Key factors in the success of the management of building construction projects in ha noi the case of splendora

33 4.1.5 Assessment on the Correlation Relationship and the Importance of Factors relating to project management team to overallProjectSuccess.... 36 Table 18: Test of correlation betwee

Lunghwa University of Science and Technology Department of Business Administration Dissertation for a Master’s Degree

Key factors in the Success of the Management of Building construction projects in Ha Noi – the

case of Splendora

Researcher: Hoang DucHien Supervisor 1: WANG TSUNG – CHENG (Prof.) Supervisor 2: NGUYEN PHU HUNG (Ph.D.)

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL – VNU

-

MASTER THESIS OUTLINE Major: Business Administration Branch code: EMBA

Key factors in the Success of the Management of Building construction projects in Ha Noi – the case of

Splendora

STUDENT: HOANG DUC HIEN INSTRUCTOR 1: WANG TSUNG – CHENG (Prof.) INSTRUCTOR 2: NGUYEN PHU HUNG (Ph.D.)

Lunghwa University of Science and Technology

Approval Certificate of Master's Degree Examination Board

This is to certify that the Master’s Degree Examinations Board has approved the thesis “Key factors in the Success of the Management of BuildingconstructionprojectsinHaNoi–thecaseofSplendora”published by

Mr Hoang DucHien in the Master Program of Graduate School of Department of Business Administration

Master’s Degree Examination Board Board Members: Prof.PhD Tsan Eric

Assoc Prof PhD Nguyen Van Dinh

Dr Doan Thu Trang Advisors： Dr Nguyen Phu Hung

Prof.PhD Wang Tsung – Cheng Chair： Prof.PhD Tsan Eric

Date：2018 ／11 ／24

ABSTRACT

Thesis Title: Key factors in the Success of the Management of Building construction projects in Ha Noi – the caseofSplendora Pages:78 University: Lunghwa University of Science and Technology

Graduate School: Department of Business Administration

Date:December,2018 Degree: Master

Graduate Student: HoangDucHien Advisor: Nguyen Phu Hung (PhD)and

Wang Tsung – Cheng (PhD)

Keywords: Project management, Satisfaction, Driving factors

This master project is about Splendora’s Master Construction Project Splendora project was conceived and planned in a context of quick growth in residential areas of Hanoi Our survey on the opinion of project managers about factors that may contribute

to the success of the project reveals some important hints on project management policy for the company show 4 key findings First is the performance of a project is highly dependent to the competency of the project manager, the competence of project management team Second is criteria relating to company’s organizational structure and culturaldohaveeffectstotheprojectsuccess.Thethirdisexternalenvironmentinfluence the outcomes ofproject

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It is a great pleasure for me to work with this dissertation I would especially like to thank all teachers, professors for all knowledge, skills and information I received It is very wonderful chance to work with so excellent and enthusiastic professors

I am also very grateful to my tutors, Professor Nguyen Phu Hung (PhD) and Wang Tsung – Cheng (PhD), for his support I appreciate all his time and efforts to encourage and guide me during my dissertation writing

I would like to thank my colleagues, my customers for helping me to support me information to complete this dissertation and answer the questionnaire for my research This thesis cannot be done without their help

Finally, I would like to thank and dedicate this dissertation to my family for the unconditional support, who consistency motivated me to complete the thesis

Best regards,

Thank you!

Hoang DucHien

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ii

TABLEOFCONTENTS 1

LISTOFPROPOSITIONS 4

LISTOFTABLES 5

LISTOFFIGURES 7

1 INTRODUCTION 8

1.1 Presentation of SplendoraConstruction Project 8

1.1.1 Introduction of Splendora Residential Building Construction Master Project8 1.1.2 Parties of the Splendora MasterConstruction Project 9

