The Challenges of Project Management Principles Application for a New Health Centre in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Author: Kilufya, Mansensu
Supervisor: Professor Dr P D Gerber
Date: September 2010

The researcher undertook a project of building a Health Centre in Lubumbashi, the second largest town in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This is a case study using mainly the interpretive perspective and to a theoretical approach to a certain degree. The study is a qualitative field research with its own limitations related to the possibility of the researcher bias in data collection and limited generalization of findings but, its strength resides in reporting the real world in which the study has been conducted. The research problem relates to the complexity associated with the application of the Project Management principles in the building of a new Health Centre in the Democratic Republic of Congo (D.R.C).  The challenges experienced during the process were two-fold:

The macro-level perspective relates to the environment in which the project was conducted.  The micro-level perspective relating to the on site challenges during the building process. A certain relationship between variables has been demonstrated in relation to the project’s objectives.

Both challenges impacted on the project objectives and have been identified and classified in relation to behaviour, structures, and operations. The identification and classification allowed proposing solutions for the benefit of future projects success on one hand and the possibility of transforming the whole country on the other hand.

The vision, mission, values, structures, resources allocation, critical success factors identification, and other elements of organizational transformation are the key determinant lacking in transforming the whole country in general and the Project Management in particular.

The academic objective has highlighted certain realities encountered in different parts of the world which may not fit with the general theory of Project Management.

The entrepreneur for small business in construction industry will benefit from these findings and can use them as a guideline while undertaking a project, mostly if the entrepreneur has been outside the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Lastly but not the least, politicians can refer to these finding for policy making purpose.