The transport project
has specific characteristic, thus, project organization structure in the highway
construction is more specific than any other projects. At present, almost transport
projects have many problems in quality, delay, over budget, environmental impact,
traffic safety, etc. Some of the major causations come from the project organizational
structure. Project cannot run smoothly and efficiently in case its structure is
not effective. In fact, there are some common problems relating to project
organizational chart as follows:
· The project organization structure is
not flexible enough for project staff some employees did not meet the assigned
requirements.
· Role and accountability were not clear and
detailed enough. In many cases, the staff members are ambiguous about what
issue they needed to solve by themselves and had accountability for their
decision making. Besides, some decisions were not made in timely manner. These
affected so much to the efficiency and effectiveness of the project.
· Sometimes, the coordination within the company
department; or the communication between the company and the project management
office (PMO) on site are not close and smooth. It takes risk of interruption
and brought the potential risks for the project.
· There are some traffic accidents
happened on the construction site because the PMO only focused on the
construction safety, and did not pay attention to the traffic safety. When the
traffic accidents happened, a lot of legal issues arise and affected so much to
the company as well as project.
· The reward system and training program
are not given importance. This limits the staff motivation and competence
enhancement.
Understanding
the organization issues and finding out the appropriate solutions are the best
ways for enhancing the project's success and the employee's competence as well
as contributing to the sustainable development of the company.
Mr. Pham Hai
Chien made a case study on National Highway No.51 Project aimed to: (i) study
organization and project structure for a highway construction project; and (ii)
Make recommendations for improvement of weaknesses, problems and obstacles.
Conclusions
By focusing in
in-depth analysis of the organizational structure of the contractors, who undertook
to deliver the 13th and 14th packages of the national
highway No.51 project, the report demonstrated the importance of
organizational structure to the project performances. Simultaneously, the
report clarified the key factors affecting the project structure and the
specific solutions that managers need to keep in mind when designing an
organizational structure as follows:
1. Roles
and accountabilities.
The report
indicated that the role and responsibility are the fundamentals in organization
structure. The organizational structure can only work perfectly based on the
roles and accountabilities which are clarified in detailed, comprehensive and
clear. If not, many conflicts might happen during the operation of the organization
and project. Thus, the goals and objectives of the company and project cannot
be achieved.
2. Coordination
and cooperation.
Coordination
among departments and between the staff members always matters, which the
company must concerned about. There are many factors affecting the coordination
and cooperation, and one of the factors is the organizational structure. Each
organizational structure has its own strengths and advantages. Therefore,
depending on the characteristics of each project, the organizational structure needs
to be designed and set up in order for the departments and individuals to coordinate
and cooperate most effectively. The report demonstrated why the matrix
structure is a typical example that is often
3. Project
governance.
Beside
a good project structure, the project governance is also very important to
ensure the success of the project. The report pointed out that transparency,
clear structure, clear role and accountabilities are the important factors in
the project governance. Additionally, it is necessary to apply four key
principles of project governance to ensure that project governance is more effective
and efficient.
4. Problems
and obstacles occurring within the structure.
Based
on the weaknesses of the project structure, the report analysed in-depth the
core problem occurred. These are typical problems which the traffic projects
often encounter. Beside some solutions are supported by the theoretical
framework, some other solutions come from the experience of the PMO. The
traffic contractors can apply these experiences to manage the future project
more successfully.
5. Lessons
learnt from the strength and weakness.
There
are many other lessons learned during the construction process, but this report
only focuses on the basic lessons relating to organizational structure has been
and will happen in the key traffic projects such as the national highway No.51.
The construction companies need to pay
special attention and must consider the following recommendations when
designing an organizational structure of own business in order to achieve the
agreed strategic objectives.
1. Set
up the good structure according to the right policy and strategy.
When
the economy falls into a spiral of crisis, the companies often tend to change
the business strategies in order to adapt with the crisis and to overcome
difficulties by restructuring the organizational structure following the new
business strategy. This is because the structure is the skeleton of an organization
or a project. In case that is a good project structure but does not match the
right policy and strategy of the company, the structure cannot run smoothly. In
contrast, a good structure in accordance with a failure business strategy of
the enterprise does not still ensure the project success. Two factors always
interact and complement each other as a precondition for the success of the
project.
Set
up the project structure based on characteristic of each project with careful
consideration. The previous project structure is only a consultation, not a
final choice. After that, analyzing in-depth, incessantly monitoring and
revising the project structure to ensure that it always follows the current
policy and strategy of the company.
2. Appoint
the right person to the right position.
People
are the heart of all issues. Until now, the personnel activities are never easy
for any enterprises. While choosing a good staff is too difficult, appointing
them to the right position for maximizing his ability is never simple.
Based
on a good recruitment process, the advanced training programs, the clear,
detailed and comprehensive personnel policies, transparency, and the effective
enforcement of the personnel policies, the firms will hold a huge advantage in
the operational activities and the project delivery.
3. Set
up and enforce effectively and efficiently the project governance.
i. Jean-Daniel
Gerber (2004) stated that “Good governance
doesn’t fall from the sky; it must be learned, practiced and enforced”.
ii. A
successful project needs the effective project governance. There are many
perspectives, approaches, and structures in the project governance. Base on the
organizational structure and policies of the company, the firms should set up an
appropriate project governance structure, then apply and enforce them effectively
to achieve the required objectives.
4. Attach
special importance to the traffic safety.
i. Vietnam
is one of the countries with the higher rate of traffic accidents in recent
years due to severely degraded transportation infrastructure, while the awareness
of the traffic participant is still poor. Moreover, the contractors of the traffic
project usually do not pay attention to traffic safety for vehicles circulated
on the project. Therefore, most of the traffic projects often occur some serious
common traffic jams and traffic accidents. Many contractors have been sanctioned,
even prosecuted criminal.
ii. Setting
up a good safety team; establishing a detailed and comprehensive project safety
plan; and enforcing efficiently the safety plan are the best solution that the
traffic contractor needs to follow in order to achieve more the project’s success
and avoid the legal issue because of the traffic accidents.
5. Doing
right at the beginning makes a good ending.
i. In
the field of management, doing right at the beginning, doing right from the
smallest things are the key to success, however it is not easy to take. For instance,
in all stages of project implementation, or in case the important issues need
to be executed immediately, the commencement meeting is extremely important.
The opinions and reviews in this meeting are as a basis for doing right at the
start, minimize the potential risks during the implementation in the future.
The final reported meeting is also essential to assess the results of implementation
and draw experience for the upcoming projects.
ii. Trying
to do right at the commencement, trying to do right from the smallest are the
best way for the companies and the project managers towards the fully satisfactory
results.
Finally, there
are no any theoretical frameworks, or solutions to be accurate in all cases of
the organizational structure. However, the analysis and recommendations in this
report that are fundamental approach for any construction companies can be
applied in a flexible manner through the specific characteristics of the
business, or the projects. Understanding this approach, the firms will be
easier and more successful in designing their own organizational structure.
His thesis abstract is copied and pasted.
