Project Management Success Criteria

THE CRITERIA OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT SUCCESS AT CHEVRONS CAPE
TOWN REFINERY: A CASE STUDY
ZENITH MOSES MITCHELL
Research report presented in partial fulfilment

of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Business Administration
at the University of Stellenbosch
Supervisor: Prof C Brown
Degree of confidentiality: A
December 2010
ii
Declaration
By submitting this research report electronically, I, Zenith Moses Mitchell, declare that the entirety
of the work contained therein is my own, original work, that I am the owner of the copyright thereof
(unless to the extent explicitly otherwise stated) and that I have not previously in its entirety or in
part submitted it for obtaining any qualification.
ZM Mitchell
September 2010
Copyright 2010 Stellenbosch University

All rights reserved
iii
Acknowledgements
I acknowledge God as the Almighty Father of heaven and earth. Through His wisdom and
guidance, I managed to achieve great things and I believe that there is still more to come. I also
want to acknowledge my late father, Norman Mitchell for bringing me into this world.
Much appreciation goes to mother who plays a vital role in all my success stories and
achievements.
To my wife, no amount of words can describe my sincere appreciation for the support that you
gave me right from the beginning. This has been three amazing years for us: getting married and
expecting our first child. Wow, what more can a man ask for?
Lastly, I want to share my sincere thanks for my supervisor, Prof C Brown, who supported me even
in difficult times.
iv
Abstract
The Chevron Cape Town refinery was constructed in 1996 with a crude capacity of 100,000 barrels
per day (bpd). The focus of the unit is production and meeting the nameplate market demand. The
project environment for the refinery is that of maintenance and gradual upgrade. The majority of
projects handled are small capital projects.
The aim of this research is to identify what the success criteria for project management should be
for projects carried out within the small capital projects department of Chevrons Cape Town
refinery.
An important distinction to make is that this study looks at project management success and not
project success, although the aspects of project success will be discussed to highlight how closely
related the two concepts are. Project success is not directly proportional to project management
success and neither is project management success directly proportional to project success.
In the past decades, project management success was usually indicated by the project completion
within the time, cost and performance constraints (Kerzner, 2004:29). This has now evolved to
understanding all the objectives of the project. Project management can still be deemed successful
even if it did not meet all the objectives of the project and vice versa, as long as there are mutual
trade-offs agreed to by the developer (project manager) and the client.
White and Fortune (2002:1-11) conducted a survey to identify common criterion used for defining
project management success.
The three criteria identified for judging project success are
completion on time, within the budget and to performance (specification).

Project management success has been found to be a very difficult topic to define. This research
report shown that project management success needs to be moved beyond the iron-triangle to
other criteria like safety and meeting the objectives of the client. What was evident was that
criteria, factors, dimensions and measures are concepts widely used by researchers and it is
hoped that these topics. A very interesting discovery during my first interview was that project
management success comes in three phases or parts, which are pre-delivery, delivery and postdelivery.
What was evident from this research was that the criteria for project management success need to
be established up front before the project gets to the delivery phase. There is no way that one can
measure project management success when the success criteria one is looking for at the end of
the project have not been established up front.
The case study is summarised using the diagram in chapter five showing the new project
management success criteria that needs to be adopted by the refinery.
Future research into project management success criteria could include a survey which could go
out the whole refinery and not just the representative sample who were interviewed for this report
which could confirm the project management criteria found in this report.
vi
Opsomming
Die Chevron Kaapstad raffinadery is in 1996 gestig met n ruolie kapasiteit van 100,000 vate per
dag. Die fokus van die eenheid is produksie en om aan die marknavraag te voldoen. Die
projekomgewing van die raffinadery is instandhouding en mettertydse opgradering van die
raffinadery. Die meerderheid van projekte wat hanteer word is klein-kapitaalprojekte.
Die doel van hierdie navorsing is om te identifiseer wat die sukseskriteria vir projekbestuur behoort
te wees vir projekte wat binne die klein-kapitaaldepartement van Chevron se Kaapstad raffinadery
behartig word.
n Belangrike onderskeid om te maak is dat hierdie studie na projekbestuursukses kyk en die
projeksukses nie, alhoewel die aspekte van projeksukses ook bespreek sal word om uit te lig hoe
naby verwant die twee konsepte aan mekaar is. Projeksukses is nie direk proporsioneel tot
projekbestuursukses nie en omgekeerd.
In die afgelope dekades was projekbestuursukses gewoonlik aangedui deur die afhandeling van
die projek binne die tydsraamwerk, koste en prestasiebeperkinge (Kerzner, 2004:29). Hierdie
konsep het intussen uitgebrei na n verstaan van al die doelwitte van die projek. Projekbestuur kan
steeds as suksesvol beskou word al het dit nie aan al die doelwitte van die projek voldoen nie, en
omgekeerd, solank as wat daar wedersydse toegewings deur beide die ontwikkelaar
(projekbestuurder) en die klint gemaak word.
White en Fortune (2002:1-11) het n opname gemaak om die algemene kriteria te identifiseer wat
gebruik word om projekbestuursukses te definieer. Die drie kriteria wat uitgewys is om n projek te
evalueer, is afhandeling van die projek binne die tydsraamwerk, koste en prestasiebeperkinge.
Projekbestuursukes is n baie moeilike onderwerp om te definieer. Hierdie navorsingsverslag wys
dat projekbestuursukses verby die yster-driehoek moet beweeg om ander kriteria soos veiligheid
en die voldoening aan die klint se doelwitte, in te sluit. Wat duidelik na vore gekom het is dat
kriteria, dimensies en metings konsepte is wat wyd deur navorsers gebruik word. n Baie
interessante ontdekking gedurende die eerste onderhoud was dat projekbestuursukses in drie
fases of dele voorkom, naamlik voor-lewering, lewering en na-lewering
Wat duidelik uit die navorsing is, is dat die kriteria vir projekbestuursukses voor die aanvang van n
projek vasgestel moet word, voordat die projek die afleweringsfase bereik. Daar is geen manier
wat projekbestuursukes gemeet kan word wanneer die sukseskriteria wat aan die einde van n
projek gesoek word, nie aan die begin vasgestel is nie.
vii
Die gevallestudie word opgesom deur die diagram in hoofstuk vyf te gebruik wat die nuwe
projekbestuursukseskriteria aandui wat deur die raffinadery aanvaar moet word.
Toekomstige navorsing in projekbestuursukseskriteria kan n opname insluit wat aan die hele
raffinadery gestuur kan word en nie net die verteenwoordigende steekproef met wie daar vir
hierdie verslag se doeleindes onderhoud gevoer is om die projekbestuurkriteria van hierdie verslag
te bevestig nie.
viii
Table of contents
DECLARATION ................................................................................................................... II
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................. III
ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... IV
OPSOMMING .................................................................................................................... VI
LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................................. XI
LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... XII
LIST DEFINITIONS ......................................................................................................... XIII
CHAPTER 1
ORIENTATION .......................................................................................... 1
1.1
Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1
1.2
Project environment at the refinery ......................................................................... 2
1.3
Problem statement.................................................................................................. 5
1.4
Research objectives ............................................................................................... 7
1.5
Literature review ..................................................................................................... 7
1.5.1
Project life cycle ......................................................................................................... 7
1.5.2
Project life cycle used by the refinery ......................................................................... 9
1.6
Research design and methodology ...................................................................... 10
1.7
Chapter summary ................................................................................................. 10
CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................... 11
2.1
Introduction ........................................................................................................... 11
2.2
Project management process ............................................................................... 12
2.2.1
Initiation ................................................................................................................... 12
2.2.2
Planning .................................................................................................................. 12
2.2.3
Executing ................................................................................................................. 12
2.2.4
Monitoring and controlling ........................................................................................ 13
2.2.5
Closing .................................................................................................................... 13
2.3
Project management functions ............................................................................. 13
2.3.1
Project integration management .............................................................................. 13
2.3.2
Project scope management ..................................................................................... 14
2.3.3
Project time management ........................................................................................ 15
2.3.4
Project cost management ........................................................................................ 15
2.3.5
Project performance management ........................................................................... 15
ix
2.3.6
Project human resource management ..................................................................... 16
2.3.7
Project communication management ....................................................................... 17
2.3.8
Project risk management ......................................................................................... 18
2.3.9
Project procurement management ........................................................................... 18
2.4
Criteria for project management success ............................................................. 19
2.4.1
The concept of project success................................................................................ 19
2.4.2
Project management success criteria ...................................................................... 20
2.4.2.1
Indicator 1: Completion within budget ................................................................................. 21
2.4.2.2
Indicator 2: Satisfying the project schedule ......................................................................... 21
2.4.2.3
Indicator 3: Adequate performance standard ...................................................................... 21
2.4.2.4
Indicator 4: Meeting project objectives. ............................................................................... 21
2.4.3
Indicator 5: Optimising trade-offs ............................................................................. 22
2.4.4
Project success criteria ............................................................................................ 22
2.5
Project management success factors ................................................................... 23
2.6
Role of the project manager towards project management success..................... 25
2.7
Organizational structure for projects ..................................................................... 27
2.8
Project management tools/techniques .................................................................. 28
2.8.1
Traditional methods (Gantt charts and wall charts) .................................................. 28
2.8.2
Concurrent engineering/management ...................................................................... 29
2.8.3
Project management information systems (PMIS) ................................................... 29
CHAPTER 3
3.1
RESEARCH FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS ............................................... 30
Introduction ........................................................................................................... 30
3.1.1
Core effluent project background ............................................................................. 30
3.1.2
The project management process used by the refinery ............................................ 31
3.2
Findings from interviews and project data ............................................................ 35
3.2.1
Interview 1: Drawing office supervisor ...................................................................... 35
3.2.2
Interview 2: Reliability and maintenance representative ........................................... 36
3.2.3
Interview 3: Electrical and Instrumentation stakeholder............................................ 39
3.2.4
Interview 4: Project manager ................................................................................... 40
3.2.5
Interview 5: Interview with customer (operations department) .................................. 42
3.2.6
Interview 6: Interview with mechanical contractor .................................................... 44
CHAPTER 4
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ..................... 46
4.1
Introduction ........................................................................................................... 46
4.2
Summary of main findings .................................................................................... 46
4.2.1
Interview 1: Drawing office supervisor ...................................................................... 46
4.2.2
Interview 2: Reliability and maintenance representative ........................................... 46
4.2.3
Interview 3: Electrical and instrumentation stakeholder ............................................ 46
4.2.4
Interview 4: Project manager ................................................................................... 47
4.2.5
Interview 5: Interview with customer (operations department) .................................. 47
4.2.6
Interview 6: Interview with mechanical contractor .................................................... 47
4.5
Recommendations ................................................................................................ 48
4.6
Further research ................................................................................................... 50
REFERENCES .................................................................................................................. 51
xi
List of Tables
Table 1.1: Project management success criteria for Chevron projects ............................................ 5
Table 2.1: Individual competency model ....................................................................................... 17
Table 2.2: Critical factors in the project management life cycle ..................................................... 25
Table 2.3: Organisational structure and the project characteristics ............................................... 27
Table 3.1: Capital stewardship expectation table .......................................................................... 33
Table 3.2: Results of interview number 1 ...................................................................................... 36
xii
List of Figures
Figure 1.1: Different types of projects undertaken at refinery (Refinery Project Data Base, 2007 2010) .............................................................................................................................................. 1
Figure 1.2: Typical structure for field projects at Chevron Refinery ................................................. 3
Figure 1.3: Typical structure for small capital projects at Chevron Refinery..................................... 3
Figure 1.4: Project life cycle .......................................................................................................... 8
Figure 1.5: Basic CPDEP road map ................................................................................................ 9
Figure 2.1: The Iron Triangle ...................................................................................................... 12
Figure 2.2: Definition of success over time .................................................................................... 19
Figure 4.1: Proposed project management success criteria for Chevrons Cape Town refinery
based on this research paper ........................................................................................................ 48
xiii
List definitions
Project
A project is a temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique product or service

