Abstract
M.Tech. (Operations Management)
The South African construction industry has long been characterised by the influx of labour, strike action, longer than usual projects, budget misuse, nepotism, racial imbalance, and other problems. Notably, the national development program, the infrastructural development plan, the infrastructural maintenance strategy, etc. These are the government’s frameworks that have given the mandate to the State-owned enterprises to embark on structured renewal and expansion projects, most of which would result in major construction projects. Although these projects are planned and executed by experts in various fields, they still bring about a number of different sets of risks for all the stakeholders.
The key purpose of this research was to develop an optimized risk-management model that can be useful in the turbulent and often unpredictable construction projects in South Africa, in order to derive success under those conditions. As part of the required attributes for project success, the capacity of the project team to recognize, measure and achieve inherent risks throughout the lifecycle of the project, is very crucial. This allows the operations of the project to be managed and maintained within set strategic goals; and to be optimised for streamlined performance.
The study was descriptive in nature; and it was conducted through the use of quantitative research methods. A survey questionnaire was employed to collect the primary data from workers in engineering companies involved in construction. A sample 86 respondents was involved in the study. The findings were significant of the correlation coefficient value.
The findings in this study demonstrated poor participation and a lack of inclusion regarding stakeholders in various capacities to manage risk throughout the project’s lifecycle. It also showed the increased responsibility that these issues place on the project manager. The Literature review also demonstrated that risk identification and valuation were of the greatest use in risk- management plans...