Impact of Project Delays: Project Management Report

This report investigates the impact of project delay causes on the construction industry in Brisbane, focusing on the challenges faced by project management graduates. The research begins with a literature review of existing studies on project delays in Egypt and Uganda, identifying a gap in understanding the impact of delays on project productivity and the specific challenges faced by project managers in this context. The study proposes a mixed methodology, incorporating both qualitative and quantitative data analysis. Research questions address the different delay causes, their impact, and the challenges faced by project management graduates. The justification emphasizes the significance of the research in addressing the lack of information on project delays in Australia. The report outlines the selection of a research method, data collection processes, and project milestones, concluding that the waterfall methodology is most appropriate for conducting the research.

Running head: COMPLEX PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Complex project management
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

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Executive Summary
This report has proposed a topic for research namely “Impact of the project delay causes
faced by the project management graduates in respect to the construction industry in Brisbane
“. The report had initially evaluated two relevant literatures which has depicted the different
element of delays of construction projects in Egypt and Uganda. The literature gap identified
suggest that impact of delays on the project productivity and operations along with the
challenges faced the project management graduates due to this delay causes have not been
addressed in all the analysed literatures. The study has proposed a mixed methodology where
both qualitative and quantitative analysis of data will be collected. The report concludes with
a reflective statement along with the project milestone that defines that waterfall
methodology is the most suitable project management method for conducting this research.

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Table of Contents
Literature review........................................................................................................................3
Research questions.....................................................................................................................5
Justification of the need and significance of the research..........................................................5
Selection and justification of a research method........................................................................6
Data collection process..............................................................................................................7
Reflective statement...................................................................................................................8
Project Milestone.......................................................................................................................9
References................................................................................................................................12

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Research topic: Impact of the project delay causes faced by the project management
graduates in respect to the construction industry in Brisbane
Literature review
Aziz, R. F., & Abdel-Hakam, A. A. (2016). Exploring delay causes of road construction
projects in Egypt. Alexandria Engineering Journal, 55(2), 1515-1539.
This research has focused on analysing the delay causes different road construction
projects in Egypt. Delay in construction is a common phenomenon and majority of the
stakeholders face challenges due to delay. The delay in projects affects the time and budget
which is among the critical factors of the project. The delay in construction projects varies
depending on the type of the project and the country of operation. Moreover, different
projects delays have a diverse effect on the project. Delay has been defined as complex, risk
and costly issues in the construction projects. The project had researched the different types
of delay causes in different and ranked them accordingly. The number of delay causes varied
in different countries keeping the construction types constant. However, this research
focused on the delays in highway construction projects. The delays have been divided into
two parts, one is excusable delays and second is an inexcusable delay. The excusable delay
has also been divided into compensable and non-compensable delays. The delays caused by
the project owners are known as compensable delay whereas the delays caused by the
contractors are known as non-excusable delays. The delays caused in the project due to a
third party or any other instances such as an act of God is known as non-excusable delays.
The study has ranked the different factors that are responsible for causing delay where
weather condition, shortage of resources, slow decision making process and poor
management of the construction site have been ranked the highest. Regarding the relative
importance index, it has been seen the financial issue of the project owner is the most

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significant issue. The research has been able to identify the delay causes in different groups
effectively. The analysis of the data collected from the primary analysis when compared to
the data from the case analysis which shows that the top five causes of delay are a political
situation, west bank segmentation and limited movement, awarding the project to the bidder
with the lowest quote, delay in payments by the project owner and shortage of equipment.
However, the major gap in the literature for this project is that the researcher has not taken
other construction projects and have only focused on the road construction projects.
Moreover, the project has not taken Australia and as the circumstances will be different for
different countries based on their geographical locations and government rules and
regulations. Moreover, the project has only talked about the delay causes and not its impact
on the overall project and challenges faced by the project management graduates.
Muhwezi, L., Acai, J., & Otim, G. (2014). An assessment of the factors causing delays on
building construction projects in Uganda. International Journal of Construction
Engineering and Management, 3(1), 13-23.
This research has focused on identifying the factors that have been causing delays in
construction projects in Uganda. Delays in construction projects in developing countries is a
widespread notion due to lack of sophistication in the country. The literature highlights the
consult related delay factors, the client related delay factors, and the contractor related delay
factors and external delay factors. The relative importance index shows that major factors in
each category that have been causing delays in construction projects. The given literature
states that incomplete drawings and inadequate supervision are consultant related factors
affecting the schedule of the project. This research has established that construction related
factors have high impact on building constructions. The impact of these factor is highest
when compared to other factors such as client related factors and contractor related factors.
The research suggest that delay is bound to happen but control and minimization of such