1.1.3 Context oftheproject 11

1.2 Objectives oftheresearch 13

1.3 Researchquestions 13

1.4 The context necessitatesthe research 13

1.5 Relevance and Interest ofthisresearch 14

1.6 Planofdissertation 14

2 LITERATUREREVIEW 16

2.1 Introduction 16

2.2 Project and Project Management conceptand definition 16

2.3 ProjectPerformanceMeasures 17

2.4 Project success and Factors leading to theProjectsuccess 18

2.4.1 Projectmanager factors 21

2.4.2 Organizationalfactors 21

2.4.3 External environment factors 22

2.5 The Overal ProjectSuccess index 23

3 METHODOLOGY 24

3.1 Variablesandindicator 24

3.2 Design of theSurveyQuestionnaire 25

3.3 Design of theSurveyQuestionnaire 25

3.4 Targetedsample 27

4 ANALYSIS RESULTSANDFINDINGS 28

4.1 Surveyresults 28

4.1.1 Profile oftheresponders 28

4.1.2 Position of responders intheproject 30

4.1.3 Performance of sub-projects of Splendora Master Construction Project31 4.1.4 Assessment on the Correlation Relationship and the Importance of FactorsrelatingtoprojectmanagerstotheoverallProjectSuccessand4project successcriteria 33

4.1.5 Assessment on the Correlation Relationship and the Importance of Factors relating to project management team to overallProjectSuccess 37

4.1.6 Assessment on the Correlation Relationship and the Importance of Factors relating to organization to theProjectSuccess 39

4.1.7 Assessment on the Correlation relationship and the Importance of Factors relating to external environment to theProjectSuccess 42

4.2 Findings anddiscussion 46

4.2.1 Implications of findings of factors relating toprojectmanagers 46

4.2.2 Implications of findings of factor relating project management team49 4.2.3 Implications of findings of factors relatingtoorganization 50

4.2.4 Implications of findings of factors relating to external environment 52 4.3 Conclusion 52

5 CONCLUSIONS 53

5.1 Introduction 53

5.2 Summaryof findings 53

5.3 Proposalsfor Improvement 54

5.3.1 Overall recommendations to improvetheperformance 54

5.3.2 Manageprojectstakeholders 55

5.3.3 Enhance the competency ofproject managers 62

5.3.4 Enhancing the competency of projectmanagement team 64

5.3.5 Improvingorganization aspects 66

5.4 Contributions tothe theory 67

5.5 Limit ofthestudy 68

5.6 Direction of research inthedissertation 68

LISTOFREFERENCES 70

APPENDIX 72

LIST OF PROPOSITIONS

Proposition1:Theperformanceofaprojectispositivelycorrelatedtocompetencyoftheprojectmanager 21 Proposition2:Theperformanceofaprojectispositivelycorrelatedtocompetencyoftheprojectmanagementteam 21 Proposition 3: The performance of a project is positively correlated to support

fromorganization 22 Proposition 4: The performance of a project is positively correlated to the stableness ofexternalenvironment 23

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Descriptionofexperience 28

Table 2: Description of educational backgrounds ofpeoplessurveyed 29

Table 3: Description of number of time a project manager is trainedayear 29

Table 4: Position of responders intheproject 30

Table 5: Parties where the respondersbelongto 30

Table 6: Proportions of projects finished within thebudgetconstraint 31

Table 7: Proportions of projects finished withinplannedschedule 31

Table 8: ProjectQualityAssessment 32

Table 9: Stakeholders’ Satisfactory degrees withprojectresults 32

Table10:Testofcorrelationbetweeneachprojectmanager’scharacteristicsand4projectsucce sscriteria 33

Table 11: How importance is the Political and cultural awareness to the projectperformance 34

Table 12: How important is thedecision-makingability 34

Table 13: How importance is the Communication andnegotiationskill 34

Table 14: How importance is the Teambuildingskill 35

Table 15: How importance is the Conflict management and dispute handling ability 35Table 16: How importance is the ability of motivating subordinates to work and toperform 36

Table 17: How importance is theProfessionalcompetency 36

Table 18: Test of correlation between each factors relating to Project ManagementTeamto the Overall Project Success and 4 projectsuccesscriteria 37