(PMBOK GUIDE, 2000:4).
Project
management
The application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to meet
project requirements (PMBOK GUIDE, 2000:5).
Munns and Bjeirmi defines it as the process of controlling the achievement of the
project objectives (1996:81). Project Management is accomplished through the use
of processes such as:
Initiating
Planning
Executing
Controlling
Closing
Project
management
success
The successful accomplishment of a project with regards to cost, time and

performance. The three dimensions indicate the degree of the efficiency of project
execution (Pinkerton, 2003:337)
Project success
In the modern project management era project success is define as the

accomplishment of a project within time, cost and quality and the project must be
accepted by the customer.
Field projects
Field projects are all capital projects with a project value of less than two million rand
(R2 million), regardless of the complexity of the project (Global Manufacturing
Capital Stewardship Expectations, 2009)
Small capital
projects
Small capital projects are all projects with a project value of more than two million
rand (R2 million) and less than twenty five million dollars ($25 million) regardless of
the complexity (Global Manufacturing Capital Stewardship Expectations, 2009).
Project life
cycle
Project life cycle defines the phases that connect the beginning of a project to its end
(Guide to the PMBOK, 2004:19). Burke (2007:273) on the other hand states that
project life cycle provides and informative overview of how the level of risk changes
as the project progresses through the project phases (concept, design, implement
and commission).
World class
performance
Project was within budget and schedule, meets client needs and was delivered injury
and incident free (Chevrons Project Managements Handbook, 2007:203).
CHAPTER 1
1.1
ORIENTATION
INTRODUCTION
The Chevron Cape Town refinery was constructed in 1996 with a crude capacity of 100,000 barrels
per day (bpd). The focus of the unit is production and meeting the nameplate market demand. The
project environment for the refinery is that of maintenance and gradual upgrade. The majority of
projects handled are small capital projects.
The majority of the projects at the refinery are undertaken due to five reasons namely
sustainability, replacement, growth, compliance and study. Figure 1.1 categories the different type
of projects undertaken at the refinery.
Category
8, 8%
34, 35%
25, 25%
26, 26%
Compliance
Growth
6, 6%
Replacement
Sustian
Study
Figure 1.1: Different types of projects undertaken at refinery (Refinery Project Data Base, 2007 - 2010)
Safety, which is supported at all management levels, is one of the core values of the Chevron
Corporation ensuring the safety of all employees. There is a general feeling amongst all project
managers that project management focuses more on safety in terms of costs and schedule and as
a result, Chevron projects take longer and costs are slightly higher than benchmarked projects in
other industries.
In the early 1990s, Chevron developed and deployed the Chevron Project Development and
Execution Process (CPDEP). Since then, additional processes and tools have been generated
and are continuously improved upon and refined to support and complement the CPDEP. The
CPDEP and its related processes and tools have evolved into the Chevron Project Management
(CPM) System, which is an organised and coordinated methodology that promotes and sustains
the successful execution of projects. Moving from a process to a system perspective is crucial to
Chevrons sustained success with major capital projects.
By moving from a process focus to a system focus, Chevron is enabling a more cohesive
integration of the various processes and tools to manage capital projects effectively.
It also
provides an opportunity to implement continuous improvement across the entire system and
ensures sustained organisational capability by applying the processes and tools to Chevrons
portfolio of projects.
The CPM System is comprised of five key components:
Project Management Process CPDEP provides the core process and framework, which
coordinates and aligns the other components.
Decision Making The decision making process and behaviours that guide the project
team and decision makers in making good quality decisions.
Project Assurance The reviews and assurance checks that are used to assess the
readiness of the project to proceed and help assure the project team is achieving a high
level of decision and execution quality.
Organisational Capability The people, processes, and practices that provide a means
to, develop organisational plans, acquire staff, and develop and lead an effective project
team.
Tools and Practices - The policies, standards, procedures, best practices, supporting
processes, and templates that enable the project team to plan and execute the project.
Chevron became the outright owner of the Cape Town refinery in 2002 and with it came the
expectation that the Chevron Project Development and Execution Process (CPDEP) would be
adopted for their projects.
The refinery has a project portfolio made up of a large number of field (short-term projects) and
small capital projects (long term projects). Chevron has introduced a project governance model for
projects that are linked to the CPDEP process.
Projects are categorised by value and the
expectation is that the higher the value, the more complex the project. Field projects are all
projects with a project value (total cost) of less than R2 million and small capital projects are all
projects with a project value of more than R2 million and less than R25 million . All projects above
the R250 million threshold are categorised as major capital projects. Major capital projects
normally involves stakeholders and clients outside the refinery fence, hence these projects are
managed and monitored on a corporate level.
1.2
PROJECT ENVIRONMENT AT THE REFINERY
The organisation follows a matrix structure, with team members seconded to projects from different
departments.
This in itself creates challenges for project managers to ensure that project
alignment and project integration management are maintained at the required levels to deliver
successful project management practices.
Figure 1.2 illustrates the team members of a typical project in the field projects department:
Figure 1.2: Typical structure for field projects at Chevron Refinery

Source: Chevron Project Management Manual (2007:103)
Within the field projects group, project managers usually fulfil a dual function - that of a project
manager and the discipline engineer (mechanical, electrical, instrumentation, information
technology, etc.) for most projects within the field category. This means that the field engineers are
fulfilling a project-engineering role, instead of a pure project management role.
Field projects are managed with a weak matrix team and the authority normally lies with the
functional manager of the operations group. Per definition, the project manager fulfils this coordinating role. The operations department is the most important client of the field group.
Figure 1.3 illustrates the team members of a typical project for the small capital project department:
Figure 1.3: Typical structure for small capital projects at Chevron Refinery
Source: Chevron Project Management Manual (2009:104)
Small capital projects are managed with a weak matrix team and the authority is equally spread
amongst the technical department, operations and external stakeholders. External stakeholders
refer to the sponsors and end users (commercial and sales department).
Most of the team
members are dedicated to a specific project on a full-time basis, but still reports to a separate line
manager. Much better alignment between functional departments is visible within the small capital
project department than the field project group.
The project support office provides services for both the field and small capital project
departments. The objectives of this department are as follows:
Routinely compare actual performance to cost, schedule and resource baseline.
Estimate/re-estimate cost, duration and resources needed to complete the project, by early
identification of changes to the project scope and proactively analysing performance.
Implement corrective actions when performance trends deviate from the baseline.
Promote accountability for meeting business plan and project objectives.
Develop an execution driven culture throughout the business unit.
Provide a summary level dashboard for tracking rolled-up performance of the refinerys
total project portfolio.
The construction department is an independent entity that provides services to the project manager
(field and small capital projects) concerning the execution of the project. For field projects, the
value added by the construction department is noticeable from phase three of the project cycle and
for small capital projects, the value added is visible from much earlier in the project cycle.
The procurement department provides services to the project manager through the entire project
cycle. The procurement department has has the reputation of causing bottlenecks for projects and
has implications on delivering projects on time and to some extent, on budget.
The refinery procurement department provides project managers with the following services:
Procurement / buying
Warehouse / stores management
Contracts management / legal contracts writing
Strategic sourcing / category management (high level strategic approach)
Business enablement / best practices
Starting a project is one of the key elements of a successful project.
The Chevron Project
Management System starts the process by making certain that the opportunity is aligned with the
strategic interests of the business unit and that it creates value, as well as assuring alignment
among the participants.
A high-level project plan is develop and communicated to the
stakeholders, followed by a detailed project execution plan.
In the early stages, project
alternatives are analysed to select the option that provides the optimal value for the
project.
1.3
PROBLEM STATEMENT
The aim of this research is to determine what the project management success criteria are for
refinery projects and how projects should be set up for future success. The success criteria
derived from this research should be useful to improve future projects.
Currently, Chevrons project management success criteria are somewhat traditional in their
expectations and are based on safety, cost, quality, and schedule. An additional criterion that is
important to take into consideration is operability. The project management success criteria are
mentioned in Table 1.1 below. The expectation is that each project puts up a world-class
performance and the measures to achieve this are also mentioned in Table 1.1 below.
Table 1.1: Project management success criteria for Chevron projects
Performance criteria
Success measure
Cost performance
Within a maximum tolerance of 10% of the authorised

value.
Scheduled performance
Within a maximum tolerance of 10% of the authorised

duration.
Zero recordable injuries and days away from work.
Safety performance
Operability
Within a maximum tolerance of 5% of the design

requirements.
Source: Chevrons Project Management Handbook (2009:203)
The cost performance criteria show that all projects need to come in under budget to achieve
world-class performance. The debate around this topic has been quite interesting at the refinery
because it uses a P50 (50% probability) cost estimation, which means that there is a fifty percent
chance that the project will under run and a fifty percent chance that the project will over run its
budget. The result is that if the corporation expects projects to come in under budget, the cost
estimate could no longer be a P50 but something a little higher and there is a chance that project
estimators will build an additional contingency into project estimates in order to come in under
budget. The schedule estimates are also based on the cost estimate but there is greater leniency
regarding the schedule so it has the chance of coming in both under and over schedule, which
seems to be it in the P50 range.
Safety is a core value at the corporation and safety performance expects to have zero incidents
and injuries. Project management staff is expected to introduce Chevrons safety standards for
every project undertaken at the refinery. These include following the incident and injury free safety
programme, which is based on behavioural observations. This means that peers observe each
other at the workplace and identify risky behaviour. An example of this is when a civil engineering
contractor lifts a steel reinforcement into an excavation for a column base but the weight of the
base is too heavy for the steel fixing team to lift. The observer would stop the job and expect a
mobile crane to help the team complete the task. The risky behaviour in this instance would be
damage to the teams backs if they lifted the reinforcement. Although it may not be painful in the
near future, too much exertion could create long-term back pain.
The operability (customer needs) criteria expects that if a plant upgrade was expected to deliver
10,000 barrels of crude oil a day, it would be acceptable to run 9,000 barrels a day. Chevron
expects all four criteria to be achieved to maintain a world-class performance.
With the tight schedule and cost pressures in the small project environment, the project
management practices and execution of small projects are accelerated or neglected.
In an
organisation where small capital projects are the main focus it is important to execute these
projects effectively.
For the purposes of this project, the research will look at the following problems within the small
capital project department:
The dual function of the project managers poses to be a career development problem for
them because project managers for small capital projects have to fulfil both a technical and
a project management role. This has been an issue for years at the refinery.
The support provided by the project support office concerning cost estimates, estimate
assurance, schedules, change control and reporting. Scheduling as a subject is not a main
stream course at tertiary institutions, one normally comes across it by chance. The result is
that most people have not received professional training in scheduling. At the same time,
employing experienced planners and keeping the existing ones is proving to be a difficult
task, especially in this industry. Various tools exist to assist the project support office.
These tools are stand-alone systems and a certain level of expertise is required to provide
quality reports to project managers and management.
Scope creep has resulted in large scheduling and costs overruns in the past and major
delays in projects.
The procurement department has been the cause of major bottlenecks for several years.
Several attempts have been made to improve the performance of the procurement
department, especially regarding service provision to the small capital project department.
Most of these attempts resulted in significant performance improvements in the
procurement department, but a lot still needs to be done.
Small capital projects represent approximately 90% of the refinerys capital budget and far exceed
the number of major capital projects. Why then is it important to execute and manage small
projects effectively?
The reasons are:
that small capital projects have short schedules, and performance changes have a quick
impact on project outcomes;
that building competency in small projects helps to grow large project competency.
Refinery operations are well known for tight profit margins and with the crude oil price reaching
record high levels in 2008, effective project management processes and practices became more
and more essential.
1.4
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
The aim of this research is to identify what the project management success criteria should be for
projects carried out within the small capital projects department of Chevrons Cape Town refinery.
An important distinction to make is that this study looks at project management success and not
project success, although the aspects of project success will be discussed to highlight how closely
related the two concepts are. Project success is not directly proportional to project management
success and neither is project management directly proportional to project success.
Effective project management within the small capital project department is imperative for older
refineries where growth projects form the minority of the departments project portfolio, with
compliance and sustain projects forming the majority of the projects.
Chevrons focus on project management is based on the drive to improve the return on capital
employed (ROCE) and to achieve superior long-term shareholder returns.
Effective project
management will enable the refinery to:
Select investments with a higher return more value for money spent
Execute the same projects for less money than the competitors do.
1.5
LITERATURE REVIEW
1.5.1
Project life cycle
A number of different life cycle models exist in project management. Gray and Larson (2009:6)
state that some project managers find it useful to use the project life-cycle as the cornerstone for
managing projects. According to Gray and Larson (2009:6) the project life cycle plays a vital role
in:
recognising that any project has a limited life span;
ensuring that there are predictable changes in the level of effort and focus over the life of
the project.
The starting point begins the moment the project has been given the go ahead. For most projects
the efforts in the beginning start slowly, builds to peak, and then declines to the delivery of the
projects (see figure 1.4 below).
Figure 1.4: Project life cycle

