Project Management in the UAE Construction Industry

Introduction

Dubai is considered one of the major cities accommodating a huge number of construction projects in the world. This is due to the strategic decision which was taken by the Dubai Government to diversify its economy from a trade-based economy to a service and tourism-based one. The result of the strategic macroeconomic change in Dubai was that projects were launched in large value and volume and the real estate business is currently witnessing an unprecedented boom.

Moreover, after allowing expatriates to own property in Dubai in 2002, the freehold market and the property market have witnessed remarkable growth that has contributed to the expansion of the construction industry.

Role of Project Management

Over the last 30 years, project management has come to be acknowledged as an efficient tool to handle novel or complex activities. It is felt to be more efficient than traditional methods of management with their functional divisions and formal hierarchies.

The tremendous growth experienced in the UAE construction industry has been mirrored by the development and expansion of the project management discipline. The UAE has had the unique opportunity of employing the best as well as adopting international best practices.

If we have a look at whether project management as a discipline helps deliver the key project objectives in respect of time, cost, and quality, we can say it helps in successfully delivering the project.

Project Success and Failure

There is a growing recognition that there is a distinction between project success and project management success as both have differing objectives. Project success should be measured against the overall project objectives over the life cycle of the project and should not be measured through a narrow interpretation of time, cost, and quality. Project management success on the other hand is more narrowly defined over a shorter time frame and is judged by the traditional time, cost, and quality parameters.

Project Performance Survey

Over the past, some projects failed to meet their stated objectives in respect of time, cost and quality and were considered poorly performing. Project managers were generally well qualified in their primary discipline and experienced in the construction industry but were less experienced in the field of project management many with no formal affiliation to professional institutions. Although project managers generally had good knowledge of tools and methodologies a significant proportion had either no knowledge or saw no practical use for the established techniques.

Project Management Awareness

The research findings reflect that a significant percentage of the construction practitioners do not hold appropriate qualifications in project management and meanwhile are not attending relevant training or skills development programs.

Project Managers have been given the add-on education in the discipline of project management. Like this, with time this significant shortcoming has been looked after and project performance has improved over the years.

Conclusion

There seems to be an adequate level of awareness of the project management international standards and further implementation.

The upcoming Expo is hosted by Dubai later this year due to which there have been many new construction developments that had to be completed in time. Best project management allows the developments to be done in time to host this event on a global scale.