MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS OF REMOTE CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS AND POTENTIAL IT SOLUTIONS; THE CASE OF KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA

Remote projects have their unique problems that are caused mainly by the remoteness of the project itself thus the loose control over communications and management. This is due to a number of reasons such as lack of management skills, human resources and infrastructure. Little research was undertaken particularly in the gulf region regarding this issue and it has highlighted few unique communications and management problems. This paper investigates the current problems that the Saudi Electric Company (SEC), Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) experiences regarding the management of its' remote construction sites. It discusses the opinions of contractors and the SEC's supervision teams regarding the weaknesses in the present communications and management practices. The study found systematic project management problems that have profound negative impact on remote projects' performance and process. The paper suggests that some of these problems can be sorted out by the use of Advanced Computer based Management Systems (ACMS) and these would improve some project management practices. However, organizational barriers may hinder the potentiality of these systems thus changes to the organization's management system and practices should be carried out to achieve full benefits.