This study will be discussing about the challenges and barriers involved in mega projects. The mega project consists of large number of transactions and each transaction has its own complexity. The reader shall gain the knowledge about how mega projects are going to becoming the challenge at later stages and what are the most common barriers in completing the mega project. The study will also be discussed about what are the key drivers of mega project as what makes them to originate and initiate by the government. The study will also consist of presenting the innovative and perfect eco-system available for mega projects which can ensure that they are completed on time and within the budget. This study will be really useful for the reader who is more interested in what it takes to complete the mega project and how can it be ensured.

2. Literature Review of MEGA PROJECT in Oman

The literature review has been conducted for the same topic and previous researches have been studied in order to grasp the secondary data and collect the all important information, discussed in the following.

Discussion of key drivers of mega projects commonly found worldwide.

There are various key drivers of the mega projects which need to be discussed in the following.

Complex procurement arrangements Of MEGA PROJECT in Oman

It is depended upon the nature of mega projects whether it is physical mega project such as motorways, railway lines or it is more based on Information technology structure. There is complex procurements arrangements involvement in physical mega-projects because its materials, machinery, labor and other essential inputs are very challenging to manage from all over the world or even within the country. Efficient and effective procurement is the key to the mega projects successful completion on time and within the budget. It requires negotiations with the suppliers and choosing the cheapest supplier offering high quality. There is massive level procurement required and good price negotiation can help the government saving millions or billions of dollars from the budget(Sharf, 2019).

Otherwise, it is studied that majority of the infrastructure projects experiences the massive corruption at procurement level. This is the reason majority of the projects becomes the victim of corruption which leads to time delays. Therefore, a best manager must be hired at the procurement level that is having relevant experience and expertise in managing the procurement at huge levels. He has to be contacting to large number of suppliers who are willing supplying raw-material and labor to complete the mega project(Sharf, 2019). As far as mega project in information technology is concerned, they do not require raw-material but expert labor, its procurement requires hiring the most efficient technical staff.

Society or public demand Of MEGA PROJECT in Oman

Mega projects like road network are mainly originating because of public demand living in society. People have to be transporting to work, houses or entertainment which helps in developing the whole society and life is there. Therefore, such mega projects are driven by demand coming from general public and society because it is the basic need of it. There are also other natures of megaprojects which demands coming from government such building the security network to strengthen the defense system or building the space program to ensure having better defense system(McCarthy, 2018). Such projects are not for the use of general public because government needs it most.

3. Causes of Barriers in Procurement of Mega Projects in Oman

There are various barriers involved in procurement of mega projects globally and particularly in Oman, discussed in the following. These barriers are causing the delays in mega projects discussed in the following.

Incompetent and Corrupt Bureaucracy

This is the biggest barrier in procurement of mega projects in Oman because corrupt and incompetent bureaucracy does not help in completing the mega project and even make its procurement impossible to achieve. Incompetent bureaucracy does know much how to initiate and what system needs to be implemented so that mega project can be ensured. Civil services are not much mature in Oman and civil bureaucracy is not much trained what communications needs to be established, what things need to be settled because starting the mega project. In mostly developed countries bureaucracy has critical role into the economic growth of those countries(Johnson, 2017).

In Oman, government bureaucracies are not much competent and strong which can handle the project of multi-billion dollar. Therefore, it needs to be handled by private-public model where private sector managerial and technical staff can manage the complex challenges, activities and issues. The government would be responsible for managing the funds and funding to mega project. This is how Oman’s government can successfully implement the mega project and otherwise things would be difficult and probably impossible. Therefore, the private sector involvement would be must in Oman case; government must be inviting the foreign investors so that technology transfer can be possible accordingly(Agard K. , 2019).