Table 19: How important is the willingness totakeaccountability 37

Table 20: How important is the Competitiveworkingstyle 38

Table 21: How important is the Ability towork independently 38

Table 22: How important is the Ability to workin team 39

Table 23: Test of correlation between each factors relating to organization to the OverallProject Success and 4 projectsuccesscriteria 39

Table 24: How important is the Organizational culturesandStyle 40

Table 25: How important is the Organizationalinternalcommunication 40

Table 26: How important is theOrganizationalStructure 41

Table 27: How important is the OrganizationalProcessAssets 41

Table 28: How important is the Organization’senvironmentalFactors 42

Table 29: Test of Correlation relationship between each factors relating to externalenvironment to the Overall Project Success and 4 projectsuccesscriteria 42

Table 30: How importance is the Governmental policies on construction andinfrastructuresectors 43

Table 31: How importance is theBusinessenvironment 44

Table 32: How importance is theSocialCommunities 44

Table 33: How importance isthe Legislation 45

Table 34: How importance is the Natural conditionsandevents 45

Table 35: Possible connection between the financial size of the projects and theexperience ofprojectmanagers 48

Table 36: Engagingexternalstakeholders 58

Table 37: Engaginginternalstakeholders 60

Table 38: Project Manager Levelsandskills 62

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: A landscape illustration of the Splendora mega building construction project

9

Figure 2: Estimation of population of Hanoitill 2050 11

Figure 3: Number of urban in Hanoi in past26years 12

Figure 4: The increase of area of urban landinHanoi 12

Figure 5: Contents ofProjectManagement 17

Figure 6: Quadruple Constraint ofProjectSuccess 19

Figure 7: An example of Measuring projectsuccessdashboard 20

Figure 8: Researchfindingsmap 46

Figure 9: Managing projectstakeholderframework 56

Figure 10: Development ofprojectmanagers 64

1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Presentation of Splendora ConstructionProject

This master project is about Splendora’s Master Construction Project Splendora project was conceived and planned in a context of quick growth in residential areas of Hanoi It locates in Hanoi Hanoi is the economic, political, and cultural center of Vietnam Hanoi is composed of urban and rural areas The total population of Hanoi is over 7.1 million people still growing In addition, almost 2 million people commute to Hanoi to work or live temporarily every day Consequently, urban areas will also grow, expectedly to reach 94,700 hectare in 2030, up almost 30% from the 73,000 hectares in

2020 This leads to up roaring construction demands to meet new requirements of living conditions for inhabitants Splendora project was conceived and planned in such a context It locates in one of the most convenient place in the Northern part of Vietnam and expected to be the core of a 264.13 hectare developing center West of Hanoi In Splendora, inhabitants could enjoy pure air, dreamed spaces from 6.6 hectare artificial lake, friendly ecological environment to system of flower garden, trees The area also features a large high class-international school and other functional spaces such as entertainment, shopping areas to bring the best perfect life to citizen here Moreover, Splendora also applies security system of latest technology to protect safety of inhabitants For such a high stake of the project, the management is critical for the successful achievement of objectives given by all stakeholders involved

also features a large high class-international school and other functional spaces such as entertainment, shopping areas to bring the best perfect life to citizen here Moreover, Splendora also applies security system of latest technology to protect safety of inhabitants

Figure 1: A landscape illustration of the Splendora mega building construction project

For such a high stake of the project, the management is critical for the successful achievement of objectives given by all stakeholders involved

There are 5 major partners in this large project

1.1.2.1 Vinaconex

With more than 20 years experience and the most skilled workers in Vietnam, Vinaconex has always been known as a leading construction investor in Vietnam The name Vinaconex has been associated with most modern and nationwide scale such as Hilton hotel, TrungHoaNhanChinh urban area, Thang Long Avenue

Bureau Veritas Vietnam was selected as the construction manager for the firstphase oftheSplendoraproject.Thequalityandsafetyofthefirstphase(50ha,includingvillas,

gardenhouses,apartmentbuildingsandofficebuildings,publicbuildings,kindergartens, schools) is apriority

