Application of Project-Management Maturity for Indian Defence Construction: A Review of Current Procedures and Preliminary Analysis Towards an Improved Framework

Indian defence construction works are delivered through detailed procedures for planning, tendering and contract administration by Military Engineer Services (MES). The existence of detailed procedures does not imply that sound project management practices are being applied and continued improvement achieved in performance from project to project. This interim paper reviews project management maturity models, construction-specific maturity studies, research on knowledgemanagement in organisations, the Defence Works Procedure (DWP) 2020, the IAFW-2249 contract conditions and public United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) guidance as a comparator. The paper asks what maturity assessment questions should be applied for MES and examined in detail as an initial step towards framing a workable maturity-based framework for this organisation. The review has focused on research relevant to the particular organisational and working environment of MES. Anonymised selected data keeping in view of the security restrictions which gives general indication towards the maturity dimensions has been collated for purpose of review. These indicators provide starting evidence to be tested in detail during Stage II of research and do not prove organisational immaturity in this Stage. The paper proposes nine identifiable candidate capability dimensions which are to be examined for evolving a final maturity-based framework and outlines proposed steps for next research stage.