Politics and project execution: how organisational politics impact the effectiveness of project managers: the government’s dilemma

Abstract

Politics, the grouping together of people for power in any structural entity is not discussed much in the field of project management. Beyond satisfying the iron triangle expectations, critical issues of politics and power affect effective project execution. Project managers and other internal stakeholders jostle for control of resources, and their power base is politics. Effective project management cannot ignore the politics of organizations, as it is these political factors that determine the success or failure of a project. Depending on the size and the interest on the project by senior management, political influence threads through the whole organisational structure, too often it is accepted as the norm. The survey sought to establish the extent to which political forces are used by senior management and can be used by the project manager in project execution to pre-empt the effects of the authority gap in project management. This paper establishes that there is tremendous interference during project executions to varying degrees as a result of political interests, the management styles of senior management, organisational structure and factors, and the extent of personal stakeholder interests in the project. The target population for the empirical research was operational and management staff of two large government construction projects, which employ approximately 800 people per site, including 46 subcontractors and their staff. Questionnaires were administered through personal interviews giving a 100% questionnaire return rate. The results point to constant political interference from external and internal stakeholders.