Description

ABSTRACT:

This study was designed to establish the effect of the contributions of internal stakeholders of the National Centre for Technology Management (NACETEM) on research projects successes or otherwise. The investigation was carried out through the administration of questionnaires to the Planning & Research Officers of NACETEM. This study assumed that all other factors for success remained constant, while only the effect of internal stakeholders was measured against project success criteria of cost, time, quality and lastly, benefits from the project to the sponsor and other stakeholders.
It was discovered that the research projects executed at NACETEM failed to meet time and cost specifications, but were able to meet quality specification and also benefited the sponsor, organisation and the staff. Since the purpose of executing those projects was not defeated as they delivered benefits to stakeholders, we could safely conclude that the project succeeded relatively. The obvious lapses discovered in the execution, which led to the failure in meeting cost and time constraints, included late release of approved fund by the government; lack of certain individual and team competencies, and less than effective monitoring and control ability exhibited by the project manager. However, it was the technical knowledge of the team members and their positive attitude towards the projects that were largely responsible for the successes recorded in terms of quality and benefits.
In conclusion, suggestions were made towards improving the financial regulatory processes of government to fast-track the release of fund for project and also ensure that members of staff involved in projects were adequately trained in project management methodology, techniques and tools in order to ensure complete projects successes, judging by all criteria.