Identification Of Critical Success Factors For Chinese Railway Construction Projects In Ethiopia

The issue with project success in the construction industry is a global phenomenon and the construction industry in Ethiopia is no exception.The goal of all stakeholders involved in a construction project-the clients,contractors,consultants,and engineers,in either the public or private sector,is meeting their original objectives or successfully complete the project within schedule,cost,scope,and quality requirements as defined earlier.Construction projects are frequently influenced by critical success factors that help project parties reach their goal as planned.Critical success factors are a relatively limited number of very important elements on which a project manager should focus that are key areas where things must go right for project managers and also other stakeholders to achieve the project goal and to ensure successful competitive performance for the organization.Therefore,it is vital to identify and practice the major factors that influence success;the identification of such key factors appropriately with project context significantly influence success and can help the stakeholders to reach their intended goals with greater efficiency and deliver a successful project.The objective of this research is to investigate the critical success factors of Chinese railway projects and challenges of the overall railway construction project success in Ethiopia,which can help project parties reach their intended goals with greater efficiency;additionally,the research starts with reviewing the current research literature and aims to close the literature gap by identifying the critical success factors at the project level.This research uses a comprehensive literature review to design and conduct a survey to investigate critical success factors and then obtain a consensus of expert opinion.Based on the literature review,a list of preliminary critical success factors was proposed and the related research hypotheses were developed.A questionnaire survey was used to collect the primary data and test the hypotheses.The participants,who came from senior staff with experience working in railway construction projects were asked to give their professional opinions about the critical success factors for Chinese railway construction projects in Ethiopia.The study design was explanatory;Mixed approach was used and both primary and secondary data were collected;a total of 123 valid responses were obtained from the professionals and the collected data was then evaluated by statistical methods to identify the key success factors significant for the railway project.The findings show that twenty-one(19+2)critical success factors were regarded as vital by most Respondents.Those critical success factors were ranked and the top seven critical success Factors identified were Project organizational structure,Project organizational culture,Adequate project budgeting,Risk identification and allocation,Project financing procurement system,Past experience(of the same projects)and Top management support are found to be critical factors to the project success and With these critical success factors,project manager and other key stakeholders should be able to achieve railway project success and also to accomplishing project organization strategic objective and continuous improvement in construction industry success.The study also concluded that the Major Challenges Facing the Ethiopian Railway Projects were High investment costs,Poor project planning,Problem related to project integration management,Lack of skilled human power in the railway sector,Geological and weather challenges.In practical terms,the research results can contribute to improving the performance of local contractors in Ethiopia regarding the delay of construction projects and the construction industry quality.Besides,identifying critical success factors at the project level may benefit different stakeholders;mainly for the contractors that help in the management of important areas and allocate their resources effectively and efficiently,enhance overall project performance and deliver successful projects.The list of CSFs can be used in strategic management and as a guideline to create the CSF in the context of their own project.