Effective Planning in the Utility Sector in the UAE - Research Proposal Example

Research Proposal on Effective Planning in the Utility Sector in the UAE 1.0 Introduction For a long time, the utility sector in the United Arab Emirates has suffered a lot from poor implementation and failure in major projects especially those dealing with water and power production. There are many issues leading to the failure of these projects. However, poor planning has been found to be the leading cause to these failures (Abed, Hellyer, Vine, Al-Abed & Vine 35). In the UAE water is a scarce resource and millions of dollars are used every year to ensure that this resource is made available. The UAE needs water for irrigation as well as for domestic consumption. Given that the whole of the Middle East region is a desert, a lot of water is required for food production and for other purposes. There is a similar situation when it comes to power. The demand for power in the UAE is very high. In fact, there are a number of projects underway for construction of nuclear reactors (Aamir 76). The utility sector in the UAE, especially where water and power are concerned suffers a great deal because many major projects initiated to increase power and water availability do not achieve their goals. Poorly planned projects face many problems in their implementation resulting in unmet objectives, delays and in certain cases the failure of the projects. The resultant effect is that the scarcity of power and water continues to exist and its effects are made worse by the rapid increase in the population of the emirates. A study done by the company Collaboration Management and Control Solutions shows that the biggest reason for project inefficiency is improper planning followed by lack of communication, unrealistic dates of completion and lack of commitment among others (Charmichael, 67). 1.1 Statement of the problem Poor planning for projects causes many problems in the implementation of these projects (Tom 2013). The UAE has many causes of inefficient planning for projects which has consequently been the cause of sluggish development. Power and water are very essential in the running of any country. Therefore, the UAE requires efficiency in the planning of projects dealing with water and energy. There is a huge demand for water and power which can only be met by the initiation of big projects to increase power production and water availability. Inefficient planning and management of such projects ensures that the dream of having a water and power sufficient UAE does not come to pass (Ibrahim et al. 36). Inefficient planning of project causes the loss of millions of dollars especially when the projects fail to achieve their set objectives and the money invested in them sinks. Currently there are some major projects for nuclear power production already underway in the UAE. These are huge projects demanding a lot of investment. If such projects are inefficiently planned and implemented, then the loss to the country can be very massive (Charmichael, 77). 1.2 Significance of the study This study is important because it will reveal information about the evaluation of efficiency in planning in water and power projects in the UAE and how this efficiency can be improved. This information is very important to project managers in the UAE as well as the governments of the various Emirates which are the principal sponsors of these projects (Calin 45). This study will also create knowledge about efficient project management to any other people in the UAE and other places who may be in need of initiating projects. Students and researchers will also benefit from the findings of the study especially on the information on how to improve project planning efficiency in the UAE. 1.3 Aims of the study The study aims at evaluating the efficiency in planning for water and power projects in the UAE. The study will therefore find ways of improving on the low levels of efficiency in project planning in the UAE. 1.4 Objectives of the study The objectives of the study are: To find out why there is inefficiency in the planning of water and power projects in the UAE. To find out the levels of inefficiency in the planning of these projects To find out the ways of reducing the inefficiency in the planning of water and power projects in the UAE 1.5 Research Questions The research questions are listed below. What causes inefficient planning for major water and power projects in the UAE? What is the level of inefficiency in planning of water and power projects in the UAE? How can the inefficiency in the planning of water and power projects in the UAE be reduced? 1.6 Limitations of the study The study may be limited because of lack of sufficient time for data collection. It may also be limited due to the inability of the researcher to obtain accurate information about inefficiency in project management from the UAE. Another limitation may arise in the area of data analysis (Keith 39). Secondary data analysis would mean that outdated or wrong information can be include din the study. This information may be taken out of its context and this may create a problem for the researcher. Financial constraints may also reduce the researcher’s potential of obtaining as much information on the topic as possible especially through primary research. 2.0 Literature Review Planning is a very important stage of project management. All the other stages can either be successful or not depending on how effective the planning was managed (Tom 2013). Companies in the United Arab Emirates lag behind on planning and management of projects. They also do not have the best use of tools and expertise. Improper planning and wrong use of methodology cause many projects to fail. Although there are other causes of project failure such as wrong project teams, failing to have measurable results, inadequate resources and budgets, inefficient planning is the biggest cause of project failure in the UAE (Popescu, 56). There is a rampant lack of skills and training especially in the area of planning. Efficiency is the level of how best a project manager productively makes use of available resources to achieve set goals. Project management emphasizes on the acquisition of the right members of the project team to do project assignments and to wind up project s successfully within the set time frame. For example, in planning for human resources, project managers can increase planning efficiency by choosing the organizational structure and the required roles and responsibilities for task completion (Ibrahim et al. 80). After this, a time will come when he needs the project team and at that time goes out to get the right human resources based on the roles and responsibilities decided upon as well as the training needs required to complete the tasks. Project planning is very important for the success of a project. Therefore, there