Leadership, as well as project management, are key and professional areas of project management in Pakistan that directly impact project performance. Pakistan is the 6th most populous state in the world, although an emerging country in South Asia as well as the 4th most populous country in the region, but does not provide basic facilities for the public, including education, health care, drinking water, energy, and the environment according to (Asian Development Bank, 2005). Project management is one of the weakest areas of public sector organizations in Pakistan. Therefore, it will take time to improve the project management area in order to successfully complete the Pakistani public sector project and development strategy.
The leadership skills, as well as competencies of the project managers and best project supervision practices, are more important for developing countries such as Pakistan, where Pakistan has limited resources for development and limited capacity for project planning and implementation. Lack of capacity and dishonesty adversely affect the performance of development interventions that hinder Pakistan’s development process.
Due to the poor project execution capability of an organization, the project failure rate in Pakistan is high. With the purpose of improving the efficiency, reliability in addition to the success of Pakistan’s projects as a developing country, it is necessary to adopt a new synchronous “method” of developed countries, which is mandatory for the business world. It is important to improve execution capabilities to reduce project failures in Pakistan. The current practice of the project management system of the Pakistani public sector association is ineffective, and there might be no substantial difference in the effectiveness of all the three sectors in Pakistan; public, societal and private. There is a vital need for improving the interpersonal skills of the managers working in different sectors of Pakistan. Increasing project enactment is critical to creating greater efficiencies in the organization, especially in developing countries such as Pakistan. Hence there are numerous problems with project management in Pakistan’s public sector administrations.
Project failure in Pakistan Due to Corruption
Pakistan is often held up as an example of how corrupt governance and its settings of priorities which lead towards project failure can deprive a country. Whereas, some researchers have also described designating Pakistan as a probable ‘failed state’ but it was not constantly the same, in 1960s, Pakistan was observed as a ‘role model” among third world nations in achieving efficient economic development The term “failed state” to intricate about the nations whose government is in declining stage because of their weak capability and capacity to handle projects after that a real industry was established to find out how and why do states ‘fail’ and what are the problems associated with it. State’s failure depends upon the degree of capability, to maintain laws, fulfill all commitments done with citizens and by using public revenue for public welfare. Being a developing nation Pakistan is also trying to fight against corruption. Pakistan initiated the anti-corruption department in 2002 and has also designed and trying to implement the National Anti-corruption Strategy (NACS) by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
The key role in the project arranging, execution and administration is the role in self-governance of the project manager/manager. In all the sectors of Pakistan, the civil servants are commonly reported as project supervisors/managers or politically appointed in many public division projects in Pakistan, although they don’t have any specialized foundation or the project executives’ information, which is a very common practice. And eventually, the entire environment was eroded. The project manager/manager appears to be a spinning door to Pakistan’s public sector project, which increases the degree of poor project management and poor project governance. The continuity of the project manager/manager’s tenure is critical and must be published for somewhere around three years to give congruity and dependability to the projects and to hold the task chief/supervisor responsible for its activities and at last in charge of the achievement or disappointment of the project.
It is essential to name project chiefs/administrators dependent on their capabilities and capacities to make them increasingly independent in the basic leadership procedure to improve project executives and administration. Changes in the project scope, as well as specifications, frequently result in delays for most of the projects. Cost and specification are important in clearly defining the project scope and timeline during the start-up and arranging periods of the projects. Something else, the extension will spread and the project cost will rise pointedly to the first evaluated expense.
Irreconcilable circumstance issues are basic in activities, and there is by all accounts a connection between consultants, project managers, contractors and sponsoring agencies. Consultants are interested in project delays because they can pay more for working hours and professional fees. The most critical stakeholders are contractors interested in delays because they can make more claims and receive additional payments. Project management in all sectors of Pakistan cannot be improved without a clear definition of the scope of the project, strict monitoring during project implementation, and attractive incentives for project managers/managers, contractors, and consultants to complete projects on time or on time.
The writer is an Urban planner and Research Associate in the School of Architecture and Planning (SAP), UMT