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Revisiting the construction project failure

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Article in Built Environment Project and Asset Management July 2015

DOI: 10.1108/BEPAM-10-2013-0042

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BEPAM
5,4
Revisiting the construction
project failure factors in Vietnam
Tan Phat Nguyen
398 Viet Tan Trading Service and Construction Company Pleiku,
Gia Lai Province, Vietnam, and
Received 6 October 2013 Nicholas Chileshe
Revised 16 January 2014 School of Natural and Built Environments, University of South Australia,
5 June 2014
Accepted 4 August 2014 Adelaide, Australia
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Abstract
Purpose The Vietnam construction industry has considerably developed since 1986 as a result of
Doi Moi or all-round renovation process. However, despite the pace of economic reforms, a number of
challenges continue to plague the construction industry. The purpose of this paper is to revisit
the factors causing construction project failure in Vietnam. Some of the selected best practices from
Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) and China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey,
South Africa (CIVETS) are discussed.
Design/methodology/approach Using a mixed method approach, data were collected from
construction stakeholders in Vietnam using a postal survey questionnaire and semi-structured interviews.
The quantitative data were subjected to descriptive statistics using ranking and frequencies analysis, and
qualitative data employed content analysis.
Findings Despite the lack of systematic approach to managing projects risks, there is a high level of
acknowledgement regarding the importance of risk management practices. The highly ranked critical
factors still causing construction project failure in Vietnam are: disregard of the significance of project
planning process and project planning; lack of experience in executing complicated project; poor
design capacity and frequent design changes; lack of knowledge and ability in managing construction
projects; lack of financial capacity of owner; poor performance of contractors; lack of a systematic
approach to managing the project and entire organisation; corruption and bribery in construction
projects; the delays in payment; and economic volatility and high inflation.
Practical implications The identified and revisited project failure factors could be used as a road
map for the revaluation, and development of appropriate project management practices.
Originality/value The construction sector has undergone through significant structural changes
following Doi Moi. This study provides the opportunity to realign the strategies for addressing
project failure factors and learning from comparative studies in BRICS and CIVETS countries.
Keywords Performance, Vietnam, Construction industry, Critical factors, Risk management,
Project management, Project failure
Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction
While factors causing failure of construction projects has been studied in other
countries, the revisiting of studies undertaken in the context of Vietnam deserves
particular attention. It cannot be denied that the Vietnam construction industry (VCI)
has grown considerably, and significantly contributed to the Vietnam economy during
Doi Moi (renewal) process. A study conducted by the National Institute for Urban
and Rural Planning and Tang (2004, cited in Anson et al., 2004), established that the
Built Environment Project and
Asset Management share of the industry and construction sectors increased by 7.6 per cent reflecting a
Vol. 5 No. 4, 2015
pp. 398-416
major structural change. Vietnams economy has been growing impressively for the
Emerald Group Publishing Limited
2044-124X
last two decades. The annual average rate of the economy has been at 7.3 per cent and
DOI 10.1108/BEPAM-10-2013-0042 the capital income increased fivefold from 1990 to 2010 (World Bank, 2011).
 According to Uyen (2003, cited in Nguyen et al., 2004a), the VCI has been one of the Construction
main sectors contributing to the growth of the Vietnam economy in recent years. project failure
However, despite its contribution, the industry has been fronted with many difficulties
and constraints which negatively impact on the effectiveness of many construction
factors
projects. As demonstrated by Uyen (2003, cited in Nguyen et al., 2004a), 30 per cent of the
total construction capital is not used properly for construction purposes during project
duration because of poor project management. In Vietnam, construction projects are often 399
confronted with many complexities which often involve a range of uncertainties including
deadlines, additional cost targets and quality (Nguyen et al., 2004a). In order for the VCI to
improve and manage construction projects successfully and smoothly, there is a need of
re-visiting some of the problems causing construction project failure. Measures to redress
these challenges include the implementation of risk assessment and management
practices (Nguyen et al., 2004a, 2007).
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The study aims to seek the perceptions of construction professionals by revisiting

some of these critical factors causing the failure of construction projects in Vietnam.
The specific objectives are as follows: to re-investigate the risk management (RM)
practices prevailing post Doi-Moi period; revisit the factors causing construction
project failure through identification and mean ranking scoring; and to compare the
Vietnam situation with selected Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS)
and China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey, South Africa (CIVETS). The purpose of
the study is to propose some recommendations for practitioners, government and
academia, as well as informing the construction stakeholders of the reoccurring factors
causing failure, and re-evaluate present strategies of overcoming these factors. It is also
anticipated that some of the recommendations proposed would enhance the current and
future projects success rates, which would at least reduce risks relating to project
management knowledge of labour workforce.
The rest of the study is structured as follows: the following section presents an
overview of RM practices in Vietnam and selected BRICS and CIVET countries.
Following the overview is a summary of project failure factors both in Vietnam and
selected BRICS and CIVETS countries. This is followed by methodological approach
adopted for the study, and discussion of the findings. The implications and
recommendations made and conclusions are summarised in the final section.

