Evaluating The Acquisition Process Sample Assignment

RESEARCH PROPOSAL

“EVALUATING THE ACQUISITION PROCESS THAT DELAYS PROJECT SCHEDULE”

1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background

The term acquisition Process defines the process needed to source materials, equipment as well as other resources necessary for conducting a project. The procedure typically includes sub-processes like purchase, procuring, checking, quality assurance, contract administration, and logistics (Rianmora & Rangsiyangkoon, 2017). Presently there is a trend of handling projects through application of fast–tracking means with the aim of reducing the project schedule. Therefore, in order to meet the requirements of the projects, the acquisition Process is focus to key forces to be conducted in a fluid and expedite probable way (Lee, 2015). This research will base on analysis of interviews and surveys that will be done in the study regarding acquisition Process that will be discussed in the research paper, a number of aspects will illustrate the significance of acquisition:

Schedule pressures

This is the necessity of the project to occur in the shortest time possible, eluding disproportionate monetary costs, reducing project running costs, and other costs.

Cooperation and coordination

Through conforming to the requirements of the project schedule, acquisition will function to project schedule. Enhancement of efficiency for acquisition may not only lead to high savings for the process, but also significant savings on other schedule resources.

High relative value

When acquisition run by project schedule embodies 50 percent, 60 percent, and 70 percent of entire cost of the process, it is relevant to have stringent and enduring management of the acquisitions, considering the monetary method embodied by such state.

Significance of the process apparatus to be acquired in the operation of the project.

The tool may be of great importance to the extent that the process of the project relies on its suitable enactment.

Possible criticality of acquisition

This is because of the superiority interrelation and relationships among diverse ranges of the project schedule.

The research will describe the process to evaluate the Acquisition Procedure ranging from the “Lean Construction” perception through creating approaches to develop the acquisition process in projects. These approaches are the outcome of the use of an approach to evaluate and diagnose the acquisition process in project schedule. The approach will help to choose approaches from the application of various analysis tools that will offer detailed view of the acquisition process. The approach will be used to research a number of projects to be conducted or under execution, gathering relevant information regarding the present state of the acquisition process.

1.2 Problem Statement

The emphasis of this research will highlight the main project management practices suited for ornament enterprises setting that influence directly on their acquisition process. The ornament companies require a simple form of acquisition process given their partial resources for them to raise performance when it comes to improved profits and market share from acquisition process. The area of project management has experienced numerous changes and matured in a couple of years but majority of interests have been placed on project management practices and projects in big companies. Projects management in big firms have diverse features in comparison to management of project in ornament enterprises. The ornament enterprises need fewer administrative approaches of management, with a better suppleness (Backer, 2013).

1.3 Research Questions

To understand the research aims, these research questions will arise:

What are delays in the procurement process?
What causes delays in the procurement process?
Why is it important to avoid delays in the procurement process?
Who is responsible for avoiding delays in the procurement process?
What can be done to minimize delays in the procurement process?

1.4 Statement of Hypothesis

This research will be guided by the following alternative hypothesis:

H₁: Project financing has a big impact on the acquisition process that delays project schedule
H₁: Project scheduling has a substantial impact on the acquisition process that delays project schedule
H₁: Project manager’s experience has a big impact on the acquisition process that delays project schedule
H₁: Supervision of work highly impacts the acquisition process that delays project schedule

1.5 Delimitation of the research

Many aspects influence acquisition process and the consequent business performance (Cho & Arthurs, 2018). The attention here will be on the influence of acquisition process that delays project schedule but, the scope of this study will be developing an ornament such as a vehicle or weapon. Organizational performance will be deliberated in the perspective of attainment of a project’s quality, cost objectives, and time; other evolving performance metrics that are applied in gauging project performance will be excluded. The scope will be limited to the project schedule and mostly implementation of acquisition process (Derenskaya, 2018).

1.6 Definition of Concepts

Project- it is the entire mission with a definable start and end. It comprises various dependent and related events, all of which employ assets and on which there are enforced external and internal rules.

Project delay- The delay referred to in this study is the failure of government road construction projects to meet standards, to reach target group, cost and time overruns.

Project financing- this refers to the ways that a client provides the funds that cater for the cost of design, planning, labor and approvals required to ensure the construction project is successfully carried out.

Project performance- This is an aspect of project accomplishment in regard to the subjective matter of the client and the public at large.

Project planning- this involves, looking ahead and developing objectives, programs, schedules, budget and procedure that help in delivering construction project.

