Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
Introduction
As project management moves into the 21st century, people involve in the various projects, face the challenges of operating in project environments characterized by high levels of uncertainty, cross-cultural teams, and global competition. To be able to ensure that projects meet these challenges and to make the most effective use of the people involved with the project, the management involves needs to develop a clear understanding of the factors that contribute to the success and effectiveness of the specific project.
Accordingly, projects should change an unsatisfactory (existing or future) state to a better state within a certain time, utilising a limited effort ( 1994). It can be said that project means that there is someone who always has the unique needs for something new tangible outcomes (the creation) of it, and requires knowledge and resources to conduct the realization of the concept within the specific constraints of time, money and specifications ( 1997). Furthermore, required expertise and resources are needed, either in-house or from the market, need to be pooled together to create the change – the transition from the idea to the creation, according to the client’s expectations, which are provided by professionals, consultants, contractors and sub-contractors ( 1997).
Projects come in simple or complex. The objectives that constitute the specified goal may be in terms of time, costs, or technical results. Several techniques have been created in order to execute this type of management with ease. But before any further execution of the plans, it is important to initially draw the boundaries that the project will affect so as to determine the concerns and limitations of the projected goals and outcomes of the project. Primarily, the main goal of this dissertation is to investigate the factors that affect the success of the implementation of the metro rail projects.
Background of the Study
The art of planning for the future has always been a human trait as humans are thinking individuals. In essence a project can simply be captured on paper with a few simple elements: a start date, an end date, the tasks that have to be carried out and when they should be finished, and some idea of the resources (people, machines etc) that will be needed during the course of the project. When the plan is one which involves different things happening at various times, some of which are interconnected on each other, plus resources needed at varying times and in different quantities and perhaps working at different rates, the paper plan could start to cover a vast area and reading it will require extra effort. This is where modern project management comes into scene in the world of construction and design. But it must be considered that project management is not only about planning but also about human attributes which plays the most important role, like leadership and motivation.
A project may be defined as an activity involving the conversion of material or data resources over a constrained time frame. The need to focus on ways of improving performance and utilization of resources has increased the demand for and the use of project-based approaches. According to (1994), projects should transform an unsatisfactory (existing or future) state to a better state within a certain time, using a limited effort. In a more pragmatic terms, a project means that there is someone who always has the unique needs for something new tangible outcomes (the creation) of it, and requires knowledge and resources to conduct the realization of the concept within the specific constraints of time, money and specifications ( 1997). Furthermore, required expertise and resources are needed, either in-house or from the market, need to be pooled together to create the change – the transition from the idea to the creation, according to the client’s expectations, which are provided by professionals, consultants, contractors and sub-contractors (1997).
Managing projects put the manager into a difficult position because of the weight of responsibility associated with the task. Based on existing studies, the rate of project failure is high (1997). (1997) enumerated the reasons on why projects fail. (1997) stated that reasons include: poor understanding and identification of the client/customer/end-user needs; inadequate specification of project requirements and project constraints; consequently, setting unrealistic project goals altogether; organizational behavior factors including structure, functions, performance, and associated behavior of groups and individuals; bounded rationality in the process of project planning and project implementation, i.e. the lack of appreciation of dynamics and change; poor monitoring and control during the project implementation phase; and measurement and assessment of project progress against the plan .
Comparative research on the relative effectiveness of different project approaches has resulted to relevant concepts that deal with the suitability of a number of structures of facilitating a project. The found out that the traditional functional organization is insufficient when the project is complex and calls for a considerable coordination and added development effort ( 1989). For this reason the approach only advised when the projects are limited and involves minor changes in existing products or services. On the contrary, project teams approach was realized to be effective in the completion of development projects (1981, 1987). However, the cost of the said approach is considered as a drawback in its extensive application. As such, project teams are most of the time recommended only for complex breakthrough projects with urgent deadlines and promising results that will benefit the business organization (1991).