2. Literature review
2.1 Overview and status of construction project management in Vietnam
There is a plethora of studies pointing to the construction project management-related
problems in Vietnam (Nguyen et al., 2004b; Luu et al., 2008a; Ling et al., 2009; Ling and
Hoang, 2010). By and large, some of the studies have reported on and acknowledged the
situation of poor management in construction projects in emerging countries, including
Vietnam (Luu et al., 2008a). In order to fulfil the second objective of the paper, namely
that of revisiting the factors causing construction failure through identification
and ranking, a literature review of the selected studies published during the period
2004 -2010 was undertaken. The results of this summary are shown in Table I.
The rationale and justification for selecting this time frame of 15 years after
the commencement of the Doi Moi renovation policies in 1986 was to enable the
full implementation and growth of the advocated policies. While the summary in
Table I shows the listing of the factors, the actual findings and nature of the selected
studies are incorporated within the discussion section for the ranking of the critical
factors.
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5,4

400

Table I.
BEPAM

Critical factors

construction projects
causing the failure of
Studiesa,b
ID Critical factors causing the failure 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 No. AF (%) R

1 Poor design capacity and the frequent design changes X X X X X X 6 75 1

2 Financial difficulties of contractor X X X X X 5 63 2
3 Obsolete or unsuitable construction methods X X X X X 5 63 3
4 Incompetence of project team X X X X 4 50 4
5 Poor site management and supervision X X X X 4 50 4
6 Slow payment of completed works X X X X 4 50 4
7 Financial difficulties of owner X X X X 4 50 4
8 Corruption X X X X 4 50 4
9 Bureaucratic administrative system X X X X 4 50 4
10 Interest and inflation rates X X X 3 38 10
11 Lack of accurate historical information X X X 3 38 10
12 Unpredictable government polices and priorities X X X 3 38 10
13 Lack of experience in complex projects X X X 3 38 10
14 Inadequate legal framework X X 2 25 14
15 Incompetent subcontractors X X 2 25 14
16 Slow site handover X X 2 25 14
17 Defective works and reworks X X 2 25 14
18 Owners site clearance difficulties X X 2 25 14
19 Lack of capable owners X X 2 25 14
20 Improper planning and scheduling X X 2 25 14
Total 11 9 5 7 6 13 11 4
Notes: AF, agreed frequency; R, ranking. X implies that the relevant critical factors causing the failure was cited or mentioned in that particular study.
b
Only studies undertaken and published between 2004-2010 were selected, thereby enabling the policies as advocated for within the Doi Moi renovation to be
fully implemented
Sources: aOn selected Vietnamese studies Le-Hoai et al. (2008); Ling and Bui (2010); Ling and Hoang (2010); Ling et al. (2009); Luu et al. (2008a, b); Nguyen
et al. (2004b, 2007)
 Examination of Table I shows that, there are nine critical factors which had been cited Construction
by more than half of the studies reviewed. The highly cited factor was poor design project failure
capacity and the frequent design changes by three-quarters (six) of the studies.
This was followed by half (50 per cent) for bureaucratic administrative systems.
factors

2.2 RM in construction projects in Vietnam and selected BRICS and CIVETS countries
Given the established linkages between RM and project success, the following 401
subsection provides a summary of the studies within the area of RM as conducted in
Vietnam. The majority of the studies conducted focused on delays and cost overruns in
projects; RM implementation (Nguyen et al., 2004a, b, 2007; Le-Hoai et al., 2008; Luu et al.,
2008b). These issues investigated have also attracted the interest of many researchers
and practitioners in BRICS and CIVETS countries. In addition, time and cost constraints
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often occur frequently in developing countries. Vietnam is not an exception (Nguyen

et al., 2007; Le-Hoai et al., 2008). Drawing upon Vietnam and other selected countries as
an example, Le-Hoai et al. (2008) established that, delays and exceeded budgets in
construction projects not only cause loss of financial benefits, but more seriously cause
the decreasing belief of citizens, especially in projects funded by government.
Factors affecting the application of construction project RM practices in Vietnam
have also being investigated (Nguyen et al., 2007). Having identified the listing and
frequency of the factors (see Table I), and a brief summary of RM in Vietnam, the
following subsection seeks to contextualise some of these issues by comparing them to
examples of selected studies drawn from the selected BRICS and CIVETS countries.
The rationale for this summary is to address some of the limitations associated with
focusing this study on Vietnam only. Second, it should also be acknowledged that this
literature review is by no means exhaustive; however, as the context of this study is
Vietnam, there is a need of drawing upon some project management issues, availing the
opportunity for comparative studies with similar emerging economies.
While the focus of this study is more on Vietnam, it is worth pointing out a number
of RM-related studies within the context of BRICS and CIVETS countries (Hassanein
and Afify, 2007; Tabish and Jha, 2011). For example, both studies by Hassanein and
Afify (2007) and Tabish and Jha (2011) studies undertaken within Egypt and India,
respectively, found a correlation between project performance and RM. Limited
project management experience among the survey of contractors was further
identified as a barrier to the identification of risks relevant to construction contracts
(Hassanein and Afify, 2007).

2.3 Review of selected project failure studies within the BRICS and CIVETS countries
The list of the selected comparative studies as drawn from BRICS and CIVETS
countries are summarised in Table II.
It should be acknowledged that while there is a plethora of studies on factors
causing failure of construction projects, this study only focused one CIVETS country,
namely Vietnam. Due to the similarities of these emerging economies, reference is also
made to some of the other studies conducted in those CIVETS countries. In making
the comparisons, the following assumptions as highlighted by Olawale and Sun
(2010, cited in Park and Papadopoulou, 2012) were considered, that:
While causes of cost overruns share common characteristics in projects worldwide, they are
also affected by country-specific conditions (Olawale and Sun, 2010, cited in Park and
Papadopoulou, 2012, p. 197).
 BEPAM Studies/researchersa Country Context Aim of study and findings
5,4
Rwelamila et al. (2012) b, c
South BRICS/ See literature review section
Africa CIVET
Santoso et al. (2003) Indonesia CIVET Aimed at identifying, ranking and categorisation of
high-potential risks in high-rise building projects in
Jakarta. Established the need for the avoidance or
402 reduction of client interference combined with good
communication and teamwork between contractors
and consultants had the potential to minimise defects
Hassanein and Egypt CIVET This study was aimed at identifying the most
Afify (2007) significant risks relevant to construction contracts of
two power station projects in Egypt. One of the notable
finding was that contractors possessing past
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experience in Egypt were far better able to identify the

