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Causes of government project failure in developing countries – Focus on

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Conference Paper · September 2015

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Isaac Sakyi Damoah (correspondent author)

PhD Student
Business and Management
Liverpool Business School
Liverpool John Moores University
Email: is.damoah@gmail.com and I.S.Damoah@2011.ljmu.ac.uk

Dr Cynthia Akwei
Senior Lecturer
Business and Management
Liverpool Business School
Liverpool John Moores University
Email: C.A.Akwei@ljmu.ac.uk

Dr Yusra Mouzughi
Programme Leader for Doctoral Programmes
Business and Management
Liverpool Business School
Liverpool John Moores University
Email: Y.Mouzughi@ljmu.ac.uk

Title: Causes of government project failure in developing countries – Focus on Ghana

Abstract
This study investigated the causes of Ghana government project failure to determine the most
influential (important) factors from contractors, project management practitioners and general
public. An initial literature review was made to identify the possible causes of Ghana
government projects failure. Thirty two (32) possible causes of Ghana government project
failure were identified and data collected using 265 (contractors=78, PMP=81 and general
public=106) participants. The data was analysed using statistical techniques which included
Relative Importance Index, Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficients, and Kendall’s
Coefficient of Concordance and the Chi-square test of significance to test the key factors and
relationships of the causes of Ghana government project failure.

The results indicated that: the top ten overall rankings for the causes in the order of
importance were as follows: (1) monitoring (2) Corruption (3) Political interference (4)
Change in government (5) Bureaucracy (6) Lack of continuity (7) Fluctuation of prices (8)
Planning (9) Delays in payments and (10) Release of funds.

1.0 Introduction
This study investigates the causes of Ghana government project failure to determine the most
influential (important) factors from contractors, project management practitioners and general
public. In recent years, project management has become an important part of any
organization; as a result of the changing nature of managing organizations due to
technological advancement, and a complex competitive global marketplace (Maylor et al.,
2006). Projects require huge capital outlay from organizations and/or governments and as
such the need for good project management practices to deliver value for money projects and

Causes of government project failure in developing countries – Focus on Ghana

 2

programs is crucial. The importance of good project management practices cannot therefore
be ignored by corporate managers, as failure destroys shareholders’ value and in government
or public sector, it can have significant effect on various stakeholders associated with such
projects.

Companies and governments all over the World are losing huge sums of money through
projects as a result of project failure (Espiner, 2007; McManus & Wood-Harper, 2008; Asay,
2008; Fabian & Amir, 2011). Research into 214 projects showed that only one in eight
information technology projects can be considered truly successful (McManus & Wood-
Harper, 2008). Health and Information Systems in South Africa, IS projects in China, and
almost all World Bank funded Projects in Africa is either total failure or partial failure
(Heeks, 2002, 2005, 2006).

This project failure trend in the world, particularly developing countries has attracted the
attention of researchers. However, to date, project failure research can be categorized into
three groups. The first group takes generic view of project failure (Frimpong et al., 2003;
Kaliba et al., 2009; Ahsan & Gunawan, 2010; Liu et al., 2011; Amid et al, 2012). The second
group focuses on private sector projects (Mangione, 2003). The final group which looks into
public or government sector projects focuses exclusively on single case(s) projects (Kumar &
Best, 2006; Maubeta et al., 2008; Fabian & Amir, 2011; Patanakul., 2014) - which makes the
research industry-specific by default, and therefore affects generalisability. This study will
therefore contribute to project failure literature by studying government projects in general;
which will make the research cross-industry by default, hence, findings can be generalised.
This can also help practitioners and policy makers to be more proactive in managing
government projects to avoid or reduce projects failure.

1.1 Aims and objectives

The aim of this research is to identify the main factors that cause Ghana government projects
to fail in order to aid the reduction of project failure in Ghana.

2.0 Theoretical Framework

2.1 Overview of Project failure

Over the years a number of companies and governments all over the world have witnessed
project failure (e.g. McManus & Wood-Harper, 2008; Ruuska & Teiglanad, 2009; Liu et al.,
2011; Havila et al., 2013). This has cost companies and governments huge sums of money.
Health and Information Systems in South Africa, IS projects in China, and almost all World
Bank funded projects in Africa are either a total failure or partial failure (Heeks, 2002, 2005,
2006). An example is the World Bank’s Chad-Cameroon Pipe line project. The project which
cost $4.2 billion was abandoned in 2008 (Fabian & Amir, 2011). Deviations in projects and
project management (a typical example of project failure) have become normal in
organisations (Pinto, 2014).

Project failure in developing countries is as high (see Heeks, 2006; Kumar & Best, 2006;
Sweis et al., 2008; Aziz, 2013; Fallahnejad, 2013; Marzouk & El-Rasas, 2013). In their quest
for development, developing countries engage in projects such as building of roads, dams,
plants, pipes, industries, theatres, e-government services, telecommunication, ICT, among
others. These projects, which are normally financed by IMF, World Bank and tax-payers face

Causes of government project failure in developing countries – Focus on Ghana

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several setbacks such as abandonment (Kumar & Best, 2006), cost deviation (Kaliba et al.,
2009; Ahsan & Gunawan, 2010; Aziz, 2013), schedule deviation (Sambasivan & Soon, 2007;
Sweis et al., 2008; Kaliba et al., 2009; Ahsan & Gunawan, 2010), scope deviation (Kaliba et
al., 2009; Liu et al., 2011), and stakeholders’ dissatisfaction (Ahonen & Savolianen, 2010).

The rate at which projects fail in Ghana is high and the cost associated with such failures is
very excessive (Daily Graphic, 2006, Amponsah, 2014). With Ghana government projects,
failure is no exception. Reported cases of project failure in the media, World Bank Reports
and IMF are many (World Bank Report, 2004, 2007, Central Press, 2011; Zoure, 2011; GNA,
2012, 2014), more especially International Development (ID) projects which seek to enhance
the life of the general populace (Ahsan & Gunawan, 2010). Amponsah (2014, pg.3) estimates
that at least one out of every three infrastructural development projects in Ghana either fails
or is challenged to achieve one of the objectives of Scope, Cost or Time. Sometimes, donor
agencies are reluctant to provide aid for infrastructure projects due to the disappointing
results of project outcomes (Daily Graphic, 2007; Amponsah, 2014). Reports in Ghana
indicate that Ghana lost $128million through ineffective projects implementation between
2009 and 2011 (Daily Graphic, 2011; Amponsah, 2014). This has resulted in donor apathy
towards projects in Ghana (World Bank report, 2007).

