Project Failure: The Way forward and Panacea for Development

Abstract

There is an unambiguous relationship between development and the successful execution of projects as well as societal wellbeing. This paper examined the concept of project failure. The rationale was to identity the main factors responsible for project failure and suggest strategies aimed at curbing project failure and facilitating development in the future. Data was obtained from a focus group comprising of eight project management practitioners in Nigeria. The results were recorded, transcribed and entered into the qualitative research software NVivo. Validity and reliability were achieved by first assessing the plausibility in terms of already existing knowledge on some of the issues raised by the focus group participants. The emerging key issues suggested that project failure may be contingent on several factors but established based on consensus that corruption and lack of professionalism were among the main causes of project failure in Nigeria. The main results were further synthesised into action points which included: the need for an introduction of governance mechanism to incorporate processes standard guidelines that supports projects to achieve their objectives, enshrining punitive actions against erring project stakeholders who engage in corrupt and unethical practices.