FORMAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT ADOPTION READINESS OF EMERGING CONSTRUCTION FIRMS IN SOUTH AFRICA:

Abstract

The drive towards Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment in this industry has been marred by evidence of poor quality construction, delays in project execution and completion leading to cost overruns and general public dissatisfaction with Emerging Construction Firms’ (ECFs’) structures. Since some of these challenges are attributed directly to poor project management practices and dearth of project management skills by most ECFs, there is scope to examine the interface between construction entrepreneurship and adoption of project management practices/techniques mindful of the ECFs’ involvement in government’s construction programmes and projects. It is against this background that the current study explored the formal project management adoption readiness of ECFs in Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality. The thesis statement of this study is that since organisational culture, organisational structure and project management skills constitute the foundation for successful project management, any effective model on project management readiness of ECFs should strongly dovetail with their business strategy as well as these organisational variables. Drawing on a survey design, data were collected from 334 ECFs graded at category 1 to 5 by the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) in the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality of the Free State province of South Africa. The key findings from the empirical study are:  Although majority of the ECFs surveyed have high levels of qualification in general education, only a few actually have high level of project management qualification.  Majority of the ECFs surveyed also consider project management skills core skills in undertaking projects in order to achieve successful project outcomes. The current organisational culture and structure of the ECFs surveyed largely support the adoption and implementation of project management techniques and tools. The study recommends project management, construction and business education training for ECFs. In addition, the study recommends research into actual project management adoption of ECFs as this study was only limited to exploring adoption readiness.