Bureau Veritas Vietnam is to ensure:

 Compliance with the standards and regulations of Vietnam and the international isto

be

 Help the project implementation proceedsmoothly

 Construction Coordination: includes Quality Assurance, Progress Control, Technical Assistance andReview

 Design Control: includes Design Verification and Control of Design Changes

 Safety management: includes health, safety, environment and project personnel training

1.1.2.4 Institute of Building Science andTechnology

Institute of Building Science and Technology (IBST) - Ministry of Construction is theleadingresearch,service,statemanagementandconsultingagencyintheconstruction industry, established in 1963 The IBST plays as supervision consultant The IBST has participatedinmostnationalkeyresearchprograms,state-levelprojectsandinternational cooperation The IBST is also the consultant agency (in design, appraisal, supervisionof construction quality ) for a series of large projects such as hydropower, thermalpower, cement, highbuildings

1.1.2.5 Conico

CONICO also plays supervision consultant roles in this master project CONINCO

is an investment and construction consultancy firm, operating in multidisciplinary business fields and with many companies and large corporations in the world

1.1.3 Context of theproject

Vietnamisafastdevelopingcountry.Theconstructionsectorplaysanimportantrole in the development This can be seen particularly in big cities such as Hanoi and Hochiminh city where speeds of urbanization have increased year by year as shown in thegraph

Figure 2: Estimation of population of Hanoi till 2050

(Source: Decision of Government approving general Development Plan of Hanoi capital)

2012 2020 2030 2050

Unit:…

7.6 7.1

2020

2010

2000

114 63.3

Figure 3: Number of urban in Hanoi in past 26 years

1.2 Objectives of theresearch

The objectives of this research include:

 Identifying the critical factors leading to success of thisproject;

 The criteria of success applicable for the Splendora projects andimplications

To limit the content of this research, I only discuss the construction stage in this master project because it’s the most outstanding subject in progress

1.3 Researchquestions

From background described above, the report finds the questions below compelling

and need to be answered The overarching question is How to enhance the success of the

Splendora mega-construction project?

To answer this question, stakeholders need to answer the following questions:

 What does it take to conduct a projectsuccessfully?

 What are general criteria to measure performance for a project in general, and for a construction project inparticular

 What are critical factors leading to success of aproject?

Afteridentifyingthecriteriaabove,stakeholdershavetoseetheapplicabilityofeach of criteria in the collection to the case of Splendoraproject

 What are the criteria relevant to the case of Splendora mega-constructionproject?

Due to limit in time and finance, the papers only discusses the construction stage in this project because it’s the most outstanding subject in progress

1.4 The context necessitates theresearch

Many building construction projects in Viet Nam do not fully comply with planed objectives, causing delays, poor quality, and over cost

Regarding to the significance of urban zone developments, any problem with the project will cost the stakeholders millions of dollar Thus, stake holders are concerned about sources which may cause failures in projects in this sector

AccordingtorecentinformationpublishedbytheVietnamConstructionAssociation, no more than 1% of construction projects completed on time, and most projects have problems of quality and cost Therefore, improving the control of project become an urgent needs of construction sector This is the reason that I devote this paper for analyzing the critical factors to success of projects, the possible issues and their possible causes, so that to recommend measures to get projects back on expectedtrack

1.5 Relevance and Interest of thisresearch

The context necessitates the research of this master report is clear simple Many building construction projects in Viet Nam do not fully comply with planed objectives, schedules, financial requirement, and so on, causing delays, poor quality, and over cost Regarding to the significance of urban zone developments, any problem with the project will cost the stakeholders millions of dollar Thus, stake holders are concerned about sources which may cause failures in projects in this sector

AccordingtorecentinformationpublishedbytheVietnamConstructionAssociation, in Vietnam overall, no more than 1% of construction projects completed on time, and most projects have problems of quality and cost Therefore, improving the control of project become an urgent needs of construction sector This is the reason that I devote thismasterreportforanalyzingthecriticalfactorstosuccessofconstructionprojects,the

possible issues and their possible causes, so that to recommend measures to get projects back on expectedtrack

