THE USE OF DIGITAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS BY PROJECT BUSINESSES: A CASE STUDY OF A SELECTED PLATINUM MINE IN THE LIMPOPO PROVINCE

<i>Ethical Clearance</i><i> reference number: </i>2020FOBREC758<br><br> The purpose of this study was to investigate the awareness and adoption levels of digital project management solutions by project businesses at a selected platinum mine in the Limpopo Province. The study further investigated their project management challenges. It examined the impediments of adoption and the readiness of project businesses that had not yet adopted digital project management solutions, to adopt these solutions. The quantitative research survey was distributed and emailed to project businesses at a selected mine in the Limpopo Province, where 110 project businesses participated in this study. SPSS v26.0 software was utilised to process data. The study revealed that the level of awareness of digital project management tools is higher than the level of adoption. It was found that project businesses that have not employed digital project management tools experience several internal challenges, while external challenges were faced by various project businesses. This study identified several barriers which affected project businesses that had not employed digital project management tools, for example, lack of knowledge and the high costs associated with the use of digital project management solutions. These barriers were also identified as factors that affected the readiness of project businesses to adopt digital project management tools. <br> The study proposed several recommendations, including that software developers should consider integrating their software packages with external systems that could enhance project management processes. It was further recommended that the South African mining sector should set a minimum standard requirement of project management training and the South African business development agencies should consider offering ongoing training programmes that are focused on digitalisation and knowledge building in the discipline of project management.

<i>伦理审查（Ethical Clearance）</i><i>编号：</i>2020FOBREC758<br><br>本研究旨在调查林波波省某选定铂矿的项目企业对数字化项目管理解决方案的认知与采用水平，并进一步探究其项目管理面临的各类挑战。研究同时考察了尚未采用数字化项目管理解决方案的项目企业所面临的采用障碍，以及这类企业采用此类解决方案的准备度。本研究采用定量研究调查法，向林波波省该选定铂矿的项目企业发放并电邮调查问卷，最终共有110家项目企业参与本次研究。本研究使用SPSS v26.0软件对数据进行处理。研究结果显示，数字化项目管理工具的认知水平高于其实际采用水平。研究发现，尚未使用数字化项目管理工具的项目企业面临多项内部挑战，而各类项目企业则均面临外部挑战。本研究明确了若干影响未使用数字化项目管理工具的项目企业的障碍因素，例如相关知识匮乏以及使用数字化项目管理解决方案所需的高额成本，这些障碍同时也被证实是影响项目企业采用数字化项目管理工具准备度的关键因素。<br><br>本研究提出多项针对性建议：软件开发商应考虑将其软件包与可优化项目管理流程的外部系统进行集成；此外，建议南非矿业行业设定项目管理培训的最低标准要求，南非企业发展机构应考虑推出聚焦项目管理领域数字化转型与知识建设的持续性培训项目。