Develop a framework for successfully managing public transport development projects in Vietnam

Despite having incentives and generous investments from the government, many public infrastructure projects in Vietnam have been poorly finished with time delays, cost overruns and improper quality standard. These adversely influence the country’s socioeconomic development and modernisation process. However, there has not been an appropriate strategy to cope with and a lack of research into how to do so. The aim of this thesis is to develop and propose a sound solution to manage and deliver public transport development projects in Vietnam more successfully.
There are five main elements which have very strong influences on the achievement of project success, namely: Critical Success Factors, Success Criteria, Key Stakeholders, Project Process and Severe Problems. Nevertheless, previous studies looked at them individually or as a pair only, while discretely recognised their connections during the management and implementation process. This research argues that those elements and their links should be viewed holistically and combined together in order to achieve a complete picture of project success. Having established this, a lifecycle based framework is developed and used to serve as a lens for the empirical analysis.
The thesis has found out that traditional delivery route is still widely used and favoured in Vietnamese public transport development projects with complicated involvements of many parties. The government still plays a dominant role which has the greatest influences on project outcomes. Meanwhile, the most severe problems which project participants in the VCI have been struggling to deal with relate to finance and human. As a result, the most critical factors which can cope with those problems and achieve success also relate to finance and human. On another hand, a set of criteria for measuring overall performance and result of those projects are binding to the success of the final product and project management.
In this thesis, it is the first time a framework, which simultaneously encompasses all elements of project success, has been developed. As an obvious result, it changes the way people perceive project success and how to achieve. The framework helps to fill the knowledge gaps in the literature of project management in transitional and emerging markets. It provides a clear picture of the key stakeholders involved with related activities which need to be carried out across the different phases of the project process, identifies the severe problems which need to be addressed, and provides a better understanding of the standards which are required in safeguarding project success. The validity of the framework and empirical findings of this research contribute new insights into the developing world as Vietnam is the case study. Therefore, the thesis significantly contributes to the body of knowledge of project success and construction project management.