Incorporating value management in public sector project delivery processes: The case of the Infrastructure Delivery Management System

Abstract

The construction sector is mostly a contentious issue especially when economic growth depends on the delivery of infrastructure. Within the sector, the infrastructure delivery system is a vital component in the delivery of physical infrastructure to support the economic and social outcomes of government. Having an effective public sector delivery system requires regulations, policies and standards that reflect the values of government and wider society. However, the inability to manage the delivery of infrastructure within the estimated budget while ensuring the clients receive value for money is a pervasive problem of the South African public sector with public sector projects often exceeding budgets and failing to deliver value for money. In response, the South African government has introduced an Infrastructure Delivery Management System (IDMS) seeking to standardise the infrastructure delivery management process to try and deal with some of the challenges experienced in the delivery of infrastructure. However, Value Management (VM) has long been established as a systematic way to enhance value for money and international practice frequently has VM practice embedded within the county’s infrastructure delivery systems. This study seeks to explore whether or how VM has been incorporated within the IDMS process and whether the incorporation of VM into the IDMS is something that was considered by the designers of the IDMS process. The study adopts a mixed methods research methodological approach. The primary data was collected through questionnaires which were distributed to the targeted population involved in the development of the IDMS policy and strategy within government. The questionnaire requested respondents to rank the factors hindering the incorporation of VM within the Infrastructure Delivery Management System (IDMS). This was then followed up by in-depth interviews with selected respondents to understand the thinking behind the extent to which IDMS incorporates VM IDMS. Overall, the findings demonstrated that there is limited knowledge and understanding of VM as an application that delivers quality and sustainable products and outputs with a cost-benefit and within the required timeframes within the IDMS. The conclusion that can be drawn from this is that the introduction of the IDMS missed an opportunity to embed VM practice and thus its likely effectiveness in ensuring value for money for the taxpayer is limited.