1.6 Plan ofdissertation

The report will follow tentative plan below

Task From-To

Identify problems to research Jan-18

Structure of research Jan-18

Literature review Jan-18

Establish analytical framework Feb-18

Build survey questionnaire Feb-18

Conduct the survey Feb-April 18

Process the survey data April 18

Discuss the findings May 18

Finish the thesis June-18

2 LITERATUREREVIEW

2.1 Introduction

Therehavebeenanumberofpapersonprojectsuccess,andthissectionreviewsthem to define a broad theoretical foundations relating to the projectperformance

2.2 Project and Project Management concept anddefinition

There are a number of definition of project, but they all have common The Project

Management Institute define the project as “A project is a temporary endeavor

be controlled on track This is the job of the project management “Project management

is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet the project requirements” (Project Management Institute, 2008, p 6) To manage well a

project, a project typically can be divided into 4 phases

 Conceptualization (or Initialization), when project owner develop the initial goaland technicalspecifications;

 Planning – when all detailed specifications, schedules, plans, and related outputs are developed and collected;

 Execution with Monitor & Control – when people actually perform the “works” planned for theproject;

 Termination (or Close) – project is transferred to the customer, resources reassigned, project is closedout

(Read more in Pinto, 2010; Project Management Institute, 2008)

Tasks and activities of project management typically can be grouped into 5 Process Groups below Proper application of them would help accomplish the project with success

Figure 5: Contents of Project Management

(Source: Project Management Institute, 2008)

Advantagesofprojectmanagementinclude(i)beinnovative,producenewideasand new products, (ii) geared toward accomplishing a specific goal, and (iii) aimedat customer satisfaction (Pinto, 2010)

2.3 Project PerformanceMeasures

Ifstakeholderswanttoknowwhethertheprojectissuccessornot,stakeholdershave

tobeabletomeasureprojectperformance.Performancemeasurementsystemsmust

enableaprojectmanagertocloselymonitortheprojectandcontrolchanges.Mostproject

owners use four criteria of cost, quality, schedule, and stakeholders’ satisfaction (Project Management Institute, 2008; Pinto, 2010) Establishing performance measures in a projectenvironmentinvolvescreatingmeasuresattheindividual,workteam,andproject levels, as well as creating policies and the operational framework to ensure that high- quality performance data is generated To ensure a successful project performance measurement program, the key leaders of the company, as well as company’s financing sponsors,mayneedtoconsideratleastthreekeyareas:investmentreviewboards,EVM, and non-EVM performance criteria (Project Management Institute,2008)

2.4 Project success and Factors leading to the Projectsuccess

Most project success should be judged on three common dimensions of cost, schedule and quality Mark Winter added project are considered successful if it can link business strategy to projects, maximize revenue generation, and deliver benefits to different stakeholder groups (Mark Winter, 2006) Sauer contend that ultimate criterion

of success is project can finally deliver value to all stakeholders Lopes added delivering political values a criterion of project success (Cited in Flavell, 1988) Apart from triple criteria above, project owner may use 3 additional criteria of performance, safety, and satisfaction of utility and operations (Mohamed, 1999)

Figure 6: Quadruple Constraint of Project Success

(Source: Pinto, 2010)

The success of a project can be measured by the impacts it has to the pay-offs of all its stakeholders in current time and in long-term This is very straightforward and intuitive In terms of measuring project success, (Shenhar, 1997) proposed a project success measurement framework that includes four distinct dimensions: (i) project efficiency,(ii)impactonthecustomer,(iii)directandbusinesssuccess,and(iv)preparing for the future Measurements should be made for short run and in long run horizons (Anton,1988)

Bud

Client Accepta

Suc cess

Figure 7: An example of Measuring project success dashboard

(Source: Pinto, 2010)

