Project Scope Management in Developing Countries

Project scope defines the end result or mission or functionality of the project — a product or service for the client/customer — in specific, tangible, and measurable terms. Thus, project scope management has been identified as a critical success factor in project delivery. When scope is not properly defined at the beginning of the project and managed effectively across the project phases, the likelihood of failure is high, with new scope addition identified as one of the causes of project delay and cost escalation. Issues of ill-defined scope, scope creep, and scope change are particularly compounded in the developing country context by politics, budget constraints, lack of expertise, lack of stake-holder engagement, and other factors. Therefore, this chapter examines scope management from the perspective of developing countries. The chapter covers key topics such as: Scope Initiation, Scope Definition, Scope Planning, Verification and Control of the Project Scope, Scope Creep and the Politics of Project Scope, and Approaches to Effective Project Scope Management. The chapter concludes with two case studies highlighting the typical Scope Management approach on a Social Intervention Project and a Private-sector Residential Development Project in Ghana. The case studies show that inadequate, ill-defined, or incomplete scope definition is a recipe for significant scope changes, with consequential cost and schedule implications.