In the study conducted by (1988) regarding training and development practices, the authors found out that program content and participant needs are crucial aspects during the analysis and selection of training and development as the results indicated stable and increased management training and development for the participating organizations. Such emphasizes the presence of a growing commitment to management training and development particularly in the public sector. However, they claimed that the application of important training and development principles, such as valid needs assessments and systematic evaluation is sorely lacking (1995).
Project Management Models
Project management is such a multifaceted responsibility that it requires people in this area to possess innumerable competencies ranging from personal skills, management proficiencies, technical expertise, and others. With this, the project management competency model concocted and grouped thirteen discrete competencies that a project management requires: leadership, customer relations, project planning, performance measurement, communicating, organizational effectiveness, team building, staff development, perspective, negotiating, risk management, problem solving, and decision making. This model was developed from the observable behaviors of successful, professional project managers in a variety of application areas. It provides a consistent, coherent structure for assessing the capabilities of current and prospective project managers. It was created by the in the United States in 2003.
The development of the Changing Outcomes project, on the other hand, was conceptualized using the project management methodology. The said methodology recognizes the interactive and cyclic orientation of production and business project development (1997). The model illustrates the stages of development which include designing, developing and evaluating so as to meet the expected outcome ( 2001).
Research Objectives
The development of metro rail projects must be able to consider different aspects before implementing it. In this regard, the main goal of this paper is to conduct an investigation on the factors that will affect its successful implementation in Malaysia. In particular, this study aims to achieve the following objectives:
1. To determine the factors for a successful implementation for a Metro projects and the strategies used for the successful completion.
2. To identify the key benefits associated with Modern Transportation system (Metro Rail).
3. To know the factors that causes overruns in time and budget in the project completion in relation to the Metro projects.
4. To determine the potential risks which cause the project failure and the kind of failures will expect and how to overcome from those risks
5. To know the invented issues relating to Metro.
Research Questions
As mentioned, this study aims on identifying the factors that affects the successful implementation of Metro rail Projects in Malaysia. Specifically, this paper attempts to answer the following queries:
1. What makes for a successful implementation for a Metro projects and what are the strategies used for the successful completion?
2. What are the key benefits associated with Modern Transportation system (Metro Rail)?
3. What factors that causes overruns in time and budget in the project completion in relation to the Metro projects?
4. What are the potential risks which cause the project failure and what kind of failures will expect and how to overcome from those risks?
5. What are the invented issues relating to Metro?
Significance of the Study
The boom of tourism industry, especially in most Asian countries, has paved the way for different nations to develop new initiatives to meet the demands of the tourists. Countries like Malaysia are trying to enhance their public transportation system to ensure that Malaysian citizen will have a better transportation services and to enhance their tourism industry. One of the projects in line is the Metro Rail projects. In doing specific projects, there are aspects that should be considered in order to ensure its success.
It was noted that there are a number of literatures that discussed how the use of project management approach has been developed to adhere to the needs of the given project. Considering the existence of many project management models in the world, it is essential that several studies stress this context of investigating the factors that affects the success of implementing a metro rail project.
By and large, the purpose of this research study is to investigate the factors that will influence the success of the given project. In addition, this study will also include the discussion of relevant literature. The outcome of this study will be helpful for the metro rail projects implementation in various parts of the world especially those who are still in the beginning stage. In addition, this research study is significant in terms of helping engineering students, project managers, and the tourism industries to know the importance of the perception of the project manager regarding the changes that would be initiated in a specific country. The findings of the study will be able to benefit various industries who will handle different projects throughout the world. This means that the results of the study will be beneficial to the business, public and private environment since the research will be able to support the previous claims that having a effective project management and help countries to have a comprehensive project management approach in the future. This also suggests that the findings of the research will allow the government institutions and other authorities integrate effective diversification plan for the development of their tourism industry as well as their transportation system.
Scope and Limitation
This research will be conducted to be able to analyse and investigate the factors that affect the successful implementation of Metro Rail projects in Malaysia. This study will cover the topics on the benefits associated with Modern Transportation system (Metro Rail) as well as the factors that cause overruns in time and budget in the project completion in relation to the Metro projects and other relevant issues.