These reports show that project failure is high. However, these reported failures might not
necessarily be so depending on who is defining what constitute project failure (Lyytinen &
Hirschheim, 1988; Agarwal & Rathod, 2006; Ika, 2009) and the timing of the definition or
evaluation of the performance of the project in question (Heeks, 2002, 2006). The extant
literature has attempted to define or explain what constitute project failure over the years;
nevertheless the literature indicates that consensus has not been reached. There have been a
traditional definition that is centred on the project baseline, otherwise known as project
constraints or what Atkinson (1999) famously terms as ‘’Iron Triangle’’. This definition does
not view project success/failure beyond the product or delivery stage. The traditional
definition restricts project performance to only the managerial phase of a project (Abednego
& Ogunlana, 2006). However, recent developments in project management practices, and
authors and practitioners’ awareness of the existence of numerous stakeholders associated
with projects, especially public or government projects, has caused a paradigm shift from the
traditional definition of project success/failure towards after-delivery stage or post-delivery
phase to the impact stage.

However, Atkinson (1999) definition captures these two schools of thought and that is what
is adapted for this study. In an attempt to define what should constitute project failure,
Atkinson (1999) provides a framework called square root framework. Atkinson (1999)
contends that to judge projects’ performance at the ‘’iron triangle’’ phase is not sufficient.
Like De Lone et al. (1992), Meyer (1994), and Toor & Ogunlana (2010), he posits that
project success/failure should go beyond the time, cost, and requirement phase to include
post-delivery phase to look at the product phase. In view of this, Atkinson (1999) adds three
more ways in which projects should be assessed. This framework uses Information System
(IS) as sample and argues that apart from the ‘’iron triangle’’, project should be assessed on
the Information System, benefits to organisations, and benefits to stakeholder community.
The benefits to organisation is the one that improves efficiency, effectiveness, increase
profitability, meets strategic goals, reduce waste, and organisational-leaning. The benefits to
stakeholders community includes: satisfied users, social and environmental impact, personal
development, professional learning, contractors’ profits, capital suppliers, content project
team, and economic impact to surrounding community.

Causes of government project failure in developing countries – Focus on Ghana

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In this research, project failure is defined as any project that fails to achieve projected time,
cost, deliverables, stakeholder satisfaction, contribution to the sector in which they are
implemented and contribution to national development. The diagram below throws more
light on the framework.
Fig.2.0 Square root framework

Iron Triangle National development

The Square Root

Contribution to sector Benefits to stakeholders

development

Source: Authors Construct (Adopted from Atkinson, 1999, pg.341)

2.2 Causes of Project Failure

Causes of project failure has been one of the most discussed topics in recent years by the
academia, practising managers, governments, and social commentators all over the world and
as a result causes of project failure have received extant literature, devoted to the discussion.
A number of studies conducted by these writers indicate that there are a number of causes of
project failure all over the world. For instance, Frimpong et al. (2003) and Long et al. (2004)
identified 26 and 64 causes of project failure respectively.

Projects are unique due to the fundamental differences that exist across projects, and that no
project is similar to another (Soderlund, 2004; Mir & Pinnington, 2014). Due to this, the
causes are often unique to certain industries and the performing countries’ systems (Amid et
al., 2012), geographical location (Ahsan & Gunawan, 2010), socio-cultural settings
(Mukabeta et al., 2008). However, research indicates that there are common ones that run
through the project management literature. These include: expertise or knowledge (Ruuska &
Teigland, 2009), funding (Fabian & Amir, 2011), planning (Pourrastam & Ismail, 2011),
resources (Ruuska & Teigland, 2009), communication (Ochieg & Price, 2010), scope change
(Kaliba et al., 2009), socio-cultural (Maube et al., 2008).

Causes of government project failure in developing countries – Focus on Ghana

 5

2.2.1 Communication
Studies over the years proves that effective communication is vital in project environment – it
helps to avoid duplications of information; and communication provides all the necessary
parties involve in the project with relevant information on time for effective and efficient
delivery of project (Raymond & Bergeron, 2008; Weijermars, 2009; Wong et al., 2009; Wi &
Jung, 2010). Therefore failure to communicate effectively prior to and during project
implementation is recipe for disaster. Lack of communication in some circumstances could
lead to conflict in project’s management. This is manifested in the study of conflict among
project partners by Ruuska & Teigland (2009). The study concluded that lack of
communication leads to conflicts in projects and eventual project failure.

2.2.2 Planning
Planning is one of the key elements of every project and failure to plan vividly can cause the
project’s failure. This is one of the most common problems that bring about project failure. If
project deliverable and how these would be achieved are not clearly outlined in the planning
phase of the project, projects are likely to fail (Pinto, 2013). In other words, projects that start
without understanding the full content or the project baseline/constraints of what the project
seeks to achieve is susceptible to failure. In fact, Pinto (2013) specifically traces the root
cause of project failure to poor initial planning phase of projects. Research shows that
ineffective planning account for most project failure. For instance, in Nigeria construction
projects, studies indicate that planning and scheduling account for delay (Odeyinka & Yusif,
1997). A similar study identified this same problem in Iranian construction industry
(Pourrastam & Ismail, 2011). With regards to large construction projects, the same reason
account for project delay (Assaf & AL-Hejji, 2006).