relevant risks
Liu et al. (2007)d China BRICS This study of general contractors was aimed at
investigating the key issues and challenges in RM and
insurance in the Chinese construction industry. Among
the key challenges identified was lack of experience
and expertise
Tabish and Jha (2011)e India BRICS See literature review section
IIter (2012) Turkey CIVET Among the aims were to identify the impacts of various
dispute factors through empirical analysis of the
associations between dispute factors and categories.
Developed suggestions for various stakeholders
(employers, contractors, consultants and project
managers). Notable among the suggestions for project
managers was defining the project scope
Osabutey et al. (2012) Brazil/ BRICS Provided an overview of human resource development
India in construction. Established that construction skills
could be acquired through informal apprenticeships.
Rwelamila (2012)f Indonesia CIVET See literature review section
Ophiyandri et al. (2013) Indonesia CIVET This study was aimed at investigating the critical
success factors (CSFs) of community-based post-
disaster housing reconstruction projects (CPHRP)
during the pre-construction stage. Among the 12 CSFs
Table II. identified were: good coordination and
Summary of selected communication, sufficient funding availability,
comparative studies implementer capacity
on construction Notes: BRICS, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa; CIVETS, Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam,
project failures and Egypt, Turkey and South Africa. aThe studies are arranged in chronological order; bSouth Africa is
overruns from shown as belonging to both BRICS and CIVETS; c, d, e, fDetailed discussion of the aims and findings
BRICS and CIVETS of the studies can be found within the literature review discussion of the paper. Osabutey et al. (2012)
countries study mentioned other countries such as Brazil, India, Kenya and Mexico

The implication from the Olawale and Sun (2010) study is that, in achieving the third
objective of this current study, the significance attached to the ranking of the factors causing
construction project failure, and RM practices would need to be interpreted within the
prevailing country-specific environment and conditions. For example, as observed by
National Institute for Urban and Rural Planning and Tang (2004), the goals of the economic
reforms initiated in Vietnam in 1986 were aimed at creating a socialist-oriented market
economy which might be different from the prevailing economic policies in other CIVETS
 and BRICS countries, as such the perceptions of the construction stakeholders on of the Construction
importance of RM practices, and of certain factors affecting the projects would be different. project failure
It is also acknowledged that the ability of these emerging economies to benefit from new
technological development varies considerably (Ruddock and Ruddock, 2012). For example,
factors
based on the three levels of technology capacity, China and India are considered as
Scientifically proficient whereas Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia, Turkey and South Africa fall
into the Scientifically developing countries (Ruddock and Ruddock, 2012, p. 35). 403
Closer examination of Tables I and II shows some similarities in the factors causing
construction project failure. For example, the factor of ambiguousness of contractual
terms and conditions (see Table V, ID: 14) has the potential of delaying construction
projects. This can be matched to the observations made by IIters (2012) study within
the context of Turkey which found that careful contractor selection (experience and
technical capability), adversarial approach in handling conflicts and communication
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problems could be used to minimise the aforementioned problems. Similarly, from an

Indonesian context, the underlying reason for the lack of appropriate contract forms is
attributed to the emphasis being based on the convenience of the client organisations as
opposed to balancing the interests of all project participants (Rwelamila, 2012, p. 339).
Second, the critical factor of Lack of effective communication system in
implementation of project (Table V, ID: 09) was among one of the risks identified in a
study conducted by Santoso et al. (2003). The Santoso et al. (2003) study found that,
in order to minimise defects on construction projects, client interference should be avoided
or reduced in tandem with good communication and teamwork between contractors and
consultants. While it is not the overriding purpose to provide a comparative analysis, the
following comparisons are also highlighted.
The recent studies such as Ophiyandri et al. (2013) within Indonesia and focused
on critical success factors (CSFs) of community-based post-disaster housing
reconstruction projects (CPHRP) during the pre-construction stage identified 12
CSFs desirable for the CPHRP. Among the CSFs similar to those reviewed in
Vietnam and shown in Tables II and V were transparency and accountability
(Table V, ID: 17); good coordination and communication which could be argued
aligns with the critical factor of lack of effective communication systems in
implementation of projects (Table V, ID: 09); and appropriate reconstruction
policy/strategy which also aligns with the disregard of the significance of project
planning process and poor project planning (Table V, ID: 07). These challenges and
risks aligns with the critical factor of lack of experience in executing complicated
projects as established in Table V (ID: 02).

3. Research method
The research methodology adopted in this study is similar to that of von Meding et al.
(2013) and Kurniawan et al. (2014, p. 11) and included the following four steps: literature
review; pilot interviews; questionnaire survey; and statistical analysis. The justification
for adopting a mixed methods approach was to increase the reliability and validity of
the research (Easterbrook et al., 2008). The main purpose of the survey was to identify
and rank the revisited factors causing project failure in Vietnam; to examine the level of
importance, and determine the extent of usage and application of RM approaches and
techniques. Part of the interview was to provide feedback on the reoccurrence of
the construction project failure factors, and second, act as a reference for compiling the
survey questionnaire. Recent studies such as Kurniawan et al. (2014) have used such an
approach. The second rationale for conducting interviews was to achieve face validity.
 BEPAM As opined by Lucko and Rojas (2010, p. 127), validation ensured that each phase of the
5,4 chosen research methodology adhered to the highest standards of quality, in addition
to allowing for a richer feedback.