The discussion of this study will mainly focus on the analysis of the perception of the project managers regarding the topic. The data that will be gathered for this research will be derived from primary and secondary resources. The primary source of information for this research will be derived from self-administered survey questionnaires, prepared by the researcher, which will be provided to the respondents of the study. The participants for this research will be selected from the project manager of Malaysia. On one hand, the secondary sources of data will come from published articles from project management journals, theses, and related studies on metro rail projects.
For this research, the research we assumed that time will be the greatest limitation to this research, which may hinder long-term outcome objectives. As this study will be utilizing a small sample of participants, the results may not effectively represent the general population. In this study, the self-administered semi-structured questionnaires will be used to collect quantitative data and the interviews will be used to provide qualitative insights into the data collected. The data will then be presented by means of graphical representations and illustration and the difference would be highlighted. A negative correlation between the variables would suggest that the hypothesis is null, that is, the level of effectiveness of training programs significantly affects the general efficiency of the organisation.
Chapter 2
Review of Relevant Literature
Introduction
Perhaps, the core mission of every projects is to deliver a good management system that would maintain the organization’s capability, strength and competitiveness. In line with this, more and more firms and organizations are trying to utilize different aspects of project management. Project management emerged as an answer to some of the management problems from today’s complex systems and the increasingly complex efforts to solve those systems problems. The notion of project management is periodically rediscovered whenever a member of top management, contemplating a big job in deep trouble, hence project management is the investiture in a single person of the responsibility for success of failure of a project (1981).
Further, project management should only be utilized if it is really needed, and can provide solutions to pressing management problems. A project is defined as a complex system involving the coordination of a number of separate department entities throughout the organization, and which must be completed within prescribed schedule and cost constraints. If an organization’s job or problem does not meet these criteria, it probably does not need project management, and for these types of tasks, project management will probably hinder rather than help. Project management comprises different aspects and this includes, project planning, risk management, project organization and responsibilities, monitoring and control. Thus, the major focus of this paper is to discuss one of the aspects of project management which is the risk management.
The Use of Project Management Techniques in Real Life Situation
Project management is important especially when the business or an organization finds it hard to adjust with the changes brought by different external factors. In this manner, the management team should incorporate project management methods or techniques in order to attain the core objective of the imposed project or program. Project Management technique is regarded as an interconnected and organization set of approaches or technique considered to achieve the purpose of the project implemented by a certain organization. This comprises project planning, risk management, project organization and responsibilities and project monitoring and control.
Project Planning is part of the project management wherein the management team determines ways and techniques to initiate a project or execute their objectives. Project planning can be used in real life situation when an organization intends to instigate or initiate a certain project that will enhance the competitiveness of the organization. In this manner, the organization will set their objectives, determine the persons involve to initiate the project, determine the time frame or schedule on when the project will be executed, and determine the possible risks that the project may include. The project pan must also include the discussion on how such project will be monitored and controlled to achieve their organizational goal ( 1993).
On the other hand, project organizing and responsibilities is another technique in project management process. Project organization specifies the means of integrating the functions of the individuals who will be involved in the project. Organizing is normally done concurrently with project planning. In project organizing directing involves guiding and supervising the project team members. Directing requires skilful managers and members who have the ability to interact with subordinates efficiently by means of good communication and motivational approaches ( 2000). This technique may be used in real-life situation, when organization would want to evaluate the appropriate and effective personnel that will be chosen for the project. In this manner, the organization must be able to assign a successful manager that will be able to enhance the performance of other members of the project team by directing them, through proper tasks assignments toward the project goal. In line with this, the manager should used proper directing to ensure that the members of the project team will do their best to achieve the main goal of the project.
The next technique to be considered in initiating a project is the risk management. Risk management is considered as one of the acceptable concept on which institutions and different organization have utilized to sustain their success and competencies. Risk management can be used in real-life situation in a way that it may serve as a guiding principle for any organization to prevent further harm on the overall performance of the organization.
