GERD Project: Exploring Complexity in Project Management (PPMP20014)

This discussion board post analyzes the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) project, focusing on the complexities inherent in its management. The student examines factors such as simplistic project management, failure to appreciate systemicity, stakeholder management challenges, and the absence of suitable leadership theories. The analysis highlights the importance of effective project management practices, including stakeholder engagement, leadership, and the application of appropriate project development models. The post also explores the GERD project as a 'wicked problem', considering the challenges of managing complex projects with multiple stakeholders and conflicting interests. The student references relevant literature and discusses the implications of these complexities on the project's success. The student explores the importance of adaptive leadership and situational leadership in managing such complexities. The analysis considers the application of Ashby's law of variety to the project and concludes that simplistic project management was a significant factor in the project's challenges. The post emphasizes the need for appropriate communication, decision-making processes, and the selection of suitable solutions. The student analyzes various factors, including unhelpful behavior, over ambitious strategic management, and the failure to adopt appropriate sediment management strategies, to assess the project's complexity and its impact on the project's success. The student also emphasizes the importance of project supervisors possessing professional leadership quality to successfully achieve project goals and objectives.

Running head: GERD CASE STUDY
GERD Case Study Considering Aspects of Managing Complexity
Name of the student:
Name of the university:

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Numbers of factors for causes of complexity
After analyzing the case scenario of Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), it has
been determined that, the success and failure of any project is partially in fact, sometimes fully
dependent on different project management prcatices those are to be followed throughout the
project development life cycle period to ensure its success. The project that is nominated for the
assessment is Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) (Taye et al., 2016). Grand Ethiopian
Renaissance Dam (GERD) is formerly known as a Millennium Dam that is under construction
and it has been identified earlier that if the project is successfully accomplished then it would
become Africa’s one of the largest dam ever.
The aspects of complexity are divided into different factors such as unhelpful behavior,
failure of appreciate systemicity, models, simplistic project management, over ambitious
strategic management etc. Each one of the above mentioned factors are either directly or
indirectly related to the GERD project (Cooke-Davies, 2011). Each of the practices is needed to
be followed accurately by the project supervisor and associates throughout the project
development session starting from the project initiation to the project closure phase.
The capital investor for the project was Ethiopian government but the Ethiopian
government was not only investing for this project but also at the same time it was making
investment for the Sudan and Egypt projects as well. As a result it caused major issue in terms of
unhelpful behavior. Sediment management was a major strategy that was required for successful
completion of the project but proper sediment management strategies were not identified and
adopted by the project supervisor which caused major risk for the project developers, this factor
can be contrasted to the simplistic project management because for this improvement simple

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project management strategies were not sufficient (Yihdego, Khalil & Salem, 2017). In order to
implement this project the project associates should have followed a sequence but they failed to
follow so as a result on time accurate results were not generated. In order to implement any
project the project supervisor and other associates should have use proper project development
models. Based on the project types, nature and features the most suited development model must
be considered during the design and implementation of any project (Abdelhady et al., 2015).
During the GERD dam construction and power station construction project no appropriate
project development model is being followed. Optimum usage of resources during the
construction of the dam was the other issues that become a major challenge for the project. The
water extension service that is followed by the project supervisor is also not accurate therefore it
can be contrasted to over ambitious strategic management.
The dam was constructed to protect the country from flood as well or it is assumed that
the dam will be capable of handling flood of approximately 19 400 cubic meters/second. Not
only this but also it can also reduce a 40Km of flooding in Sudan area. The construction project
is not about construction of a dam only but also construction of 2 power stations too. The owner
of the project is Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCO). The project has started on 2011
and expected to be completed on 2017 (Wheeler et al., 2016). The capital investor or sponsor of
the project is Ethiopian government. However the government not only investing to the Ethiopia
but also serving for the running projects on Egypt and Sudan as well. If the project management
prcatices are not appropriately followed then a project may fail to meet the primary objectives,
aims and goals. A project complexity can be managed by considering certain factors like develop
and sustain effective collaborations, developing disseminate practical knowledge as well as

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solution, managing complex programs and the main areas on which the project developers are
required to keep their focus on include education, research, resources and solutions.
After analyzing the entire GERD construction project scenario it has been identified that,
the most significant factor for this project is simplistic project management. The project itself
was a complex one therefore; simplest project management prcatices are not at all suitable for
the project. Based on complexity of each project activity the project management prcatices
should have been adopted and applied as well (Bakhshi, Ireland & Gorod, 2016). After that the
government of Ethiopia also failed to an accurate constructive environment by exploring best
managerial options. In addition to this, proper communication for decision making, selection of
best suitable solution is the other good alternative practice which is not yet followed by project
associates. Systematic approaches are to be followed throughout to evaluate the GERD dam
construction project but it was not followed (Kiridena & Sense, 2016). Thus, it can be said that
simplistic project management is a more significant factor for the GERD Ethiopian dam
construction project.
Managing projects with high complexity
Besides customers, stakeholders are referred to as the other most important asset used for
managing project environment. It has been determined that one of the most difficult project
management aspects is to understand, solidify the project document based on project
requirements. Project supervisor and project team associates frequently compounds the issues
through automatically relying o the requirements and project development facts. Stakeholder
analysis is an important part of stakeholder management plan (San Cristóbal et al., 2018).
Stakeholder management is a technique or tool comprises of three aspects such as identification