2.2.3 Socio- cultural

Research on cross-cultural management indicates that western management concepts, models
and practices are incompatible with other culture and social settings (Blunt, 1980; Hofstede,
1983; Hogberg & Adamsson, 1983; Adler, 1983; Blunt & Jones 1997; Muriithi & Crawford,
2003). This indicates that management concepts do not have cross - cultural validity (Muriithi
& Crawford, 2003) and as such adopting management practices that are not country-specific
can contribute to project failure. The work of Hofstede (1983) on the mental programming of
people from 53 geographical areas shows that cultural differences affect the approach needed
for successful project management in these countries. In relation to project management, this
is not different. Studies on project failure in developing countries show that the fundamental
reasons often cited for project failure is culture (Heeks, 2002; Saad et al., 2002; Muriithi &
Crawford, 2003; Alsakini et al., 2004; Maube et al., 2008; Amid et al., 2012).

2.2.4 Scope Change

This has been one of the main areas that contribute to project failure. Most project research
points at that scope change is a major contributing factor for project failure (Kaliba et al.,
2009; Liu et al., 2011). In most projects, requirements are either altered before the
commencement of work or altered half-way through the projects’ life-cycle but rarely are
these changes effected on the completed date. This is more evident in IS project management
(Ahonen & Savolianen, 2010).

Causes of government project failure in developing countries – Focus on Ghana

 6

2.2.5 Resources
A resource is a very broad area and this can be classified as tangible or intangible (Teigland
& Lindqvist, 2007). These include but not limited to financial, human, goodwill, reputation,
expertise, material resources (Teigland & Lindqvist, 2007). Studies show that many projects
fail due to lack or inadequate resources.

Material Resources – these are the physical goods needed for the execution of a project and
without it, projects that requirement physical deliverable cannot be implemented. In the study
of conflict in Bygga Villa project, the study discovered that one major reason for conflict
among project partners was the scarcity of resources, which contributed to the initial project
failure (Ruuska & Teigland, 2009).

Financial Resources – Many projects have been abandoned in developing countries due to
lack or inadequate funding. The Chad-Cameroon pipe-line project which cost the World
Bank $4.2 billion dollars failed because the World Bank withdrew its financial backing
(World Bank, 2006; Fabian & Amir, 2011). This same problem exists in Malasian
construction industry (Sambasian & Soon, 2007). In Jordan, the problem is not different.
Financial difficulty faced by contractors is the most frequent and first cause of building
construction project in Jordan (Sweis et al., 2008).

Human Resources – In the study of conflict in Bygga Villa project, the study discovered that
one major reason for conflict among project partners was the scarcity of resources, which
contributed to the initial project failure (Ruuska & Teigland, 2009). A study to find causes of
construction project failure in Malasia shows that lack of skilled and inadequate manpower
account for why construction projects fail (Sambasian & Soon, 2007). A significant number
of construction workers had to be hired from Indonesia to contribute to their construction
projects. This is further echoed in the work of Hwang an Ng (2013, pg.272); which argues
that ‘’a competent project manager is vital to project success’’. Thus, in order to manage
projects professionally and successfully, the project manager has to possess the required
knowledge and skills (Hwang & Ng, 2013). Perkins (2006) attributes the root cause of project
failure to ‘’Knowledge’’; either project managers do not have the requisite knowledge, or
they do have but fails to apply the knowledge appropriately.

2.3 Causes of Project Failure in Ghana

Many reasons have been cited for causes of project failure in Ghana and Ghana government
projects in particular. These include socio-political, economic, technological, knowledge,
macro and micro-global (AfDB, 2006, Moderator’s Report, 2007), project management
education (Moderators Report, 2007; Amponsah, 2010).

Although reported cases of project failure in Ghana are many, nevertheless, literature review
shows that research devoted to the subject matter is rare. For example, Ayee (2000) indicated
that there is no empirical evidence to support this claim of project failure in Ghana and even
to date, only two journal articles and a thesis and are Frimpong et al. (2003), Amponsah
(2010) and Fugar & Agyakwah‐Baah (2010). However, the two journal articles focused
solely on construction sector whilst the thesis focused on three sectors of the economy –
construction, banking and agriculture, and this call for further studies. This research bridges
this gap by looking at holistic view of government or public sector projects failure.

Causes of government project failure in developing countries – Focus on Ghana

 7

The studies also show that, the causes have relative importance (Frimpong et al. 2003; Fugar
& Agyakwah‐Baah, 2010). Thus, the various causes of projects failure do not have the same
influence in causing projects failure. In other words, each cause has different weight when it
comes to its ability to influence (cause) projects failure. In the case of this research
(Frimpong et al. 2003), out of the 26 reasons that account for groundwater projects’ failure,
five (5) were seen by contractors, owners, and consultants (respondents) as the most
important factors. They included: monthly payment difficulty by agents, poor contractor
management, material procurement, poor technical performances, and escalation of material
prices. The question to be answered in this regards is: which of these factors are more
important or influential?

Moreover, different categories of respondents varied in their perceptions on which factors are
more important (Frimpong et al. 2003; Fugar & Agyakwah‐Baah, 2010). Therefore, the
hypotheses to be tested in this regard are that:
Null Hypothesis = H 0 = There is disagreement among contractors, project management
practitioners and general public on causes of Ghana government projects failure

Alternate Hypothesis= H1 = There is agreement among contractors, project management

practitioners and general public on causes of Ghana government projects failure

3.0 Research Method

This study used semi-structured interview and questionnaire to collect data. The interview
was used to validate the effects of projects failure identified in the literature and to explore
any further possible causes of Ghana government projects failure. The questionnaire survey
was to statistically test these effects.

3.1 Population and Sample Selection

To answer the research aim, three sets of stakeholders were the target population – the
general public, contractors, and project management practitioners. Specifically, this is taken
from members of Professional Associations and Institutions such as the Ghana Institute of
Engineers, Ghana Association of Managers, Association of Building and Civil Engineering
Contractors of Ghana and Chartered Institute of Project Management – Ghana; and the
general public. This was done by contacting the associations to get list of
companies/individuals members. The interviewees were selected based on their level of
knowledge about the subject under study (purposive sampling).

