This dissertation reports an investigation into the factors constraining the development ofudprofessional project managers in small and medium sized (SME) construction enterprises inudSouth Africa.udThe 2011 census results revealed that South Africa is faced with a number of economicudchallenges including high levels of unemployment, low levels of investment, income distributionudinequality and lack of skills development. In order to address these challenges, the South Africanudgovernment promulgated the Skills Development Act [No. 97 of 1998] with the aim of improvingudskilled workforce competency as well as providing appropriate education and training.udThe South African government has identified that to achieve overall economic benefit, theuddevelopment of Small and Medium- Sized Construction Enterprises is to be focused on. This isudfor the reason that they make up about sixty- three percent (63%) of the construction contractorsudin the country.udProject managers have been identified to play a vital role in the delivery of construction projects.udThe insufficient development of professional project managers in the construction industry have resulted in poor workmanship, cost overruns, time delays and overall performance deficiencies.udAs a result of these identified problem areas, the investigation of factors constraining theuddevelopment of professional project managers was achieved through the development of audquestionnaire to collect the data from seventeen (17) SME contractors registered with theudConstruction Industry Development Board. The data were collected using close-ended questions,udrating questions as well as open- ended questions within the questionnaire. After this process,udthe data were analyzed through the use of categorization of data and graphs to compare dataudcollected.udThe findings revealed that SMEs face financial constraints that ultimately results in lack ofudinvestment on improving the skills and competence of practising project managers. As a result,udthere is lack of professional development due to lack of education and training. This essentiallyudaffects effective administering of project management tools and techniques to manageudconstruction projects.udThe research concludes that there is need to fully implement the Skills Development Act withinudthe construction industry, to encourage professional managers to register with professionaludproject management associations so as to acquire the knowledge, skills and competencies toudmanage construction projects competently. The small and medium sized construction enterprises should formulate and implement policies to allocate resources to carry out training of projectudmanagers periodically to ensure they acquire the knowledge areas necessary to effectively implement project management in the delivery of construction projects.
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