Marie-Louise Barry

Determining the most important factors for sustainable energy technology selection in Africa: Application of the focus group technique

The supply of sustainable energy is a crucial factor for development in Africa. This is important both for business development and for the supply of energy to households in order to save time and thus enable members of households to be economically active. Without sustainable energy, poverty reduction and economic development in Africa are not achievable. Africa has limited skilled human resources and thus the selection of successful, integrated technological systems is imperative. This study focuses on the identification of factors to be taken into account when identifying the most sustainable technological systems for Africa. Focus groups, using the nominal group technique, can be used successfully in problem definition and first order identification. The purpose of this focus group was to identify the first order factors for the study, which were then used to inform the Delphi study that followed. A pre-existing group of specialists in the energy field was used. During this process, thirty eight factors deemed to be important were identified. The factors were categorized into six clusters, namely: technology factors, social factors, institutional or regulatory factors, site selection factors, economical or financial factors, and achievability by the specific organisation.

DETERMINING THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTORS FOR SUSTAINABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGY SELECTION IN AFRICA

The supply of sustainable energy is a crucial factor for development in Africa. This is important both for business development and for the supply of energy to households in order to save time and thus enable members of households to be economically active. Without sustainable energy, poverty reduction and economic development in Africa are not achievable. Africa has limited skilled human resources and thus the selection of successful, integrated technological systems is imperative. This study focuses on the identification of factors to be taken into account when identifying the most sustainable technological systems for Africa. Focus groups, using the nominal group technique, can be used successfully in problem definition and first order identification. The purpose of this focus group was to identify the first order factors for the study, which were then used to inform the Delphi study that followed. A pre-existing group of specialists in the energy field was used. During this process, thirty eight factors deemed to be important were identified. The factors were categorized into six clusters, namely: technology factors, social factors, institutional or regulatory factors, site selection factors, economical or financial factors, and achievability by the specific organisation.

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE STATUS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA

This research investigated the status of project management in South Africa. A total of 81 respondents participated. It was found that internal stakeholders are more likely to have similar opinions on project success than external stakeholders; and that project managers use optimistic reporting because they do not want to appear to let the project stakeholders down. The top five factors for achieving project success are teamwork, cost management, project planning, scope management, and leadership. The six most important indicators of project success are client/customer satisfaction, project team skill level, senior management buy-in, communication or project reporting, scope management, and on-time project delivery. OPSOMMING Hierdie navorsing ondersoek die status van projekbestuur in Suid-Afrika. Een-en-tagtig respondente het deelgeneem. Dit is bevind dat interne rolspelers meer geneig is om dieselfde opinies te he oor projeksukses as eksterne rolspelers; en dat projekbestuurders optimisties is in verslaggewing omdat hulle nie die projekrolspelers wil teleurstel nie. Die top vyf faktore om projeksukses te haal is spanwerk, kostebestuur, projekbeplanning, bestekbestuur, en leierskap. Die ses belangrikste indikators van projeksukses is klienttevredenheid, vaardigheid van die projekspan, inkoop van senior bestuur, kommunikasie of projekverslaggewing, bestekbestuur, en om die projek betyds af te lewer.

The most important success factors for implementation of government projects in developing countries

Projects are generally conducted to meet specific objectives. In the case of government projects these objectives are normally to ensure economic growth or to meet social development goals. Project success has been the subject of research by researchers and practitioners, throughout the world. Almost all research has been focussed on the private sector, leaving a gap relating to project success factors in the public sector (projects carried out by governments) until now. This research study aimed at identifying the main factors that impact positively and negatively on projects undertaken by government institutions in Mozambique and to ascertain how project success is determined. Extensive related literature was reviewed and primary data gathered by designing a questionnaire and conducting a survey amongst project managers in government institutions. Current government structure is not perceived to be hampering project implementation. Customer/ end user satisfaction was found to be the most important criterion of project success, followed by the availability of technical experts, political support and stakeholder involvement. These findings contribute to an understanding of the factors impacting project success for government institutions specifically in Mozambique and, by extension, in other developing countries. Further research is required to determine the success factors for government projects worldwide.

Current status of project management in South Africa

Project management has been in use worldwide for many thousands of years. This research paper attempts to document the state of project management in the South African context as a result of a study in which eighty-one respondents in the project management environment in South Africa participated. It was found that: internal stakeholders are more likely to have similar opinions on project success than external stakeholders and project managers use optimistic reporting as they do not want to let the project stakeholders down. The top five factors for achieving project success are: teamwork, cost management, project planning, scope management and leadership. The six most important indicators of project success: client/customer satisfaction, by project team skill level, senior management buy-in, communication or project reporting, problem scope management and project delivery on time. As the majority of South African organisations do not use project management evaluation tools, there was no consensus on whether South African projects differ from international projects.

Leading a technical organization through change: A focus on the key drivers affecting communication

The objective of this study was to determine the key factors within communication which facilitates the change process in a technical organization, thereby allowing the organization to reap the true benefits of the change. The results aim at improving the efficiency of roll-out by ensuring that the correct aspects of communication are adequately addressed during the change process. The research was conducted on a technical organisation, where the majority of the workforce comprised highly skilled and qualified individuals focusing on developing cutting edge technological innovations. Two rounds of Delphi questionnaires were used where the first-round questionnaire was analyzed to formulate the second-round questionnaire. The second-round questionnaire was used to determine the desirability, feasibility and importance of each of the factors under review. The study identified key change information to be communicated, the method of communication, and frequency of communication, preferred communicator and the necessity of the organization to understand the change information.

The success of the South African construction industry in the international market: Is diversity an issue?

This paper explores research done in the South African construction organizations to determine whether the management of diversity is important. The study further identified eleven diversity issues using a literature survey and expert interviews. These issues were rated according to importance and maturity during a two round Delphi study with 33 experts. The four most important diversity factors were found to be: Organizational support and leadership for diversity; Foster individual maturity and ability to embrace diversity; Encourage intercultural understanding; and Commit to diversity in organizational vision. South African construction organizations are not yet mature in their management of diversity issues.

An investigation into the benefits of the implementation of an enterprise project management system in large organisations in developing economies

Large companies in developed economies have been applying enterprise project management (EPM) since the late 1990s. However, in developing countries, large organisations are only now starting to realise that EPM exists and can benefit them. This paper presents the results of a study that was undertaken to investigate the potential benefits of implementing EPM in medium to large organisations in Botswana, as a new framework to address the needs of varied and multiple projects. The general impression is that most organisations in Botswana, and by extension in other developing countries, should start to understand the intricacies of managing multiple projects. This would require an accelerated programme of building the workforces capabilities and the organisational competence required to manage business . This study comprised a two round Delphi study, with fourteen and six participants respectively, from nine medium to large organisations across all economically active regions in Botswana. The study identified the eight contributions that the adoption of enterprise project management can make in Botswana, and by extension, in other developing economies.