On other hand, the questionnaire participants were selected randomly. Due to high number
and the impossibility to contact all, a random sampling was used. Moreover, the sample size
was selected using Yamane’s formula (Israel, 1992). The researcher assumes a normal
distribution in the responses of participants in relation to their operational activities in the
country. Based on the formula, there were 722 registered members (N = 722). At an
acceptable 95% level of confidence, there is a statistical z value of 2 (z = 2) and with an error
limit of 10%. Adapting Yamane’s formula, the required sample for the contractors and PMPs
is determined as:
𝑁 722 722
𝑛= 2
= 2
=
1 + 𝑁𝑒 1 + 722(0.01) 8.22

Causes of government project failure in developing countries – Focus on Ghana

 8

722
𝑛= = 87
8,.22

Where,
n = required response
e2 = limit of error
N = sample size
This means that the lowest acceptable response must be 87 at a 95% level of confidence with
level of error at 10%. However, to strengthen the validity, the researcher distributed 300
questionnaires to the PMP and contractors.
The researcher, as part of the administered survey, had 159 responses from participants;
which is above Yamane’s required response threshold. As a result of the sample size
exceeding Yamane’s estimate, the researcher adopted the formula to determine the
confidence level and limit of error at the actual response received.

2
𝑧 2 𝑝(1 − 𝑝) 𝑧 2 𝑝(1 − 𝑝) 22 0.22(0.78) 22 0.22(0.78)
𝑒 − = −
𝑛1 𝑁 159 722
4(0.2)(0.78) 4(0.2)(0.78)
𝑒2 = −
159 722

𝑒 2 = 0.00392453 – 0.0009506925

𝑒 = √0.002974

𝑒 = 0.0545
e = 0.055 * 100 = 5.5

p = actual response as a percentage of population

N = population surveyed
e = error limit
n1 = actual response received

The results show that 22% response rate of the total population of 722 at a 95% confidence
level has approximately 5.5% error limit. In social science research, 95% confidence level
with an error limit of 10% is acceptable (Yin, 2009). Therefore, having a lower error margin
of 5.5% increases the validity of the data.
On the other hand, the general public was selected using simple random sampling. For the
sample size, due to the large population of Ghana, Yamane’s formula cannot be used and
therefore 200 samples (20 for each of the 10 regions in Ghana) was used using the
researcher’s own discretion and experienced in the country. The researcher has resided in the
country since childhood and has also conducted previous research in the country at the
master’s degree level. Further, it is practically and economically impossible to involve every

Causes of government project failure in developing countries – Focus on Ghana

 9

general public. Moreover, the use of 20 each from every region was to ensure regional
balance. This was to improve representation – it was assumed that, people from different
regions might have different perception about the subject matter. Moreover, this is a
validating method (validating the data from the interview) and therefore the researcher
assumed that this number is appropriate. In total, 500 questionnaires were distributed.

3.2 Data Collection Procedure

The data collection procedure is divided into two main stages – initial exploration data
collection in the form of semi-structured interview with general public, contractors and
projects management practitioners

Based on the list provided by the associations, ten participants were selected for the
interviews based on their knowledge to provide valuable information on project failure.
Interviews were conducted from July to September, 2013 at homes, offices and construction
sites; and were all audio-recorded. All interviews were conducted by the researcher in
English (the official language in Ghana); however, respondents were given the chance to
express themselves in their local language if they wished; nevertheless, none spoke in local
language.

Based on the literature review and interviewed information, questionnaire was developed for
the survey. Initial calls and emails were made to the respective companies and individuals. In
total, 500 questionnaires were distributed to companies and individuals who were willing to
participate in the research through emails and in person. Out of the 500 questionnaires sent,
270 were returned and 265 were fully completed and good for analysis.

To improve the reliability and validity of the research, in both data collection, a pilot of 3 and
7 were conducted respectively. One from each category of respondents was interviewed and
seven (7) questionnaires were sent to respondents – Project practitioner (3); Contractors (3)
and General public (1). By pre-testing, the researcher followed the steps that Foddy
prescribed must be followed in in order to ensure research questions validity and reliability
(Foddy, 1994).

Further, an initial analysis of the 7 questionnaires were made using Cronbach alpha.
Cronbach alphas allow us to measure the reliability of different variables. It consists of
estimates of how much variation in scores of different variables is attributable to chance or
random errors (Selltiz et al, 1976). As a general rule, a greater coefficient than or equal to 0.7
is considered acceptable and a good indication of construct reliability (Nunnally, 1978). All
the necessary amendments were made to ensure that questionnaire is clear and
understandable to respondents.

4.0 Data Analysis and Results

This research was conducted using a sample of 265 respondents to assess causes of Ghana
Government project failure. Variables on the causes of Ghana government project failure
were measured on a five-point Likert scale (1-5), where 1=strongly disagree and 5= strongly
agree.

Statistical analyses performed included Relative Importance Index, Spearman Rank

Correlation Coefficients, and Kendall’s Coefficient of Concordance and the Chi-square test

Causes of government project failure in developing countries – Focus on Ghana

 10

of significance. The main purpose of the choice of statistical analysis was to evaluate the
most significant causes of Ghana government project failure with view to making appropriate
recommendations to relevant stakeholders.

4.1 Causes of Ghana Government Projects failure

4.1.1 Ranking the causes of project failure
This section assesses the ranking provided by respondents on the causes of Ghana
Government project failure. The respondents provided the ratings for each of the thirty two
possible causes of Ghana Government project failure outline in the questionnaire using a five
point Likert Scale, where
1= Strongly Disagree
2= Disagree
3= Neutral
4= Agree
5= Strongly Agree
The procedure used is aimed at establishing the relative importance of the various factors
identified as being responsible for Ghana Government project failure. The Relative
Importance Index (RII) was calculated using equation 1 (as outlined in Fagbenle et al., 2004):

 PU i i
RII  i 1
………………………………….. 1
N ( n)

Where,
RII = relative importance index
Pi = respondent’s rating of cause of project failure
U i = frequency of respondents placing identical rating on the cause of project failure
N = sample size, which in this case (contractors=78, PMP=81 and general public=106)
n = the highest attainable score on cause of project failure, which in this case is 5
i= 1,2,3,4, 5