Source : Gray and Larson (2009:6-7)
In practice, the project life-cycle is used by some project groups to estimate or re-estimate the
timing of major tasks over the life of the project, like when the team plan a major commitment of
resources in the defining stage.
A driving force behind the rapid demand for project management in todays world is the shortening
of the product life-cycle (Gray and Larson, 2009:7). Today, high-tech industries have product life
cycles averaging 1 to 3 years, compared with 30 years ago when product life cycles averaged 10
to 15 years. A common rule of thumb in the world of high-tech product development is that a sixmonth product delay can result in a 33 percent loss in product revenue. Emphasising how effective
project management can provide businesses with a competitive advantage.
1.5.2
Project life cycle used by the refinery
The Chevron Development and Execution Process (CPDEP) is the core process for project
management within the Chevron Project Management System. CPDEP is a phase-gated process
designed to improve decision-making and execution of projects by fostering better planning,
collaboration, and communication.
The key objectives of the CPDEP phase-gated process are to:
Improve project decision making
Improve project execution
Create better alignment of team members, decision makers and shareholders
The phase-gated process is a team-orientated process that provides overall structure and a
sequence of work steps that are consistent across all types of projects. The most common
representation of CPDEP is the five-phase road map shown in Figure 1.5 below.
BASIC CPDEP ROAD MAP

PHASE 1
Identify and Assess
Opportunities
Decisions
Deliverables at
Major Reviews
These deliverables
provide the information
needed for decision
makers to make their
decisions. The key
deliverables are
collated into a
comprehensive
Decision Support
Package (DSP) to
ensure a high quality
decision.
Focus Items
Focus items can be
shown on the Road Map,
or simply documented in
the PEP. These Focus
Items indicate work that
will be completed to
produce deliverables
necessary for effective
decision making.
PHASE 5
Operate and Evaluate
To Phase 1
STOP, HOLD,
or RECYCLE
STOP, HOLD,
or RECYCLE
Endorser(s) ______________
Decision Executive ________
Decision Review Board_____
Endorser(s)______________
Endorser(s) ___________________
Decision Executive _____________
Decision Review Board__________
Endorser(s) ______________
Proceed
with
Development of
Preferred Alternative
& Approve Phase 3
Plan?
Framing Document,
Preliminary Assessment,
Forward Plan
Project Manager/Team Leader

________________________
Work Team_______________
________________________
Develop Frame
Discovery
Definition
Structure
Preliminary Assessment
Project Management
Practices & VIPs
Phase 1 DEQ Assessment
Seek and Incorporate
Lessons Learned
CPDEP for Change
Assessment
Others as needed
Developed the Business Case
Develop Project Execution
Plan (PEP) for Phase 2
Road Map
PEP Objectives& Strategies
Detailed Plans as needed
Overall Project Schedule
Other Focus Items
______________________
______________________
Recommended
Alternative(s)

________________________
Work Team ______________
________________________
Update Frame
Refine & add further detail
Generate Alternatives
Define Scope for Alternatives
sufficiently to support
evaluation
Analyze Alternatives
Value/Benefits
Costs
Schedule
Uncertainties & Risks
Narrow and Select
Alternatives
Update the Business Case
Project Management Practices
& VIPs
Lessons Learned
Others as needed
Develop Project Execution
Plan (PEP) for Phase 3
Road Map
Other Focus Items
__________________________
Accept
Plan?
Proceed
with
Operations &
Approve
Operating
Plan?
Proceed
with Execution,
Approve Funding
and Phase 4
Plan?
Fully
Defined
Scope
Execution Plan,
Funding Request
Project Manager/Team Leader ____

_____________________________
Work Team ___________________
_____________________________
Endorser(s) ______________
Pursue
New
Opportunities?
DSP Document
Opportunity
Identified
Proceed
with
Generating Alternatives
& Approve
Phase 2 Plan?
NEW OPPORTUNITIES
DSP Document
The decision makers,

as defined in CSOC,
responsible for project
decisions and ultimate
project outcomes.
PHASE 4
Execute
STOP, HOLD,
or RECYCLE
DSP Document
Decision
Makers
PHASE 3
Develop Preferred
Alternative
STOP, HOLD,
or RECYCLE
DSP Document
The decision diamond

represents key
decisions and serves to
delineate phases. The
decision can be to stop,
hold, recycle or
proceed.
PHASE 2
Generate and Select
Alternative(s)

________________________
Work Team ______________
________________________
Execute Business Plan
Fully Define and Freeze Scope
Complete Detailed Design
Begin Detailed Design
Consistently Execute defined Operate Asset

Plans
Monitor and Evaluate
Performance
Finalize Business Plan
Project Management Practices &

VIPs
Seek and Incorporate Lessons
Learned
Others as needed
Develop Project Execution Plan
(PEP) for Phase 4
Road Map
Develop Funding Request
Other Focus Items
_____________________________
_____________________________
Finalize Operating Plan
Identify New Opportunities
Project Management
Practices & VIPs
Lessons Learned
Others as needed
Other Focus Items
Project Management
Practices & VIPs
Lessons Learned
Others as needed
Other Focus Items
_________________________
_________________________
The process does not

end here! Secondary
opportunities and
projects will loop
back into the
appropriate phase.
Operations
Metrics
New
Opportunities
Operable
Assets

________________________
Work Team ______________
________________________
New
Opportunities
Work Team
The multifunctional
work team carries out
the work under the
guidance of the
project manager or
team leader.
Expectations of the
decision makers are
met through frequent
communication and
alignment checks.
________________________
________________________
Chevron Project Development and

Execution Process (CPDEP) Principles:
Focus on key value drivers for the opportunity
Use of integrated multifunctional teams

Effective input, communication and alignment between
teams, decision makers, and stakeholders
Decision driven, not activity driven - do the work
necessary to support the next decision
Consistent use of best practices and tools
Rev_14-Jan-2010
2010 Basic CPDEP Roadmap.ppt
Figure 1.5: Basic CPDEP road map

Source: Chevrons Project Manual Handbook (2009)
10
1.6
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
The outcome of this research will be qualitative in nature resulting from a proposed case study.
The mode of observation or sources of data will be participant observation, with semi-unstructured
individual or group interviews and the use of documentary sources and other existing data. The
unstructured interview process will be carried out with six individuals who are stakeholders in
projects carried out at the refinery. The discussions with the participants will play a key role in
identifying project management success criteria as projects move through the project management
life cycle.
The interview process will develop a table which can be used to represent project success criteria
at the refinery. Once these criteria have been identified, the discussion will involve the importance
that these criteria have as different categories of project are concerned.
The semi-unstructured interviews will start by asking senior project managers what they think the
main problems are that needs attention in this research study. The literature study will then focus
around these problem areas, followed by an in-depth study on the documentary sources available
and the unstructured interviews with the six participants.
The main problem is that each project is unique and the question arises whether different category
projects should be managed in different ways or is whether each project is so different that their
uniqueness needs to be respected even at the project management level. Another consideration
would be whether elapsed time has an impact on the criteria identified
1.7
CHAPTER SUMMARY
The velocity of change required to remain competitive or simply keep up has created an
organization climate in which hundreds of projects are implemented concurrently. Sharing and
prioritizing resources across a portfolio of projects in a multiproject environment like at the Cape
Town refinery has proven to be a major challenge for senior managers at the refinery. It as to be
highlighted that many firms has no idea of the problems involved with the inefficient management
of small projects.
A question that this research is trying to address is how to create an
organizational environment that supports mulitproject management. The criteria developed for
project management success in this research should assist the organization with achieving more
accountability, flexibility, innovation, speed, and continuous improvement with regards to project
management.
11
CHAPTER 2
2.1
LITERATURE REVIEW
INTRODUCTION
Kerzner (2004:1) states that for more than 35 years project management was viewed as a process
that might be nice to have, but not one that was necessary for the survival of the firm. Project
management was viewed as a threat to established lines of authority and, in most cases, only
partial project management was used. In the 1950s, project management was defined as the
application of a collection of tools and techniques to direct the use of diverse resources toward the
accomplishment of a unique, complex, one-time task within time, cost and performance. By the
mid-1990s companies started to change this mentality largely due to two reasons:
Companies were under severe competitive pressure to create quality products in a shorter
period of time.
The importance of developing long-term relationships with the customers had come to the
forefront, the survival of the company was now at stake.
Each task requires a particular mix of these tools and techniques structured to fit the task
environment and project life cycle from conception to completion of the task (Atkinson, 1999:337342). The main criteria identified from what is commonly known as the iron triangle (shown in
Figure 2.1) is still used to this day even though it is considered inadequate because of other criteria
like safety and meeting the objectives of the client.
Project management is a field of practice that promotes a normative approach to the management
of projects. It is codified in standards, tools and techniques, based primarily on experiences of
practitioners in developed Western economies and relies extensively on assumptions of economic
rationality (Muriithi & Crawford, 2003:310). Project management applies knowledge, skills, tools
and techniques to project activities to achieve project requirements. The art of project management
is accomplished through the application and integration of the project management processes of
initiating, planning, executing, monitoring, controlling and closing (PMBOK Guide, 2004:8).
Project management varies from project to project, which makes it imperative to define what a
project is. A project involves a single, definable purpose, end-item, result or outcome, usually
specified in terms of cost, schedule, and performance requirements. Turner (1993:44) defines a
project as an endeavour in which human, material and financial resources are organised in a
novel way, to undertake a unique scope of work of given specification within constraints of cost and
time so as to achieve beneficial change defined by quantitative and qualitative objectives.
12
Figure 2.1: The Iron Triangle

Source: Atkinson, 1999:340
2.2
PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROCESS
According to Cleland and Ireland (2004:53) project management involves five processes: initiating,
planning, executing, controlling and closing. These processes are based on the assumption that
project managers are rational problem solvers who are able to identify and apply rational problem
solving models to projects. These processes follow the sequence in which they are listed. In the
event that a project goes off course, re-planning comes into play, and if a project is found to be in
serious trouble, it may have to go all the way back to the initiating process to be re-started.
2.2.1
Initiation
In this stage, a project is launched after the decision has been made to undertake a project. The
project sponsor creates a project charter that defines what needs to be done in order to meet the
customers requirements. The charter should be used to authorise work on the project, define the
authority, responsibility, and accountability of the project team, and establish scope boundaries for
the job (Cleland & Ireland, 2004:53).
2.2.2
Planning
Planning is the most crucial part of the project, as it determines the outcome of the project. Lack of
planning or no planning at all results in project failure. Failure to plan makes it impossible to control
the project in cases of hiccups (Cleland & Ireland, 2004:53).
2.2.3
Executing
The execution stage has two aspects to it. The first is the technical aspect where the focus is on
execution to create the product. The second aspect is implementing the project plan. This
13
facilitates easy control of the project when encountering difficulties. It is easy to take corrective
measures to get back on track when following a well laid out plan (Cleland & Ireland, 2004:53).
2.2.4
Monitoring and controlling
Control is exercised by comparing where project work is to where it is supposed to be, then taking
action to correct any deviations from the target. Controlling is done by monitoring progress. In
monitoring, the quantity and performance are assessed with the tools available for the particular
project. The results of the assessment are compared to the plan and if there are major deviations,
mitigation plans are applied to put the project back in line. (Cleland & Ireland, 2004:54).
In every project that goes well there are always minor deviations, which are usually ignored unless
they exceed the pre-established threshold or if they could potentially drift further off course.
2.2.5
Closing
Cleland and Ireland (2004:53) stated the in many cases, once the product is produced to the
customers satisfaction, the project is considered finished which should not be the case. A final
lessons-learned review should be done before the project is considered complete. Failing to do a
lessons-learned review means that future projects will likely suffer the same headaches
encountered on the one just done.
2.3
PROJECT MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS
In project management, there are nine broad project management functions or knowledge areas
(Artto, Lehtonen & Saranen, 2001:255). These include the management of integration, scope, time,
cost, risk, quality, human resources, communications and procurement. These nine functions are
managed through the project management life cycle. Thus the knowledge, skills, tools and
techniques are applied to manage scope, organisation, quality, cost, time and risk, from initiation
and concept through to hand-over (termination) in a rolling, iterative process.
2.3.1
Project integration management
The guide to the PMBOK (2004:337) state that project integration management includes the
processes and activities needed to identify, define, combined, unify and coordinate the various
processes and project activities within the project management process groups. In the project
management context, integration includes characteristics of unification, consolidation, articulation
and integrative actions that are crucial to project completion, successfully meeting customer and
stakeholder requirements and managing expectations.
processes include:
The project integration management
14
Develop project charter developing the project charter that formally authorises a project.
Develop preliminary project scope statement developing the preliminary project scope
statement that provides a high-level scope narrative .
Develop project management plan documenting
the actions necessary to define,
integrate, and coordinate all subsidiary plans into a project management plan.
Direct and manage project execution executing the work defined in the project
management plan to achieve the projects requirements defined in the project scope
statement.
Monitor and control - monitoring and controlling the processes required to initiate, plan,
execute, and close a project to meet the performance objectives defined in the project
management plan.
For the project to produce the desired outcomes, it should be well coordinated. The project
integration management ensures that coordination by guaranteeing that the project is properly
planned, executed and controlled.
2.3.2
Project scope management
The guide to the PMBOK (2004:338) states that project scope management includes the
processes required to ensure that the project includes all the work required, and only the work
required, to complete the project successfully. Project scope management is primarily concerned
with defining and controlling what is and is not included in the project.
The Project scope
management processes include:
Scope planning creating a project scope management plan that documents how the
project scope will be defined, verified, and controlled, and how the work breakdown
structure (WBS) will be created and defined.
Scope definition developing a detailed project scope statement as the basis for future
project decisions.
Create a WBS subdividing the major project deliverables and project work into smaller,
more manageable components.
Scope verification formalising acceptance of the completed project deliverables.
Scope control controlling changes to the project scope.
Burke (2007:116) states that effective scope management as one of the key factors determining
project success. Failure to accurately interpret the clients needs or problems will produce a
misleading scope of work, therefore project management success could be limited.
15
2.3.3
Project time management
The guide to the PMBOK (2004:338) states that project time management includes the processes
required to accomplish timely completion of the project. The project time management processes
include:
Activity definition identifying the specific schedule activities that need to be performed to
produce the various project deliverables.
Activity sequencing identifying and documenting dependencies among activities.
Activity resource estimating estimating the type and quantities of resources required to
perform each schedule activity.
Activity duration estimating estimating the number of work periods that will be needed to
complete individual scheduled activities.
Schedule development analysing activity sequences, durations, resource requirements,