3.1 Measurement instrument

The questionnaire distributed to the respondents comprised of the following four
404 distinct sections:
Section 1 encompassed the general demographics (see Table III).
Section 2 was designed to capture respondents perception of the importance of RM
practices, and identification of the responsibility for managing risk. The level of
agreement of RM importance was measured on a five-point Likert-type scale of 1-5
(with 1 being very unimportant, 2 being unimportant, 3 being neutral, 4 being
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important, and 5 being very important). Thus 3 represented indifference, i.e.

neither important nor unimportant. The second question related to the management
of risk used nominal scale type (yes or no).
Section 3 was associated with the following two RM practices employed:
approaches and standards; and the identification of obstacles, and achievement
of project objectives.
The final Section 4 which forms the bulk of this paper, the respondents were asked to
provide the ranking of each of the 20 critical project failure factors (ID: 1-20), identified
from literature review (Table I) and confirmed by the interviews. The ranking was
based on a sliding scale of severity of extent from 1 to 20 (with 1 being most serious,
and 20 being least serious). The detailed results presented in this paper are focused
on Section 4 dealing with the revisited construction project failure Sections 1 and 2 of
the questionnaire. It was beyond the scope of this study to report on all the findings.

Characteristics Number (frequency) Overall (%)

Organisational characteristics (sector)

Government department 5 11.1
State-owned company 11 24.4
Private company 25 55.6
100% foreign-invested enterprise 3 6.7
Joint venture with foreign company 1 2.2
Organisational position (designation)
General director 1 2.2
Project manager 14 31.1
Consultant 4 8.9
Designer 9 20.0
Site supervisor 11 24.4
Other roles 6 13.3
Length of service in construction industry (years)
Less than 5 years 34 75.6
5-10 5 11.1
Table III. 11-15 4 8.9
Profile of study 16-20 1 2.2
sample More than 20 1 2.2
 3.2 Survey administration Construction
The questionnaire and responses were distributed and received via e-mail. The targeted project failure
key respondents were drawn from the VCI. The characteristics of the respondents
according to the sector, designation and length of experience are summarised in Table III.
factors

3.3 Statistical methods

Quantitative data were analysed using SPSS computer programme version 20.0.0. The 405
procedure of frequencies was applied to the demographics part of the survey.

3.4 Interviews
The interview process was carried out between September and October 2012, and held
in Ho Chi Minh City, the largest city in Vietnam. The duration of the interviewees which
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lasted for 1-1.5 h was undertaken and conducted following five stages as suggested by
Birmingham and Wilkinson (2003, p. 44): draft the interview; pilot the interview
questions; select the interviewees; conduct the interviews; and analyse the interview
data. While it is beyond the scope of this paper to provide detailed information on each
of the stages, the following subsection presents a brief summary of some of the issues
associated with five highlighted stages.
A total of ten semi-structured interviews were conducted. The interviewees were
drawn from industry and academia. In meeting the first stage (see Wilkinson, 2003), a
set of criteria for drafting interview questions was undertaken. This was to ensure that
the questions posed were relevant to the research circumstance, comprehensive, easy to
understand as well as facilitate collecting useful feedback. In view of that, interview
questions were structured in the following distinct sections:
(1) background information;
(2) importance of RM;
(3) practice of RM; and
(4) constraints and risks.
The detailed information as posed in each section are presented and integrated within
the discussions of the findings.
3.4.1 Profile of the interviewees. Table IV presents the profile of the interviewees
according to the designations. The selection criteria for the interviewees are also
included in the footnote.
As can be seen from Table IV, the majority four (40 per cent) of the interviewees were
practicing project managers (interviewees A, B, I, and J). This had the potential of
enhancing the validity of the data as they are people (project managers) who profoundly
understand and provide the essential issues relating to the management of the projects in
practice. Relative to the working experience, the majority (50 per cent) of the interviewees
fell within the five to ten years category whereas an even number, two (20 per cent) were
in the one to five years and 11-15 years categories. Only a minority (one) of the
interviewees had been working in the construction industry for more than 20 years.

4. Characteristics of the sample

Table III shows that the majority of the respondents are private sector, and from
the designation perspective, project managers. Experience wise, the majority (34) of the
respondents (75.6 per cent) had less than five years of working experience within
 BEPAM Intervieweea Position Affiliation
5,4
A Project manager Industry (construction)
B Project manager Industry (construction)
C Project management lecturer Academia (education)
D Consultant Industry (construction)
E Business development manager Industry (construction)
406 F Research and development (R&D) deputy director Industry (construction)
G Deputy director of project committee Industry (construction)
H Planning financial coordinator Industry (construction)
I Project manager Industry (construction)
J Project manager Industry (construction)
Notes: aThe selection criteria of the interviewees were based on the following: respondents who had
ever being involved in managing and executing construction projects with a total budget of $1 million;
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only interviewees located within the largest city in Vietnam, namely Ho Chi Minh City; the types of the
companies that the interviewees were involved with had to be listed as private companies or foreign
organisations operating in the Vietnam construction industry (VCI); commanders of construction
Table IV. projects implementing in Vietnam, and interviewees working for government bodies relating to the
Interviewee profile construction field

the VCI. However, while there is a fair representation of project managers, their
knowledge of project management issues might be affected by the lack of experience.
As demonstrated by McEnrue, there is a positive relationship between the length of a
managers job experience and objective indices of performance. Furthermore, it should
be pointed out that the majority of the state-owned and private organisations lack
requisite professional and managerial competencies to compete with foreign firms and
foreign professionals (Osabutey et al., 2012).