Lack of Funding of MEGA PROJECT in Oman

Lack of funding is the major cause behind the time delays in mega projects and it does not complete on time. Mostly mega projects worth more than one billion dollars and such a huge funding is the challenging for the government. Most of the times governments are suffering from big deficits in accounts and they even do not have funds to meet its interest expenses on loan. There are multiple suppliers involves in mega projects which responsible for supplying variety of inputs, components and machines so that it can be completed on time. When these suppliers are not paid in return they stop the supplies and this causes the major big issue. The continuous funding becomes issues where financial constraints are higher or the lender wants to see the progress and then extend the remaining amount(McCarthy, 2018).

This is where the efficient and brilliant bureaucracy required which monitors the progress, keep close interaction with suppliers and ensures that things are going into the right direction. In the case of incompetent bureaucracy, they would not be able to manage the funds on time and always going through financial constraint. Since mega projects are already very expensive and its over-costing can cause millions of dollars extra injection into the budget which is huge. Anyway, lack of funding is one of the barriers in procurement of mega projects. Oman’s government must be allocating the dedicated budget to complete the mega project on time and then wonderful things can happen on time(McCarthy, 2018).

Lack of availability of technical human resource

Sometimes, the mega project is so complicated and technical that its human resource is imported at higher salaries because locally no enough technically people were available. Especially in the countries like Oman where education level is not much advanced and not highly technical resource is locally available. Therefore, the major barrier is locally available technical resource which is not there and Oman’s government have to be making arrangements so that they can make it available in Oman. They do so through offering lucrative salaries and benefits to technical people working in Europe, America and China. In case, more technical staff is required during the mega project and it is not being available due to any factor then it becomes the reason of as barrier in mega project. Foreign technical staff can put lots of conditions in front of Oman’s government and can negotiate bigger benefits which can also cost more to mega projects but then government have to agree because the mega project is already initiated(Agard K. , 2019).

Oman can follow the example of Saudi Arabia where they are inviting the highly competent engineers, technical staff and scientists at the highest salaries and offering green visa. This is how they are buying the most technical human resource which takes decades to develop on their own. Human resource is the most precious asset any society can have even precious than the natural resources. Therefore, Oman must follow the steps of Saudi Arabia and do the same. They can invite them to complete their mega projects(Peccarilli, 2019).

4. Recommendations of Critical Success Factors

There are mainly six Critical Success Factors as CSF in procurement process for mega projects, discussed in the following.

Efficient and Effective of MEGA PROJECT in Oman

The mega projects development consist of complicated process and it has to be dealing with critical things during its completion. In the absence of achieving efficiency in the process, minor mistake can cost thousands and millions of dollars to the process and time delays are also possible. Each and every step must be pre-planned and then accordingly execution needs to be made so that progress is ensured. For Example, railway lines needs to be designed to achieve the shortest distance possible, its bad execution will lead to longer distance of tracks which fails its purpose of providing low cost transportation expenses(Agard K. , 2019).

It is always challenging to complete the mega project effectively and efficient, if it happens successfully then wonders can be accomplished. The mega project is going to be benefiting the society at massive level if it is implemented in its true spirit. Therefore, most competent, experienced and intelligent staff must be put in the top who can take responsibility of completing the project in time and moving the things forward successfully(Johnson, 2017).

Effective communication management

Effective communication management needs to be established at several points and stages. In the first stage, it has to be communicated why the mega project is going to be developed, what objectives needs to be achieved and what is called successful completion. Once these questions are answered well and effectively, it would help in better decision making throughout the project. The lack of strong communication can cause over-costing the mega project and the management may be working on those things which are actually not required. For Example, a motorway is being developed and we need heavy machinery for building big roads network, we cannot import a machinery of structuring information technology, it would be miscommunication and wastage of money on that machinery. Any weak area in communication network can make disaster in implementation of mega project. Therefore, the strong communication must be ensured through clear reporting lines, frameworks and delegating the authority which is not over-lapping. This is how good communication system can be developed which proves effective to achieve its goals(Peccarilli, 2019).