and schedule constraints to create the project schedule.
2.3.4
Schedule control controlling changes to the project schedule.
Project cost management
The guide to the PMBOK (2004:338) states that project cost management involves estimating of
project cost by covering cost of all resources such as human, material, equipment, plant, travelling
expenses and other support details. These expenses are budgeted and tracked to ensure that the
project is running within budget. The project cost management process include:
Cost estimating developing an approximation of the costs of the resources needed to

complete project activities.
Cost budgeting aggregating the estimated costs of individual activities or work packages
to establish a cost baseline.
Cost control influencing the factors that create cost variances and controlling changes to
the project budget.
2.3.5
Project performance management
The Guide to the PMBOK (2004:339) states that project performance management includes the
processes and activities of the performing organisation that determine performance policies,
objectives and responsibilities so that the project will satisfy the needs for which it was undertaken.
It implements the quality management system through policy and procedures, with continuous
process improvement activities conducted throughout, as appropriate. The project performance
management processes include:
Performance planning identifying which quality standards are relevant to the project and
determining how to satisfy them.
16
Performance assurance applying the planned, systematic quality activities to ensure that
the project employs all processes needed to meet requirements.
Performance control monitoring specific project results to determine whether they comply
with relevant quality standards and identifying ways to eliminate causes of unsatisfactory
performance
Project performance management covers two aspects: performance assurance and performance
control. Performance assurance is achieved through intensive planning to meet the performance
requirements while performance control involves following certain steps to monitor results and
check if they conform to the specified requirements. If performance management is overlooked, it
can result in project failure.
2.3.6
Project human resource management
This refers to the identification of people required to execute the job, defining their roles and
responsibilities and relationships. After identifying these people, they should be acquired and
managed to execute the project.
Cleland and Ireland (2004:11-17) states that project management competency is an essential
building block for an organisations future growth and profitability. Competency depends on the
personal characteristics of an individual, reflected in his or her knowledge, skills, and attitude,
where knowledge consist of suitable familiarity, awareness and comprehension acquired by
experience and study. Skill on the other hand is the ability of the individual to apply the knowledge,
with attitude referring to the persons state of mind or feeling.
The challenge that most companies have is that competency is expressed in so many ways within
organisations, and different levels of positions within an organisation may apply different
definitions.
The following table indicates an individual competency model that can be used to determine the
competency of a project manager and a method of promoting understanding and appreciation of
top performers. It can also be used as a guideline to define job grades of project managers within
organisations.
17
Table 2.1: Individual competency model
Knowledge + Skills + Attitude = Competency

Knowledge:
Skills:
Attitude:
Familiarity, awareness, or
comprehension acquired by study
The ability to apply

knowledge
A state of mind or feeling
Project Technology
Strategic management
Project management theory

and practice
Project management
process
Project management
systems model
Interpersonal skills
Maslows needs
Communication
skills
McGregors
Theory X and Y
Systems
applications
Authority &
Responsibility
Political sensitivity
Emotional
Intelligence
Building conceptual
models
Source: Cleland and Ireland (2004:17)
2.3.7
Project communication management
The guide to the PMBOK (2004, 340) states that project communication management includes the
processes required to ensure timely and appropriate generation, collection, distribution, storage,
retrieval, and ultimate disposition of project information. The project communication management
processes provide the critical links among people and information that are necessary for
successful communication.
Project managers can spend an inordinate amount of time
communicating with the project team, stakeholders, customer, and sponsor. Everyone involved in
the project should understand how communication effects the project as a whole.
Project
communication management processes include:
Communication planning determining the information and communication needs of the

project stakeholders.
Information distribution making the needed information available to project stakeholders

in a timely manner.
Performance reporting collecting and distributing performance information, including

status reporting, progress measurement, and forecasting.
Manage stakeholders managing communication to satisfy the requirements, and resolve

issues with project stakeholders.
Any information that effects the project and the needs of the project stakeholders such as the
project status, accomplishments and relevant events needs to be communicated. Communication
management involves planning, executing and controlling the acquisition and broadcasting of all
relevant information required by the stakeholders.
18
2.3.8
Project risk management
The guide to the PMBOK (2004:340) states that Project risk management includes the processes
concerned with conducting risk management planning, identification, analysis, responses,
monitoring and the control of a project. The objectives of project risk management are to increase
the probability and impact of positive events and decrease the probability and impact of events
adverse to the project objectives. Project risk management processes include:
Risk management planning deciding how to approach, plan, and execute the risky
management activities for a project.
Risk identification determining which risks might affect the project and documenting their
characteristics.
Quality risks analysis prioritising risks for subsequent further analysis or action by
assessing and combining their probability of occurrence and impact.
Quantitative risks analysis - numerically analysing the effect on overall project objectives of
identified risks.
Risk response planning developing options and actions to enhance opportunities and to
reduce threats to project objectives.
Risk monitoring and control tracking identified risks, monitoring residual risks, identifying
new risks, executing risk response plans, and evaluating their effectiveness throughout the
project life cycle.
2.3.9
Project procurement management
The guide to the PMBOK (2004:341) states that project procurement management includes the
processes to purchase or acquire the products, services, or results needed from outside the project
team to perform the work.
Project procurement management includes the contract management and change control
processes required to administer contracts or purchase orders issued by authorised project team
members.
Project procurement management also includes the administration of any contract
issued by an outside organisation (the buyer) that is acquiring the project from the performing
organisation (the seller) as well as administrating the contractual obligations placed on the project
team by the contract. Procurement management processes include:
Plan purchases and acquisitions determining what to purchase or acquire and

determining when and how to do this.
Plan contracting documenting products, services, and result requirements and identify
potential sellers.
19
Request seller response obtaining information, quotations, bids, offers, or proposals, as

appropriate.
Select sellers reviewing offers, choosing from amongst potential sellers, and negotiating a
written contract with a seller.
Contract administration managing the contract and the relationship between the buyer
and seller, reviewing and documenting how a seller is performing or has performed to
establish the required corrective actions and provide a basis for future relationships with the
seller, managing contract related changes and, when appropriate, managing the
contractual relationship with the outside buyer of the project.
Contract closure completing and settling each contract, including the resolution of any
open items, and closing each contract.
2.4
CRITERIA FOR PROJECT MANAGEMENT SUCCESS
2.4.1
The concept of project success
This research is conducted to determine the project management success criteria of capital
projects at the Chevron Cape Town refinery, but the fundamentals of project management and
project success criteria and success factors needs to be established first.
Kerzner (2004:29-32) states that during the traditional period, project success was measured in
technical terms only. This mainly occurred because the project objectives were also defined in
technical terms only. During the renaissance period, cost and quality became equally important as
technology. The definition of success changed to a project being finished in time, within cost and at
the appropriate technical level or quality. The modern project management includes the need of
the customer and not the manufacturer. With this definition one realises that acceptable
performance is determined by the customer and not by the manufacturer.
The definition of project success has changed over the years, as shown in figure 2.2.
Figure 2.2: Definition of success over time

Source : (Kerzner, 2004:29-33)
20
2.4.2
Project management success criteria
In the past decades, project management success was usually indicated by the project completion
within the time, cost and performance constraints (Kerzner, 2004:29). This has now evolved to an
understanding of all the objectives of a project. Project management can still be deemed
successful even if it did not meet all the objectives of the project and vice versa, as long as there
are mutual trade-offs agreed upon by the developer (project manager) and the client.
White and Fortune (2002:1-11) conducted a survey to identify common criteria used for defining
project management success.
The three criteria identified for measuring project success are
completion on time, within budget and according to performance specification.

However, these are not the sole principles by which success is determined - the fit between the
project and the organisation and the coincidences of the project for the performance of the
business were also reported as important criteria. Furthermore, the survey revealed that factors
such as a realistic schedule, adequate funds and resources as well as clear objectives play a
significant role in the project management success.
On the other hand, project management success is also dependent on the abilities of a project
manager. The attributes of a project manager that contributes to project management success of
the project are his/her abilities to plan, solve problems, monitor, network, inform, motivate, solve
conflicts, support , consult, develop, reward and delegate. According to Hyvaris (2006:216-225)
study, it seems that planning/organising, networking and forming are the most significant
managerial practices in the leadership behaviour of project managers.
The overall findings of Hyvaris (2006:216-225) study implies that technical project management
tools and methods are so developed and widely used that now that it is time to turn the focus on
developing leadership skills. The most important factors in project management success are
classified into three categories, namely project participants, communication and information
exchange and the system development process.
The common project management success indicators are completion to budget, satisfying the
project schedule, adequate quality standard and meeting project objectives (Munns & Bjeirmi,
2001:81-87). But the project manager (pm) cannot be held responsible if the objectives were
incorrectly defined. In which case, the project will be a failure but the project management is still
successful.
21
2.4.2.1 Indicator 1: Completion within budget

The budget refers to the allocation of monetary resources to the project. Completion of a project
within the estimated budget is a good indication of project management success. According to the
Chevron Basic Project Management Manual (2009:3), cost estimation is the predicting or
forecasting of the cost of constructing and equipping a facility to manufacture goods, or to provide
a service. Cost estimation also provides the project manager and management with a realistic
representation of the final project costs at any stage of project development to meet a specific
project objective.
Chevron expects that the actual project cost be within 10 percent of the
authorised value for a project to be declared successful concerning cost management.