5. Survey results
5.1 Ranking of the critical factors causing construction project failure
In order to achieve the second objective of this study, this section presents a discussion
on the severity of the revisited factors. The total severity ranking scores (TSRS),
mean ranking score (MRS) and severity ranking index (SRI) were computed from the
following expressions.
5.1.1 TSRS:
X
max900
TSRS Wi
min45

where Wi is the TSRS assigned to the factor by the respondents, and r lies from 1 to
20, i.e. 1 o r o 20 (considering that the scale used in the questionnaire was a based on
the severity of extent sliding scale where 1 implies most serious and 20 implies least
serious). As such the minimum possible score that a factor could achieve was 45 (based
on the number of respondents), and the maximum 20 45 900.
5.1.2 MRS. The MRS were computed from the following expressions:
X
20
Wi
MRS
r1
N
 Wi is the TSRS (min 20, max 900) obtained from the first expression; N the total Construction
number of the respondents (45 in this case). project failure
5.1.3 SRI. Based on the MRS, these ranged from 1 to 20. Finally, the SRI was factors
obtained by dividing the MRS with the total number of the critical factors (N 20)
as follows:
P
W 407
SRI
AN

where W is the ranking as assigned by each respondent in a range 1-20, where 1 implies
most serious, and 20 implies least serious; A the highest weight for the ranking (20); and
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N the total number of respondents in the sample (45).

In order to assign some meaning to the categorisation of the construction project
failure factors, the SRI is computed. According to Holt (2014), the MRS (ordinal scale)
does not imply anything apart from the number. As such, the mean values cannot be
used to compare the levels of different categories.
The summary of the computed indices and scores are shown in Table V.

ID Critical factors causing the failure of construction projects TSRS MRS SRI R

07 Disregard of the significance of project planning process and poor

project planning 281 6.24 0.312 1
02 Lack of experience in executing complicated projects 323 7.18 0.359 2
01 Poor design capacity and the frequent design changes 376 8.36 0.418 3
04 Lack of knowledge and ability in managing construction projects 392 8.71 0.436 4
11 Lack of financial capacity of owner 401 8.91 0.446 5
03 Poor performance of contractors/sub-contractors 401 8.91 0.446 5
08 Lack of a systematic approach to manage the project and entire
organisation 424 9.42 0.471 7
18 Corruption and bribery in construction projects 428 9.52 0.476 8
15 Delays in payment 446 9.91 0.496 9
12 Economic volatility and high inflation 470 10.45 0.523 10
06 Ineffectiveness in managing construction site 499 11.09 0.555 11
09 Lack of effective communication system in implementation of projects 506 11.24 0.562 12
14 The ambiguousness of contractual terms and conditions 510 11.33 0.567 13
17 Lack of transparency in procurement process 515 11.44 0.573 14
13 Lack of capacity in forecasting market demand and trend 529 11.76 0.588 15
05 Out-dated construction technology and facility 540 12.00 0.600 16
19 Bureaucratic government system in relation to regulations on project
procedure 566 12.58 0.629 17
10 The ineffectiveness in resolving disputes and conflicts among project
stakeholders 566 12.58 0.629 17
20 The instability and inefficiency of government policies and legal system 592 13.16 0.658 19
16 Low ethics in doing business of project participants 684 15.20 0.761 20
Notes: TSRS, total severity ranking score; MRS, mean ranking score based on the severity of extent sliding Table V.
scale where 1 Most serious, and 20 Least serious; SRI, severity ranking index where the classification is Ranking of critical
categorised into the following five bands of severity: 0.20 very high severity (VHS) 0.360; factors causing
0.360 high severity (HS) 0.520; 0.520 medium severity (MS) 0.680; 0.680 low severity (LS) the failure of
0.840; and 0.840 very low severity (VLS) 1.00; R, ranking based on the frequency of responses construction projects
 BEPAM To further aid the discussion of the importance (based on the severity of the factors),
5,4 the following five categories of severity were assigned based on the following
maximum and minimum values of the SRI (Table V). These values ranged from 0.05 to
1.00 (0.05 very high severity and 1 very low severity). An overall ratio from
a difference of 0.051.0 (0.95) was used further to classify the different levels of severity
(i.e. 0.95/5 0.190). The following degrees of severity thus emerged:
408 0.050 very high severity (VHS) 0.240;
0.240 high severity (HS) 0.430;
0.430 medium severity (MS) 0.620;
0.620 low severity (LS) 0.810; and
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0.810 very low severity (VLS) 1.00.

