Critical Factors for Project Failures: An Abu Dhabi Insight

This research proposal examines the critical factors contributing to project failures in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The study investigates causes such as lack of funding, poor planning, communication breakdowns, and external environmental factors. It explores relevant literature on project management success and failure, including steps for successful project management and critical factors for failure. The research questions focus on identifying the causes of project failures, investigating factors leading to project incompletion, and suggesting ways to overcome these issues. The methodology includes a discussion of research philosophy, design, strategy, data collection methods, and sampling techniques, along with expected outcomes and a timescale for the project. The proposal aims to offer entrepreneurial insights to mitigate project delays and enhance project success in the region.

Running head: BUSINESS RESEARCH METHOD RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Business Research Method Research Proposal
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Notes

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Table of Contents
Overview....................................................................................................................................2
Research Questions....................................................................................................................3
Relevant Literature.....................................................................................................................4
Steps for Successful project management..............................................................................4
Critical factors for failure in project management.................................................................5
An entrepreneurial insight......................................................................................................7
Methodology..............................................................................................................................8
Research philosophy...............................................................................................................8
Research Design.....................................................................................................................9
Research strategy....................................................................................................................9
Data Collection method..........................................................................................................9
Sampling techniques.............................................................................................................10
Expected Outcomes..............................................................................................................10
Timescale.................................................................................................................................10
Reference..................................................................................................................................12

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Project Title: Critical factor failures in Project Management - An entrepreneurial
insight to the incomplete projects in Abu Dhabi, UAE
Overview
Due to the intense level of competition in the modern days, there is huge pressure in
majority of the business environment at the global scale. The success of the professional
projects depends on their ability to maintain sustainability and accomplish the same within
definite period of time. Proper strategic plan is also one of the main components of every
types of professional project works. Lack of proper planning during the initial stage and
missing of the deadline are few of the major causes of failure in the project management.
Lack of communication between the stakeholders of the project team is also one of the major
issue for failure of project management. In many cases, there are lack of understanding about
the risks that are involved in the project. It is also relevant to mention that relevant hard and
soft skills are needed to deal with the majority of the project within an industry. Lack of
proper information is also one of the major cause of project failures as the stakeholders are
not able to coordinate their activities.
The current study will provide the research proposal for analysing the factors that are
responsible for complete projects in the region of Abu Dhabi in UAE. Research work will
critically evaluate the cause for in completion of various project work and also the loss that
are faced due to the project failures. In spite of the fact that there are many modern projects
that have been planned in the regions of Abu Dhabi for development of infrastructure, most
of them are not planned in the matters of dealing with matters risks involved in the projects.
Hence, most other important projects are left incomplete mostly due to the fact that the

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stakeholders are not able to overcome the issues or collect enough fund for completion of the
work.
The main highlighting area of the research proposal in the context will be to suggest
proper ways to overcome the barriers faced by project management work in Abu Dhabi
region. This will be possible by identifying the root cause of every issues encountered by the
project team.
Research Questions
Following are the research questions
 To explore the cause of failure in project management work
 To investigate upon the factors that are responsible for incompletion of project work
in Abu Dhabi
 To suggest proper ways to overcome the issues faced by incomplete project work in
Abu Dhabi.
Following research objectives are drawn from the above Research question
 Critical evaluation of the factors that are responsible for project management failures.
 Investigating upon the factors responsible for in completed project work in the region
of Abu Dhabi
 Proper suggestions of the ways that can be implemented by project work of Abu
Dhabi to overcome the existing barriers.

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Relevant Literature
Steps for Successful project management
As mentioned by Mir and Pinnington (2014), in order to successfully complete a
project, it is important to apply accurate knowledge along with skills for perfectly
implementing the same. The entire process of directing and controlling the activities within a
project can be divided into five main phases.
In the initial phase, initiation and conception of the project is done. It will be
important to analyse the benefits of initiating the project for the society and Organisation.
There will be a decision making team, who will investigate upon the practical application of
the proposed project. In the next phase the project will be defined by implementing effective
plan. The planning phase is also believed to be the most important step of project
management. The success rate of the project is entirely dependent upon the initial plan that
has been implemented. This planning will include the budget and the schedule for the project
along with allocating the resources that are needed in the following phases.
The next step of the project is about launching execution of the plan. In this type all
the resources of the project will be equally distributed among all the teams and members
involved in completion of the project. Important project related information also need to be
shared with every members of the project team (Pinto 2014). In the following step, it is the
duty of the project manager to ensure and monitor the progress of the project. It is highly
recommended for them to prepare a project report, which will have the evidence of the
current status of the project. The project managers can also bring about necessary changes,
which is required to deal with few of the barriers. The members of the project can also
discuss the issues there encountering with the project manager and thereby implement proper
intervention steps. It is also the duty of the project manager to ensure that all activities of the

