Ebenezer Essilfie-Baiden (PhD) | David Ackah (PhD)
African University College of Communication | Business University Costa Rica (UNEM)
Email: drackah@ipmp.edu.gh | essilfiebaiden@gmail.com
Abstract
The research carried out in the construction industry are predominantly capital intensive and require a substantial level of leadership and management capabilities or skills, amongst the coordination/organization of diverse professionals and labor force. According to the Chartered Institute of Building (2002), the fundamental roles of project managers within the construction industry include that of coordination of experts or technocrats who are expected to use their knowledge and expertise towards the attainment of specific project goals. In Ghana, the construction industry is cognizant of many challenges facing the country and the industry in particular. The industry in collaboration with the government and academia have been making conscious efforts to minimize, if not eradicate the challenges, most of which are related to poor management. The study focused on the erstwhile Bank for Housing and Construction, which is one of the banks owned by Government with the intention to provide support for private housing schemes and industrial construction activities in Ghana. The research conducted by the authors revealed that the bank initially achieved some level of success in terms of financing projects. The level of success however declined due to several challenges the core of which being contractor’s lack of managerial and technical capability which subsequently led to the liquidation of the bank. Several other construction projects financed by the government have faced similar challenges of below-par successes. However, very few researches have been conducted with focus on project-oriented organizations from the perspective of technical capacity, organization structure and leadership in ascertaining the success rates of construction projects financed by the Governments of Ghana. This research therefore, seeks to bridge the gap in knowledge by investigating project management success for project-oriented business organizations from the perspective of technical capacity, organization structure and leadership in the performance of construction projects financed by Ghana Government in Greater Accra Region using Henry Fayol model. The researchers have observed during the few interviews conducted that several projects financed by the Government of Ghana in the construction sector of the Greater Accra region have either being abandoned or left uncompleted. This phenomenon according to some interviewees have caused major financial losses to the state as project managers are rarely held accountable for project failures. The researcher therefore recommends that further research should be conducted in the Greater Accra region to measure the success rates of projects financed by the Government. The future researches should focus on effective means to discontinue the failure-chain of Government sponsored projects. In addition, Government should commit resources into educating stakeholders of state sponsored projects on the Fayol’s principles of management and its importance to project success.
Keywords: Project Oriented Organization, Technical Capacity Perspective, Performance of Ghana Government Construction Projects, Public Sector Project Management, Social Interventions Programmes, Project Management for Development, Government of Ghana Project.