Adequate Planning of MEGA PROJECT in Oman

There are various stages involved in mega project completion and its execution is different in different stages. Each stage has its own needs, requirements, technicalities and challenges. An adequate planning and anticipation can make wonders and the successful completion of mega project on the basis of within the initial cost and time. Management and bureaucracy has to procurement everything on time as per the plan so that no delays in execution and also do not face the technical issues. The most important is designing phase where final decision needs to be made which cannot be reverted in the later stage, once a designed is made of the mega project then the all rest of the things depended upon that design. If design is wrong, then the whole mega project leads to the failure, therefore the most time must be spent on that design which is complicated and critical(Agard K. , 2019).

An adequate planning can produce the disaster results which can increase the cost of mega projects many times. Therefore, it is believed that planning is the most important and useful phase of management which can make wonders in order to complete the mega project successfully(Sharf, 2019).

Leadership Skills of MEGA PROJECT in Oman

A leadership skill ensures that all resources and technical staff have been made arrangement by leader. For Example, Oman’s government can play a leadership role and demand the technical resource from friendly country if the technical have privately refused to provide the help. This is where leadership is demanded and Oman’s government has to play their due role which is not possible by private sector. Leadership makes the hard and challenging decisions during the mega projects because initially they are un-popular and people criticize them, but later they are going to benefit the massive people. For Example, building the transportation system disturbs the whole urban city life which makes the people criticizing, once the transportation system is developed and then same people will be benefited(Peccarilli, 2019).

Leadership plays an important role in the completion of mega projects because it requires lots of complex and hard decisions. Therefore, it must be noticed that who should be leading the mega project one who can take pressures and take the decisions in the interest of massive. Therefore, government must be leading from the front and enhance the awareness among people that it is in their best interest(Johnson, 2017).

Weather Conditions of MEGA PROJECT in Oman

Weather conditions are extremely dangerous and critical in preventing the mega project completion on time, if the nature of mega project is physical such as infra-structure or building the transportation system. It must be planned that how to execute the mega project during bad weather and how can it affect the execution of mega project. For Example, building the motorways during dust clouds is not possible. The machinery and equipments gets affected from dust cloud and also got broken. Construction machinery is mainly exposed to the bad weather and specific weather conditions, machinery gets broken when they are exposed to high temperature or moisture is there. Once the machinery or equipment is broken down, the whole mega project can be delayed(Agard K. , 2019).

Effective Coordination of Project of MEGA PROJECT in Oman

Coordination plays a key role throughout the mega project; this is the skill which requires handling of multi-tasking at efficient level. Mega projects is having several stages, layers of multi-tasking, several incomplete jobs due to weak coordination, only strong coordination allows each stage completes on time without wasting resources and time(Sharf, 2019).

Recommendations proposal of an innovative procurement eco-system of mega projects in Oman

In the following, the outline of proposal of innovative procurement eco-system of mega project has been discussed in the following.

Take care of all stakeholders

There are several stakeholders involved in the mega project and leader has to take care of interests of all of them. If their interests are not being taken care by leader, then they can create hurdles and would not offer the solution they have. The all stakeholders and their willingness can provide perfect eco-system of mega projects in Oman. This can be possible by keep the monetary share benefits for all of them and also keep the share of other kinds of interests for all stakeholders(McCarthy, 2018).

One-Window Operation of MEGA PROJECT in Oman

The execution of mega projects requires interaction of various departments, institutions, stakeholders and components. It would be very helpful for the government to open the one window operation where all kinds of requests have been entertained and met. This is how things can be progressed in the most efficient and fastest manners. One-window operation is going to make huge difference in the progress of mega projects and this is going to be improving the coordination of projects a lot. There are studies conducted where the failure of mega project reasoning was it was not making available one window operation(Agard K. , 2019).

Implementation of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence is going to play an important role into the mega projects completion. It informs the executor about the future expected requirements and needs which can be critical for the mega project. It gives the advantage of knowing the things before the time and then it can be made available so that no time wastage and money resources. Therefore, leadership needs to ensure that highly advanced AI system is installed which monitors the progress of mega project and accordingly enables the things. There is no comparison of AI and human intelligence, AI is faster, more intelligent and can predict the upcoming things. According to the studies, there are various mega projects failed because there were no pre-arrangements of required things in project and resulted as huge cost increments and more time delays(Browlee, 2018).

