PROJECT MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND
CHALLENGES IN ETHIO TELECOM
COMPANY IN SWAAZ (SOUTH WESTERN
ADDIS ABABA ZONE) DISTRICT
BIRUKAB TENKIR
ADVISOR, ASS.PRO.
ALEBACHEW GOSHM
SELECT COLLEGE
Background of the Study
Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, techniques and tools to align
resources and achieve the objectives of the sponsors within specific constraints of cost,
time, and quality. Formal project management techniques have become important in
telecommunication services because of four main factors. First, telecommunication
services have been unbundled as a consequence of regulatory and technological changes,
as well as increased outsourcing. Thus, many independent entities need to cooperate
despite opposing and conflicting agendas. Second, the planning and development of
infrastructure projects typically last several years and may involve up to several thousand
persons from many suppliers. Third, there are now many forms of telecommunication
services, ranging from basic telephony using wire line or wireless access, to Internet or
broadband services. Finally, new services must fit within an environment defined by
already existing technical and organizational legacies. Thus, the introduction of new
products is typically constrained by diverse factors such as legislation, standards,
embedded customer base, interconnectivity agreements with other operators, etc. Clearly,
telecommunications are an exceptional member of the family of industrial processes in the
area of information processing.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Project management practices are important in telecommunication services a proper
management of projects is necessary for successful implementation of these massive
efforts.
Now days many projects take long time because of misnomer of project management
practices and improper handling of challenges which occurred while practicing projects.
Some problems which lead me for this study are
Infrastructural problem: Some organizations are unfamiliar with their existing
infrastructure. They are afflicted with ‘’I don’t know what I have, or where it is’’. this
makes everything from simple maintenance to expansion. For example, infrastructures
which are built by Ethiopian electricity utility are not suitable for ethio telecom. The lack
of accurate readily accessible documentation makes it possible to maintain and enhance
their infrastructure in a responsive, reliable and cost-effective way. When efforts are made
to resolve this problem the excessive costs in employee resource and software. Most of
which are wasted because of lack of process and ‘’know –how ‘’typically dooms these
efforts to failure.
Not identifying hindrances on time which occurred during project.
Falling outside of the scope of the project.
RESEARCH QUESTION OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
What type of hindrance can occur To study the project
during one project?
management practices and
challenges in Ethio telecom.
What are the main project
management practices?
To asses project management
practices in Ethio telecom.
How to avoid the challenges?
To identify the main
challenges to successfully
implement the project.
LITERATURE REVIEW
THEORETICAL EMPHIRICAL
Traditionally, training was considered to
Addisalem Bekele (2017), Tried to assess the Implementation of
be job-focused, limited to the technical
skills and abilities needed by public
Project Portfolio Management and Its Challenges:explained that,
employees to perform specific tasks.
As such, it’s been differentiated from when maturity of PPM of an organization increases, capability to
education, which was considered broader
in scope, more oriented toward a range of handle and prevents the different challenges of PPM increases and
future jobs and generally provided by
institutions of higher learning. This reaping of all the benefits of PPM practice can be achieved,
translates into better financial
performance for the business
BezawitBerhanu (2017) tried to assess the project implementation
practice of entrepreneur and business growth project implemented
by digital opportunity trust organization in Addis Ababa.
LITERATURE REVIEW cont...
And found that a number of
factors accounted for
challenging the project such
as: unrealistic expectations
from the project by the
beneficiaries, lack of users,
lack of resources, unrealistic
project time frames, frequent
change of project requirements
and specifications, and also
challenges from government
regulations and rules were
found to account as
challenging factors.
RESEARCH GAPS
The implication of this study will fill the gap of telebirr service to improve employee
performance in order to increase the productivity of the company and to fulfill the
gap in open communication between the employee of telebirr service and the
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
Research Methodology
Research design
Descriptive research design was adopted to undertake this study. Descriptive research
design is typically concerned with describing the characteristics of a phenomenon. It can
be used for the purpose of estimates of the proportions of a population that have these
characteristics (Cooper and Schindler, 2014).
Sample size
To stick with good statistical validity, the study used a representative sample size.
A representative sample size of 88 respondents was taken from employees who are
involved in planning, implementation and control of the project.
In this study, Purposive sampling technique was used to select study participants in
order to get the right respondents who are capable of giving the relevant and
accurate information based on the practical experience they have regarding the
issues under study.
Methods of data collection
Research Methodology continued..
Data Collection techniques
The main research instrument used for this study will be the questionnaire. Under the
demographic section variables such as age of the respondent, gender and highest
educational level were asked. The sections contain reliability, empathy, assurance,
tangibles and used a five point Likert Scale where respondents were asked to indicate the
extent to which they agree/disagree with various statements. The Five-Point Likert’s scale
having the ratings of “strongly disagree” (1) and “strongly agree” (5) were used.