The indexes calculated were ranked for contractors, PMP and general public. The results of
the rankings as well as the overall rankings are shown in table 4.0

Table 4.0 Relative Importance Index and Ranks of Causes of Ghana Government Project
Failure
Factors General
Contractor PMP Public Overall
RII Rank RII Rank RII Rank Rank
Planning 0.715 10 0.716 7 0.700 15 8
Monitoring 0.726 6 0.748 1 0.774 1 1
Change in project leadership 0.692 20 0.681 16 0.742 4 13
Selection of project managers 0.669 28 0.706 11 0.709 10 16
Project team formation 0.700 16 0.674 18 0.691 17 17
Task definition 0.692 20 0.654 23 0.668 21 23
User involvement 0.628 32 0.654 23 0.649 27 29
Project management techniques 0.687 23 0.686 15 0.679 19 18

Causes of government project failure in developing countries – Focus on Ghana

 11

Commitment to project 0.672 27 0.709 10 0.711 9 15

Requirement 0.685 24 0.637 27 0.662 22 26
Definition of specification 0.710 12 0.652 25 0.649 27 25
Scope change 0.708 14 0.664 19 0.651 26 21
Procurement processes 0.685 24 0.689 14 0.736 5 14
Feasibility studies 0.690 22 0.652 25 0.688 18 19
Release of funds 0.705 15 0.714 9 0.709 10 10
Project funding 0.697 18 0.716 7 0.702 13 12
Labour 0.656 30 0.635 28 0.619 31 30
Communication 0.728 5 0.612 31 0.677 20 24
Management practices 0.741 3 0.679 17 0.702 13 11
Supervision 0.715 10 0.657 22 0.653 25 20
Bureaucracy 0.726 6 0.706 11 0.725 7 5
Lack of Continuity 0.723 8 0.719 6 0.704 12 6
Political interference 0.762 1 0.731 2 0.734 6 3
Corruption 0.741 3 0.726 3 0.770 2 2
Regulations 0.695 19 0.632 29 0.657 24 27
Pressure groups (Media, NGOs, political 0.667 29 0.560 32 0.621 30 31
activities etc.)
Change in government 0.746 2 0.721 4 0.751 3 4
Natural disaster 0.651 31 0.627 30 0.566 32 32
Culture and belief systems 0.682 26 0.662 20 0.639 29 28
Fluctuation of prices 0.721 9 0.701 13 0.721 8 7
Capacity 0.700 16 0.659 21 0.658 23 22
Delays in payments 0.710 12 0.721 4 0.700 15 9

The contractors ranked political interference as the biggest cause of Ghana Government
project failure; this is followed by change in government, corruption, poor management
practices and poor communication respectively.

PMP ranked poor monitoring as the biggest cause of Ghana Government project failure; this
is followed by political interference, corruption, change in government and funds
disbursement respectively.

The general public also ranked poor monitoring as the biggest cause of Ghana Government
project failure; this is followed by corruption, change in government, change in project
leadership and poor procurement processes respectively.
The top ten overall rankings for the causes in the order of importance are as follows:

1 Monitoring
2 Corruption
3 Political interference
4 Change in government
5 Bureaucracy
6 Lack of continuity

Causes of government project failure in developing countries – Focus on Ghana

 12

7 Fluctuation of prices
8 Planning
9 Delays in payment
10 Release of funds

The 32 factors identified as possible causes of Ghana Government project failure were
classified into four groups-namely; leadership, management and administration practices,
resources and external forces. The index of each of the four groups was calculated as the
average of relative importance index of the individual causes within the group. The results of
the rankings as well as the overall rankings are shown in table 4.1

Table 4.1 Relative Importance Index and Ranks of Causes of Group of Factors
Factors General
Contractor PMP Public Overall
RII Rank RII Rank RII Rank Rank
LEADERSHIP 0.709 1 0.688 1 0.700 1 1
Change in project leadership 0.692 0.681 0.742
Commitment to project 0.672 0.709 0.711
Requirement 0.685 0.637 0.662
Definition of specification 0.71 0.652 0.649
Scope change 0.708 0.664 0.651
Feasibility studies 0.69 0.652 0.688
Release of funds 0.705 0.714 0.709
Lack of Continuity 0.723 0.719 0.704
Political interference 0.762 0.731 0.734
Change in government 0.746 0.721 0.751
MANAGEMENT AND
ADMINISTRATION PRACTICES
0.704 2 0.684 2 0.699 2 2
Planning 0.715 0.716 0.700
Monitoring 0.726 0.748 0.774
Selection of project managers 0.669 0.706 0.709
Project team formation 0.700 0.674 0.691
Task definition 0.692 0.654 0.668
User involvement 0.628 0.654 0.649
Project management techniques 0.687 0.686 0.679
Procurement processes 0.685 0.689 0.736
Communication 0.728 0.612 0.677
Management practices 0.741 0.679 0.702
Supervision 0.715 0.657 0.653
Bureaucracy 0.726 0.706 0.725
Corruption 0.741 0.726 0.77
Regulations 0.695 0.632 0.657
Delays in payment 0.71 0.721 0.7
RESOURCES 0.684 3 0.670 3 0.660 3 3

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 13

Project funding 0.697 0.716 0.702

Labour 0.656 0.635 0.619
Capacity 0.7 0.659 0.658
EXTERNAL FORCES 0.680 4 0.638 4 0.637 4 4
Pressure groups (Media, NGOs, political 0.667 0.56 0.621
activities etc.)
Natural disaster 0.651 0.627 0.566
Culture and belief systems 0.682 0.662 0.639
Fluctuation of prices 0.721 0.701 0.721

In the group ranking analysis contractors, PMP and the general public unanimously agreed
that poor leadership is the biggest cause of Ghana government project failure; this is followed
by poor management and administration practices, low resources and external forces
respectively.

4.1.2 Agreement Analysis

It is important to establish that the ratings provided by the contractors, PMP and the general
public were not due to chance or some form of bias but represent the true causes of Ghana
government project failure.