Supervision of work- this refers to the actions taken by the project team leadership in ensuring that the project is carried out as per the specification. The aim is to ensure that the construction project plan is successfully implemented and any difficulties experienced during implementation are appropriately addressed.

1.7 The Assumptions

The study will assume that the respondents will offer reliable and accurate information during the study. The researchers will assume that the acquisition process is core to the achievement of a project, furthermore the implementation acquisition process makes a change to developing of ornaments. The study will address these assumptions directly through concentrating on the outcomes to which the acquisition process delays project schedule in the development of ornaments, this will be achieved through answering the research questions. It research will further assume that the listed factors in the hypotheses in one way or the other had have impact in the delay.

1.8 Significance of the research

Research in project management is great importance to organizations in both private and public sector. The use of acquisition process in both public and private sectors is progressively becoming a significant matter in emerging economies, in which projects of varying structures and size are carried out. This research will seek to disclose that the use of project management activities is a vital management method for firms in both private and public sector to have higher performance.

2.0 REVIEW OF RELEVANT LITERATURE

2.1 Introduction

This chapter reviews the literature that is by now available concerning the factors resulting in the acquisition process that delays project schedule in the world with particular prominence on the development of ornaments. It offers an outline of preceding works on correlated areas that offer the required contextual for the drive of this research. It further arranges the work into several subtopics that are intensely steered by the stated aims.

2.2 Projects’ financing

Caron & Comandulli (2014), describes project financing as gathering of assets to support an economically separate capital investment project to which the financiers seek mainly to the cash flow from the project as the source of funds to service their loans and provide the returns of equity invested in the project. Matesehe (2013) also describes project financing as supporting a specific economic entity to which the lender is pleased to look primarily to the earnings and cash flow of that economic entity as the source of funds from which a finance will be repaid and to the resources of the economic entity as the surety for the credit. A report published by the world bank on the state of redoing the major urban roads in the Tennessee Valley USA after the deadly Tsunamis insisted on only two major factors that will be central in determining the time a project will take to be effectively constructed. The two aspects key to every construction contract according to the World Bank (2012) are time and money.

2.3 Project scheduling

Kabue (2011) states that the achievement of the implementation stage of the project highly relies on the quality of pscheduling tan earlier scheduling stage. Wambugu (2013), argues that scheduling influences the timely conclusion of rural projects, the roads links between Mahi-Mahiu and Nairobi, Narok- Bomet road, the notorious Taita-Taveta –Arusha road among others and the significance and quality of project planning are viewed as core cornerstones of each prosperous project. Englebrecht, T, Dowis, W. B., & Cox, J. S. (2017), in a research conducted in Singapore determine that wide-ranging site study assist in proper scheduling that in the end assist in expounding the range and mounting a thorough indulgent. This assists to reduce the change of scope in the project. Jahr (2014), argues that precise project scheduling is an important factor in certifying the completion of the project on within the budget and schedule. In his writing about the role played by planning in determining the future of the developing countries. Li (2012), argue that, just like it is difficult to properly plan for finances, labour, risks, monitoring and evaluation, materials providence and many more in the manufacturing industry, the infrastructure implementation sector in developing states has been hit with the same problem for long. The World Bank (2013) report shows that the state of infrastructure in Kenya is hindered by planning as a major element whereby the people involved in developing plans do quality planning on paper that considers the project implementation and evaluation only but it is limited in terms of actualization. This has left up to 49.89% of the Kenyan projects taking longer than planned or others dying on the way.

Quoting a relevant example in the Kenya’s coast, the Republic of Kenya (2014) writes that there are cases of the three levels of roads maintained by KeNHA that include: The Taveta – Mwatate road which is owned by the Government of Kenya through the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) who are responsible for its operation and maintenance, A104 from JKIA to Likoni road/Southern bypass junction and dualling of airport south road, and, Mariakani-Kilifi (C107) Road Phase II whereby the contractors working with the government offered shoddy work due to poor plans for both materials, experts, finances, natural calamities/risks etc. and this delayed the completion and maintenance of the roads from time to time by almost 55%.