Data Analysis Methods
After the data collected from, primary sources through questionnaires, and the results
will be analyzed using SPSS and presented using and the collected data been organized in
terms of frequency, percentage, charts, and correlation. The results obtained from the
analysis of data is interpreted and documented.
Reliability of scale
For the purpose of measuring internal consistency of the scales, Cronbach‘s alpha
coefficient of correlation is used. This coefficient is a model of internal consistency,
based on the average inter-item correlation, unlike other types of models. Hence, those
scaled items in the questionnaire is found to be reliable and valid, the instrument for this
study contains 16 items that are in a Likert scale type.
The training practice has 7 items, the development practice has 9 items and the
Cronbach’s alpha values for all the variables considered are greater than 0.6 and this
indicates that the items in each of the domains are well understood by the respondents
so that to meet the consistency reliability of the instrument the questionnarry will first
distribute to the 200 respondents and the Cronbach alpha will be found to be in the
Discussion of findings
In terms of the demographic representation, female represented 53.75% while male 46.25% meaning that
Telebirr service as an organization takes consideration of the gender balance. In terms of the levels of
education, the company hires competent staff. With regards to the years of service, majority of the staff
have been employed between 2 to 5 years and are in the age of this implies a good employee
performance energy as most young workers are to learn, build their experience and apply their skill in
the workforce.
In terms of the quality of the training, majority of the rated it as strongly agree and agree. This in turn is
an indication of a training programme that has clear objectives, relevant, clear means of delivery and
which motivates the employees. Ordinarily as an organization trains its staff on key operational initiatives,
it is expected that skills, competencies and job know how is developed. With training in place employees
are able to operate at optimum capacity which in turn translates into process efficiency, product ealization
thus leading to improved revenue collections. Institutionalization of training as a discipline where policies
and procedure that are evaluated are in place, employees are empowered towards their day to day works.
Discussion of findings continued
Training rationalizes employees to undertake their work effectively and in a more efficient manner. In doing so
services and products are enhanced and customer satisfaction is guaranteed. It is also evident from the
results that majority of the employees feel motivated to work after training. This is significant because
motivation generally seeks to boost employee‘s morale to work hard and thus increase productivity.
Finally, the study attempted to establish a relationship between training and development and employees
performance. The findings are that many of the respondents feel motivated by the training offered, and
indeed performance has improved after the training in terms of achievement and improvement of their
job skills.
However, it was established that the respondents do not feel training has offered them opportunity to
identify potentials for further and personal development. This is in line with the objectives stated in the staff
training policy that opportunities will be given to employees as necessary for more training and
development program to improve their role and performance to their duties. Armstrong (2003) all
organizations are concerned with what should be done to achieve sustainable high level of performance
through people. While Price (2005) states that managing employee performance every day is the key to an
effective performance improvement committed to involve in the HRD process which are curial in integrating
the training and development activities to the strategic process.
CONCLUSION
Overall, the study used Telebirr as a case study to examine the impact of training and
development on employee performance and to present conclusions and recommendations.
Ethiopian Telecom will need to take action to improve its training and development efforts
and ensure that the necessary procedures are followed.
The research's conclusions showed that the nature of Ethiopian telecom's job is largely
influenced by market and customer dynamics, contemporary technology, as well as novel
and different products and services. Due to the rapid customer satisfaction and the need to
outperform the competition from other telecom firms that are anticipated to enter the market
soon, ongoing training and development of its human resource are necessary and essential.
According to the study's findings, Telebirr has a well-established policy of investing in the
training and development of its personnel, but the procedures are not being followed as they
should be. These abilities must be acquired by workers who understand the need for a
mindset shift and want to grow personally through formal education in order to adopt
contemporary technology advancements
RECOMMENDATION
First, identifying training needs should be done more professionally in collaboration with
the line manager, the participants, and the HR staff.
Second, Telebirr service should view learning, training, and development, as well as the
goals, strategies, and evaluation of training, as a continuous process for the survival and
growth of the company. The goal of organizational career planning is to align a person's
professional goals with the opportunities offered by the business.
Thirdly, both management and employees must bear an equal portion of the
responsibility for career management for it to be successful in the Telco industry. In order
to understand what training and development requirements are necessary for a specific
career, employees must first establish their goals and skills. This is done through
counseling. Planning for development and succession will be crucial. Each employee
should have access to projection plans for career advancement and training &
development.
Acknowledgment
I would like to express my honest and heartfelt gratitude
to my mother and my sister for their supports and
encouragement throughout my study directly or indirectly.
My special gratitude goes to my advisor DR. Chala
dechasa who tirelessly through his effort, experience,
expertise and initiative guided me through the whole
process. This paper would never have been completed
without his support.
Finally, I would like to give glory to God for all of limitless
and for giving me the strength, vigor, courage and
success.