From the above classification, the SRI value has a range from 0.05 to 1 ( 0.05 not
inclusive), and the lower the SRI, the more significant the construction project failure
factor. The lower bound value of 0.05 for the SRI is the minimum possible score
that could be obtained assuming that all the respondents assigned the value of 1 for the
particular construction project failure factor. A benchmark of 0.430 was used to
identify the most severe construction project failure factors, and as such, only the top
three ranked construction project failure factors are discussed in detail.
5.1.4 Disregard of the significance of project planning process and poor project
planning. Based on the SRI, disregard of the significance of project planning process
was the highest ranked construction project failure factor (Table V: SRI 0.312).
This finding is also consistent with project failure factors within the BRICS and CIVET
countries (Nkado, 2010; Tabish and Jha, 2011; Rwelamila, 2012). For instance, the
studies by Rwelamila (2012) though focused on developing countries included some of
the countries from the CIVETS (Indonesia and Turkey) and BRICS (Brazil and India)
within its research domains. The study identified lack of project budgeting and lack
of project management approach among the challenges from the project demand side.
Similarly, the studies by Nkado (2010) and Tabish and Jha (2011) demonstrated the
linkages between improved overall project performance and the implementation of risk
assessment and management practices. The implications that can be ascertained from
the above finding is that, given the empirical evidence of usage of RM and enhanced
project performance among the CIVETS and BRICS countries, the Vietnamese
construction organisations in their quest to address and mitigate this highly significant
construction project failure factor as identified from previous studies (Table I) and the
descriptive statistics (Table V), should consider proactively engagement of RM
techniques and approaches. For example, the study by Nguyen et al. (2007) referred to
the ineffectiveness of the Vietnamese construction projects as a result of poor
management and inefficient RM application, with many projects failing to meet the
deadline, and spending over. Obviously, the lack of understanding and awareness of
RM can cause adverse impacts on meeting ultimate targets of construction projects.
5.1.5 Lack of experience in executing complicated projects. Lack of experience in
executing complicated projects was the second highest ranked construction project failure
factor (mean score 7.18; SRI 0.359; TSRS 323). Interestingly enough, despite the
higher ranking by the survey respondents, only the agreed frequency of citation of this
factor in previous selected Vietnamese studies was 38 per cent (Table I). However, the
 finding of the revisited study is consistent with literature on construction project failure Construction
factors among CIVETS countries (Liu et al., 2007; Rwelamila, 2012; Hassanein and project failure
Afify, 2007; Shakantu, 2012). For example, the Egyptian (Hassanein and Afify, 2007)
and South African (Shakantu, 2012) studies attributed the poor contractor
factors
capability to manage projects to the lack of experience. Conversely, Rwelamila
(2012, p. 339) identified one of salient challenges facing Indonesia as one of lack of
human capacity and scarcity of knowledgeable project delivery experts to support 409
the implementation of construction projects among the salient issues facing the
performance of construction industries in developing countries. It should further be
highlighted that while the ranking of construction project failure factor might be
skewed by the relatively inexperienced profile of respondents (Table III); the high
severity of the factor is still reinforced by some previous studies in Vietnam
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(Table III) and the selected comparative studies from BRICS and CIVETS (Table II).
5.1.6 Poor design capacity and the frequent design changes. Poor design capacity
and the frequent design changes was the third ranked factor construction project
failure factor (MRS 8.36; SRI 0.418; TSRS 376). The importance of this factor is
further demonstrated by its frequency of citation in previous studies undertaken in
Vietnam (Table I), and has continued to affect the construction projects in Vietnam as
evidenced by previous studies (Le-Hoai et al., 2008; Luu et al., 2008a, b; Ling and Bui,
2010; Ling et al., 2009; Ling and Hoang, 2012).
5.1.7 Ranking of other construction project failure factors. Based on the MRS and
SRI, lack of knowledge and ability in managing the construction projects was the fourth
highest ranked. The implication of this finding is that despite the importance of project
management education in increasing the knowledge of the Vietnamese stakeholders, the
training of human resources for the VCI still remains problematic. This is further evidenced
by previous studies in Vietnam (Ling et al., 2009; Ling and Bui, 2010; Luu et al., 2008b). The
comparative studies on BRICS and CIVETS countries also drew similar findings. The fifth
jointly ranked factors were lack of knowledge and ability in managing the construction
projects and lack of financial capacity of owner. This finding is also consistent with
project failure factors literature on Vietnam (Ling et al., 2009) and within the BRICS and
CIVET countries (Hassanein and Afify, 2007; Shakantu, 2012). For example, Ling et al.
(2009) found that, Vietnamese construction companies are lagging behind foreign
companies not only in management capability, but also in financial capacity, experience in
complex projects, knowledge in advanced design and construction technology.
Based on the SRI, some interesting findings emerged. These two factors, corruption
and bribery in construction projects (SRI 0.476), and bureaucratic government
system in relation to regulations on project procedures (SRI 0.629) though were
ranked eighth and 17th, respectively, deserve to be singled out due to their importance
to the VCI and the BRICS and CIVET countries. Previous studies within the CIVETS
and BRICS countries have highlighted both factors as areas of concern (Nguyen et al.,
2004b; Ling and Hoang, 2010; Ofori, 2012; Rwelamila, 2012). One plausible
explanation for the improved ranking of corruption and bribery in construction
projects could be attributed to Vietnams involvement in the construction sector
transparency initiative (CoST) principles between 2008 and 2010. This CoST
initiative was designed to increase transparency and accountability in public-sector-
construction projects (Ofori, 2012). However, as opined by Ofori (2012, p. 83), in the
construction industry, ethics, professionalism and best practice are also words one
hears frequently these days.
 BEPAM Further evidence of the contradiction results regarding the factor of bureaucratic
5,4 government system in relation to regulations on project procedures are provided by
Ling et al. (2009) and Ling and Hoang (2010) studies. Both highlighted the weaknesses
with the legal system in Vietnam. For example, Ling et al. (2009) identified some of
the problems as complicated and burdensome regulatory procedures which caused
severe difficulties and confusion for both local and foreign practitioners. However, the
410 interpretation of these findings should be treated with caution due to potential of the
bias. As can be seen from Table III, nearly a quarter (24.4 per cent) of the respondents
was drawn from the government departments and state-owned companies. As such,
there might be inflated responses from government officials about the highlighted
two factors.