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project are completed within the scheduled time. The final step is about project closure. In
this type, the client group will approve the project and evaluate the same. The client can also
demand for new changes within the project if they are not satisfied with the overall activity.
It is important to follow all the steps properly in order to successfully complete any
type of project, which are aimed for the development of the society or an organisation. As
mentioned by Serra and Kunc (2015), it is not only important to prepare the plan for the
project or have perfect knowledge, it is also essential to ensure that the knowledge is being
utilised properly to deal with all forms of challenges within the step of project.
Critical factors for failure in project management
The complexity of different type of projects in Engineering or management work are
believed to be the prime cause or critical factors for project management failure. As
mentioned in the report of Qubaisi et al. (2015), more than 50% case of incomplete or a
successful project is due to the fact of shortage in the fund. During the time of project
planning, it may not be possible for the project managers to estimate the perfect budget due to
the lack of experience or any unfavourable external business environment. In many of the
cases, it may also not be possible for the project managers to evaluate all forms of risks that
are involved within the project. Hence it can be said that poor forms of leadership by the
project managers are mainly responsible for ineffective project planning. The managers are
also responsible for not having the ability to deal with several number of workers, who are
involved in the path of project activity.
Inaccurate documentation or monitoring system that are implemented by the project
management group is also one of the major cause of project failure. As the managers are not
properly able to track the project planning and the progress, it may not be possible for them to
ensure that all the project activities are completed properly. Once an important project is

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being delayed, the project manager and team members have to face with the extra pressure of
handling the negative impact and pressure from the management group or the client.
In the part of Middle East, there has been huge number of records in completed
project work in regions of Abu Dhabi (El-Sayegh and Mansour 2016). The lack of
coordination between the project team members and workers are believed to be one of the
prime cause of project failures in the areas. It is highly essential for the project workers and
managers of the construction industry to properly define each and every step involved in the
project and implement effective communication strategy in order to develop proper
coordination. The scope of the project is highly dependent upon the communication
techniques that are being implemented within the project team. The life cycle of the project is
also highly dependent upon the scope that are being developed within the project activity. In
the regions of Middle East, and in places of Abu Dhabi the project team manager of
construction or Engineering Works have to face barriers and limitations due to the external
business and political environment. In many of the cases, the government is not able to take
the initiative to support the need of the project management workers. This is mainly due to
the fact of the unstable political environment in the region, where it is not possible for the
project management team to seek proper support from the government in a form of perfect
government policy.
It is relevant to mention that UAE, is currently considered to be one of the quickly
developing economy in the Middle East region. From the period of 1990, the Government of
UAE has initiated several social and construction project works, which are responsible for the
current economic development of the nation. However, as per mentioned in the report of AL
Mousli and El-Sayegh (2015), more than half of the engineering or construction project in
Abu Dhabi region are delayed. This is causing a loss of 170 million dollars every year. There

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are several causes of the delay or in completion of this project work that can be classified into
different categories based on the nature of loss. Lack of funding from the government or
private agencies is believed to be the prime cause of project delay in Abu Dhabi. The
mismanagement of cash flow along with your initial planning are mainly responsible for this
delays in construction work. There is also the factor of unfavourable weather situation, which
is also one of the prime factor of project failures.
In many cases the project managers are not able to evaluate the critical activities that
are associated with every type of project activities. Sequencing of the activities involved in
project construction work is one of the major critical factor for failure. During the middle of a
project activity, the project manager may decide to change the project works. Due to the
unfavourable political environment in the region of Abu Dhabi, it is highly challenging for
the project workers to implement the change. It can also be noted that due to the poor
leadership, it may not be possible for the Government of the UAE to properly allocate the
task of project management to each team.
There is certain type of delays which are caused due to change in the demand from the
client group. Hence, this form of delay is considered to be excusable from the project
management team. In certain cases, the project management team may demand new funding
due to the change in the work of construction. However, in case of non-excusable delays
which are caused due to the in efficiency of the contractors, it is not possible for the project
management team to claim extra funding from the client group. The slow process of decision
making in the regions of Abu Dhabi is believed to be one of the prime cause of project
failures or incomplete project work (Rees-Caldwell and Pinnington 2013).
An entrepreneurial insight

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The prime duty of an entrepreneur to overcome the delay in project management work
is to provide effective leadership quality. This can be managed in the form of dealing with the
resource and properly allocating the same during the initial phases (Chen 2015). It is also the
duty of the entrepreneur or the Project leader to properly communicate with all groups of
project workers. In order to properly complete project work in regions of Abu Dhabi it is
essential for the project leader to consider all the unfavourable business conditions. This can
be achieved in the form of implementing proper risk evaluation tool. The process of
implementing the tool is to properly collect data from all primary sources, which includes all
the statistical information from current project work in Abu Dhabi. It is also the duty of the
Project leader to properly communicate with the Government of Abu Dhabi region, which
will help them to understand all the barriers that can compromise up on the project quality
and cause delay (Kardes et al. 2013).
As an entrepreneur, it is highly essential to provide the correct form of leadership and
bring about change in project management activities. This will help to ensure the allocated
fund of the project are being properly utilised.
Methodology
This section of the research proposal will highlight upon the method and design
implemented by the investigators
Research philosophy
Research philosophy is believed to be the path or protocol that are being followed by
the researchers to collect and evaluate the overall relevant data. In positivism results
philosophy the investigators properly analyse the real situation associated with the subject