2.4.2.2 Indicator 2: Satisfying the project schedule
The schedule portion projects the desired completion date of the project, using the exact date for
the day of completion. The purpose of the schedule is to create a systematic process for creating a
project schedule, which is likely to be predictable and credible. This promotes effective
management with specific, tactful decisions about the task, sequence and time for project
completion.
Chevron expects that the actual project cost be within 10 percent of the authorised value for a
project to be declared successful concerning cost management.
2.4.2.3 Indicator 3: Adequate performance standard
This indicator captures the portion of the desired result relative to the (set) required standards of
the quality of the completed work.
2.4.2.4 Indicator 4: Meeting project objectives.
The fourth indicator comprises of the first three. It describes what the project is to accomplish,
when it is to be accomplished and how much it will take to accomplish it. To be able to use this
indicator, the project objective statement is set to be clear, concise and quite effective.
The
objectives should clearly define major deliverables as the primary project outcomes as they will be
used as the basis for judging the success of the project (Harvard Business School, 1997). Major
deliverables serve as a primary tool that focuses managements attention on the key project
outcomes.
22
2.4.3
Indicator 5: Optimising trade-offs
The essence of effective optimisation is examining the entire project plan and developing creative
means for making it more efficient (Harvard Business School, 1997). Any component of the
project can be changed or adjusted as long as the changes are done in a systematic way, visible to
all project stakeholders. Common trade-offs are eliminating some major deliverables, developing a
different way to perform a task, changing dependencies, changing resources or accepting new
parameters. Optimising means making tough decisions to make a project a success as well as the
management thereof.
There are several factors that can lead to a project management failure; these include an
incompetent project manager, unsupportive top management, misuse of project management
techniques, lack of commitment to the project and inadequate basis to the project. All these factors
require careful consideration, but above all, the choice of the project manager is the most important
of all. In line with the research goals the opposite of the factors for project management failure can
also be stated as project management success indicators.
2.4.4
Project success criteria
What does project success mean? Should the same rule apply to all projects? Shenhar and Dvir
(2007:26-27) suggest that a comprehensive assessment of project success in the short and long
term can be defined by four basic measures:
1.
2.
Internal project objectives (efficiency during the project)
How successful was the project team in meeting its schedule?
How successful was the project team in meeting its budget objectives?
How successful was the project team in managing any other resource constraints?
Benefit to customer (effectiveness in the short term)
Did the product meet its specified requirements of functional performance and technical
standards?
What was the projects impact on the customer, and what did the customer gain?
Does the customer actually use the product, and are they satisfied with it?
Does the projects product fulfil the customers needs, and/or solve the problem?
Has it created a larger market share?
23
3.
Business and direct success (in the medium term)
Has the new or modified product become an immediate business and/or commercial
success - has it enhanced immediate revenue and profits?
4.
Has it created a larger market share?
Preparation for the future
Has the project created new opportunities for the future, has it contributed to positioning the
organisation consistent with its vision, goals?
Has it created a new market or new product potential, or assisted in developing a new
technology?
Has it contributed additional capabilities or competencies to the organisation?
Project success criteria shape many aspects of the project, beginning with the functional and nonfunctional requirement specifications. This simply means that if the stakeholders understand the
projects principal business objectives and success criteria, its easier to make decisions about
which proposed product features and characteristics are in scope and which are not.
2.5
PROJECT MANAGEMENT SUCCESS FACTORS
One further clarification is required at this stage and that is the difference between success criteria
and success factors. Lim and Mohamed (2000:98) dealt with this very question and cited the
Concise English Dictionary to define a criterion as a principle or standard by which anything can
be judged and a factor is any circumstance, fact or influence which contribute to a result.
Collins and Baccarini (2004:20-25) differentiated between success criteria and success factors by
stating that criteria are used to measure success and factors facilitate the achievement of
success.
According to Cooke-Davies (2002:54-56), project management researches have been trying to
discover which factors lead to project success and have reached conclusions that have been
widely reflected in literature for project management. Recent research shows that cost, schedule
and quality (also called the iron-triangle) are still determining criteria when measuring project
success. What has been debated for many years, is that even though the traditional iron triangle
of cost, schedule and performance have stood the test of time, projects still do not meet their
objectives as frequently as they should be doing.
The success factors that Cooke-Davies (2002:54-56) draws from an extensive research are:
1. Adequacy of company-wide education on the concepts of risk management,
24
2. Maturity of an organisations processes for assigning ownership of risks,

3. Adequacy with which a visible register is maintained,
4. Adequacy of an up-to-date risk management plan,
5. Adequacy of documentation and organisational responsibilities on the project, and
6. Keeping project below three years as far as possible.
7. Allowing changes to scope of work only through a mature scope change control process.
8. Maintaining the integrity of the performance measurement baseline.
9. An effective benefits delivery and management process.
10. Portfolio and management practices allow the enterprise to resource fully a suite of projects
that match the corporate strategy and business objectives.
11. A suite of project, programme and portfolio metrics that provide feedback on current
projects and anticipated future success. A distinction needs to be drawn between the fact
that project success can only be measured at the end of the project and project
performance can be measured while the project is in progress.
12. An effective means of learning from experience that combines explicit and tacit knowledge
to the continuous improvement of project management processes and practices. In an
organisation where the business is operationsbased, successful project management
practices leads directly to the bottom line of the business
White and Fortune (2002, 1-11) state that there are seven project success factors:
1. Meeting clients requirements.
2. Completion on schedule.
3. Completion within budget.
4. Meeting the organisations objectives.
5. Yielding business benefits.
6. Causing minimal business disruption.
7. Meeting quality/safety standards.
The project success factors identified above are relevant to project success but needs to make
sure that a project has a handful factors and criteria to consider before the process becomes too
cumbersome.
Kerzner (2004:29-33) defined the critical success factors for a project over the period of the project
life cycle. This can be seen in Table 2.2 below.
25
Table 2.2: Critical factors in the project management life cycle
Project management life cycle
Critical success factors
Executive management acceptance phase
Consider employee recommendations

Recognise that change is necessary
Understand the executive role in project
management
Line management acceptance phase
Willing to place company interest before

personal interest
Willing to accept accountability
Willing to see associates advance
Growth phase
Maturity phase
Recognise the need for a corporate wide

methodology
Support uniform status
monitoring/reporting
Recognise the importance of effective
planning
Recognise that cost and schedule are
inseparable
Track actual costs
Develop project management training
Source: Kerzner (2004:42)
2.6
ROLE OF THE PROJECT MANAGER TOWARDS PROJECT MANAGEMENT

SUCCESS
Gray and Larson (2009:7) states that the role of a manager is to decide and implement the ways
and means to effectively and efficiently utilise human and non-human resources to reach
predetermine objectives. Project managers in a small manner perform the same functions as
functional managers since they are responsible and accountable for planning, scheduling,
motivating, and controlling. Project managers are unique because they manage temporary, nonrepetitive activities and frequently acts independently of the formal organisation.
Although competency of the project manager cannot be considered as a success indicator, in
reality the success of any project depends on the project manager. The primary responsibility of
the project manager is to ensure that all work is completed on time, within budget and scope and at
the correct performance levels, but this can only be done through functional knowledge which the
project manager typically doesnt have. To achieve all the set project objectives, project managers
must understand the mission and vision of the organisation first, then they must see how the
project they are managing meshes with the organisations mission, and they must steer the project
to ensure that the interests of the organisation are met.
26
To perform this big task, a project manager has to be flexible enough to wear a lot of different hats,
many at the same time, which include the hats of an integrator, communicator, decision maker,
motivator, evangelist, entrepreneur and change agent (Nicholas, 2004:30-40).
This means that the project manager has to be able to integrate everything and everyone to
achieve the project goals.
Nicholas (2004:30-40) listed the usual responsibilities of the project manager as the following:
Planning project activities, tasks, and end results, including doing the work breakdown,
scheduling, budgeting, coordinating tasks, and allocating resources.
Selecting and organising the project team.
Interfacing with stakeholders:
Negotiating with and integrating functional managers, contractors, consultants, users,
and top management.
Providing contact with the user.
Effectively using project team and user personnel.
Monitoring project status.
Identifying technical and functional problems.
Solving problems directly or knowing where to find help.
Dealing with crises and resolving conflicts.
Recommending termination or redirection of efforts when objectives cannot be achieved.
In most projects, the role of the project manager is not well defined as the project managers find
themselves faced with some technical work, which hampers the effectiveness of the project
manager. By right, the project manager should have a certain level of technical competency as
he/she works at the interface between top management and the technical staff, but a strong
managerial competency is the key to successful projects.
The project manager should have knowledge of the management tools as they have the cost
responsibility to the company. They need to understand the concepts of cost estimating, budgeting,
cash flow, overheads, incentives, penalties and cost sharing ratios. Managers have the
responsibility of phasing and scheduling the work to meet
delivery dates, so they need to be
acquainted with the tasks and processes and relevant resources required to execute the work.
Project managers should enforce the project schedules hence the need to be familiar with tools
and techniques for monitoring and controlling schedule as they have legal implications.
27
The project manager should have a level of understanding of the law as they are involved in
contract agreements; therefore they must be well informed about the contractual terms and
implications.
Project managers must also be effective communicators and listeners. They must be sensitive to
the attitudes of project stakeholders regarding policies, time limits, and costs (Nicholas, 2004:3040). Project managers must be able to convince project members and team players about the
importance of project budgets, schedules, and policies. S/he must be able to work with people and
delegate responsibilities. Project managers must understand personalities, attitudes, and
characteristics of people as team members and as individuals, and know how to best utilise talent
even when it does not measure up to project requirements.
Also, they must be sensitive to human frailties, needs and greed, and be interventionists skilled at
resolving conflict, managing stress, and coaching and counselling. The core attribute that the
project manager needs should therefore be people skills.
2.7
ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE FOR PROJECTS
Crawford (2002:65) states that the type of organisational structure plays a crucial role in managing
projects successfully. Table 2.3 illustrates the differences between the organisational structure
and the project characteristics.
Table 2.3: Organisational structure and the project characteristics
ORGANIZATION TYPE
Project
characteristics
Functional
Weak Matrix
Balanced
Strong
Matrix
Projectized
Matrix
Project manager's
Authority
Little or None
Limited
Virtually
None
1-25%
Moderate
to high
50-95%
High to Total
Personnel assigned
Full-time toProject
Work
low to
Moderate
15-60%
Project Manager's
Role
Part-time
Part-time
Full-time
Full-time
Full-time
Common Titles for

Project Manager's
role
Project
Coordinator /
Project
Leader
Project
Coordinator /
Project
Leader
Project
Coordinator
/ Project
Officer
Project
Manager/
Program
Manager
Project
Manager/
Program
Manager
Project Management
Administrative Staff
Part-time
Part-time
Part-time
Full-time
Full-time
Source: Crawford (2002:65)
85-100%
28
When projects are initiated two issues immediately arise, first a decision has to made on how to tie
the project into the organisation and secondly a decision needs to be made on how to organise the
project itself.
Meredith and Mantel (2002:124) looked at the three major organisational forms (matrix, project and
functional) commonly to house projects and the two tried to look at how it will fit into the parent
organisation by looking at the advantages and disadvantages of each format.
In general, the functional form is the organisational form of choice for projects where the major
focus must be on the in-depth application of a technology rather than, for example, minimising
cost, meeting a specific schedule, or achieving a speedy response to change. If the organisation
engages in a large number of similar projects (e.g. construction projects) the pure project
organisation is preferred.
The pure project format can also be used for one-time, highly specific, unique tasks that require
careful control and are not appropriate for a single functional area, the development a new product
line for instance.
The matrix organisation has, until now, been the only satisfactory solution when projects require
the integration of inputs from several functional areas and involves reasonably sophisticated
technology, but does not require all technical specialists to work for the project on a full-time basis.
This is particularly true when several projects must share the same experts. But matrix
organisations are complex and present difficult challenges for project managers (Meredith &
Mantel, 2002:124).
So what project structure should an organisation use? This is a complicated question with no
precise answers. A number of issues need to be considered at both the organisation and project
level.
2.8
PROJECT MANAGEMENT TOOLS/TECHNIQUES
2.8.1
Traditional methods (Gantt charts and wall charts)
The traditional project management tools were used to display the project master schedule and
detailed task schedule. These tools are related to the work breakdown structure and accounts for
interrelationships between individual work elements. These tools are easy to understand and use
without any major training for all the people involved in the project (Nicholas, 2004:30-40).
29
2.8.2
Concurrent engineering/management
In the context of concurrent construction, pro-activity has a specific meaning as it refers to the real
time management of the project in such a way that specific target values set for certain objective
functions at the outset can be met or exceeded. Examples of such objective functions include
capital and operating costs, total life cycle cost per unit output, cost/worth ratio, and internal rate of
return and profitability index (Nicholas, 2004:30-40). The project management must also respond
to the less tangible targets set, including aspects of operability, safety and quality.
2.8.3
Project management information systems (PMIS)
Nicholas (2004:30-40) defines project management information system as a system which

supports and facilitates the delivery of any project, particularly those which are complex, subject to
uncertainty, and are under market, time and money pressures, or otherwise difficult to manage.
The PMIS is required to be systematic modelling, recording, storing, validating, retrieval and
general management of information and data related to the life cycle management of a project, as
well as direction, management and real time control of key information furnished to project teams,
using an integrated structure.
The PMIS is also expected to integrate information across the entire project life cycle, from
feasibility study through to execution and finalisation and to support newer concepts of project
delivery. It should also have processing and reporting, or alerting capabilities, as the case may be,
in order to highlight the status of a given project at any point in its life, or measure the impact of a
decision on the project as a whole, or foreshadow adverse patterns which might affect the
achievement of project goals. Therefore, both computational and evaluative capabilities must be
built into the system.
In a typical multidiscipline project the PMIS must be fully interfaced with other systems used on the
project to link with, and import data from models of the project. Because of the need to exercise
centralised control over the management of the entire project information sets, the PMIS must act
as the governing system, making information selectively available to other systems or teams.
30
CHAPTER 3
3.1
RESEARCH FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS
INTRODUCTION
This research is conducted at one Petrochemical unit in the Western Cape and was undertaken
using the unstructured interview method. The interviewees were selected because they were seen
as being important stakeholders in the project management process at the refinery and they played
a crucial in the planning and delivering of the project (Core effluent project) that will be used for
obtaining the research results.
The selection was made up of a project manager, a project
engineering discipline lead, a reliability and maintenance representative, documentation and

