Browsing by Author "Root, David"
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- ItemOpen AccessThe infrastructure needs of a growing organisation: a study conducted in an IT company(2011) Arendse, Teresia; Root, DavidThe aim of this research is to focus on the growth demands of a specific organisation. It explores the need of a growing organisation to have an operational support structure that supports its growth.
- ItemOpen AccessAn investigation into the practice of the project management office (PMO) concept in the German developer, contractor and project management sectors(2006) Desta, Solomon; Root, David; Diederichs, C JIntegrating Project Management practices with other management practices and processes such as Knowledge Management, Total Quality Management, Concurrent Engineering, Risk Management and Change Management has become a coping mechanism for many organisations operating in volatile business environments (Kerzner 2000). Companies have come to realize that leveraging knowledge gained on projects is an important resource to improve performance and have started to look for strategies that help them to achieve 'excellence' and 'maturity' in PM and help formally "manage" this intellectual property gained on projects (Kerzner 2003). One of the strategies that many companies are adopting for the structured collection, distribution, and updating of the intellectual property gained on projects and to facilitate their maturity in PM practices is the 'project management office' (PMO) (Dai & Wells 2004; PMI 2004a; Santosus 2003; Rad & Levin 2002; Bates 1998). This is referred to by different writers alternatively as the project office (PO) (Englund et al. 2003; Kermer 2003; Turbit 2003; PM! 2000a), PM centre of excellence (COE) (Kermer 2001) or Project support office (PSO) (Marsh 2001; Marsh 2000).
- ItemOpen AccessAn investigation into the training of labour in the informal construction sector in Kenya(2008) Wachira, Isabella Njeri; Root, David; Bowen, Paul A; Olima, Washington AThe training of craftsmen in Kenya is the responsibility of their traditional employer the contractor. However, over the last 20 years, the contractors’ motivation to train has been eroded by increased casualisation. Concurrently, there was growth of the informal procurement system propagated by private sector clients, who have no incentive to train because they are ad hoc consumers of construction services. Together these phenomena led to the collapse of the formal craft training and growth of informal skilling. Currently however, there is a lack of knowledge and understanding of the nature of informal craft training. The intent of this research was to redress this by identifying the types of skills informally employed craftsmen are acquiring, how these skills are acquired and how training delivery can be enhanced. The hypotheses of the research were that the skills and skilling methods in the informal sector do not differ significantly from those in the formal sector and that the nature of training in the informal construction sector is clearly understood.
- ItemOpen AccessThe management of construction processes in developing countries : a case study of the Ethiopian Roads Authority(2015) Desta, Solomon; Michell, Kathleen Anne; Root, DavidThe delivery of construction projects in Ethiopian is accused of non-optimum performance. With this poor performance of the delivery of projects as the instigator, this study set major objectives of exploring the current practices of the management of the construction processes in Ethiopia and investigating the major drawbacks of the practices as seen in the context of 'accepted practices' and theoretical principles. As part of the approaches to achieve these objectives, the study first developed a conceptual framework for improved project performance. It identified the processes executed in project delivery, the resources used in executing these processes and the governance/management system through which the processes and resources are brought together and managed; contextualized to the peculiar conditions under which the projects are implemented, as the basic pillars of construction project management. Then, the study used the concepts and principles associated with these basic pillars and 'accepted practices' in the management of the construction processes both to inform the data collection and analysis and serve as reference against which the Ethiopian practices are compared. The study adopted post-positivist inclined case study research methodology whereby the Ethiopian Roads Authority's (ERA's) project delivery approaches are taken as case in point. It employed data collected from documents and through interviews. Using content analysis technique, the study explored and evaluated ERA's project delivery processes and their management. It also explored and analyzed the major challenges experienced by ERA in its project deliveries.
- ItemOpen AccessRisk management in the cost planning and control of building projects : the case of the quantity surveying profession in Kenya(2005) Wanyona, Githae; Bowen, Paul; Rwelamila, PDM; Akintonye, A; Stevens, Alan J; Root, DavidThis thesis examines financial risk management in the cost planning and cost control of building projects in Kenya. The quantity surveying professional in Kenya is faced with poor access to the recorded cost data needed for preparing final building cost estimates and for budget prediction. This shortcoming is exacerbated by the passive role played by the professional building cost consultant during design development. Passive professional building cost consultants are unlikely to implement risk management strategies as part of the cost planning and cost control process. The proactive identification of risks and their outcomes is essential for budget prediction and for estimating future risk impacts. The need exists for a generalised procedure that can use the limited available project information, adapting it to specific projects through identified risk indicators such as risk groups, clusters and broad subsets. The primary objectives of the research project were to identify the characteristics of risk in current practice of cost planning and cost control of building projects, and to investigate the efficacy of the techniques employed to assess risk and risk impact in cost prediction.
- ItemOpen AccessUtilizing principal agent and principal steward theories to assess the efficiacy of public private partnership in delivering black economic empowerment(2009) Khatleli, Nthatisi; Root, DavidWhen the African National Congress (ANC) assumed power in 1994, its main economic policy was to overturn over three Hundred (300) years of black economic exclusivity which were intensified by the institutionalization of racism through Apartheid in 1948. The new dispensation adopted the policy of Affirmative Action which had been practiced in other parts of the world and contextualized it to South Africa through Black Economic Empowerment (BEE). The policy was designed to permeate every aspect of state and the private sector, especially companies which deal with government as providers of goods and services. The new government realized that because of former Apartheid privileges the established companies contain high specialist knowledge tacitness and management acumen, which would need to be utilised to benefit the new black-owned companies and assist in their development. Through the Targeted Procurement Policy the government compelled the established companies to unbundle their work packages to accommodate, small black-owned Affirmable Business Enterprises (ABEs) as sub-contractors or Joint Venture partners. This relationship between the government and the established companies is a typical Principal Agent (PA) relationship, and has quintessentially been beset with moral hazard and adverse selection problems militated by asymmetric information favoring the established companies. The identification of the construction industry as the flagship empowerment environment was due to its peculiarities of yielding more employment for a given capital flow and the low entrance barriers advocating for its amenability for a farreaching BEE inclusiveness. However, the opportunistic behaviours of established companies indicated through strategic misrepresentation of the true BEE beneficiaries has hampered the effectiveness of the BEE implementation. It is in this context that Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) were identified as a iv suitable vehicle to provide an incubatory environment to nurture the up-andcoming black owned Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs). This research uses PA theory to assess the efficacy of the PPPs in mitigating different forms of fronting which are indicative of opportunistic behaviours by established companies. The research also evaluates the effectiveness of the PPP environment in according ABEs access to complex and idiosyncratic information due to a PPP's longevity and strict monitoring regimen. A critical case is deployed in this study using the basic tenets of PA theory as lenses to study the behaviours of three major parties; the government, BEE beneficiaries and established companies. The limitations of Principal Agent theory are augmented by the introduction of Principal Steward (PS) theory to account for agent (established companies) post-contractual behavioural 'anomalies' not accommodated in the classic PA theory postulation. The observed bipolar agent character yields a new theory encompassing both the PA and PS theories demonstrative of a positive agent character transition akin to a Steward, which is yet intrinsically containing basic agent characteristics. This character transition is found to have been induced by robust PPP contractual arrangement, which in the end benefits BEE.