is no other phase that is more important than project planning. Project planning should comprise of the establishment of the scope, tasks and the roles and responsibilities of the project members. Project planning is important because it helps to reduce the main problems that can cause the failure of projects (Dawlar 78). Efficient project planning helps to avoid the selection of unimportant problems and failing to address the major determinants of the problem. It may also result in the failure to choose the most workable intervention strategy for addressing the problem determinants such as selecting the solutions that have no foundational evidence (Tom 2013). Inefficient planning may also be the cause of choosing interventions which do not have sufficient adaptation to the context or the target group, low quality of implementation the failure to do suitable evaluation. The wrong evaluation may come about when the evaluation methodology is not the right. Project that are poorly planned often suffer from insufficient dissemination such as poor project visibility and insufficient sustainability of the outcome (Charmichael, 66). The establishment of scope, project tasks, risks, schedules, and the staffing needs are important because they help the members of the team to know their expectations and responsibilities. Therefore, the time taken for planning can avert confusion and re-doing of work in the phases a head. Proper planning of projects helps to reduce the costs of projects and their duration. Planning also enhances the quality of the project. Both internal and external stakeholders must be included in the plans from the beginning of the project (Tom, 2013). This helps to get optimal results. Stakeholders have a stake in a project and the results of the project matter a lot to them. Excluding stakeholders from project planning play spell doom for that particular ptoject. 3.0 Research Methodology This section will discuss the procedure that the researcher will use to do the research. 3.1 Data collection Data collection will be done through both primary and secondary research methods (Keith 18). Collection of data through primary research will be based on observation, interviews and the issuance of questionnaires. The researcher will do observation by visiting some of the projects that seem to have been affected by poor implementation caused by inefficient management. The researcher will design questionnaires and issue them to respondents (Keith 34). Those respondents that cannot be accessed in person will have their questionnaires emailed to them. The researcher will also design different questionnaires to use in interviewing respondents. Secondary data collection will be done from books, journals, media reports and internet websites that have information about various projects in the UAE. Secondary research will be cheaper that primary research (Denicolo & Lucinder 56). The researcher will need to scrutinize these sources of information in order to know which ones are credible, up to date and worthy of being used in the study. 3.3 Participants and Sampling procedure The sample for data collection will have 120 people. These respondents will be chosen randomly from the team members of various projects ever done in the UAE. The staff members of the companies involved in these projects will also be among the respondents. Government officials involved in running of various projects within the Emirate will also form part of the sample. 3.4 Data Analysis Data analysis will be done through both qualitative and quantitative means. The researcher will employ the measures of central tendency including the mode, mean and median. The analysis of qualitative data will be done through careful scrutiny of the materials gathered to separate relevant information from that which is irrelevant (Keith 96). 3.5 Ethical Considerations Before beginning on data collection, the researcher will provide all the necessary details about the study to the respondents to be who will then consider the information and make a decision on whether to take part in the study or not. The respondents will only be allowed to participate in data collection upon providing their informed consent to this (Denicolo & Lucinder, 104). The researcher will be careful to keep confidential all the information obtained from the respondents. This information will not be seen by anybody outside of the research team. 3.6 Pilot Study The first 10 participants in the research will form the sub-sample for use in evaluating the workability of the study and the questionnaires that will be used. It will also be used to evaluate the respondents’ level of understanding of the questions put in the questionnaires and the ability of the respondents to give correct answers to these questions (Denicolo & Lucinder, 110). The criteria for forming the sample, the recruitment process and the settings will be similar to the main study. Problems in understanding the questions will be tested using this open ended question: Are there any words that are difficult to comprehend? 4.0 Findings It is expected that the study will reveal that inefficiency in planning for major projects in power and water resources is caused by the absence of skills and lack of training. Consequently, the study should confirm that training and acquisition of skills in project planning will be the solution to the problem of inefficient planning (Ibrahim et al 79). Lack of resources is not expected to come out as a major problem because the UAE is rich in oil and has wealth from other resources as well. 5.0 Program of Work Date Item Assessment 15th December Hand in proposal Allocation of project supervisor December 15 to January 1 Start writing literature review and do the methodology section Regular visits to the supervisor January 5 Submit the finished research methodology and begin doing the practical studies Submit detailed methodology to be approved January 18 Submit the draft of the literature review Give out report for instructor’s approval and comments February 6 Finish secondary research and the process of writing the project Hand out completed work to tutor for commends March 10 Hand in final research report for marking Assessment Works Cited Abed Ibrahim, Peter Hellyer, Peter Vine, Ibrahim Al-Abed & Paula Vine 2004. The United Arab Emirates 2005. Trident Press Ltd. Carmichael David. Project Planning and Control. New York: Taylor & Francis, 2005. Dawalar Aamir. Overcoming Project Management Problems. GRIN Verlag. Denicolo Pam, & Lucinder Becker. Developing Research Proposals. London:Sage Publications 2012. Mochal Tom. Poor Planning is Project Management Mistake Number One. Tech Republic, 2013. Popescu Calin. Project Planning Scheduling, and Control in Construction. John Wiley & Sons, 1995. Punch Keith. Developing Effective Research Proposals. London: Sage Publications, 2006. Read More