A critical analysis into the factors that determine project management success: The case in railway engineering projects

One of the features of the construction industry over the last two decades or so, has been the use of project management (PM) concept for construction procurement. Evidently, the PM approach has proved its success in certain types of projects. However, statistics show that a significant number of large publicly funded projects, which were managed under the PM concept, have overran on time, overran on cost and performed poorly on quality. This thesis identifies the causes of success and failure of project management and looks at the principles of project management applied to the management of railway construction projects. This is achieved by proposing a framework for modelling the characteristics of project management, namely, organisation, management, systems and controls within which, construction projects take place. This followed a pilot study which obtained the views of over 180 different client organisations, project managers, design consultants and contractors, as to what determines project success. A survey questionnaire was designed with forty-six factors and reduced to twenty five, following the pilot study, of the most significant variable factors that influence the outcome of a project. Thirty-two case studies were undertaken and the extent to which their project performance matches the model is compared to the level of success achieved by each project. The analysis results confirmed that project cost estimates, client goals establishment, scope and work definition, adequacy of client authority, setting project objectives and design interface management, as the most significant variables that influenced project management performance. The study concludes with a series of recommendations; including suggestions for improving project management performance, a predictive model for determining project management success and further research for the future.