In addition, risk management can be used in different aspects of real life situation like for example the management of risk from environmental hazards, and technological hazards. According to (2001), there are three steps in generating the risk management practice in an organization. The first step is to establish the context where there is a careful examination of the strategy, stakeholders and the environment of the organization. Working within the context of the organization ensures that it will not go beyond what the organization should carefully manage and what risks should be considered. This is important so as not to overstretch the risk to be taken. The second step is the identification of situations that can have an effect to the business objectives. In these situations the managers must be able to consider the brand equity risk, where the reputation or the brand name of the company will be affected. And lastly, is the ability of the management to know the risk in terms of customer satisfaction that would be reflected on poor product acceptance. Quality control problems that are reflected in risk on product quality may also be considered so that the manager will know the current status of the company’s product on the consumers. (1991) believes that the management of risk is contradictory to the concept of management as a whole. It is because management is supposed to be about control and while risk is about taking chances on the future. Herein, the management of risk is a concept that reduces the chances of the possible danger or risks which affects the strategy or the competitiveness of any organization. It is in the risk management that the chances of survival of a company are enhanced. It takes a larger context on the aspect of survival. However, risk management is not limited to the aspect of survival alone; it means that there is something that managers can bank on if something goes wrong.
The last technique of project management which is also useful in the real-life situation is the project monitoring and control. In this aspect, the management should make it sure that the implemented project is being monitored accurately and timely. It involves the determination on whether the implemented project is done in line with the goals and objective set in the project planning. Tracking and reporting are prerequisites for project control. A properly and accurately systematic report of the project status will immediately identify the deficiencies and the possible risks in the development of the project and this helps in pinpointing necessary corrective measures. Monitoring and control can be utilized in a real life situation when an organization or an individual has done something to improve the competitiveness of a certain organization or individual. Herein, the person involves should be able to monitor the development of the project imposed to determine whether the project will meet the objective or not. In addition, in monitoring the project, the person or organization involved will have a chance to know the factors that affects the success of the project and will easily make decision for possible actions to eliminate such factors. In addition, control is used in real life situation so that the manager and the project team will be guided in the process (1999).
It can be said that the project management theory and techniques has its won unique functions in the project management process as a whole. Without knowing the proper use of each, the organization may have difficulties in executing the objective of implementing project management. With the differences of the concept and the function of each project management theory, it is possible that the effect of each project management varies in relation on how this project management technique has been used.
Concept of Project Planning
Project Planning is part of the project management wherein the management team determines ways and techniques to initiate a project or execute their objectives. Project planning can be used in real life situation when an organization intends to instigate or initiate a certain project that will enhance the competitiveness of the organization. In this manner, the organization will set their objectives, determine the persons involve to initiate the project, determine the time frame or schedule on when the project will be executed, and determine the possible risks that the project may include. The project plan must also include the discussion on how such project will be monitored and controlled to achieve their organizational goal ( 1993).
In a project plan, there are different project planning tools which can be used to make the project work effectively and smoothly. One of these tools is the Gant chart. A Gantt chart is one of the most widely used tools for presenting a project schedule. A Gantt chart can show planned and actual progress of activities. The time scale is indicated along the horizontal axis, while horizontal bars or lines representing activities are ordered along the vertical axis. As a project progresses, markers are made on the activity bars to indicate actual work accomplished. Gantt charts must be updated periodically to indicate project status ( 2003).
Gantt chart for the Designing and Creating Information System Development Program: Activity Duration Estimating Sheet
Aside from the Gantt chart another project planning tool that can be used is the PERT/CPM Network diagramming technique. This technique has undergone changes over the years, and it is currently referred to as the Precedence Diagram Method (PDM). PERT/CPM became a valuable scheduling tool. Its value was rooted in a number of factors. First, to create a PERT/CPM network, a project team needed to engage in scheduling discipline. Tasks needed to be identified, durations estimated, and the relationships of the tasks to each other understood ( 2003). One cannot create meaningful PERT/CPM networks in an ad hoc fashion. This scheduling discipline was salubrious because it required project workers to understand thoroughly the steps that needed to be taken to implement their projects.
