Factors Causing Problems in Managing Construction Projects in a Country Under Military Occupation: Contractors’ Perspective

Abstract

Abstract-An exhaustive literature search revealed that not much research has been done on factors causing problems in managing a construction project in a country under military occupation like Palestine. So, it is the main goal of this research is to identify these factors which could be used by the decision makers to select the appropriate project manager who bosses the suitable skills and competencies to deal with these problems. The study is a step toward determining means to improve the effectiveness of projects through identifying project manager competencies. It is important for Palestinian construction industry to progress in terms of project success; the problems that face the project managers must be determined and identified, in order to achieve the best results with less risk. A clear understanding of such problems helps the Palestinian construction industry of finding the suitable solutions to overcome these problems. A questionnaire survey was carried out to achieve the main aim of this research. The respondents were engineers have more than 3 years in the position of project manager in the Palestinian construction industry. The survey was based on factors drawn from findings of another researches in different countries, together with special factors identified as potentially affecting Palestine. The results identified many factors created problems; they were clustered in eight groups. These groups were arranged according to respondents in descending order as follows: the political situation of Palestine, lack of consultants` technical competencies, lack of resources, insufficient planning, team members uncommitted, conflicts between departments, breakdowns in communications, and changes in goals. As a result of this study one could conclude that managing a project in Palestine is as difficult as the complication of the political situation of the country. The project manager should have a complicated mixture of skills and competencies from dealing with Israeli occupation to dealing with stakeholders to lack of resources and unclear goals. The study has recommended to the Palestinian government to improve the regulations and laws to meet the impact of closure and segmentation of the Palestine.