drawing office representative, electrical and instrumentation engineer, the client (operations
department) and lastly the mechanical contractor. Paragraph 4.1.1 provides a brief description of
the Core effluent project.
3.1.1
Core effluent project background
The Core effluent project was an environmental project which was designed, procured and built on
the Chevron refinery site in Milnerton, Cape Town. The project has come about because the
Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism changed the permit requirements for the quality
of effluent water that is sent to sea after being used in the various production processes on the
site. In order to comply with the regulations, a secondary effluent treatment facility needed to be
erected in addition to the existing primary facility so that the treated effluent water sent to sea
complies with the new standards which came into effect at the end of 2007. The project was an
environmental project which has a strategic fit with the Chevron global refining policy of zero
industrial incidents or accidents.
Several years ago, the public raised concerns about the odour and visual impact of the effluent
discharge plume at the oceanic outfall point. For many years, a dark plume was observed from the
air at the outfall point. Both the visual and odour impact of the plume have been observed and
reported to vary in intensity. Since 2002, Chevron has extensively studied and investigated the
main components and mechanisms contributing to the impact of the plume.
In 2004, Chevron set out to upgrade the existing effluent treatment unit by launching the Core
effluent project. This decision was motivated by a number of factors, namely:
Public concerns about the odour and visual impact of the effluent at sea
To maintain environmental performance in line with international best practice
31
3.1.2
The project management process used by the refinery
Chevron follows the Chevron project development and execution process which is known as
CPDEP (pronounced as CHIPDIP throughout the corporation).
The process consists of five
phases with stage gates, presided over by a decision review board (DRB), the leader of which is
the decision executive (DE). The DE makes the final project decision at the end of each phase
whether the DRB agrees with him or not.
These project decisions could be one of four
possibilities, namely proceed, hold, recycle or stop. The CPDEP process is meant to be a decision
based process and not an activity based process. The requirement for each phase is to do enough
work, so that a decision can be made to proceed to the next phase. This is the phase where the
project success criteria are established. Stakeholder analysis is a function of this phase and it is
imperative that the stakeholder success criteria are identified early in the project life cycle.
The purpose of the second phase, known as evaluate the alternatives or the creative phase is to
identify creative, doable alternatives for the project. This is the phase where the alternatives are
created and narrowed down based on the project value drivers which are set-up and agreed upon
by the project decision review board (DRB). This is also the phase where technical peer reviews
are conducted.
This involves technical aspect of the alternatives created.
The experts also
evaluate the conditions for narrowing the alternatives so that a recommendation can be made to
the DRB. The resultant report needs to have all the critical findings closed out by the project team
before the project can be given the go-ahead for the next phase. This is the phase where clear
evidence of an integrated team is required which means important stakeholders like operations
and maintenance are fully involve.
A further requirement of this phase is the creation of a project execution plan for the next phase. A
project execution plan is expected of the project team and this is normally achieved by using an
external facilitator not part of the team.
The team, involving all the project stakeholders creates
the project execution plan together with different individuals contributing to their specialist focus
item. These include but are not limited to project controls, schedules, stakeholder management,
risk management, change control management, engineering management, procurement and
contracting management, document management and communication management which is
similar to the expectations of the PMBOK requirements.
An important part of the second phase is that value improvement practices (VIPs) are used which
are a selection of relevant tools proposed by the Independent Project Authority (IPA). Using the
appropriate VIPs has also been seen to contribute to better project outcomes. An example of a
VIP is the use of three dimensional computer-aided design software (3D-CAD) in order to visualise
the proposed project layout and to avoid discipline clashes. What normally happens when major
32
pipe racks and cable racks are involved is that the different disciplines never draw their racks on
the same model and this focus item enables the construction team to avoid these clashes. Fifty
percent of the appropriate VIPs need to be used to improve the project outcomes.
Project
managers are expected to seek out and apply lessons learnt from other Chevron projects in both
phase two and phase three from a master file which is managed by the project manager or the
project control office.
The third phase of CPDEP is called the Development of the preferred alternatives. This is the
phase where sufficient work is done so that a ninety percent accurate cost estimate can be
achieved.
In this phase of the project many third party reviews are held to establish project
readiness to proceed to the next phase. The project needs to obtain a best practical front end
loading index which is an assessment of how well the project team has prepared the site, the
engineering design and project execution plan. The assessment is done before the project goes to
full authorisation stage and is based on a rigid questionnaire which is filled out by the project team.
This is followed up with a face-to-face interview and a report. Research by IPA has shown that a
best practical assessment has resulted in better project outcomes of safety, quality, cost and
schedule and the assessment is prescribed for all Chevron projects that fits into this category.
A Chevron designed spreadsheet has been created to evaluate decision quality which forms the
basis of Chevron decision-making. The spreadsheet evaluates the degree of readiness of focus
items to proceed to the execution phase and a score which is greater than seventy is required.
The tool identifies gaps on the project readiness to proceed and aims to close those gaps before
full project authorisation is granted.
From a project control point of view, targets are set at the expectations seen in Table 3.1 below.
33
Table 3.1: Capital stewardship expectation table
Source: Chevrons Project Management Handbook (2009)
The cost estimate and schedule needs to follow an estimating assurance process which ensures
that all site factors, escalation and contingency are included when the estimate and schedule is
prepared. This is also conducted during phase three where the estimate is finalised for the project
authorisation stage.
CPDEP phase four is called the execution phase during which the time the engineering design
and the working drawings are completed.
The project procurement, construction and
commissioning is also carried out during this phase. The CPDEP and Capital Stewardship and
Organisational Capability (CSOC) training, which is carried out at the corporation, does not include
much on the execution phase which is problematic due to the fact that project performance is not
as good as it should be. Costs and schedule overruns still exist and although there is a Chevron
Project Management handbook (2009) which guides project managers during the execution phase,
the link between the training and project performance is missing and it may be because the
corporation is too focused on project development and not execution. Measures have been put in
place to close the gaps during project execution by including operations and maintenance
representatives on the project team as stakeholders.
The process is called the Operations
Assurance process and is used because the corporation though is worried about project execution
results. It is always possible to find capital projects which have overruns in both time and budget.
34
During the project execution phase, the project control expectations are to have some resource
loaded critical path schedule which has both costs and resources loaded into them so that when
the estimate assurance process is undertaken, project costs and schedule risk analysis can be
conducted on a quantitative basis.
Project change is managed by means of project control procedure. A part of this includes the
creation of a change control register which requires the appropriate routing process for change
approval and this forms the basis for the project trend graphs which incorporate the affect of any
project manage escalation, contingency, schedule and cost.
Project reports are completed
monthly and are included in the head office project database.

The project manager is expected to carry out a formal look-back and lessons learnt exercise at the
time the project is handed over to the operations staff. This is called the phase four look-back. The
official phase four look-back is conducted by IPA who compares the original, planned project
information against the actual project performance and reports back to the business unit in a report
showing percentage overruns or underruns on cost and schedule and gives recommendations for
improving project management performance in the future.
CPDEP phase five is called the operations and evaluation phase which is where the project is
evaluated as a performing asset. This is the acid test for the project as the operations group
(customer) tests the project against the operability targets that were set out at the phase three
gate. If the customer is unhappy with the final product, the project is still a success if it met all the
recommendations for improving project management performance in the future.
In terms of project governance, all project personnel are trained in project management at the
corporation and follow a computer based training for CSOC.
The training sets up a project
governance model which states who are expected to be on the project review board and what
qualifications they need to have. The decision maker is called the DE and he is supported by the
DRB. The DE needs to have CSOC supreme training which is the highest qualification achievable.
The DRB members need to have regular certification.
The Chevron safety targets are for zero incidents or injuries on projects undertaken. Projects
should make use of a safety program such as Incident and Injury Free programmes or behavioural
based safety programmes.
The expectations during phase 5 of the CPDEP process require two project look-back-sessions to
be held. The first is the one which occurs after the project execution is completed and the second
one, which is an economic look-back, is competed approximately two years after the project has
35
been in operation. The objective of this look-back is to compare how the project performed when
compared with the original targets set before the project was authorised.
3.2
FINDINGS FROM INTERVIEWS AND PROJECT DATA
3.2.1
Interview 1: Drawing office supervisor
The first interview was held with the drawing office supervisor who is closely linked to the project
environment as his staff produces the working drawings for the refinery projects. The drawing
office group is responsible for all the refinery drawings that have ever been produced or modified
by work done on the plant or modified by projects. They are also responsible for updating the
drawing records once the projects have been completed whether the projects were completed inhouse or outsourced. Issues such as compatible software and the relevant revisions of drawings
are released to whoever is modifying them. This area of projects has been very important as the
creation or modification of any project is impossible without the latest drawings.
According to the drawing office manager, safety is the number one criteria at the refinery. The total
quality management process puts customer satisfaction as the next success criterion. Another
important factor that was mentioned is that project management success would not come without
the correct project management skills and training. He explained that the refinery was lacking a
project management career path and that without the establishment of this career path, projects
would continue to perform in a mediocre way as they are currently doing. According to him,
project performance could be better.
End-user satisfaction and stakeholder management were identified as important criteria and he
was of the opinion that projects were a joint initiative to improve the status of all stakeholders.
Communication was identified as an overriding factor for success to keep all parties informed in
terms of the project progress during the project development phase and also during the project
execution phase. His observation was that service providers and contractors success criteria was
to ensure that the technical quality expected by the client was met and the execution criteria of
safety, costs and schedule were important so that they (service providers) could make a profit and
do a good job in order to get more work in the future from the client. Ongoing skills retention and
development was deemed to be important and this was confirmed by the previous point where
obtaining future work for the refinery was important.
Once the project execution stage was completed, project reviews or look-backs were important to
contribute to ongoing learning and improvement.
36
In his opinion, he thought that categorisation of projects would not change his idea of project
criteria importance during the delivery stage, but as time went on, achieving the business goal of
improving safety metrics if the project was a safety project to him. Compliance projects would
require a continuous evaluation to make sure that legislation was still met or improved upon.
As the project was reviewed, his opinion was that the importance of costs, quality and schedule
would become less important, but safety in operations was still very highly ranked in terms of the
organisation and its core values.
Other issues that were brought up were the creation of standards and procedures, skills
development, continuous research to improve project management maturity, and the ability to do
in-depth feasibility studies including life cycle costing.
A summary of the interview results can be seen in the Table 4.1 below.
Table 3.2: Results of interview number 1
Phase
Success criteria
How?
Pre-delivery
Establishing success criteria
Setting goals for the project

Skills organisational capability
Delivery
Safety
Performance
Costs
Schedule
End-user satisfaction
Customer satisfaction
Understand the impact on the business

Be customer focused
Master project execution
Post-Delivery
Learning from the experience

Organisational growth in project
management skills
Prepare for the future, think ahead.
3.2.2
Interview 2: Reliability and maintenance representative
The second interview held was with the reliability and maintenance representative who are
dissatisfied with overall project performance and their opinion on project management success had
to do with the individual project manager and the project management process. Without either,
projects were bound to be less satisfactory. He was stressing the need for each project manager
to be trained in all departments of the refinery for the first year and then to be allowed to participate
in projects and project management. His overriding theme was to develop the people and have a
career ladder in project management so that there is a visible career ladder which each engineer
can aspire to achieve.
37
From the reliability and maintenance point of view, the expectation is to engage stakeholders as
early in the process as possible and to recommend material and equipment which is easy to
maintain and is accessible to operators.
They require that lifecycle costing of the project is
completed upfront. Reliability and maintenance would be able to influence the design if they were
to become involved in the project earlier in the project lifecycle.
This supports the fact that
Chevron project management process expects to have a multi-disciplinary project team.