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area of research. For the current investigation work analysing the present situation of all
project work in Abu Dhabi will help the researchers to identify the cause of delay on
incomplete project work.
It is also possible to implement the interpretivism research philosophy, which will allow the
investigators to properly interpret the real situation depending upon the collected data.
Research Design
Three Types of Research Design including descriptive, exploratory and interpretive
can be applied in all investigation works. For the current research for the investigator will
implement the descriptive form of Research Design, which will help them to analyse the data
for cause of delays of project work in Abu Dhabi.
Research strategy
The strategy for the research is to follow a definite framework that will help the
investigator to identify all the issues related to the research topic (Taylor et al. 2015).
Effective research strategy in the form of qualitative and quantitative form of data analysis
will be implemented for a current research work. This is highly essential for analysing all
background information for the causes of delay in project work in Abu Dhabi.
Data Collection method
The current research work will implement both primary and secondary form of Data
Collection. The primary data will be collected from the interview of project managers and
government officials, who are involved in different type of construction and engineering

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project in Abu Dhabi. On the other hand, secondary data will be collected from all previously
conducted research works related to project management in Abu Dhabi.
Sampling techniques
The researcher will implement non probability sampling technique. The researchers
will conduct interview with 10 project managers and government officials who are involved
in various form of construction and engineering project activities in Abu Dhabi.
Expected Outcomes
The expected outcome for the following research work will be to identify all the
specific causes of delay when completed project work in regions of Abu Dhabi. The research
work will also be able to estimate accurately the total funds amount, which are being lost due
to in completed or delay in project work. It will also be possible for the researchers to provide
and entrepreneur overview of implementing proper intervention steps to prevent failures in
project management work in Abu Dhabi. Proper statistical data will also be analysed, which
will help to classify all the causes of delay depending upon the nature and type of loss
encountered.
Timescale
Total time of the research will be 3 years
Research Steps Month
1-3
Mont
h
Month
10-15
Month
16-22
Month
23-30
Mont
h
Month
35-36

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4-9 31-34
Topic Selection 
Data collection from Primary
sources
 
Creating Research Design 
Relevant Literature   
Plan of research Framework  
Selecting Appropriate Research
Design
 
Secondary data collection  
Interpretation of Collected data
using quantitative and qualitative
tools
 
Findings from the data 
Drawing Conclusion 
Draft Submission  
Submission of the final report  
Gnatt Chart

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Reference
AL Mousli, M.H. and El-Sayegh, S.M., 2016. Assessment of the design–construction
interface problems in the UAE. Architectural Engineering and Design Management, 12(5),
pp.353-366.
Chen, H.L., 2015. Performance measurement and the prediction of capital project failure.
International Journal of Project Management, 33(6), pp.1393-1404.
El-Sayegh, S.M. and Mansour, M.H., 2015. Risk assessment and allocation in highway
construction projects in the UAE. Journal of Management in Engineering, 31(6),
p.04015004.
Kardes, I., Ozturk, A., Cavusgil, S.T. and Cavusgil, E., 2013. Managing global megaprojects:
Complexity and risk management. International Business Review, 22(6), pp.905-917.
Mir, F.A. and Pinnington, A.H., 2014. Exploring the value of project management: linking
project management performance and project success. International journal of project
management, 32(2), pp.202-217.
Pinto, J.K., 2014. Project management, governance, and the normalization of deviance.
International Journal of Project Management, 32(3), pp.376-387.
Qubaisi, J.M.M.L.F.A., Elanain, H.M.A., Badri, M.A. and Ajmal, M.M., 2015. Leadership,
culture and team communication: analysis of project success causality-a UAE case.
International Journal of Applied Management Science, 7(3), pp.223-243.
Rees-Caldwell, K. and Pinnington, A.H., 2013. National culture differences in project
management: Comparing British and Arab project managers' perceptions of different
planning areas. International Journal of Project Management, 31(2), pp.212-227.
Serra, C.E.M. and Kunc, M., 2015. Benefits realisation management and its influence on
project success and on the execution of business strategies. International Journal of Project
Management, 33(1), pp.53-66.

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Taylor, S.J., Bogdan, R. and DeVault, M., 2015. Introduction to qualitative research
methods: A guidebook and resource. John Wiley & Sons.