To do so, two methods were used-Spearman rank correlation coefficient and Kendall’s
coefficient of concordance. Both tests are non-parametric test which means the distribution
does not necessarily need to be normal before they can be applied. In other words the
computation uses medians and not means hence they are not affected by outliers.

The Spearman rank correlation coefficients (  ) calculated using equation 2 (as outlined in
Fugar & Agyakwah‐Baah, 2010):

n
6 d i 2
  1 i 1
…………………………2
n(n 2  1)
Where,
d = the difference between the ranks given by any two category of respondents for an
individual cause, in this case the categories are contractor, PMP and general public
n = the number of causes/factors, which in this case is 32 causes/factors
i= 1, 2, 3, 4,…n

The results of the computation showed a Spearman rank correlation coefficient of 0.531,
0.544 and 0.820 for contractors and PMP, contractors and general public and PMP and
general public respectively. All three coefficients are strong and positive which shows a high
agreement between the rankings of the three categories. The pair with the highest agreement
was PMP and general public.

It is important to establish using a single coefficient the three of agreement between the three
categories. This is where the Kendall’s Coefficient of Concordance (W) becomes useful.
Kendall’s W is directly related to the Spearman rank correlation coefficient (Legendre, 2005).

Causes of government project failure in developing countries – Focus on Ghana

 14

Kendall’s W is calculated from the mean (  ) of the pairwise Spearman correlations (  s )

using equation 3 (As outlined in Siegel and Castellan 1988, p. 262; Zar 1999, p. 448):

(m  1)   1
W …………………………………….3
m
Where,
m = the number of categories of respondents, which in this case is 3
 = the mean of the pairwise spearman correlations, which in this case is 0.632
The computed Kendall’s W is 0.755 which shows that there exists a high degree of agreement
across the categories (contractor, PMP, general public) on the causes of Ghana government
project failure.

4.1.3 Test of Significance (Causes)

It is important to establish if the extent of agreement/disagreement across the categories is
statistically significant. To do so the Chi-Square test is used. The hypothesis to test is:
Null Hypothesis = H 0 = There is disagreement in Rankings among contractors, project
management practitioners and general public on causes of Ghana government projects
failure

Alternate Hypothesis= H1 = There is agreement in Rankings among contractors, project

management practitioners and general public on causes of Ghana government projects
failure

The Chi-Square test is also a non-parametric test used to determine if a significant difference
exists among the category rankings. There is a relationship between the Chi-Square value and
Kendall’s W shown in equation 4
x2  m(n  1)W ……………………………………4
Where,
m = the number of categories of respondents, which in this case is 3
n = the number of causes/factors, which in this case is 32 causes/factors
W= Kendall’s coefficient which in this case is 0.755

The result of the computation is x 2  70.22 and using the critical table for n=32 and   0.05
(That is 95% confidence interval), the Chi-square critical ratio= x2( n1)  x0.05
2(31)
 44.985.

Decision Rule
Since the computed Chi-Square value ( x 2  70.22) is higher than the Chi-Square critical
2(31)
ratio ( x0.05  44.985), the null hypothesis ( H 0 ) is rejected and conclude that there is a high
degree of agreement among the three categories on the causes of Ghana government project
failure.

5.0 Discussion
5.1 Causes of Ghana Government Projects failure

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 15

The contractors ranked political interference as the biggest cause of Ghana Government
project failure; this is followed by change in government, corruption, poor management
practices and poor communication respectively.
PMP ranked poor monitoring as the biggest cause of Ghana Government project failure; this
is followed by political interference, corruption, change in government and funds
disbursement respectively.
The general public also ranked poor monitoring as the biggest cause of Ghana Government
project failure; this is followed by corruption, change in government, change in project
leadership and poor procurement processes respectively.
The top ten overall rankings for the causes in the order of importance are as follows:
1. Monitoring
2. Corruption
3. Political interference
4. Change in government
5. Bureaucracy
6. Lack of continuity
7. Fluctuation of prices
8. Planning
9. Delays in payment
10. Release of funds

5.2.1 Monitoring
The general public and the project management practitioners ranked monitoring as the
number one most important factor of Ghana government project failure whiles the contractors
ranked it as number six (6). The reason for this disagreement cannot be explained. However,
on the average, it is the number one for all. Monitoring of Ghana government project as
number most influential factor is a bit strange, however, this is not surprising – this study is
concentrated in government sector only. In Ghana and many developing countries, public
workers and executioners of public projects are not committed to the work as compared to
their private work and therefore fail to monitor government projects.

There is also a cultural dimension to the reasons why public sector projects suffer from
monitoring in Ghana. This attitude was inherited from the colonial periods, where the public
sector was perceived to be the white man’s work. And for the whiteman’s work it could be
done haphazardly. This also confirms a common statement in Ghana which is interpreted to
as “we hold Government’s work, we don’t carry it on our head”; which literally mean that do
not give your 100 per cent to a Government’s work after all it not your property. This
perception has been since colonial period, where public sector was perceived as ‘’belonging’’
to the whiteman and therefore there is no need to be committed to such work. Projects in the
public sector are perpetually affected by the societal culture settings (Hofstede, 1983;
Hogberg & Adamsson, 1983; Heeks, 2002; Saad et al., 2002; Muriithi & Crawford, 2003;
Alsakini et al., 2004; Maube et al., 2008; Amid et al., 2012).

5.2.3 Corruption
Corruption was second most influential factor for Ghana government projects failure. It was
ranked as number 3; 2, and 2 by contractors, project management and general public
respectively. In fact, corruption has become the talking point of late in Ghana (OccupyGhana,
2014, Imani, 2015), therefore, results confirms the phenomenon. This is also in congruence
with the Transparency International and other media reports about the corruption index in

Causes of government project failure in developing countries – Focus on Ghana

 16

Ghana (TI, 2008; Ghanaian Chronicle, 2012). The high level of paperwork and the
bureaucratic procedures in Ghana’s procurement process means that there is the potential
contractors to engage in corrupt practices to get their contract go through.