Second, once a PERT/CPM network was created, it could serve as a mathematical model of the project because computerized PERT/ CPM software routines linked cost and resource utilization data to the scheduling data. Consequently, the PERT/CPM network could be employed to address important “what if” questions. Third, the PERT/CPM approach was the principal approach estimators could employ to estimate the duration of projects. The duration could be derived by identifying the critical path, which is the longest path of linked tasks in the PERT/CPM network. By identifying the critical path, schedulers had a way of identifying which tasks needed to be monitored closely in order to avoid schedule slippages and which tasks needed to be adjusted in order to accelerate the project schedule.
PERT/CPM Sample
The PERT/CPM approach served project managers well over a period of several decades. It remains the core scheduling technique used in project management today, and this turns out to cause a bit of a problem. The creation of a PERT/CPM network requires three basic pieces of information:
· What tasks will be carried out?
· what is the duration of each task; and
· How are these tasks linked?
The discussion shows two important project planning tools that can be used in a project management activity. Given the definition and the advantages of the two tools, I recommend that my classmate use Gantt chart tools. This is because Gantt chart allows the project team members to see easily when tasks should begin and when they should end. Gantt charts are widely used for the planning and control of schedules on projects. Many project workers employ them without even knowing that they have a special name.
Their popularity lies in their simplicity. They are easy to construct and easy to understand. No special training is needed to learn how to use them, and no elaborate equipment is needed to make them—just a sheet of graph paper, a pencil, and a ruler. They are especially useful for examining schedule variance, since they convey project slippage dramatically. The following is an example of a Gantt chart for a specific information system development.
Project Models
The four phased model for initiation a certain project includes initiation and concept, planning and development, implementation and execution and handover and evaluation. In doing a project, it is important that people that would be selected are those individual who are knowledgeable regarding the project to ensure that the output adheres to the purpose and objective of the said project. In organizing a team, it is also essential that the members chosen will be able to meet the needs for a particular phase in the project. In the last project that we have done, the team was organized in accordance with the four phased model. First in order to create the project concept, a team leader was selected prior to its execution. Herein, the members have selected the leader whom they thought to have intensive knowledge about the project.
As the initiation and concept phase continues the leader and the members of our project has been able to assess each of their abilities to be assigned for the next phase of the model which is the planning and development. In this phase, our project team leader and the members are able to identify who among the members have the ability to effectively plan and develop the project. The project leader and the members are also able to determine who among them will implement and execute the project and lastly, they are able to know who will be assigned in the evaluation phase. Hence, it can be said that the team was organized because of this four-phased model.
It can be said that the group formed in this project are all capable and efficient in doing their project tasks. Although, there are some problems and issues that have been encountered, the overall output of the project still becomes successful. All in all, it can be concluded that the project team that has been established for the project performed well to achieve the objective of the project. The good performance of the group can be attributed to some positive aspects which help the members do their job effectively. One of the factors is having a leader who is capable of handling different individuals. Having an effective leader which creates harmonious relationship among the members helps the group to perform well for the project. Another positive factor is the effective selection of members who will take part of the project. Identifying members who will handle the projects tasks is very important to ensure that the project will be successful until the end. Hence, with the ability of the leader and the members to choose the members who fits for a certain tasks is an essential aspect to have a better project performance.
On the other hand, the negative factors that affects the performance of the group is ineffective communication and individual differences. In order to solve the problem, the group has been able to create an atmosphere which gives importance to communication. The leader sees to it that they impose open communication so that deeper conflicts may be avoided. In addition, the leaders also sight the importance of respecting individual differences to avoid clash of personalities among the members. If I were the leader, I will solve such problem by having an open forum with the members. In this meeting, each member will be able to know each other for them to work harmoniously. Aside from that I will ensure that everyone values the opinion of the others to avoid problems.