5.2 RM practices in construction projects

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In order to meet the first objective of the study, namely to investigate the RM
practices issues associated with construction projects in Vietnam, a number of
questions related to the importance, awareness and usage of RM were posed to both
the survey respondents and interviewees. The following sub-section presents
a summary of the findings.
5.2.1 Importance of RM. Based on the overall mean score (MS 4.556), the
respondents perception on the importance of RM was found to be very high.
The higher rating was distributed as follows: the majority 26 (57.7 per cent) of the
respondents rated this as very important, whereas 18 (40.0 per cent) rated this as
important. Only a minority, one (2.2 per cent) were neutral. This finding is highly
relevant given the linkages between effective RM practices and improved project
performance. The consequence of risks in Vietnam construction projects is similar to
common situations of construction projects worldwide (Hassanein and Afify, 2007).
5.2.2 Adoption and usage of RM practices. However, despite the high levels of
awareness of the importance of RM, this had not translated to the adoption and usage of
the techniques among the survey respondents and those interviewed. Totally, 50 per cent
of the survey respondents reported to have used RM approaches in managing their
projects. According to interviewee A, the importance of RM was overshadowed by
the difficulties associated with its application in practice. In addition, the following
challenges still existed: lack of project management capabilities; RM knowledge of
participants in managing construction projects; and stagnation of the management
system in the organisations. The findings from the interviews are also consistent with
RM studies in BRICS and CIVET countries (Li et al., 2007; Zou et al., 2010; Nkado, 2010;
Hassanein and Afify, 2007; Tabish and Jha, 2011; Wang and Yuan, 2011). For instance,
the Egypt study by Hassanein and Afify (2007) identified the contractors possessing
past experience as better placed to identify the relevant risk. Similarly, in China, Li et al.
(2007) singled out the cultural issues, whereas Li et al. (2007) highlighted the difficulties
with managing the awareness and attitude to risks. Furthermore, risk attitude has been
identified to be influenced by the experience of the practitioners (Wang and Yuan,
2011), thus highlighting the potential problems for VCI (Table III).
It was established from the interviewees that, their organisations lacked the
systematic approach to managing risk due to lack of knowledge and experience.
This was evident in the case of interviewee A and attributed the lack of expertise and
knowledge to his organisation failure to create a systematic approach to managing
risk through usage of tools and techniques. In contrast, interviewee J acknowledged the
 progress made towards RM implementation. Some positive aspects of managing risks Construction
were further acknowledged by 50 per cent of the interviewees who identified project failure
insurance contracts for accidents during the project implementation phase as a way
to manage to risk.
factors
5.2.3 Responsibility for managing risk. Nearly half of the survey respondents
acknowledged having a department or individual responsible for RM. Interestingly,
despite this acknowledgement, the majority of the interviewees could not describe the 411
processes associated with the systematically management of risks during the project
duration. Some of the interviewees attributed this failure to the senior managements
lack of recognition of the benefits of RM. As observed by interviewee A, most the
leaders of the organisations did not recognise the benefits of RM. Rather, they executed
the projects until extreme risks occurred thereby leading to failure of projects and not
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meeting some of the project objectives.

The implications to be drawn from the above survey and interviews findings are
that, there is a lack of a systematic and efficient RM system application.

6. Recommendations
Drawing upon the approach used by Ling and Nguyen (2013) in providing
recommendations on waste management in Vietnam, some of the highly ranked
construction project failure factors (Table V), and prevailing best practices and strategies
found in BRICS and CIVETS countries (Table II), the following recommendations for
practitioners, government and academia in Vietnam are offered relative to the top ranked
construction project failure factors, and issues surrounding the awareness, usage and
adoption of RM parctices.

6.1 Strategies for effective project planning processes

Table V shows that one of the significant factors causing construction project failure
is the disregard of the significance of project planning process and poor project
planning (ID: 07). For practitioners, the following recommendation is offered: there is
a need for Vietnamese construction-related organisations to establish a continuous
and systematic approach to managing risk in their entire organisations and projects.
For academia, there is a need for integrating and reinforcing the project management
principles within the curriculum across institutions of higher learning. The government
equally has a role to play as it could support the development of professional agencies
of project management. These agencies would have the responsibility for providing
training courses of project management body of knowledge. There is also scope
of adopting some of the prevailing best practices, strategies and lesson learned
found in BRICS and CIVETS countries (Table II) and tailoring them for the unique
Vietnam context.

6.2 Strategies for improving knowledge for executing complicated projects

Table III highlighted the relative inexperienced group of practitioners. This was
reaffirmed by the higher ranking given to the factor of lack of experience in executing
complicated projects (Table V). The government and industry stakeholders
(practitioners) within the VCI should consider putting in training programmes for
informal trained workforce to access formal training so as to acquire proper skills.
Second, for the government, practitioners and other stakeholders such as academia, as
pointed out by Osabutey et al. (2012), there is a need for enhanced collaboration among
 BEPAM these parties for the development of training programmes aimed at project management
5,4 issues. This will contribute to mitigating the identified critical construction project failure
factor of lack of experience in executing complicated projects (Tables I and V).
Furthermore, this would ensure that people getting involved in managing projects are
educated or trained about project management in general and RM in particular.
Similarly, from BRICS and CIVETS countries, such as China, among the recommended
412 best practices for mitigating this factor is associated with the close monitoring of the
local contractors (Ling and Hoang, 2012).

6.3 Strategies relating to the design capacity

The results in Table V shows that poor design capacity and the frequent design
changes was the third ranked critical factor affecting construction project failure.
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Previous studies in VCI also highlighted the significance of this ongoing challenge
(Table I) given the higher frequency of citation. Previous studies such as Ling and
Hoang (2012) recommended the adoption of appropriate procurement approaches by
the contractors, such as design and build would minimise late design changes.
The rationale being that the full responsibility for both design-and-build would be
transferred to the relevant stakeholders, such as the contractors.