Success of project requires to success in project management In the development environment, project performance management includes recognizing the following (Weinstein, 2010; Project Management Institute, 2008):

 Performance management is multidimensional, requiring collaboration and coordination between acquisition, finance, operations, policy and planning, human resources, oversight, and other companydivisions

 Performance management involves all levels of the company, partly its stakeholders and partners’ efforts, partly government, even from the Assembly as mega urbanization construction projects are under itsscrutiny

 Performance management is predicated on the effective implementation of earned valuemanagement

 Good, reliability of the data is required to gain effective performance management Thus, installing major IT systems is a way many companies do to gain to manage information and monitorprogress

Control Practices

Coaching, Auditing and Evaluating Proejcts

Project Stakeholder Management

Portfolio Management

0

Networking Between Projects

1

Structural Support for Project Management

Project Scheduling

3

2

Personnel Development for Projects

2.4.1 Project managerfactors

The project manager is the person assigned by the project owners to conduct the project into achieving objectives In a study on success factors in large construction projects in Vietnam, Nguyen Duy Long identified three critical success factors relating

to project managers among the twenty factors of projects success, including (i) Competent project manager; (ii) Competent and multidisciplinary project team; and (iii) Commitment to the project (Nguyen Duy Long, 2004)

An effective project manager is required to have following characteristics (Cooke- Davies, 2002; BeloutAdnane, 2003; Pinto, 2010):

i Performing:understandingandapplyingtheknowledge,tools,andtechniquesthat are recognized as good practice; able to do or accomplish while applying their project managementknowledge

ii Knowledgeable: Having area-specific skills and general management proficiencies required for theproject

iii Personal attractiveness: such as attitudes, core personality characteristics and leadership

From these literature, the research has two first propositions below:

(i) Propositions on factors relating to the Project Managers

Proposition 1: The performance of a project is positively correlated

to competency of the project manager.

(ii) Propositions on factors relating to the Project Managementteam:

Proposition 2: The performance of a project is positively correlated

to competency of the project management team.

2.4.2 Organizationalfactors

Performance of the project is highly correlated to organizational factors, such as organizational supports, organizational structure, line support managers andproject

manager, and supports from the top management to the project performance (Rom

&Tuke, 1995) One of the most critical factors for the projects successful achievement

is supports from top management of the organization Top managers of organization definetheobjectivesoftheprojects,andhavefullpowertocreateconditionsandprovide

resources necessary for the project managers to implement given tasks to accomplish these objectives The supports commonly are stronger for projects having a project manager being from the top management of the organization (Rom &Tuke,1995)

Regarding to Factors relating to organization, the research has the proposition below:

Proposition 3: The performance of a project is positively correlated to

support from organization

2.4.3 External environmentfactors

Apart from endogenous factors, the projects are also under the influences from the entities in the environment in which they are operating (Wells, 1986; D., 1984; Hanafinzade,2007).Theyincludepoliticalormovementororganization(i.e.,thechange of power may disable a mining project), economic elements (e.g., the crisis of real estate sector would lead to tighter budget for construction projects), social factors (e.g., local inhabitants if dislike would try to inhibit the implementation of project) Competitions from other firms (who often criticize the firm doing projects at low quality so that they could take over the project) though impact project negatively still provide some positive impactsasfirmwillhavemotivationtodobetter.Theperformanceofthesubs-contractors

implementing parts of the project stages and activities also critical to the successful project achievement The legal requirements would pose many difficulties to the firm to meet as well, leading to additional resources be spent on tasks and in turn lower project financial margin Other factors include advances in technology, standard and code difference,andeventhenaturalfactors.Exogenousfactorsareconsideredoneofthemost

feared elements as they are out of the controls of the project managers They impact the decisions of the project managers in many ways, positively ornegatively

Regarding Factors relating to theExternal environment, the research has the followingproposition:

Proposition 4: The performance of a project is positively correlated to the stableness of

external environment

2.5 The Overal Project Successindex

As discussed in the section 2.3 (page 17), most project owners use four criteria of cost, quality, schedule, and stakeholders’ satisfaction (Project Management Institute, 2008; Pinto, 2010) Therefore, to measure project success, I use a Project Success index (PS) by taking the average of the 4 measures below:

