Factors Causing Project Cost Overrun in the Telecommunications Industry in Oman

Abstract

Several studies have been carried out to investigate the causes of project cost overrun in different industries worldwide. This paper reports on the results of a study investigating the factors causing project cost overrun in Oman. Data required for this study were collected from 44 project engineers and managers of client and contracting companies involved in telecommunications projects. According to the analysis of results, 14 out of 37 factors are identified as major causes of project cost overrun. While most of the identified factors could affect any types of projects carried out in any country, one of the factors, namely lengthy tendering process might be unique to the projects carried out in Oman. Moreover, this study investigates the association between company size in terms of number of employees and causes of project cost overrun. The results show that there is no strong evidence to suggest that the causes of cost overrun differ significantly according to company size.