5.2.3 Political Interference

Political interference was ranked by contractors, project management practitioners and
general public as number 1, 2 and 3 with RII index of 0.76; 0.731 and 0.734 respectively. In
Ghana, almost everything in the public sector is ‘’politics’. Ghana government projects are
initiated and executed by government, even though they may be funded by other donor
agencies. However, politicians do not allow the technocrats to execute such projects. In fact,
the leadership and most of the technocrats are political appointment. In Ghana, the
constitution allows the president to appoint over 10 thousand public sector workers including
all local government heads (Ghana Constitution, 1992).

5.2.4 Change in Government

Change is government in Ghana leads to halting or projects or abandoning of most
government projects. In the interview, all of the interviewees agreed that change in
government often leads to halting and abandonment of government project because, such
projects will not be credited to that party. This could be explained that, in Ghana,
governments are more interested in winning the next general elections than serving the
interest of the nation and therefore, the government intends to do its own projects which they
can be associated with.

5.2.5 Bureaucracy
Ghana government projects’ procurement process and activities follows a lot of bureaucratic
processes. It requires a lot of stages before contracts can be awarded. Consultants who have
to certify projects would have to go through a lot of processes and this leads to delays in the
completion of projects, hence, cost escalation. In this day and age, parliament still relies on
hardcopies of project documents and not electronics.

5.2.6 Lack of Continuity

Closely related to change in government is lack of continuity. Most government projects are
halted half way through it completion due to funding, price fluctuation, change in
government, projects not needed again. Sometimes change in projects leadership leads to
projects abandonment.

5.2.7 Fluctuation of Prices

Price fluctuation is a major issue in Ghana. The economy is not stable and this affects the
prices of products. In 2013, the economy was growing at the rate of 13% (Economic Watch,
2011, World Bank, 2012) but this has reduced to 3.8% in 2015 projected budget (Ghana
budget, 2015). In fact, in 2014 alone, the exchange; thus, the Ghana cedi to dollar raised from
$1 to 2.8 – 3.8 (Bank of Ghana, 2014). Most of the products used in these projects are also
imported from other countries, which implies that if the dollar to cedi increases, affects the
prices of such projects.

Causes of government project failure in developing countries – Focus on Ghana

 17

5.2.8 Planning
Planning of Ghana government projects is poor. The reason is that, most of the projects in are
politically motivated; and therefore, proper planning of how the project is going to be
executed from start till finish. In fact, all interviewees argued that Ghana government projects
are not well planned ahead due to the political nature of the projects and the fact that most of
the leaders and executors of such projects are political appointment rather than technocrats.
This confirms research on Nigeria’s construction projects project failure (Odeyinka & Yusif,
1997), which indicated that ineffective planning account for most project failure. Similarly,
this finding agrees with a study conducted in 2011 on Iranian construction industry
(Pourrastam & Ismail, 2011). As revealed by earlier researchers (Odeh & Battaineh, 2002;
Assaf & AL-Hejji, 2006); Ghana government projects are not well planned and this
eventually leads to projects failure. This finding also confirms a research conducted by Pinto
(2013) which specifically traces the root cause of project failure to poor initial planning phase
of the projects.

5.2.9 Delays in Payment

Payment delays have to do with the local level – that is between the government agencies the
contractors who are executing the projects. Delays in the distribution of the funds and how
they are distributed among the various projects’ contractors is a big issue in Ghana. This is
perhaps; there are too many bureaucratic procedures to go through. Paperwork and the layers
of personal who have to sign before the funds are paid. In some cases, there is no money for
contractors. This finding is similar to the studies’ of Frimpong et al. (2003) and Fugar &
Agyakwah‐Baah (2010) – though, theirs came as most important as compared to this study.
The reason might be that, it’s because this this study is concentrated on government projects
only and that other issues such as monitoring and government interference are more factors
than payment delays.

5.10 Release of Funds

The second one which is fund disbursement is direct from the funding agency and/or donor
countries. In most cases, donor and government are reluctant to release the money to the
various government agencies responsible for the implementation of the project. Like
Sambasian & Soon (2007), getting funds released from donor partners and agencies are very
difficult. In Ghana and many developing countries, donor agencies expect that government
meet certain conditionality before funds are released. In developing countries such as Ghana,
over reliance on external sources of resources (especially funding) for their developmental
projects is very high (see Fabian & Amir, 2011; World Bank, 2012), and as such the need for
governments and government agencies and/or performing organisations to develop skills
necessary to win support from external donors is very crucial for project management. This
attests to the reason why many projects in developing countries fail when donors withdraw
their funding (Fabian & Amir, 2011).

In addition to the individual factors rankings, the 32 factors identified as possible causes of
Ghana Government project failure were classified into four groups-namely; leadership,
management and administration practices, resources and external forces. The index of each of
the four groups was calculated as the average of relative importance index of the individual
causes within the group. In the group ranking analysis contractors, PMP and the general
public unanimously agreed that poor leadership is the biggest cause of Ghana government

Causes of government project failure in developing countries – Focus on Ghana

 18

project failure; this is followed by management and administration practices, resources and
external forces respectively.

This findings is not surprising as leadership is crucial in every project management and in
government projects, these are more of political leadership rather than management. This is
also in line with the individual rankings as the first 10 of them including 3 out of 10 in the
leadership factors. This is echoed in the work of Hwang & Ng (2013, pg.272); which argues
that ‘’a competent project manager is vital to project success’’. Therefore having a good
project leader is vital to the performance of project.

Management and administration practices came second and this is properly because they are
the main implementers of Ghana government projects. They are directly involved in the
implementation process and therefore the input can determine the project’s performance.

The next one is resources – though in Ghana a lot of projects are fighting for the same
resources, this was not most important group because, if there are resources and the
leadership and management lacks the requisite skills and political will to execute the projects,
then the project cannot be successful. This confirms the assertions of Perkins (2006) who
attributes the root cause of project failure to ‘’Knowledge’’; either project managers do not
have the requisite knowledge, or they do have but fails to apply the knowledge appropriately.
In this sense, not matter the availability of resources, the leadership and management skills
and knowledge are more important for a successful project execution.