Efficient financial management of MEGA PROJECT in Oman

All the activities of mega projects need to be financed so that things can progress and happen on their due time. Every stakeholder and member of the project needs to be financed as remuneration and cost of input requires in mega project. Therefore, proper financial system must be developed which is dedicated to the specific mega project in providing perfect eco-system. Finances are like a blood in the body which circulates all around and requires each and every second. Moreover, other arrangements also need to be made such as cheap source of financing and the management of its tenure short-term and long-term both. Sometimes, mega projects are not complicated and complexes in its nature but it are the failure in its financial management(Agard K. , 2019).

Several mega projects are stopped by government because there were not enough funds available during its completion. It looks like financial management is the easiest thing in mega project development but it has its own critical importance. In the planning stage, the availability of funds must be planned and then the project needs to be initiated(Agard K. , 2019).

5. Conclusion of MEGA PROJECT in Oman

It is concluded that mega project are built to benefit the society and people in the massive level. Mega projects are also initiates the massive economic activities and development takes place quickly. There are various nature of mega projects physical, information technology based, space programs and many more. The physical mega projects such as building infrastructure, railway lines are the most expensive and requires huge budget. One of the major challenge is involved in physical mega project is its procurement taking place. There is large number of procurement of variety of goods and raw-material which helps in completing the mega project. It also requires communicating various number of suppliers who have been negotiated about supplying the raw-material.

Mega projects are also nature of technical such as space programs or cyber security infrastructure, such mega projects are established in order to secure the defense system of country and it is not used for public purposes. It does not hold much economic activities and it is more complicated in its management because it includes highly advanced technicalities. According to the studies, mostly mega projects are failed due to inadequate planning, lack of financial resources and technical blunders. The study supports the evidence that mostly mega projects were initiated without analyzing its real effectiveness and things were not calculated in the context of society interest and benefits. The relevant technical staff must be presented in the managerial team of mega project; otherwise it would become a disaster for the people, government and society.

6. References of MEGA PROJECT in Oman

Agard, K. (2019, January 22). Megaproject Trends For 2019: Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez On Leadership In The Age of AI. Retrieved December 12, 2019, from Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/karleneagard/2019/01/22/megaproject-trends-for-2019-antonio-nieto-rodriguez-on-leadership-in-the-age-of-ai/#af33a471c7e6

Agard, K. (2019, January 22). Megaproject Trends For 2019: Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez On Leadership In The Age of AI. Retrieved December 13, 2019, from Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/karleneagard/2019/01/19/megaproject-trends-for-2019-yewande-akinola-on-the-next-frontier-in-design/

Browlee, D. (2018, November 21). 4 Project Management Trends On The Horizon…Are You Ready? Retrieved December 13, 2019, from Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/danabrownlee/2019/07/21/4-project-management-trends-on-the-horizonare-you-ready/

Johnson, P. (2017, March 12). These 8 Companies Are Bringing The 'New Silk Road' To Life. Retrieved December 13, 2019, from Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/wadeshepard/2017/03/12/8-new-silk-road-companies-that-you-can-invest-in/#50b8e5854db9

McCarthy, N. (2018, September 28). Major Construction Projects That Went Catastrophically Over-Budget [Infographic]. Retrieved December 13, 2019, from Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2018/09/28/major-construction-projects-that-went-catastrophically-over-budget-infographic/#29a9eabb6ab3

Peccarilli, B. (2019, June 27). Are Smart Cities The Next Great Disruptor? Retrieved December 13, 2019, from Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianpeccarelli/2019/06/27/are-smart-cities-the-next-great-disruptor/#6b25db041594

Sharf, S. (2019, March 15). Building Is Booming In These 30 Cities, But Don't Expect It To Last. Retrieved December 13, 2019, from Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/samanthasharf/2019/03/15/building-is-booming-in-these-30-cities-but-dont-expect-it-to-last/#6ab80df43109