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factors has to be implemented. Contractor related delay factors, client related delay factors
and external delay factors are equally important in mitigating the issues faced by the
organization. This literature mainly focuses on identifying the delay factors.
The major gap of the above discussed literature is that the focus is on identifying the
different delay factors. However, none of the literature has discussed about the challenges
faced due to this delay which is faced by the project management graduates. Moreover, both
the literature has considered the developing nations while analysing the delay factors but
delay factors change from country to country. The delay factors for developed nations will be
quite different for the developed countries.
Research questions
 What are the different delay causes for construction projects in Brisbane?
 What is the impact of the project delay causes on the construction projects in
Brisbane?
 What are the challenges faced by the project management graduates in dealing with
the delay causes?
Justification of the need and significance of the research
Different literature that has been evaluated address the critical issue of the different
project causes where the developing countries have been taken into account. The majority of
the journals and articles have only focused on identifying the delay causes in construction
projects but its impact on the operations of the project and the challenges faced by the project
managers in dealing with such situations have not been addressed. The journals and articles
have focused on the issues faced in the developing countries whereas the issues faced in the
developed countries will be totally different. Moreover, various researchers opinionated that
there will be drastic changes in the factors affecting the delay depending upon the country

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and its working environment. Therefore, the factors identified in the literature review may not
hold true for Brisbane in Australia so a scope is needed where the study will focus on the
impact of delay on the project management graduates that manage the projects and face
several issues in dealing with it. The study is needed to provide insights on the key challenges
faced by the project managers in construction projects.
The chosen research holds a high level of significance as none of the journals and
articles has addressed the challenges faced by the project management graduates and team
due to these delays. The majority of the literature has not addressed the impact of these
factors on the operations of the project. None of the literatures have addressed the causes of
project delays in Australia so there is lack of information regarding the issues faced by the
projects in Australia. The study will conduct a comparative analysis where they will check
whether the causes change in different countries. The nature of the issues is expected to be
different from the other developing countries. Brisbane is one of the hubs of construction
projects in Australia and conducting the research on those projects will provide a better idea
of the operational aspects in construction industry and how the projects managers deal with
the day to day challenges faced by them. The literatures that have been identified consists of
identifying the different factors of delay and arranging them according to their relative
importance index. However, in this study, regression analysis will be conducted to develop a
model that will establish the relationship between delay causes and project performance.
Therefore, this study will provide new insights on the causes of the project delay and the
impacts of the delay on the project.
Selection and justification of a research method
This is an applied research where specific conclusion will be obtained based on the
research. The premises of the study will be developed based on the conclusion and the
findings of the research can be used by managers to implement strategies to mitigate the