From delivery and ongoing operations and reliability point of view, the reliability and maintenance
(R & M) view point was that safety was the important criteria followed by quality, costs and
schedule. Unless the project was being carried out during a plant maintenance period, where time
became the important measure and costs and schedule can be sacrificed. He did add that there is
a process called the Initiative for Managing Pacesetter Turnarounds (IMPACT) which defines
which projects will be carried out during plant maintenance shutdowns and that the project
estimate should take into account the need for the implementation part during a more expensive
maintenance period. The reason for this is that, during the maintenance period, a cluster of the
refinery is turned off and engineering/maintenance work is completed. A total plant shutdown is
usually performed every four years when utilities are switched off. Other plants are switched off in
the years in-between.
What makes the engineering work more expensive to undertake is that three contractor companies
are on site during the maintenance period and the wages for artisans are fixed and are slightly
higher during the maintenance period than when regular maintenance work is performed. As the
R&M group are saying, this figure needs to be taken into account when the project estimate is
done.
The other requirement for project management success is the fact that all project stakeholders are
identified upfront and are kept informed as to the progress of the project. Chevron expects that the
CPDEP process is followed and adhered to and that involves a multi-disciplined integrated team.
The undertaking is that process is a guide when dealing with projects of all sizes and that
stakeholder involvement is more as project values are lower. Here again, one must remember that
ninety percent of all projects at the refinery are deemed to be small projects or costs less than two
million rand, TIC.
Once the project is completed, the R & M group is most interested in the project outcomes in terms
of giving the plant as high a mechanical availability percentage as possible. What this means is
that the maximum mechanical availability score expressed as a percentage is 97.5%. It can never
be 100% due to the fact that the plant switches off for maintenance every year. The metrics are
38
understood, but never clarified upfront and are definitely not measured after the project is
completed.
In addition, the R&M representative stated that in order for projects to be seen as a success,
another factor needs to be addressed namely that when projects are allocated to project
managers, they must want to do that project and more specifically they must want to manage that
particular project.
The next point that was made was that project engineers and managers have limitations. What he
meant is that if you are a pump expert then you need to understand that you should concentrate on
projects that involve pumps or pumping systems. There are specialists at the refinery and they
need to be defined as such and stay in their particular field of expertise.
The last point that was made was that there is no evidence of a mentoring programme at the
refinery where young project engineers can be mentored and coached by senior personnel that is
not necessarily their supervisors.
This would add to the transferring of skills and growth of
organisational capability which is paramount at the business unit in terms of future project
management and project success.
Phase
Success criteria
How?
Pre-delivery

Skills organisational capability
Delivery
Safety
Performance
Costs
Schedule
Understand the impact on the business.

Be customer focus.
Post-Delivery
Learning from the experience

management skills
Prepare for the future, think ahead.
The interview that was conducted revolved around the traditional project management success
criteria, but there was the acknowledgement that the criteria needed to be set-up at the start of any
project and the business measures needed to be measured at the end of the project to ensure
success. The importance of selecting the correct team for specific projects was evident.
39
3.2.3
Interview 3: Electrical and Instrumentation stakeholder
The third interviewee was quite new to the refinery but the criteria that were presented were quite
familiar. The first factor that was discussed was that there was an identified business case or need
for the project to happen which would determine how the project would be handled. A project
management process such as CPDEP must be followed and the identification and influence of
project stakeholders would be required. An understanding of the operational requirements of the
project would support the operational excellence goals of the refinery. The project criteria leading
to success in the quality area is the use of the refinery technical specifications which is supported
by sufficient technical specifications which, in turn, is supported by having sufficient technical skills
to interpret them and convert them into a project design. The identification of the contractor is
essential to the success of the construction phase of the project as the contractor would determine
whether the project could be completed on time and within budget. Flowing from this is ensuring
that both the operations department and the reliability and maintenance department both had the
required knowledge and training to support the new equipment and the spares to support any
breakages. During the delivery stage, the companys core value of safety is the most important
value followed by the quality, cost and schedule.
Once the project is delivered, there will be little change in terms of delivery criteria if the project had
a different category. The interviewee thought that it would not make a difference to the project
delivery stage if the project was a compliance, reliability or maintenance project. The reason for
this is to give the customer what he wants in terms of quality, not diminishing the core value of
safety.
At the end of the interview the issue of quality was still important to this interviewee due to the fact
that if a project delivered on its objectives, the lifecycle costing would come into play. It was
imperative that if a pump was designed to last for twenty years, it should be relatively trouble free
in the first few years after start-up. What was evident from this interviewee was that he had come
from a Petrochemical unit where a project was undertaken and delivered on time, within budget
and to the quality required by the customer but when the project or product was brought on stream,
the market had changed substantially and there was no market for the new product that the project
produced.
He, therefore, stressed the need for aligning both pre-delivery and post-delivery
requirements with an ongoing business review of the project as it was being carried out. His focus
was on the updating of the business requirement so that the project would be successful. It was
important to him that the post-delivery measures are discussed before a project is started so that
there are no hidden expectations. If the corporate vision said that utilisation was to be 84.5% and
the plant was being utilised at 77.5% then questions should be asked why these metrics are not
achieved and what needs to be done so they are achieved. The expectation is that if the plant is
40
not available because an electrical motor or an instrument was not performing, it is the discipline
responsibility to find out what the problem is and solve it.
Phase
Success criteria
How?
Pre-delivery

Ensuring project management process is
followed
Delivery
Safety
Performance
Costs
Schedule

Be customer focused
Post-delivery
Business needs met
Business success
3.2.4
Interview 4: Project manager
The project manager has vast experience in the oil and gas industry and has only recently moved
to Chevron where he has been involved in critical environmental projects. His opinion is that safety
is the most important criteria for all projects, no matter the phase of the project. Other criteria that
he deems important were quality, ensuring that the customer was satisfied with the product in the
long run and business metrics improved over time. Another criterion that was mentioned was that
the operations department needed to be informed early in the project to determine what was
expected of the operations department in the future. The reason for this is that the operations
department would not just accept additional work in operating new plant and equipment because
the trade unions exerts strong controls in this regard.
The business metrics of lifecycle cost and mechanical availability is important in the long run.
Once the project has been handed over to the operations department the performance of the new
plant is important and the total cost of ownership needs to be optimised. The business metric
would be for the equipment to run continuously at optimum design loads between maintenance
shutdowns without breaking down.
According to this interviewee, the setting up of performance measures before during and after a
project is not done effectively at all at the Chevron refinery while measurement of both project
performance during the implementation stage and after the project has been completed is only
41
adequate. What was evident during the implementation phase of the projects under his control
was the lack of skilled artisans. Pipefitters and welders were in short supply and in particular when
it came to welding exotic material such as stainless steel and chrome-molybdenum piping which is
used in areas of high temperature and pressure, the required skills were almost non-existent. As
a result, there was a high failure rate among the artisans used and this resulted in rework which
diminished the quality of the end product. This occurred because the quality of welders is not high
enough in South Africa today because those who had the ability has gone overseas or have
retired.
His concern is that very little is being done to train artisans when they leave school or at any other
stage in their careers. Most of the artisans who enter the refinery are a concern regarding the
future. This particular point is aimed at the development of artisan skills which has been an
unresolved issue at the refinery for many years. There will be no successful delivery of projects in
the future if there are no skills to carry out the steel fixing, the welding of pipes and the termination
of wires in the field junction boxes.
According to the interviewee, project management skills are lacking at the refinery and this
probably has something to do with the fact that a dedicated capital projects group was established
in the beginning of 2009. This project group is responsible for the development of systems and
procedures which would create project management as a career path at the refinery.
When asked whether project categorisation would alter his idea of project success criteria he
mentioned that the only category that might change would be sacrificing cost or schedule when
undertaking a shutdown related project.
Safety and quality would remain the most important
criteria even though different categories of projects might have different project objectives.
When discussing project success criteria, the interviewee responded that safety and quality were
still important but the business success metrics were emerging as being important as well. The
types of business metrics that was important was mechanical availability, the absence of
environmental incidents, ease of operation, performance of the equipment (no down time between
shutdowns) and the cost of maintaining the equipment. What was evident in this interview was the
understanding that the success criteria set-up at the start of any project needed to be measured at
project completion.
This is not currently happening at the accepted best practices, the systems and resources are
currently in place to enable the measurement of post project management success, but the
effectiveness and efficiency still have to be evaluated in the next five years.
42
The interviewee stated that the effectiveness and efficiency of the capital project department would
go a long way to improving the situation at the refinery, but not forgetting the need to enhance the
skill and competency levels of the resources (like the artisans) required for projects of this
magnitude and even smaller ones.
Phase
PM success criteria
How?
Pre-delivery

Ensuring the project management process
are followed.
Delivery
Safety
Performance
Costs
Schedule
Understand the impact on the business.

Be customer focused.
Post-delivery
Business needs met
Business success
3.2.5
Interview 5: Interview with customer (operations department)
The operations representative is the customer and the end-user of all projects at the refinery. The
major criteria which were important for the customer was that the project delivered a safe
deliverable (project) which met or exceeded the requirements of the operations department.
Customer satisfaction and safety was the most important criteria to them followed by completion on
time and within budget. In order to achieve this direction, the correct operations representative
needs to be identified in order to influence the project team into giving them what they (the
customer) require. The best feedback regarding the achievement of cost, schedule and worldclass quality counts for nothing if the customer did not get what he wanted. Their expectations
were to operate the plant reliably and safely given that the additional equipment that had been
handed over to them comes with the correct new operating procedures in place and that the
operators are trained on the new equipment. Too many instances exist of projects being handed
over to the operations department without the necessary handover/closure procedures in place
and the necessary training completed. The expectation of the operations department is that when
a new piece of equipment is turned on, it works perfectly and it operates without any breakdowns
until the next plant shutdown. That is not to say that no maintenance occurs while the plant is
operating, as that would not be a wise thing to do.
43
The operations department requires operating the plant without incident and from a business point
of view, they need to make money for the corporation. This aspect must not be overlooked. Their
expectation is for the equipment to be mechanically available for them to use irrespective of
whether they utilise it or not. The business expectation of the operating department is that the
plant and equipment utilisation rate is 84.5%.
Looking ahead, the operations group have planned to provide support services for projects and by
doing so, will ensure that total quality management processes are in place to support the future
project work load and to ensure that the correct procedures are written before the project is handed
over to the operations group. The operations group supports the corporate vision of operational
excellence.
Project management success will not come without having the necessary skills and there have
been instances where welders and fitters have not been able to read a construction drawing and
as a result up to 40% of the welds failed during the project execution. As far as project delivery
goes, these skills need to be identified upfront so that resource planning can be done and the
necessary skills obtained.
One of the outcomes from this interview was that the interviewee had only seen one project plan in
four years while he had been an operations specialist. This led the interview into the area of
project communication and the involvement of all stakeholders which is important for the success
of projects.
The expectation from the operations department is that they, as customer, are
involved in a project very early on so that they form part of the project decisions group so that the
best decisions can be made on behalf of and to the benefit of the customer. The interviewee said
that the customer generally knows what they want and will fight hard to get it.
When the categorisation of projects was discussed, the only effect that categories would have on
the success criteria would be on the business metrics. He didnt think that different categories of
projects would have any impact on the importance of the project criteria. An environmental project
would contribute to the environmental business metrics such as reducing the number of
transgressions, whereas a safety project would contribute to the number of recordable injuries and
overall total recordable injury rate statistics and hopefully positively.
As time passes and the effects of the project delivery criteria are nearly forgotten, the criteria
important to the operations department are still the safe and reliable operation of the new
equipment. The business metrics of the plant availability and utilisation becomes more important
than they were previously and the ease of operations becomes very important. Cost of ownership
becomes an operational cost and it is important that these costs produce the most value to the
customer.
44
Learning from previous project experience and sharing that knowledge was important so that
similar mistakes were not made again.
The fact that projects aided in the growth of project
management skills was important and the project engineers benefitted from sharing their good
news and their bad news stories. Their biggest learning opportunity that can be shared with the
community is the allocation of the correct operations representative to the project early in the
lifecycle.
A summary of the interview results can be seen in the Table 3.6 below
Phase
PM success criteria
How?
Pre-delivery

Ensuring robust project management
processes are followed
Delivery
Safety
Performance
Costs
Schedule