In terms of meeting, the leader make it sure that they apply open and direct communication approach to know the opinions of the members. Herein, the project leader gives time for all the members to speak what is on their mind and come up with a conclusion that is agreed by all. In this particular project the group is said to perform well in effective solving of the problems regarding the projects. In this manner, it is recommended that the group should continue to be more open minded in a meeting and to still have open communication to discuss issues which may affect the project as a whole.
Other factors in a Project
In doing a project, there are many other factors that should be considered to ensure effective or positive result. These include, effective listening, effective meetings and project report. Effective Listening: People have different ways of listening because we all have individual personalities that we have to except and compensate for when listening to each other. To be a good listener the receiver should be active, positive, pay attention to the speaker and be able to analyse the message in the intended way. This isn’t easy but is the best communication tool that we have. Listening helps to solve problems, build good relationships and gives a good understanding of any situation. When we listen effectively to someone our communication difficulties will stop and by doing this it shows us how vital and important listening is within all human communication.
The first step toward more effective listening is paying increased attention and this helps us to keep the verbal and nonverbal stimuli in our long-term memory. We are then able to compare the information with new and old material. Everyone can increase attention by realizing its importance, avoiding the chance to daydream, removing the distractions if possible or by learning to listen over these distractions. We all have the ability to listen and understand a speaker even when there are large distractions. We should then learn to understand nonverbal communication. Listening effectively is difficult because people vary in their communication skills and in how clearly they express themselves and often have different needs, wants and reasons for communicating.
Effective Meetings: This aspect is important to ensure that the project leader and members are always on the right path. In an effective meeting, the conductor must be able to establish a clear purpose and objective. In this manner, the leader should be able to disseminate the information about the meetings three days before the day of the meeting so that all important members may be able to attend. In addition, the leader must set some agenda which will serve as guidelines as the meeting proceeds. The meeting should include the determination of the progress of the current project. In addition, the meeting should also tackle about different problems and issue that affects the performance of the members as well as the project procedures. After identifying these problems, the next step is to determine the possible solutions for the problems. An effective meeting is the one which has been evaluated at the end. The effective meetings must have effective communication and decision making process which will help the project team leaders and members to performed better in the actual project. All the members of the project should be present in the meeting.
Project Report: The team that is assigned to do the project should hold regular meetings and at each meeting the leader should provide time for the discussion and reporting of the overall progress of the plan or the project. The main focus of this project report includes the things that have been done in line with the project. The report should also include, the report on the budget used for the project, the time that the members have spent for the project and if the project is still in the right direction to achieve the objective and purpose.
Other than these three aspects, another important factor to consider in project planning and initiation is the controls establishment. A good project plan itself won’t insure that your team works effectively. In most of the projects, unexpected problems may arise like some members have trouble completing assignments, schedules get changed, and plans have to be revised. The further a team gets into its project, the less relevant its initial plan can seem. It is very important to continue to monitor and control the team to keep it on track and on schedule. Without good monitoring and controls, the scope of the project can begin to enlarge bit by bit, or a crucial subtask can fall behind schedule and delay other subtasks, or a fundamental mistake can be ignored until it becomes extremely costly to fix. Controlling the project falls into two categories which are the scheduling and monitoring.
Aside from controls establishment planning for error is another aspects that must be considered when doing a project. One of the most common errors in planning is that assuming there will be no errors in the implementation which in effect, the schedule is not based on the plan. On the other hand, recognizing that errors will occur is the reason for implementing a monitoring strategy on the project. However, by cautiously considering errors in advance you can make changes to the original plan to enhance its tolerance.
The team in designing and creating the information system development program try to predict where the errors will occur by examining the activities’ list (1975). The risky areas might then be given a less strict time-scale – actually planning-in time for the mistakes. Another option is to apply a different strategy, or more resources, to such activities to minimize the disorder in the project.
