Business and information strategic alignment of project and procurement management processes in the railway organisation in South Africa

Abstract

Railway organisations in South Africa are government parastatals. These organisations have embarked on mega modernisation programmes. Project and procurement process alignment is crucial to the successful implementation of such programmes, as the disconnect between the two processes may result in project cost overruns and escalations. Projects in the parastatal organisations are not completed on or executed according to the planned schedules. The two main research questions are stated as follows: i) What factors affect the alignment between procurement and project management processes in the South African railway organisation? ii) How can the parastatal organisation align the procurement and project management processes? For the research methodology, a subjectivist ontological and interpretivist epistemological stance was followed. The research approach is inductive, with a case study as strategy. Data collection was done on a non-random, purposively selected unit of analysis and observation. Purposive sampling allows the researcher to rely on his or her own judgement when choosing to participate in the study. Participants were selected based on characteristics of a population and the objectives of the study. The participants belong to three departments, namely IT, SCM, and the Project Management Office (Project Managers). These three departments were selected because of their relevance to the study. Interviews were conducted using semi-structured questionnaires. The instrument used was interview guide. Data was analysed by firstly transcribing the interviews. To confirm the correctness of the interviews, the data was validated. Data was further analysed by means of summarising, categorising, and conducting a thematic analysis. Ethical principles were followed in accordance with the policies and procedure of CPUT. The study revealed that project and procurement process misalignment in the railway sector in South Africa does exists. A detailed discussion of factors contributing to this misalignment are discussed further in chapter five and chapter six is recommendations.