Marcus Dlamini a Civil Engineering Project Manager in the Public Sector did a research on the the differences between Project Management in the Public Sector and the Private Sector.
The research was done for his Masters Degree in Engineering the objective was to prove or disprove the notion that indeed there are significant gaps between the private and public sectors in Project Management The major core of this research is to prove (or disprove) the notion that there are indeed some significant gaps between the private and public sectors in Project Management. These are two different sectors that operate within the same sphere of work, but with different working conditions, ethics, principle and culture. The differences and/or similarities between the private and public sectors were highlighted, compared and discussed.
Project completion within budget: The research findings as depicted in the figure below revealed that most of the projects are completed beyond the budgeted amount with the public sector recorded the highest percentage of 70% while private sector stood at 6%.
Frequency of project schedule modification: About the number of times project schedule modified, the results of the findings show that project schedule has been modified more times in the public sector than in the private sector. This implies that private sector in South Africa is more efficient that the public sector.
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Bureaucracy and project execution: Further analysis revealed that bureaucracy has a significant impact on the implementation of the project. A great number of respondents from both sectors indicate that most of the projects are delayed for two or three months due to bureaucracy and red tape.
Project decision making efficiency: In terms of decision making efficiency, the research results revealed that decision making process in the private sector is much more efficient compared to decision making process in the public sector.
Top level support in project management: Furthermore, the results also indicate that 87% of the respondents from both private and public sector were in support of the fact that top management support for projects is essential to ensure successful implementation of the project.
Politics and power management in project implementation: Further analysis also revealed that private sector recognized much more the importance of managing politics and power before implementation of project.
Project risk monitoring and assessment: Success of project also depends on the assessment and monitoring of risk. The survey results indicated that most of the organizations in the private sector monitor risks on a continuous basis while project risks in public sector are not monitored on a regular basis.
Conclusion
There is a difference between private sector and public sector leaving the conclusion that private sector goes extra mile in ensuring that project implementation will succeed.
In both sectors, it is crucial that those people charged with governance should focus much on creating conducive environment to successful implementation of projects.
This hardhatOpinion was written by Marcus Dlamini a Built Environment Professional in the Public Sector... Do you agree with him? Or do you have an opinion on other industry related issues? Send us your Hardhat Opinion here
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Public sector higher level management have to balance the act between efficiency and government empowerment policies. Empowerment policies and directives, by and large, are not focused on efficiency but on political objectives. Balancing the act is not an easy task
ReplyDeleteBalancing the act is easy. The Will to do so have to be there. And the realisation political ideologies can at times be devastating to economic - and socio -economic wellbeing of communities.
DeleteIndeed not an easy balance but one that is achievable with the right motives
ReplyDelete