Project Schedule Management in Developing Countries

Schedule management is one of the core project management knowledge areas. While schedule management comprises the sequence of some of the key functions undertaken in the project processes, the efficiency derived through a schedule depends on significant lead up activities in relation to the project scope management and project development environment. The lead up work required in order to realize an accurate project schedule is highly context specific. Variability in the practice, which comes not only from the type, size, and nature of projects but also from the operating environment, plays a significant role. Unlike the developed economies, both empirical and anecdotal evidence shows that projects in developing countries are managed without much of the lead up work and often without appropriate definition of scope. Due to some unique issues ranging from external funding agencies to complexity in stakeholder composition, a project in a developed economy poses different sets of challenges from a project being undertaken in a developing economy. There is a large volume of literature, including a significant body of knowledge, for guiding and supporting the implementation of projects generally. Yet, such literature is found to be inadequate for dealing with the issues associated mainly with the long and unstructured project phases in the developing country context. Over the past decades, there have been many reports about the issues involved in managing projects in developing countries. However, there is not much work on producing any reference with a specific body of knowledge encompassing these issues.Focusing on best practice processes in project schedule management, this chapter puts forward a logical analysis of the extent of the best practice processes being applicable in managing projects in the context of developing countries. Based on research undertaken at the Smart Villages Lab (SVL) at the University of Melbourne, Australia, a review of the mainstream literature and the author’s observations over many years, theoretical underpinnings along with comparison and contrast associated with the development and delivery practices of projects are discussed using an enhanced schedule management framework. The framework, developed from the current schedule management body of knowledge (PMI, 2017), aims to reflect the key issues associated with the time management processes across the project phases. In order to rationalize the framework with respect to the developing countries, a case study from the context of India, one of the rapidly emerging developing economies, is used. The chapter then highlights the key processes of the framework from a practice perspective and shows that it can help to achieve potential enhancements in schedule management practice across similar economies around the world.