Utilization of Project Management Methodologies in Humanitarian Projects and the Effect on Performance: A Case Study of Save the Children Ethiopia
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Date
2022-10
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Although project management methodologies have been commonly used by organizations, research on their application in humanitarian projects and their contribution to project performance still has not been adequately investigated. In an attempt aimed at addressing this issue, the author conducted a study that investigated the project management methodologies utilized in practice and the perceived contribution to performance by referring to project management professionals operating in an international humanitarian/aid organization that is based in Ethiopia. The investigation was aimed at assisting practitioners and organizations make informed decisions regarding the selection of priorities in efforts targeted at the improvement of their Project Management practices. This research was conducted using a qualitative approach by adopting a descriptive research design that involved a program of semi structured interviews with humanitarian Project Management professionals working at Save the Children Ethiopia. The results showed that many of the tools and techniques identified as the top contributors to the performance of humanitarian projects are composed of very well-known and widely used tools, such as the Work breakdown structure, budget, logical framework, progress report; requirements analysis; risk identification; and project scope statement. These highly acclaimed Project Management methodologies cover the overall humanitarian Project Management life cycle from identification to project closure, but participants gave particular relevance to tools and techniques in planning and implementation phases. The study recommends that organizations working in the humanitarian and emergency response sectors should render special attention to proper communication of requirements, needs identification, resource, risk and change management tools. Similarly, they must be able to provide capacity building training to project team members, clearly communicate the project performance criteria as well as the tools to be used while executing projects. Finally, humanitarian organizations should at least support tools including the project charter, stakeholder engagement plan, work breakdown structures, needs assessment, after action review, risk register, Gantt chart, Logical Framework, reports, Monitoring Evaluation and Learning tools and the implementation plan while executing their projects.
Key Words: Project Management Methodologies and practices, Humanitarian Organizations, Project lifecycle, Performance