6.4 Strategies relating to increased aware, adoption and usage of RM practices

Both the quantitative and qualitative study confirmed that, despite the increasing
awareness of the importance of RM approaches, there a limited usage of the principles.
The emergent recommendations range from an increased awareness campaign
of both the impact and benefits of RM on construction projects. Second, in order to
improve and enhance their competence in construction project management,
practitioners are encouraged to have a concerted effort in specialising in risk
assessment and management practices is required. Finally, for researchers and
practitioners, the following recommendations are further suggested. Researchers are
encouraged to investigate the application of RM techniques in each phase of project
life cycle, thereby enhancing the applicability in practice of managing construction
projects. Second, given the proliferation of state-owned respondents within this
sample, future studies should be extended to investigate the typical construction
project failure factors across different types of organisations, especially private
companies, 100 per cent foreign invested enterprise and joint venture with foreign
company. Practitioners are encouraged to identify and develop RM strategies for
each of specific cases mentioned above.

7. Conclusion
By adopting a mixed methods approach through the provision of the feedback on the
reoccurring construction project failure factors, and analysing the questionnaire
survey, this has re-affirmed that the factors causing construction project failure have
not abated. Based on the generated statistics and categorisation of severity (Table V),
the following three factors were identified as critical (SRI 0.430): disregard of the
significance of project planning process and poor project planning, lack of experience in
executing complicated projects, and poor design capacity and the frequent design
changes. A comparison with other selected studies from the BRICS and CIVETS
countries (Table II) drew similar findings. The quantitative study further revealed
some interesting findings with the following construction project failure factors
 considered as the less severe: the ineffectiveness in resolving disputes and conflicts Construction
among project stakeholders; the instability and inefficiency of government policies and project failure
legal system; and low ethics in doing business of project participants. While strides
have been made in acknowledging the importance of RM practices, only half of the
factors
respondents used RM approaches in managing their projects. This suggests that,
regardless of the advocated and noted benefits of systematic RM (Zou et al., 2010),
the adoption and usage of the RM concept continues to draw little attention for 413
construction projects in Vietnam.

7.1 Contributions and implications for research, practice and society

One of the main contributions of this study lies in the opportunities provided by
revisiting the critical factors causing project failure in Vietnam. This has the
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potential for the realignment the strategies for addressing project failure factors and
learning from comparative studies in BRICS and CIVETS countries, as well as
re-thinking the prevailing strategies post Doi Moi renovation. The second
contribution lies within the proposed levels of classification of the severity of
construction project failure factors in VCI. The proposed indices such as SRI, MRS,
and TSRS as computed (Table V) could help the practitioners to gain a better
understanding of the extent of severity of the construction project failure factors.
By enhancing their knowledge regarding the severity, appropriate strategies for
overcoming them could thus be developed.
There are a number of ways in which this research has implications for research,
practice and society. First, practitioners and stakeholders can use the findings for
developing appropriate strategies in overcoming the project failure factors. By drawing
upon some best practice from CIVETS and BRICS countries, the identified and
revisited project failure factors could be used as a road map for the re-development of
appropriate project management practices, such as RM techniques.
Second, given the lack of awareness and limited usage of RM practices and
approaches, practitioners can map the existing levels awareness of RM practices with
usage among the construction stakeholders within the VCI, and identify the best
practices from corresponding BRICS and CIVETS countries.

7.2 Limitations and further studies

While the study makes several contributions to project management theory and
practice, some limitations should be noted. The majority of the survey respondents
were inexperienced with less than five years of service (Table III). Due to this, there is
a possibility of bias role in the outcome of the study as experienced practitioners tend to
be more rational and cautious when ranking the construction project failure factors.
In terms of further studies, first, the usage of RM techniques could also be ascertained
among more experienced practitioners. Finally, future comparative studies on RM and
construction project failure factors within BRICS and CIVETS countries should
take into consideration the individual different levels of technology capacity of the
countries. This has the potential of presenting conflicting results given their different
capabilities and opportunities in addressing the identified construction project failure
factors, and usage of technology to support RM practices. For researchers, in light of
the identified limitation, avenues for future studies are generated. These could be
employed to explore the influence of age (level of experience) of the stakeholders on the
perceptions of RM practices and construction project failure factors.
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About the authors

Tan Phat Nguyen is an MSc in Project Management from the School of Natural and Built
Environments, University of South Australia. Currently Tan Phat is employed as a Project
Manager with the Viet Tan Trading Service and Construction Company in Gia Lai Province,
Vietnam.
Dr Nicholas Chileshe is a Senior Lecturer in Construction and Project Management in the
School of Natural and Built Environment at the University of South Australia. He is also
the Research Education and Portfolio Leader and the Program Director responsible for the
Doctorate in Project Management. Nicholas obtained his PhD in Construction Management from
the Sheffield Hallam University in 2004. Dr Chileshe is also a Fellow of the Chartered Association
of Building Engineers (FCABE), a Chartered Building Engineer (C Build E), a Fellow of the
Australian Institute of Building (FAIB), a Fellow of the Association of Building Engineers
(FEBng), a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), a Member of the Chartered
Institute of Management (MICM), and a Member of the Australian Institute of Project
Management (MAIPM). Nicholass ongoing professional involvement includes membership and
Chair of the Australasian Education Committee, and the CIOB International Accreditation Panel;
and as acted as PhD External Examiner for Universities in South Africa and Australia. He also
regularly reviews proposals for the National Research Foundation (NRF) in South Africa, and the
Higher Education Academy (UK). His current research interests include total quality management,
sustainability, reverse logistics, construction management, risk and value management, project
management and project success. Dr Nicholas Chileshe is the corresponding author and can be
contacted at: Nicholas.Chileshe@unisa.edu.au

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