Ozturk, A (2010) Management of trans-boundary mega-projects in the post-cold war Eurasia: The case studies of GAP water and Baku-Ceyhan pipeline projects. PhD thesis, Keele University, UK.
Abstract
This study is an endeavour to contribute to both the project management discipline and to the development agenda of post-Cold War Eurasia. It addresses a frequently observed question in project management discipline: why do projects usually have unexpected outcomes, seldom reach original targets in cost and schedule, or fail as a whole? It aims to provide verifiable answers to these recurring problems, and contribute to the literature on project management in an international context. As such, it focuses on geopolitical factors that affect the choice and the performance of trans-boundary projects. The study first provides a brief and informative analysis on projects in general, and on common management problems in their design and implementation. I point out the tendency in the literature to overlook the vulnerability of trans-boundary projects to political and other human disputes in which several actors such as states, international institutions, commercial entities, local communities and Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) may take part. Thereafter, the study examines the situation in post-Cold War Eurasia by investigating two trans-boundary mega-projects. One of the case studies provides an analysis of the Baku-Ceyhan Pipeline Project (BTCP) that has been carried out in a geopolitical environment beset with domestic and international political disputes and with commercial rivalries. This project environment has produced a politicised trans-boundary project rather than a commercial one. The analysis of the entire process behind selecting BTCP as the main export pipeline for Azeri oil suggests the project is not efficient from an economic viewpoint. The other case study (the South-Eastern Anatolian Project – GAP) investigates Turkey’s mega project experience in the well-known trans-boundary water basin of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. The GAP Project has been a fiery issue between Turkey, Syria and Iraq. This case study suggests that a tarnishing and ominous international political environment and other external obstacles have so far had a noticeable negative impact on the performance of the project.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | commercial; disputes; export; government; performance; pipeline; case studies; case study; Iraq; Syria; Turkey |
| Index terms: | Turkey, project management, war, case study, export, Syria, non-governmental organization, dispute, vulnerability, pipeline, implementation, pipeline construction |
| Subjects: | political science, environmental hazards, civil engineering, dispute resolution, infrastructure and transport systems, data collection methods, project management theory and practice, contractual arrangements, political and administrative geography, conflict and crisis studies, economic analysis, Geography |
| Topics: | Procurement, Engineering Principles, Sustainability, Research Practice, Legal Issues, Project Management, Business Strategy, Geographical Context, Governance |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCE |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here