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project delay issues (Flick, 2015). The study will use mixed method where both quantitative
and qualitative method will be used to conduct the study. In this current study, pragmatism is
the research philosophy chosen. Pragmatism accepts only those concepts that have been
supported by actions (Taylor, Bogdan & DeVault, 2015). In general, majority of the research
falls within the category of positivism and interpretivism. However, pragmatism is used to
modify the assumption made in the research where both positivism and interpretivism will be
accommodated according to the research question. This requires multiple point of views to
conduct the research and address all the gaps of the discussed literature. According to
pragmatic view, a particular research problem can be interpreted in different ways and the
inclusion of the human experiences makes it more unpredictable. The use of pragmatism will
help in using multiple research methods for discussion multiple dimensions.
The study will deductive approach where a hypothesis will be developed based on the
theories that have been discussed in the research. Deductive reasoning will facilitate in
evaluating the causal relationship between delay causes faced by the project management
graduates on the project performances (Eriksson & Kovalainen, 2015). Similarly, it will also
facilitate in identifying the challenges faced by the project management graduates. In this
current study, mixed method is used to the study will use sequential explanatory research
design. In sequential explanatory research design, initially quantitative analysis will be
conducted and then the qualitative analysis will be conducted to support the findings from the
quantitative analysis (Mertens, 2014). The study will aim to link multiple dimensions
together with the help of the mixed method.
Data collection process
In this current study, primary data will be collected and will be used for analysis. The
primary data will be collected by developing a close ended questionnaire which will be asked
to the lower level employees in different organizations. This will facilitate in conducting

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quantitative analysis of data. In order to conduct the qualitative analysis of data, the study
will develop open ended questionnaire which will be asked to the higher level managers of
the organization (Rani, Yadav & Jain, 2016). In the quantitative data collection, process the
data will be collected from 300 respondents and simple random sampling will be used to
reduce the sample size to 100. In the qualitative data collection process, data will be collected
from 5 respondent where non probabilistic sampling will be used to select the sample
population. The quantitative data will be collected through structured surveys so that relevant
answers can be obtained from the respondents.
On the contrary, the data collected for the qualitative analysis will collected through
unstructured interview where in depth answers will be recorded. Sampling is an important
aspect of the data collection process as the data validity and reliability is dependent on it.
Pilot testing will be conducted where the questionnaires will be send to 10 respondents to
check whether valid answers are obtained or not (Bryman and Bell 2015). The questionnaire
will be changed based on the response and the study will also conduct test rated reliability to
check whether similar data is obtained or not. The collected data will be analysed using the
statistical tools such as Ms Excel. The research will calculate median, mean, mode and
response frequency will be plotted in graphs and tables (Gentles et al., 2015). The study will
also conduct regression analysis which will identify the relationship and association between
delay and project productivity.
Reflective statement
In this research project, I think that waterfall methodology is the appropriate
methodology. The tasks will flow down in a sequential manner where the team will complete
one step before commencement of the next step. The research project requires effective
communication and frequent delivery so waterfall methodology is the appropriate project
management methodology (Kerzner & Kerzner, 2017). I want to develop short waterfall for

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each of the phases of the research methodology so that the team can effectively manage the
project. The division of the project into multiple phases will facilitate in managing the
research effectively. The project will also develop a communication plan which will decide
upon the various meetings that will be conducted after each of the phases. This will enable
effective communication between the project team. In research project, the most effective
way of conducting a research is to make a list of all the deliverables of the project and
develop an effective waterfall process (Špundak, 2014). I will be able to understand the goals
of each of the phase and activities will be carried out in accordance to the goals. The
requirements for each of the phase can be easily identified using waterfall methodology.
The development of small waterfall in each phase will result in high flexibility as
results in development of agile methodology. However, as the outcome of the project is fixed
and I know what I will have to develop the methodology accordingly (Saltz & Crowston,
2017). Waterfall method can also be used to replicate other methods so if I wish to use
replicate a method in other journals, I can easily make the change. However, as there would
be no changes to the project purpose and topic, waterfall methods is the most simplest that
could be implemented in this context.
Project Milestone
Task Name Duration Start Finish
Project milestone and activities 73 days Fri 06-07-
18
Tue 16-10-
18
Topic Selection 3 days Fri 06-07-18 Tue 10-07-
18
Search for project topics 1 day Fri 06-07-18 Fri 06-07-18
Discuss with lecturer 1 day Mon 09-07-
18
Mon 09-07-
18
finalise topic 1 day Tue 10-07-
18
Tue 10-07-
18
Milestone 1: Topic selected 0 days Tue 10-07-
18
Tue 10-07-
18
Data collection from secondary sources 8 days Wed 11-07-
18 Fri 20-07-18