Metro Rail Projects Review
For this study, it is important to determine some metro rail projects that have been conducted recently. It has been noted that Metro Rail projects is considered to be a definitive answer to the transport system problems in different parts of the world. The construction of metro rail is a complex system which requires mode of applying different new and advanced technologies like electrical, civil, and signaling and telecommunication engineering. In the metro rail projects in India, the government has ensured that they use efficient project management with technology to make the project successful (2008). Since most of the people involved know how complex metro rail projects are, they are trying to adopt different project management approach to ensure success of the project.
For instance, in the Dulles Corridor Metro rail Project, the project administrators which are the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), has been able to completely monitor the project in the Washington DC, metropolitan Area. The goals of the monitoring process are to assess the condition of the Dulles Project which includes the costs, funding, and the schedule and to determine the potential risks that will affect the completion of the project. Since FTA knows how critical the project is, they are able to use their own process of assessment and evaluation which is the New Start process. This process is a systematic approach used to evaluate project for funding and it heavily relies on full funding grant agreements, which are long-term funding commitment which helps in meeting the financial needs of large transit projects like Dulles Metro Rail project ( 2007). In this project, it shows that the project managers attempted to give emphasis on the entire project procedure from the management of the tasks to the costs and financial needs. They also give emphasis on certain risks that may affect the success of their project.
Another aspects that has been given emphasis among metro rails projects is the contract route. For instance in India, their metro rail projects are considering contracts from Public Private Partnership (PPP) model and Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC). However, the most commonly used contract routes in metro rail projects is the EPC.
The Delhi Metro for instance is using the EPC contracts in partnership with the state and central government in terms of financial needs. Since Metro Rail Projects have high construction costs, the management of the metro rail projects should ensure that they have enough budgets to pursue the project and in this regard, the Delhi Metro project adopts the EPC contract route (2007).
Chapter 3
Research Methodology
The method followed in conducting the research is both quantitative and qualitative. The quantitative method is used to answer questions about relationships among measured variables with the purpose of explaining, predicting and controlling phenomena, while the qualitative method is used to answer questions about the complex nature of phenomena, often with the purpose of describing and understanding the phenomena from the participants’ point of view. Originally, different types of data collection methodologies were proposed to investigate the research questions:
The sources of the primary data:
(1) Questionnaire administered to project managers
(2) Telephone interview with the Project manager
(3) Face-to-Face interview with the Metro Rail System Project Developers.
The Sources of the secondary data:
(4) Information from the Internet.
Based on the literature review, we have created our own criteria to evaluate the automated leave system, which are:
Data Collection
1) Questionnaire:
A questionnaire was administered to the project managers for the purpose of knowing the major problems that were associated with the Metro Rail System’s project. The questionnaire was distributed to a random sample of size 80 managers.
One of the challenges considered when conducting the survey is the assurance of an adequate and representative sample of the population being surveyed. The project manager sent letters to the involved managers in the Metro rail projects requesting their cooperation and participation in the study.
Approximately one week after the distributing questionnaire, reminder letters were sent to the participated employees to solicit any questions or comments, and request that they return the completed instrument as soon as possible. Thank you letters were also mailed to the respondents upon receipt of the completed questionnaires.
The survey method applied in collecting primary data. Survey comprises a descriptive and non-experimental data collection method intended to draw information from a large sample. The survey method allowed the investigation to derive precise and impartial data to support conclusions and generalizations. This applies in studies requiring the determination and investigation of links or relationships between or among variables (2003).