2.4 The project manager’s experience

The project manager’s experience is a variable which influences loyalty to apt conclusion of tasks. Project manager is the one who carries the largest project weight; the project manager in the acquisition process begins by recognizing the right schedule, distributing both necessary assets and manpower, bringing together legal cohorts and above all completing the project in the allocated time (Mascia, 2014). Jahr (2014), in the study “the 21st century projects in LDCs that are emerging like Angola, Libya, Ghana, SA and East Africa’s Rwanda”, state that the contractor’s knowledge, competence and experience in construction projects have forced up to 85% of these countries run to sourcing for external experts from countries like China, Japan, Israel and many more so that their projects can achieve the time frames and quality targets. This was rated as one of the highest benefactor that is experienced across the world. The inherent project manager’s experience in the scheduling, preparation, evaluation, and authorization process for big projects forms hurdles to the execution of the projects. The hurdles during the scheduling and execution stages result in cost escalation in the event they do not stop the project at the same time.

2.5 Supervision of Acquisition process

Studies in Kenya have shown that besides corruption, favoritism and nepotism in tender awarding in the Kenyan construction industry, other factors like absentee supervisors and managers has eaten into the future of most projects (Daniels, 2017). In north eastern for example, it was found that up to 18% of the roads maintained by the national government had up to 97% absentee supervisors situated in Nairobi and absently supervising the projects by use of quarks in the ground ;most of them who have no little knowledge of the construction industry. In Kiambu for example, 20 roads were delayed between 2013 and 2017 due to the fact that they were supposed to be done afresh or had to be put at a standstill because of the deviance by project managers from the initial schedules, a factor that resulted because of poor supervision of the projects in the rural or impassable areas. In the Kenyan coast, doing afresh of roads branded as A, B and C have been hit up to 45.01% lack of proper inspection and supervision of their progress.

2.6 Conclusion

The section has highlighted the literature that is existing in relation to the acquisition process that delays project schedule. The section has reviewed the literature in relation to the four objectives and the factors have been looked at from the global perspective down to the study scope area. Among the highlighted factors include: Projects Financing, Project Planning, Project Manager’s Experience and Supervision that are considered to be independent factors while delay in projects implementation is taken to be the dependent variable.

3.0 METHODOLODY

3.1 Introduction

This section will provide the facts of the research methodology. The study strategy will be illustrated and explained. The target sample will be defined and the data collection tools as well. Also, to be involved in the section is data collection processes, means of data analysis, operationalization of variables and ethical issues to be adhered to during the study.

3.2 Research Design

The research will employ a correlative and descriptive study design. With the intention of looking for fresh information, it will be an explorative design. It will also be correlative due to the fact that it will pursue to find the link between and dependent and independent variables. The implications for cause and effect will also be studied. Further the research will not any means aim to change the theses and the nature but only explore and describe the association. It will be descriptive since it will aim its outcome of data analysis the depiction of the association among the independent and dependent variables.

3.3 Target Population

As defined by Puhan (2013), target population is a worldwide set of research of each member of actual or theoretical group of people, procedures or matters in which the researcher plans to simplify the outcome. The target population of this research will be project managers of ornament firms whereas the research population will be residents from different parts of the country (South Africa) with key prominence on employees, managers, Engineers and technical auditors taking part in acquisition processes in South Africa.

3.4 Sampling and Sample Size

It will present the approaches and means that will be employed in sampling, the sampling process and ultimately the way the final research sample will be attained from the target population and the facts regarding the way data will be gathered, analyzed, and processed.

3.4.1 Sample size

The will be from the acquisition sector and directly employed in sectors perceived to be oriented in dealing with acquisition process therefore aligned to the study research objectives. The rest also will be purposively and randomly selected.

3.4.2 Sampling procedure

The sampling procedure defines the number of all population groups from which the sample will be chosen. The study will use of questionnaires to the people concerned with acquisition process since the number is small. Sample of responding employees will be drawn from all project management team where stratified random sampling technique will be employed in coming up with a sample size of 55 respondents from a total of 73 respondents from specific individuals.

3.5 Research Instruments

The research instruments that will be employed in this research will involve questionnaires. Primary data will be collected by the use of questionnaires. The questionnaires will be employed to collect data from the respondents. The questionnaires will be was divided into subheadings that touch on the basic information of the respondents, the items on objectives as discussed in the literature. Piloting will be done to test the validity and reliability of the instruments. The instruments will be piloted in 7 respondents and the procedure repeated in a week. The respondents of whom the piloting will be done are part of the study sample to avoid biased results of the study. Both open ended and close ended questionnaires will be employed since the respondents involved are learned and will be given the freedom to give the wider view of their thinking so as not to compromise the findings. The questionnaire will be administered by the researcher and selected enumerators who at one point will serve as translators in some exceptional cases.

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