Be customer focused
Post-Delivery
Business needs met

Service providers needs met
management skills
Business success
3.2.6
Interview 6: Interview with mechanical contractor
The mechanical contractor has been involved in project work at the Cape Town refinery for over
nineteen years and has seen project performance progress drop. To him, the most important
project management success criterion was safety, which is a recurring theme dominant throughout
all interviews. The customer needs to be satisfied with the project when it is handed over and it
needs to be done on time and within budget. From a contractors point of view the project needs to
be profitable for them, but the contractors are doing an unbelievable amount of additional work or
extras which give the impression that the design was not good enough. The point comes back to
considering the skills shortage. Does the corporation have sufficient engineering skills for the
design work together with the artisans to execute the projects on ground level.
When asked if the categorisation of projects would change the project criteria identified above, the
contractors answer was an emphatic No. All projects are done with the aim of incident and injury
free operations and secondly to satisfy the customer. Cost and schedule are important in terms of
45
profitability for the contractor, but the contractor aspires to keeping the customer happy by going
the extra mile to remedy the design errors and make the project work.
The project team has a philosophy of walking the line so that the project requirements are
understood and the project can be carried out as safely as possible, considering that the skills level
in the organisation not only improves but is retained. Generally the contractor wants to maintain
the relationship that they have with the refinery over the last nineteen years and retain it for the
next nineteen years.
When asked what the impact of time would have on success criteria outlined above the contractor
mentioned that once the cost and schedule impact of the project had been forgotten, incident and
injury free operations of the plant was imperative. In addition to that, no construction faults or leaks
would be acceptable which tie-in with a total quality management system that is applied at the
refinery. Operational excellence goes hand in hand with an incident and injury free environment at
the refinery and this must be maintained at all costs. In addition to the issues mentioned above the
contractor would like to maintain and grow the skills that the contracting company had developed
within the company for additional work at the refinery. Combining learning from past experience
and applying this knowledge to future projects is very important. The contracting company would
like a situation to evolve to where it is a winning position for both parties, even though they are
going through a rough patch at the moment.
A summary of the interview results can be seen in the Table 4.6 below:
Phase
PM success criteria
How?
Pre-delivery

Ensuring robust project management
processes are followed
Delivery
Safety
Performance
Costs
Schedule

Be customer focused
Post-Delivery
Business needs met

Service providers needs met
management skills
Business success
46
CHAPTER 4
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND

RECOMMENDATIONS
4.1
INTRODUCTION
Project management success has been found to be a very difficult topic to define. This research
report has shown that project management success needs to be moved beyond the iron-triangle to
other criteria like safety and meeting the objectives of the client. What was evident throughout this
research paper was that criteria, factors, dimensions and measures are words widely used by
researchers and it is hoped that these topics
A very interesting discovery during the first interview was that project management success comes
in three phases or parts, which are pre-delivery, delivery and post-delivery.
4.2
SUMMARY OF MAIN FINDINGS
4.2.1
Interview 1: Drawing office supervisor
What emerged from this interview was that project management success has three phases or parts
namely pre-delivery, delivery and post-delivery. The pre-delivery stage requires the project goals
to be set and the establishing of a project management process which is followed.
This is
generally CPDEP and the degree to which it is followed depends on the project value.
From this interview it was evident that during the project delivery stage, safety was the most
important criteria followed by a quality product. Cost and schedule followed and end-user
satisfaction were also criteria that is important..
4.2.2
Interview 2: Reliability and maintenance representative
The interview that was conducted revolved around the traditional project management success
criteria, but it was acknowledged that the criteria needs to be set-up at the start of any project and
the business measures needs to be measured at the end of the project to ensure success. The
importance of selecting the correct project team for specific projects was evident here.
4.2.3
Interview 3: Electrical and instrumentation stakeholder
The interviewee did not seem to identify learning from experience as a major post delivery criterion
for successful project management. Nor did he identify building project management capability as
47
a post delivery criterion. Admittedly the interviewee is new to Chevron and has not had much
project management experience. The reason that this interview formed part of the sample was to
debias all the other interviews. The thought behind it was that any person who has been involved
in project management in the region over the last twenty years will understand the pitfalls and
would make recommendations to improve it based on their experience and it was not a situation
unique to Chevron that project performance needs to be improved.
4.2.4
Interview 4: Project manager
The overriding idea arising from this interview is to set-up the project criteria up front and to follow
a robust project management process. Safety, quality, cost and schedule emerged as project
delivery criteria and although business metrics were identified as post delivery criteria, the
measurement of the business case was weak both before and after the project was completed.
Important factors such as project management skills and artisan skills emerged and it was noted
that engaging stakeholders early in the process would add to the customer success aspect of the
project.
4.2.5
Interview 5: Interview with customer (operations department)
The interview with the operations representative was the most substantial in terms of information
obtained. The pre-delivery stage was important for setting up project management success criteria
and identifying the correct operational personnel to support the project team. The delivery stage
criteria were consistent with the other interviewees where safety, performance, costs and schedule
were identified. What was very evident from this interview was that both customer satisfaction and
end-user satisfaction was important as, in essence, the operator who runs the plant and ease of
operations is vital for them.
From an operational point of view both organisational capability and learning from past
experiences is an important post delivery requirement.
4.2.6
Interview 6: Interview with mechanical contractor
Similar delivery criteria namely safety, performance, cost and schedule was identified during this
interview, which underlines the fact that the core values of Chevron are reaching all stakeholders
and influencing their behaviour. The pre-delivery stage was not mentioned at all which leads us to
the assumption that the mechanical contractor is not involved early enough in the process. The
fact that they spent much work in the field doing extras also gives the impression that, had they
been involved earlier in the process, design and omissions may not have happened. The delivery
phase requires that both customer and end-user are satisfied which correlates with previous
discussions. The fact that both business needs and stakeholder needs are met is seen to be in
48
line with the corporate vision of people, partnerships and performance. There is also a great need
for the contracting company to learn from its experience and to build its organisational skills.
4.5
RECOMMENDATIONS
Figure 5.1 represents the ultimate outcome of this research. The diagram was created based on
the data available with regards to the Core Effluent project and other projects not mentioned in this
research.
What was evident from this research was that the criteria for project management success needs
to be established up front before the project gets to the delivery phase. There is no way that one
can measure project management success when the success criteria one is looking for at the end
of the project have not been established up front. In Chevron terms, the CPDEP process needs to
be modified to include a project goal workshop early in phase 1 and the decision makers
(functional managers) need to be aware of the criteria and commit to it.
What has been identified in this research is that communication is vital throughout the project
management process as well as the requirement to identify stakeholders early in the process.
Figure 4.1: Proposed project management success criteria for Chevrons Cape Town refinery based
on this research paper
A question that arises is how to please all stakeholders when service providers are not always on
the project team where the project management success criteria are set-up. This may lead to a
49
different approach to project management when service providers are required to become involved
upfront and kept on the project team for the project life cycle. A suggestion is that this may require
a total change in the current contracting and procurement strategies that the corporation has today.
One wonders whether this approach may be more or less successful, but in terms of the Chevron
The creation of a project management career ladder was proposed by many of the interviewees
and would do well in both retaining project management skills and motivating them. Other issues
that were deemed important but not necessarily qualify as criteria was the use of the correct
people throughout the project life cycle and the setting up of a communication network so that all
parties are aware of what is going on in any given project at any time.
What is also very evident from this research is that safety is a core value of the Chevron
Corporation. Safety as a core value driver will remain and must remain the core criteria for project
management success. This in itself has a lot of challengers, especially when it comes to the
selection of project managers.
Based on analysis presented in this case study and feedback from the project team, five main
lessons were learned that the team and Chevron should consider for future projects at the refinery:
Good processes alone do not result in good project management. Without the proper
training and understanding of the full intent of each step in the process, the process loses
its value. The Core Effluent Project team followed Chevrons procedures primarily to fulfil
the authorisation requirements, without realising the value that could be obtained from the
activities.
Project teams need to have a better understanding of the project definition
process and CPDEP prior to beginning the process, otherwise it adds limited value.
Good project definition must be supported by owner involvement in project controls

during execution.
Although a Chevron planner was involved on the weekly physical
progressing, research has shown that lack of estimate validation and owner controls
specialist increases the likelihood of a major costs growth.
The absence of a detailed, accurate schedule leads to the teams inability to be able
to forecast how changes affect future activities. A key advantage of having robust,
detailed, integrated schedules is that it facilitates flexibility to the execution plan, when
required.
The Core Effluent project team proceeded with the construction phase as
planned despite a slip in detailed engineering, adding risks from increased overlap between
engineering and construction.
The extended engineering eventually caught up to the
project when the projects construction phase extended into the rainy season without
having planned for this event.
Turnover of key team members undermines good project definition. The Core Effluent
Project experienced turnover of key team members and also added key members through
50
its life cycle. Recent research indicates that the turnover of key team members effects
project outcomes (cost, schedule, safety and performance). Specifically, key team member
turnover causes a two percent cost growth, a five percent schedule slip, and a six percent
decrease in operability in the second six months of operation for a facility. Project manager
turnover causes a three percent increase in the projects cost effectiveness and a 13
percent increase in cycle time. Achieving even conservative schedules is difficult when
continuity in all functions is not maintained.
For future projects, allow adequate time for authorisation.
The project team had
planned for authorisation to be given within one week which actually took over three
months because of the different levels of approval required for the final investment
decision. The longer than planned authorisation period did not effect project performance
because the team was able to obtain interim bridging funds to start detailed engineering,
and expired vendor quotes did not increase significantly when orders were placed after
authorisation.
The above criteria can be established for all business units if further research is conducted using
the model presented here. Should research find that managing
4.6
FURTHER RESEARCH
Future research into project management success criteria could include a survey which could go
out the whole refinery and not just the representative sample who were interviewed for this report
which could confirm the project management criteria found in this report.
51
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2. Atkinson, R. 1999. Project management: cost, time and quality, two best guesses and
phenomenon, its time to accept other success criteria. International Journal of Project
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3. Chevron Corporation. 2009. Chevron Project Management Handbook.
4. Clarke A. 1999. A practical use of success key factors to improve the effectiveness of
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5. Cleland, DI & Ireland LR. 2004. Project Managers Portable Handbook 2nd edition,11-17.
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THE CRITERIA OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT SUCCESS AT CHEVRONS CAPE

TOWN REFINERY: A CASE STUDY

ZENITH MOSES MITCHELL

Research report presented in partial fulfilment

Supervisor: Prof C Brown

Copyright 2010 Stellenbosch University

The three criteria identified for judging project success are

completion on time, within the budget and to performance (specification).

Project environment at the refinery ......................................................................... 2

Research objectives ............................................................................................... 7

Literature review ..................................................................................................... 7

Project life cycle ......................................................................................................... 7

Project life cycle used by the refinery ......................................................................... 9

Research design and methodology ...................................................................... 10

Chapter summary ................................................................................................. 10

LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................... 11

Project management process ............................................................................... 12

Monitoring and controlling ........................................................................................ 13

Project management functions ............................................................................. 13

Project integration management .............................................................................. 13

Project scope management ..................................................................................... 14

Project time management ........................................................................................ 15

Project cost management ........................................................................................ 15

Project performance management ........................................................................... 15

Project human resource management ..................................................................... 16

Project communication management ....................................................................... 17

Project risk management ......................................................................................... 18

Project procurement management ........................................................................... 18

Criteria for project management success ............................................................. 19

The concept of project success................................................................................ 19

Project management success criteria ...................................................................... 20

Indicator 1: Completion within budget ................................................................................. 21

Indicator 2: Satisfying the project schedule ......................................................................... 21

Indicator 3: Adequate performance standard ...................................................................... 21

Indicator 4: Meeting project objectives. ............................................................................... 21

Indicator 5: Optimising trade-offs ............................................................................. 22

Project success criteria ............................................................................................ 22

Project management success factors ................................................................... 23

Role of the project manager towards project management success..................... 25

Organizational structure for projects ..................................................................... 27

Project management tools/techniques .................................................................. 28

Traditional methods (Gantt charts and wall charts) .................................................. 28

Concurrent engineering/management ...................................................................... 29

Project management information systems (PMIS) ................................................... 29

RESEARCH FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS ............................................... 30

Core effluent project background ............................................................................. 30

The project management process used by the refinery ............................................ 31

Findings from interviews and project data ............................................................ 35

Interview 1: Drawing office supervisor ...................................................................... 35

Interview 2: Reliability and maintenance representative ........................................... 36

Interview 3: Electrical and Instrumentation stakeholder............................................ 39

Interview 4: Project manager ................................................................................... 40

Interview 5: Interview with customer (operations department) .................................. 42

Interview 6: Interview with mechanical contractor .................................................... 44

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ..................... 46

Summary of main findings .................................................................................... 46

Interview 1: Drawing office supervisor ...................................................................... 46

Interview 2: Reliability and maintenance representative ........................................... 46

Interview 3: Electrical and instrumentation stakeholder ............................................ 46

Interview 4: Project manager ................................................................................... 47

Interview 5: Interview with customer (operations department) .................................. 47

Interview 6: Interview with mechanical contractor .................................................... 47

Further research ................................................................................................... 50

A project is a temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique product or service