External forces – The project managers, general public and contractors all agreed that
external forces such as these includes the religious believes, culture, natural disasters and
related issues. Bad weather conditions are natural events which cannot be controlled by the
parties. These are not much important but it needs to be considered. In Ghana, the effect of
inclement weather on progress may not be significant but needs to be taken into account.
Ghana has two main weather patterns – dry seasons and wet seasons (World factbook, 2015).
In the dry season, an unfavourable site condition was a major delay factor. During the rainy
season construction work may be disrupted especially outdoor activities. During the rainy
season temperatures range from 21°C to 32°C and the humidity is relatively high. The rest of
the year is hot and dry with temperatures reaching 38°C. The high temperatures and high
humidity ranging from 25 to 80% definitely affect the efficiency of projects especially in
construction projects workers as a consequence of dullness of their senses, poor coordination
and discomfort from body heat (Frimpong et al., 2003; Fugar & Agyakwah‐Baah, 2010).

6.0 Conclusions and Recommendation

This study focused on the causes of Ghana government project failure to determine the most
influential (important) factors from contractors, project management practitioners and general
public.

The results indicated that contractors, project management practitioners and general public
agreed that the top ten overall rankings for the causes in the order of importance were as
follows: (1) Monitoring (2) Corruption (3) Political interference (4) Change in government
(5) Bureaucracy (6) Lack of continuity (7) Fluctuation of prices (8) Planning (9) Funds
disbursement and (10) Release of payment. The 32 factors identified as possible causes of
Ghana Government project failure were classified into four groups – namely; leadership,

Causes of government project failure in developing countries – Focus on Ghana

 19

management and administration practices, resources and external forces. In the group ranking
analysis contractors, PMP and the general public unanimously agreed that poor leadership is
the biggest cause of Ghana government project failure; this is followed by poor management
and administration practices, low resources and external forces respectively.

It is therefore recommended that Ghana government makes the monitoring of its projects a
priority with minimal political interference. Thus, projects should be left with technocrats to
manage public projects rather than political patronage. Further, it is important for the
leadership of Ghana government projects to institute projects offices separate from
government agencies. In addition, stricter laws need to be enacted by parliament to ensure
that projects cannot be halted when there is change of government. These laws need to be
enforced by the law enforcing agencies.

To reduce payment delays and release of funds, government needs to ensure that projects
funds are available before the commencement of projects.

7.0 Contributions and Limitations

Extant literature in project management and causes of projects failure has focuses on three
areas: generic view of project failure (Frimpong et al., 2003; Kaliba et al., 2009; Ahsan &
Gunawan, 2010; Liu et al., 2011; Amid et al., 2012), the second group focuses on private
sector projects (Mangione, 2003) and the last group focuses on public or government sector
concentrating on projects in specific industry hence; cannot be generalised (Kumar & Best,
2007; Maubeta et al., 2008; Fabian & Amir, 2011; Patanakul., 2014). This study therefore
contributes to project failure literature by studying government projects in general; which will
make the research across-industries by default, hence, can be generalised.

Secondly, in relation to Ghana, this will provide empirical evidence to support reported
claims of project failure in government projects. Thirdly, this study contributes to the
academic field of project failure in Ghana and developing countries in general.

Finally, practicing managers and policy makers of Ghana government project can use this as
a guide during Ghana government project management.

The limitation of this research is the use of simple random selection of the questionnaire
participants. Moreover, this research does not compare individual sectors where these
projects are implemented.

Further research needs to look at the various sectors of the economy in order to compare their
individual performance.

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Guide

Appendix
(A) Category of Personnel Engaged In interview

Respondents Category Number Type of Engagement

Project Management practitioners 6 Semi-structured
Interview
Contractors 2 Semi-structured
Interview
General Public 2 Semi-structured
Interview
Total 10

(B) Interviewees Profile

Respondents Age Education Years of Work Overall Industry Sector
Experience Experience In Work
in Current Project Experience
position Management
R1(Administr 33 Masters 5 8 8 Healthca Public
ator) re
R2 46 PhD/ 15 15 21 General Public
(Consultant Professio &
& Lecturer) nal Private

Causes of government project failure in developing countries – Focus on Ghana

 26

R3 37 BA/PgD/ 4 10 10 General Public

(Architect) Professio
nal
R4 40 BA/ 4 14 14 General Public
(Structural Professio
Engineer) nal
R5 (Quantity 39 BA/ 15 15 15 General Public
Surveyor) Professio
nal
R6 (Physical 55 Masters/ 1 32 32 Educatio Public
& Works Professio n
Director) nal
R7 (Finance 27 Masters 4 15 15 Construc Public
& tion
Administrativ
e Director)
R8 (Director) 45 A-Level 7 7 25 Construc Public
tion &
private
R9 (Teacher 38 Diploma 10 - 10 Educatio Public
& Business n& &
Woman) Retail Private
R10 (Banker) 31 BA 5 - 7 Banking Public

Table: Respondents profile

(C) Questionnaire
CAUSES OF GHANA GOVERNMENT PROJECT FAILURE
To what extent do you agree that the following factors influence the failure of Ghana
government projects? (Please tick (√).

Causes Strongly Disagree Neutral agree Strongly Don’t

disagree agree know
1 Planning
2 Monitoring
3 Change in project
leadership
4 Selection of project
managers
5 Project team
formation
6 Task definition
7 User involvement
8 Project
management
techniques

Causes of government project failure in developing countries – Focus on Ghana

 27

9 Commitment to
project
10 Requirement
11 Definition of
specification
12 Scope change
13 Procurement
processes
14 Feasibility studies
15 Release of funds
16 Project funding
17 Labour
18 Communication
19 Management
practices
20 Supervision
21 Bureaucracy
22 Lack of Continuity
23 Political
interference
24 Corruption
25 Regulations
26 Pressure groups
(Media, NGOs,
political activities
etc.)
27 Change in
government
28 Natural disaster
29 Culture and belief
systems
30 Fluctuation of
prices
31 Capacity
32 Delays in payments

Causes of government project failure in developing countries – Focus on Ghana

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