Case study- Hazelton International Data analysis Construction projects require meticulous planning and system thinking to enhance successful project implementation and development. System thinking enables project managers to divide construction projects into manageable parts to enhance effective management and completion through a well synchronized manner. In this case, Hazelton International, a consulting engineering company was engaged in the road construction project in Tola Island in Asia. The company is tasked with designing, construction, and supervision of the construction of the 245km highway along the Western coast of Tola Island from Ladawan in the South to Maralinga in the North as part of the Soronga’s development plans aimed at enhancing the communication and transportation sector. Hazelton International works alongside the local government highway department as the advisor on design and engineering aspects, as well as training the locals on the same. The Sorongan Highway Department (SHD), a government department is tasked with the actual road construction. However, based on the information provided, the project seems to be plagued with myriad of problems that have derailed its progress. These problems include technical problems, differing objectives, budgeting process, and intercultural relations. Hazelton International plans to send twenty two expatriates that will include engineers, highway designers, operators, and mechanics. These expatriates will come as advisors on technical aspects of the road construction and maintenance of equipment. Also, the training will utilize formal classroom instructions and a counterparts’ system, where every Sorongan engineer will be attached to an expatriate engineer. This strategy was to ensure that by the time this company withdraws its staff after four years, the Sorongan engineers should be ready to take over. The project’s deadline is five years, with Hazelton withdrawing at the end of the fourth year and the will cost $3.26 million, the fifth largest project that this company has executed. Moreover, based on the information provided in this case, there are various limits and constraints that continue to derail the progress of this project as expected. For instance, Hazelton International was tasked with the supervision role but lacks control over the local staff hired by the SHD because of the force account. Because of the lack of control, the local employees who were tasked with the actual construction hardly followed instructions, thus performing poorly in their roles. The inefficiency of this local staff contributed significantly in derailing the project. This aspect explains why Hazelton International has been working on this project for the last two years, but only 17 km out of the 245 km are under the construction process. Furthermore, the SHD’s classified this project as a merely betterment project that only required to be better than what was there before, thus compromising workers’ work ethics. Also, the fact that the company adopted on-job training method, training had to commence only when the road construction starts. Moreover, the adopted budgeting process was also a hindrance to the successful completition of this project. The government department conducted budgeting on yearly basis instead of doing it for the project period, making it inflexible and susceptible to the volatile oil prices. Furthermore, the Sorongan managers kept on reassigning job to other individuals randomly, hampering counterpart training. Poor supervision at low operational and mechanical levels also made it difficult to have a synchronized effort. Furthermore, weather also contributed to derailing this project as workers’ productivity was low durcuturing rainy season. Religion was another factor that affected the project, especially during the Ramadan holiday. Part 2: Additional research instructions and questions for completing the Hazelton case assignment D. Hofstede’s insights for Indonesia Figure: Hofstede’s insights for Indonesia Source: https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country/indonesia/ The primary stakeholders that Anderson is working with include the SHD, the staff which includes Tola people and Hazelton personnel, and the partners in the consortium. The interest of the people of Tola is to have just a better road that can last for years. However, Anderson’s interest is to construct an exemplary road that he can be proud of. In this respect, a conflict is likely to arise between Anderson and the Tolanese people regarding the quality of their work. Anderson will demand workers to do their work to perfection, a direction Tolanese employees are likely to rebuff, as perfection is not in their culture. Furthermore, the SHD’s interest is to bring counterpart staff for training and then taking control of the project. However, it continues to direct this project poorly, failing to give direction to the staff. Furthermore, SHD’s manager hardly visits the construction site, which compromises the work ethics of other local workers. Work ethics and synchronization of activities are some of the principles that Anderson holds and which could heighten conflict between him and the SHD’s manager. Based on Hofstede’s insights above, it shows that Indonesians are dependent on hierarchy and accepts unequal rights between non-power holders and power holders. Power is centralized and leaders expect total obedience from their team leaders. On the other hand, Anderson is an easy-going person who operates in restrained suggestions instead of engaging in confrontational demands. Consequently, local employees may hardly follow his instructions because he’s not firm and authoritative, thus creating conflict between Anderson and counterpart staff. Concerning individualism, Indonesia has a score of 14, meaning it is a collectivist society, where people conform to the societal ideals. This aspect means that Indonesians work better in teams rather than as individuals. Coming from highly individualistic society, Anderson may struggle to get high output from counterpart staff if he insists on assigning them roles as individuals.