However, there are advantages and disadvantages in using the survey method so that, the disadvantages should be addressed to justify the method and ensure the reliability and validity of the data collection process. An advantage is the ability to establish a relationship among variables but a concurrent disadvantage is the failure of the method to indicate the direction of the relationship (1994). In the current study, combining the quantitative and qualitative approaches led to the determination not only of the existence of a relationship but also the direction of the relationship and the explanation for this. Another advantage is the ability of the survey to draw data from many respondents but a related disadvantage is the heavy reliance of the method on self-reported data ( 1994) by the respondents making it imperative for the researcher to apply ways of ensuring the willingness of the respondents to participate and freely share information to support research validity. In the study, respondents were contacted beforehand to seek their willingness to cooperate in the data collection process by explaining to them the purpose of the study and the need for their participation in the data collection process to ensure that answers given can validly support conclusions. In addition, combining survey with interview method also allows the company to derive explanations for answers. Still another advantage is the ability of the data collection method to derive a wide range of experiences and opinions on the subject of the study but this also involves the concurrent disadvantage of requiring a tedious process ( 1994). The current study worked through a timetable that allotted sufficient time for data collection especially because of the need to draw willing customers and wait for replies to the questionnaire.
The survey used a questionnaire, as shown below, composed of two parts. The first part of questionnaire contained demographic information while the second part involved the survey proper. The questionnaire was administered to the project managers. In addition, another primary data collection method is interview with selected survey respondents conducted to derive insight on the responses. The data collection instrument will be a structured questionnaire that would be based on Likert scale. A Likert Scale is a rating scale that requires the subject to indicate his or her degree of agreement or disagreement with a statement. By rating scale we mean the scales that are usually used to measure attitudes towards an object, the degree to which an object contains a particular attribute, (Like or dislike), toward some attribute, or the importance attached to an attribute. The equivalent weights for the answers would be:
Range Interpretation
4.50 – 5.00 Strongly Agree
3.50 – 4.00 Agree
2.50 – 3.49 Uncertain
1.50 – 2.49 Disagree
0.00 – 1.49 Strongly Disagree
The use of the questionnaire would provide the project owner the ability to test the views and attitudes of the respondents. The distribution and collation methods used to manage the questionnaire process would ensure anonymity. For validation purposes, the researcher will initially submit a sample of the set of survey questionnaires for approval; the survey will be initially conducted to five respondents. After the questions are answered, the researcher will ask the respondents for any suggestions or any necessary corrections to ensure further improvement and validity of the instrument. The researcher will again examine the content of the survey questions/statements to find out the reliability of the instrument. Afterwards, the researchers will exclude irrelevant questions and changed words that would be deemed difficult by the respondents, to much simpler terms. The researcher will exclude the five respondents who will be initially used for the validation of the instrument. The researcher will then tallies score and tabulate all the responses in the provided questionnaire.
Ethical Considerations
The ethical considerations arising in the investigation covers the consent of the respondents to the data collection process and the confidentiality of the information given by the respondents. This could raise concerns on the part of the respondents. In order to allay this concern, the questionnaire includes a letter explaining how their information was obtained, the extent of information obtained on them, the researcher, the purpose of the study, the participation expected from them, and an assurance that personal information obtained would be kept in confidence and used only for the purposes of the study. Answering and mailing back the questionnaires indicates consent and voluntary participation to the data collection process. In addition, protecting the confidentiality of identities of the respondents and the information given would also be assured the respondents during the interview process. These steps are necessary to ensure that the respondents knowingly and willingly extend their cooperation and participation to the research process.
Data Processing
The method of data analysis for the qualitative data is deriving and interpreting meaning and deriving implications in relation to the aim and objectives of the study. Results and analysis are presented in text discussions and graphs or charts to facilitate readability. In relation to the quantitative data, correlation analysis determines the existence of a relationship between the dependent and the various independent variables.
Statistical Treatment of the Data
After the collection of information from self-administered questionnaire, and related studies, the researcher collated all the data. The statistical analysis for the information from semi-structure questionnaire was conducted using Microsoft Excel where the data is tabulated, graphed, and evaluated. The testing of the level of significance was conducted using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and tabulated in the Excel files. The SPSS is the standard software in conducting statistical analysis.
Percentage – to determine the magnitude of the responses to the questionnaire:
Where: n = number of responses
N = total number of respondents
Weighted Mean:
where: f – weight given to each response
x – number of responses
xt – total number of responses
To evaluate the information gathered, the percentage analysis and mean analysis are used.
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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