Factors impeding successful engineering project management in a specialised global drilling services company

Abstract

Projects that fail, for whatever reason, can impact negatively on society, organisations, and other stakeholders. In a competitive business environment, the use of project management can allow organizations to strategically structure themselves to achieve their business goals and needs. In this way, organizations can invest in more effective project management that is aimed at achieving better performance, maximizing the possibility of success, and minimizing the chance of failure. Within this context, organizations must know which critical factors are most responsible for the success of a project to manage these factors in the best possible manner. Several researchers have identified various critical success factors that can influence the outcome and success of a project. This research aims to identify the factors impeding successful project management within a global specialised drilling services company. The factors were identified through a literature review and applied in a qualitative study through looking at publications by various authors to narrow down the list of critical success factors by identifying them in different studies. Through analysis of the company the list of critical success factors were narrowed down to five factors which includes the following: Clear realistic objectives, Sufficient/well allocated resources, Skilled/suitably qualified/ sufficient staff/team, Adequate budget, Good communication/ feedback. Best practises in project management were analysed and four of the ten knowledge areas as paraphrased by the PMBOK® Guide were identified. Recommendations based on the findings of the study were offered to the company to improve the project management process and reduce the impact of the identified factor on project success.