Executive Project Management Structure and the Challenges Facing its Adoption in the Nigerian Construction Industry

Project management (PM) is a globally recognized discipline and has been widely adopted within the construction industry. Despite advancements in the PM discipline, the ineective traditional management system, typical of the non-executive PM structure, is still widely used in the Nigerian construction industry. The aim of this paper is thus to explore the challenges facing the adoption of the executive PM structure in Nigeria. The paper first assesses the level of growth of PM in Nigeria using UK best practices as a benchmark and identifies the key PM characteristics in the two countries. Focus group interviews were used to collect the primary data for the study and content analysis was used to present the results in a thematic format. The study revealed the key barriers to the adoption of an executive PM structure in Nigeria as a lack of proper awareness, unfavorable policies, skill shortages, the traditional culture of stakeholders and the absence of a regulatory body. It is recommended that the government, as a major player/client in the Nigerian construction industry, should lead the campaign to change the traditional industry approach to project management. This is necessary if construction stakeholders in Nigeria are to be educated and encouraged towards adopting and putting into practice eective PM.

[1]  Martin Nový,et al.  PROJECT MANAGEMENT IN BUILDING INDUSTRY MANAGEMENT , 2012 .

[2]  K. T Odusami,et al.  The relationship between project leadership, team composition and construction project performance in Nigeria , 2003 .

[3]  Alex Opoku,et al.  The Application of Whole Life Costing in the UK Construction Industry: Benefits and Barriers , 2013 .

[4]  Laurence Holt.  Project management excellence: the Shell Stanney case , 1989 .

[5]  Susse Georg,et al.  On the emergence of roles in construction: the qualculative role of project management , 2009 .

[6]  Peter W. G. Morris,et al.  The Anatomy of Major Projects: A Study of the Reality of Project Management , 1988 .

[7]  Ah Roberts.  Code of Practice for Project Management for Construction and Development , 2014 .

[8]  Flora Arnstein.  The Evolution of a Project. , 1977 .

[9]  Aminatuzuhariah M. Abdullah,et al.  THE EXTENT OF MULTI-PROJECT MANAGEMENT IMPLEMENTATION IN THE UK CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY , 2000 .

[10]  Tyson R. Browning,et al.  On the alignment of the purposes and views of process models in project management , 2010 .

[11]  J. Rodney Turner,et al.  The handbook of project-based management : improving the processes for achieving strategic objectives , 1998 .

[12]  A. Bryman.  Social Research Methods , 2001 .

[13]  A. Canhoto,et al.  Case Study Research Design , 2014 .

[14]  Francis Tekyi Edum-Fotwe,et al.  Developing project management competency: perspectives from the construction industry , 2000 .

[15]  Martin O. Dada,et al.  An Assessment of Formal Learning Processes in Construction Industry Organisations in Nigeria , 2012 .

[16]  C. Henjewele,et al.  Construction Project Management , 2005 .

[17]  Amm Liu,et al.  Research Methods for Construction (3rd ed.) , 2008 .

[18]  Anthony Walker,et al.  Project Management in Construction , 1984 .

[19]  J. Söderlund.  Pluralism in Project Management: Navigating the Crossroads of Specialization and Fragmentation , 2011 .

[20]  David I. Cleland.  The evolution of project management , 2004, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management.

[21]  Stephen B. Johnson,et al.  Three Approaches to Big Technology: Operations Research, Systems Engineering, and Project Management , 1997, Technology and Culture.

[22]  Graham Winch,et al.  Managing Construction Projects: An Information Processing Approach , 2002 .

[23]  Denise Bower,et al.  Projects and personalities: A framework for individualising project management career development in the construction industry , 2012 .

[24]  S. Stinson.  BODY OF KNOWLEDGE , 1995 .

[25]  Damilola Ekundayo,et al.  Construction professionals and project management competencies in Nigeria , 2008 .

[26]  Salman Al-Sedairy.  Large scale projects : management, design and execution , 1984 .

[27]  Peter W. G. Morris,et al.  The management of projects , 1994 .

[28]  Derek Salman Pugh,et al.  Writers on organizations , 1971 .

[29]  Robyn Henderson,et al.  Doing qualitative research: a practical handbook , 2011 .

[30]  P. S. Kupakuwana,et al.  The goalposts for project success have moved: a marketing view , 2005 .

[31]  Naomi J. Brookes,et al.  Who reads the project file? Exploring the power effects of knowledge tools in construction project management , 2010 .

[32]  H. A. Overstreet,et al.  The New State: Group Organization the Solution of Popular Government. , 1919 .

[33]  Un-Habitat.  The State of African Cities 2010: Governance, Inequality and Urban Land Markets , 2011 .

[34]  Mike Bresnen,et al.  Construction industry clients: A survey of their attributes and project management practices , 1991 .

[35]  Lyndall F. Urwick,et al.  The elements of administration , 1944 .

[36]  Harry F. Wolcott,et al.  Writing Up Qualitative Research , 1990 .

[37]  A. Kanoglu,et al.  Model for Managing the Contractual Risks of Construction Firms Imposed by the Procurement System , 2013 .

[38]  Joyce Fortune,et al.  Current practice in project management — an empirical study , 2002 .

[39]  Will Hughes,et al.  Construction Contracts: Law and Management , 1996 .

[40]  R. Müller,et al.  The Influence of Project Managers on Project Success Criteria and Project Success by Type of Project , 2007 .

[41]  Jonas Söderlund,et al.  Building theories of project management : Past research, questions for the future , 2004 .

[42]  Henri Fayol.  Administration industrielle et générale , 1999 .

[43]  R. Yin.  Case Study Research: Design and Methods , 1984 .