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Search for online sources 3 days Wed 11-07-
18 Fri 13-07-18
collect relevant sources 3 days Mon 16-07-
18
Wed 18-07-
18
Framing layout of the research 2 days Thu 19-07-
18 Fri 20-07-18
Milestone 2: Data collected 0 days Fri 20-07-18 Fri 20-07-18
Literature review 14 days Mon 23-07-
18
Thu 09-08-
18
Critically analyse the collected material 7 days Mon 23-07-
18
Tue 31-07-
18
Develop annotated bibliography 4 days Wed 01-08-
18
Mon 06-08-
18
formulate the preliminary literature review 3 days Tue 07-08-
18
Thu 09-08-
18
Milestone 3: Literature review developed 0 days Thu 09-08-
18
Thu 09-08-
18
Research methodology and Analysis 26 days Fri 10-08-18 Fri 14-09-18
Selection of the Appropriate Research Techniques 7 days Fri 10-08-18 Mon 20-08-
18
Secondary data collection 7 days Tue 21-08-
18
Wed 29-08-
18
Develop content for secondary analysis 5 days Thu 30-08-
18
Wed 05-09-
18
Analysis & Interpretation of Data Collection 7 days Thu 06-09-
18 Fri 14-09-18
Milestone 4: research plan developed 0 days Fri 14-09-18 Fri 14-09-18
Data collection from primary sources 8 days Mon 17-09-
18
Wed 26-09-
18
Conduct survey and interviews 5 days Mon 17-09-
18 Fri 21-09-18
Sampling to select respondents 1 day Mon 24-09-
18
Mon 24-09-
18
Data analysis using Ms Excel 2 days Tue 25-09-
18
Wed 26-09-
18
Milestone 5: primary data collected and analysed 0 days Wed 26-09-
18
Wed 26-09-
18
Conclusion of the Study 14 days Thu 27-09-
18
Tue 16-10-
18
Formation of Rough Draft 7 days Thu 27-09-
18 Fri 05-10-18
Discuss with the lecturer 2 days Mon 08-10-
18
Tue 09-10-
18
Submission of Final Work 5 days Wed 10-10-
18
Tue 16-10-
18
Milestone 5: Project concluded 0 days Tue 16-10-
18
Tue 16-10-
18

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References
Aziz, R. F., & Abdel-Hakam, A. A. (2016). Exploring delay causes of road construction
projects in Egypt. Alexandria Engineering Journal, 55(2), 1515-1539.
Bryman, A. and Bell, E., 2015. Business research methods. Oxford University Press, USA.
Eriksson, P., & Kovalainen, A. (2015). Qualitative methods in business research: A practical
guide to social research. Sage.
Flick, U. (2015). Introducing research methodology: A beginner's guide to doing a research
project. Sage.
Gentles, S. J., Charles, C., Ploeg, J., & McKibbon, K. (2015). Sampling in qualitative
research: Insights from an overview of the methods literature. The Qualitative
Report, 20(11), 1772-1789.
Kerzner, H., & Kerzner, H. R. (2017). Project management: a systems approach to planning,
scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
Mertens, D. M. (2014). Research and evaluation in education and psychology: Integrating
diversity with quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods. Sage publications.
Muhwezi, L., Acai, J., & Otim, G. (2014). An assessment of the factors causing delays on
building construction projects in Uganda. International Journal of Construction
Engineering and Management, 3(1), 13-23.
Rani, N., Yadav, S. S., & Jain, P. K. (2016). Research Methodology. Mergers and.
Saltz, J., & Crowston, K. (2017, January). Comparing data science project management
methodologies via a controlled experiment. In Proceedings of the 50th Hawaii
International Conference on System Sciences.

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Špundak, M. (2014). Mixed agile/traditional project management methodology–reality or
illusion?. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 119, 939-948.
Taylor, S. J., Bogdan, R., & DeVault, M. (2015). Introduction to qualitative research
methods: A guidebook and resource. John Wiley & Sons.