1 The project finishes within the budget constraint (results presented in Table6);

2 The project meets the planned schedules (results presented in Table7);

3 The project meets the quality requirements (results presented in Table8);

4 The degree to which your stakeholders satisfy with the project result (results presented in Table9)

The papers will try to find correlation relationship between each variable with the

PPS in order to identify the impacts and magnitude of impact each variable (factor) has

to the Overall Performance of The Project The interpretation is simple: if the score is below 0.3, there is no relation If the score is in between 0.3 and 0.5, the relation is moderate If the score is over 0.5, the relation is high The following sections show the results

[[

3 METHODOLOGY

3.1 Variables andindicator

Theconceptualmodelcomprise4groupsoffactorsrelatingtotheProjectManagers, to project management team, to organization, and to the external environment Each factor will be measured by avariable

The conceptual model can be expressed briefly by the following equation:

Project Performance = f(PM1…PMn, PMT1,…,PMTm, C1,…, Cx, EE1,…,EEy)

In which,

 PMi: variables indicating the competence of ProjectManagers

 PMTj: variables indicating the characteristics of Project Managementteam:

 Cx: variables relating to the organizational factors of thecompany

 EEy: variables presenting the external environment context

These are groups of variable that reflect the conceptual model of the paper

In the paper, I use four criteria to rate the success of a project:

5 The project finishes within the budgetconstraint;

6 The project meets the plannedschedules;

7 The project meets the qualityrequirements;

8 The degree to which your stakeholders satisfy with the projectresult

These 4 criteria then is combined into a Project Performance Index (PPI) by taking the average of them The papers will try to find relationship or correlation between each variable with the PPI in order to identify the impacts and magnitude of impact each variable (factor) has to the overall performance of the project

Values of each variable will be collected by a survey sent to a project management professional sample The design of the survey questionnaire is explained in the next section

3.2 Design of the SurveyQuestionnaire

With the conceptual model of relationship between performance of project and the critical factors leading to success of project, a questionnaire was designed to collect data

of variables given

The questionnaire was divided into 5 sections corresponding to 5 groups of factors (variables) in the conceptual model: (i) Factors (variables) relating to the Project Managers, (ii) Factors (variables) relating to the Project Management team, (iii) Factors (variables) relating to organization, and (iv) factors relating to the External environment One section is dedicated for responder profile

For questions measuring the opinion of responder about a topic, answers were measured by a five-point Likert’s scale ranging from 1 to 5 One is the most negative rating.5isthehighestpositiverating.3isakindofnocomment,meaningrespondersare

reluctant and yet to makedecision

The survey targeted projects in Vietnam, carried by either domestic firms or foreign firms Thus, the questionnaire was written in Vietnamese and English

3.3 Design of the SurveyQuestionnaire

Toverifythepropositions,theresearchusesasurveyoncriticalprojectmanagement

professionaltocollectquantitativeaswellasqualitativejudgments.Designofthesurvey is described in the next section With the conceptual model of relationship between performance of project and the critical factors leading to success of project, a questionnaire was designed to collect data of variablesgiven

Project Success Measurements

1 Your project finishes within the budget constraint

2 Your project meet the planned schedules

3 Your project meets the quality requirements?

4 The degree to which your stakeholders satisfy with the project result?

Project Performance Index

(i) Factors relating to the ProjectManagers

1 Political and cultural awareness

2 Decision-making ability

3 Communication and negotiation skill

4 Team building skill

5 Conflict management and dispute handling ability

6 Motivating subordinates to work and to perform

(ii) Factors relating to the Project Managementteam

1 Professional competency

2 The willingness to take accountability

3 Competitive working style

4 Working dynamically and creatively

5 Ability to work independently

6 Ability to work in team

(iii) Factors relating toorganization

1 Organizational cultures and Style

2 Organizational internal communication

3 Organizational Structure

4 Organizational Process Assets

5 Organization’s environmental Factors

(iv) Factors relating to the Externalenvironment

1 Governmental policies on construction and infrastructure sectors

2 Business environment

3 Social Communities

Project Success Measurements

4 Legislation

5 Natural conditions and events

For questions measuring the opinion of responder about a topic, answers were measured by a five-point Likert’s scale ranging from 1 to 5 One (1) is the mostnegative rating;5isthehighestpositiverating;3isakindofneutralposition(neithernegativenor

positive)

