk management like Risk Matrix, Critical Chain analysis, Open Plan & COBRA and Primavera etc. The organisational cultured should be developed in a way which will enhance chances of project success. Establishing an organisational project culture demands organisations to have right reporting culture. OGDCL should have project prioritisation systems to make sure that projects are aligning with corporate strategies and business objectives. OGDCL should establish the right Performance Management to identify work executed on projects also OGDCL should incorporate Project Management best customs and practices for all projects. Always selecting any member of project management team at any level the organisation needs to be precise that the employee is well trained and have all the characteristics to become a good leader or team player. He/she should be trained properly with respect to the new advanced tools and existing employees should also be provided up to date trainings about tools and practices adopted all around the world. There should be meetings and discussions before starting of a project and these meetings and discussions should continue throughout the course of the project to minimise the misunderstandings and difference of opinion between project manager and clients. Project managers should periodically and fairly evaluate performance of employees and they should be rewarded according to their performance. It is really necessary to keep them motivated which will help to bring best possible outcome of the project. It will also help to retain talented and key employees. Total reward system should be adopted to solve all employees related issues. Organisation should involve employees in decision making process and their suggestions should be welcome because this will engage them more towards work. Employee engagement is directly related productivity at work place. Managers should ensure that clear instructions are given to employees and then make sure that he or she has necessary resources to complete the task. Leaders must be available at all times to clarify employees doubts and support them to perform better. Organisation should place best practices to ensure that managers clearly understand scope and requirements of project management. Upper management should regularly consult project managers about projects performance and should make sure that there are back up plans in place if any unpleasant and unwanted event happens. Project managers should be given sufficient authority to make decision s about projects but they should be a cross check to monitor that he or she is making favourable and correct decisions. The organisation should review TRIZ model to be more creative in its decision making department. Project managers can be overloaded and fell extra pressure due to concurrently running projects. Sometimes managers try to find shortcuts to meet deadlines which ultimately lower the quality of project or end product. So higher management should devise and implement policies to make sure that project managers are not overloaded and they can focus on their core or primary task.
7.
Reference
31 August 2011
Ansoff, H.L., Declerk, R.P. and Hayes, R.L. (1976) From Strategic Planning to Strategic Management, John Wiley and Sons, New York. Bhattacharya, S., Krishnan, V. and Mahajan, V. (1998) Managing new product definition in highly dynamic environments, Management Science, Vol.44, pp.50-64. Davidson, F. P., and Huot, J. (1991) Large-Scale Projects-Management Trends for Major Projects, Cost Engineering, Vol.33, No.2, pp.15-23. Eisenhardt, K. M. and Tabrizi, B. N. (1995) Accelerating adaptive processes: Product innovation in the global computer industry, Administration Science Quarterly, Vol.40, pp.84-110. Elmaghraby, S. E. (1964) An algebra for the analysis of generalized activity networks, Management Science, Vol.10, pp.494-514. Elsner, H. (1962) A generalized network approach to the planning and scheduling of a research program, Operational Research, Vol.10, pp.115-125. Goldratt, E. M. (1997) Critical Chain. North River Press, New York. Gutierrez, G.J. and Kouvelis, P. (1991) Parkinson's Law and its implications for project management, Management Science, Vol.37, pp.990-1001. Lynn, G.S., Morone, J.G, and Paulson, A.S. (996) Marketing and discontinuous innovation: The probe-and-learn process, California Management Review, Vol.38, No.3, pp.8-36. Lockyer, K.G. (1969) An Introduction to Critical Path Analysis, Pitman and Sons, London, U.K. Morris, P.W.G. and Hugh, G.W. (1987) The Anatomy of Major Projects, Wiley, Chichester, U.K. Nicholas, J.M. (1990) Managing Business and Engineering Projects: Concepts and Implementation, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Pritsker, A.A.B. (1966) GERT: Graphical evaluation and review technique. Memorandum RM-4973-NASA, The Rand Corporation, Santa Monica. Roberts, E. (1964) The Dynamics of Research and Development, Harper & Row, New York: Sobek, D.K., Ward, A.C., and Liker, J.K. (1999) Toyota's principles of set-based concurrent engineering, Sloan Management Review, Vol.40, pp.67-83. Steiner, G.A. (1969) Top Management Planning, MacMillan, New York. Schleh, E.C. (1974) The Management Tactician: Executive Tactics For Getting Results, McGraw Hill, New York. Senge P. (1990) The Fifth Discipline, Doubleday Currency, New York. Turner, R. (1993) The Handbook of Project-Based Management, McGraw- Hill, London.
31 August 2011
Thomke, S.H. (1998) Managing experimentation in the design of new products, Management Science, Vol.44, No.6, pp.743-762. Tatikonda, M.V. and Rosenthal, S.R. (2000) Technology novelty, project complexity, and product development execution success. IEEE Trans, Engineering Management, Vol.47, pp.74-87. Wideman, R.M. (1992) Project & Program Risk Management. Project Management Institute, Newton Square, PA. Williams, T.M. (1995) A classified bibliography of recent research relating to project risk management, European Journal of Operational Research, Vol.85, No.1, pp.8-38. Williams, T.M. (1999) The need for new paradigms for complex projects, International Journal of Project Management, Vol.17, No.5, pp.269-273.

26 134 1 PB

Transféré par

Informations du document

Titre original

Copyright

Formats disponibles

Partager ce document

Partager ou intégrer le document

Options de partage

Avez-vous trouvé ce document utile ?

Ce contenu est-il inapproprié ?

Droits d'auteur :

Formats disponibles

26 134 1 PB

Transféré par

Droits d'auteur :

Formats disponibles

Journal of International Academic Research (2011) Vol.11, No.2.

Journal of International Academic Research (2011) Vol.11, No.2.

Journal of International Academic Research (2011) Vol.11, No.2.

Journal of International Academic Research (2011) Vol.11, No.2.

Journal of International Academic Research (2011) Vol.11, No.2.

Figure 4: 360 degree responsibility of a project Manager

Journal of International Academic Research (2011) Vol.11, No.2.

Overview of Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) in Pakistan

Journal of International Academic Research (2011) Vol.11, No.2.

Journal of International Academic Research (2011) Vol.11, No.2.

Figure 6: Comparative analysis of dynamic approach of Project Management

Journal of International Academic Research (2011) Vol.11, No.2.

Results and Discussion

Journal of International Academic Research (2011) Vol.11, No.2.

Male Female Total

90.0 % 10.0 % 100 %

Journal of International Academic Research (2011) Vol.11, No.2.

01-05 years 06-10 years 11-20 years 21-30 years Total

42.5 % 22.5 % 27.5 % 7.5 % 100 %

Journal of International Academic Research (2011) Vol.11, No.2.

Journal of International Academic Research (2011) Vol.11, No.2.

Journal of International Academic Research (2011) Vol.11, No.2.

Journal of International Academic Research (2011) Vol.11, No.2.

Journal of International Academic Research (2011) Vol.11, No.2.

Journal of International Academic Research (2011) Vol.11, No.2.

Journal of International Academic Research (2011) Vol.11, No.2.

Journal of International Academic Research (2011) Vol.11, No.2.

Conclusion and Recommendations

Journal of International Academic Research (2011) Vol.11, No.2.

Step 4: Risk Response Step 5: Risk Monitoring & Control

Journal of International Academic Research (2011) Vol.11, No.2.

Journal of International Academic Research (2011) Vol.11, No.2.

Vous aimerez peut-être aussi