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of stakeholders, prioritization of the stakeholders and understanding the project key stakeholders.
People who have the power and interest on implementation of the project activities are identified
as project stakeholders. The interest and power of the stakeholders can be defined in terms of
either high or low.
The stakeholders who are assigned for GERD dam construction project include Alstom,
who signed a contract of €250 Million. In addition to this, Metals and Engineering Corporation
are contacted to get supply of generators, turbines and electromechanical equipments for the
installation of hydropower plant in the Grand renaissance dam (Kerzner, 2017). The interests of
assigned stakeholders of the project are to complete the dam construction within assigned time
and budget as well. However, it was not successfully carried out due to lack of economic and
social support from the Ethiopian government.
Leadership is referred to as a quality that is possessed by any person who either
influences a group of people or an entire organization probably to achieve a shared project or
business goal. It is responsibility of the project supervisor to possess professional leadership
quality so that they can govern any particular project or business towards the expected goals and
objectives (Kerzner, 2017). The different leadership theories those are generally followed by the
business pr project executives are transformational theory, adaptive theory, situational theory,
contingency theory, behavioral theory, management theory and participation theory. Regardless
of feature of the project the leaders are required to follow the most suitable leadership theories.
While conducting the GERD dam construction project, the project supervisor failed to adopt any
of the above mentioned particular leadership theories. As a result, some issues were generated
while decision making. The leaders also failed to keep all the project associates motivated and
engaged to their assigned job responsibilities and roles as well. Transactional theory is a

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management theory which is also not traced in the dam construction project. Not only this but
also the transformation theory or the relationship theory is also not followed while conducting
this project. The connections between the project team members were also not identified. Based
on the variable situation the leadership strategies are needed to be changed. After identifying that
the sediment management strategies for the project were not accurate no leadership strategic
changes are incorporated (Meredith, Mantel Jr & Shafer, 2017). As a result, decision making
approach of the construction project was failed. Situational theory propose that leaders must
choose proper action if difficult situation occurs. It is responsibility of the project supervisor to
adopt most suitable leadership theories while implementing any project. For the GERD dam
construction project also proper leadership theories are needed to be implemented.
Ashby law is a law of variety that deals with questions like how, when and what. Variety
of potential responses, variety of disturbances and variety of outcomes are the components
considered for the project. For the GERD dam construction project no such specific variety are
also considered. Therefore, it causes major operational and functional risks. Each of the factors
are essential for project success but some of the factors are not being followed as a result some
environmental challenges occurred.

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References
Abdelhady, D., Aggestam, K., Andersson, D. E., Beckman, O., Berndtsson, R., Palmgren, K.
B., ... & Pilesjö, P. (2015). The Nile and the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam: Is there
a meeting point between nationalism and hydrosolidarity?. Journal of Contemporary
Water Research & Education, 155(1), 73-82.
Bakhshi, J., Ireland, V., & Gorod, A. (2016). Clarifying the project complexity construct: Past,
present and future. International Journal of Project Management, 34(7), 1199-1213.
Cooke-Davies, T. (2011, August). Aspects of complexity: Managing projects in a complex
world. Project Management Institute.
Dao, B., Kermanshachi, S., Shane, J., Anderson, S., & Hare, E. (2016). Identifying and
measuring project complexity. Procedia Engineering, 145, 476-482.
Kerzner, H. (2017). Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and
controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
Kiridena, S., & Sense, A. (2016). Profiling project complexity: insights from complexity science
and project management literature. Project management journal, 47(6), 56-74.
Marchewka, J. T. (2016). Information technology project management: Providing measurable
organizational value. John Wiley & Sons.
Meredith, J. R., Mantel Jr, S. J., & Shafer, S. M. (2017). Project management: a managerial
approach. John Wiley & Sons.

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Qazi, A., Quigley, J., Dickson, A., & Kirytopoulos, K. (2016). Project Complexity and Risk
Management (ProCRiM): Towards modelling project complexity driven risk paths in
construction projects. International Journal of Project Management, 34(7), 1183-1198.
San Cristóbal, J. R., Carral, L., Diaz, E., Fraguela, J. A., & Iglesias, G. (2018). Complexity and
project management: a general overview. Complexity, 2018.
Taye, M. T., Tadesse, T., Senay, G. B., & Block, P. (2016). The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance
Dam: Source of Cooperation or Contention?. Journal of Water Resources Planning and
Management, 142(11), 02516001.
Wheeler, K. G., Basheer, M., Mekonnen, Z. T., Eltoum, S. O., Mersha, A., Abdo, G. M., ... &
Dadson, S. J. (2016). Cooperative filling approaches for the grand Ethiopian renaissance
dam. Water International, 41(4), 611-634.
Yihdego, Y., Khalil, A., & Salem, H. S. (2017). Nile River’s basin dispute: perspectives of the
Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). Hum. Soc. Sci. Res. J, 17, 1-21.