The survey targeted construction projects of Splendora where there were many Vietnamese and foreigners working Thus, the questionnaire was written in Vietnamese and English

4 ANALYSIS RESULTS ANDFINDINGS

4.1.1 Profile of theresponders

This part gives an overview on the descriptive characteristics of the sample, so as to understand the people working in areas relating to project management The characteristics include position, level of education, and experiences

 Experience

The table below shows a finding that matches with the finding of the table above Companies tend to appoint staffs having longer experience to the project management posts, supposedly because those people will perform better

Table 1: Description of experience

2 How long have you been working in area of projectmanagement?

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative

 Education

The survey suggests that project management job does not require very high educationaldegreesasover80%ofprojectmanagersholdbachelordegree.Itissupposed that bachelor degree programs equip staffs enough knowledge and skills in management as a start The rest will be learned in job during working atsites

Table 2: Description of educational backgrounds of peoplessurveyed

3 What is your educationlevel?

4 How often do you attend professional training course on projectmanagement?

4.1.2 Position of responders in theproject

The position of responders in the project is summarized in the table below

Table 4: Position of responders in the project

1 What is your position in theproject?

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative

Percent

4.1.3 Performance of sub-projects of Splendora Master ConstructionProject

Almost all projects, over 80%, in the survey finished on budget and time constraints

as well as met the quality Thus, data from this survey cannot tell if the experienceof the projectmanagershasanythingtodowithfinishingtheprojectwithinthebudgetandtime

constraints

Table 6: Proportions of projects finished within the budget constraint

1.Your project finishes within the budget constraint

Table 7: Proportions of projects finished within planned schedule

2.Your project meet the planned schedules

2.Your project meet the planned schedules

Most responses states the project meets the quality requirements

Table 8: Project Quality Assessment

3 Your project meets the quality requirements?

Table 9: Stakeholders’ Satisfactory degrees with project results

4 The degree to which your stakeholders satisfy with the projectresults?

4.1.4 Assessment on the Correlation Relationship and the Importance of Factors

relating to project managers to the overall Project Success and 4 project successcriteria

ThisistoverifytheProposition3.Thereisapositiverelationshipbetweentheproject

success and the project managers’ professional competency The table below showsonly characteristics 1 and 6 have positive correlation relationship with the overall Project Performance Index Nevertheless, characteristic 2 has moderate positive correlation relationship with the project success criteria 1; characteristic 4 has moderate positive correlation relationship with the project success criteria 3; and characteristic 5 has moderate positive correlation relationship with the project success criteria 2 Only characteristic 3 has no correlation relationship with any project successcriteria

Table 10: Test of correlation between each project manager’s characteristics and 4

project success criteria

(i) Factors relating to the Project Managers

5 Conflict management and dispute handling

Most responses rate Political and cultural awareness important to the project

performance

Table 11: How importance is the Political and cultural awareness

to the project performance

1.Political and cultural awareness

Most responses rate Decision-making ability important to the project performance

Table 12: How important is the decision-making ability

Virtually all responders consider the communication and negotiation skill is critical

to the performance of project

Table 13: How importance is the Communication and negotiation skill

3.Communication and negotiation skill

Table 14: How importance is the Team building skill

4.Team building skill

Only 4 out of 87 responders think the Conflict management and dispute handling

ability is not important to the project outcomes

Table 15: How importance is the Conflict management and dispute handling ability

5.Conflict management and dispute handling ability