Sustainable research platform at the University of Botswana

Abstract

The Project Management Section at the University of Botswana has been undergoing a test to transform the section from an education based faculty to a research based faculty. The test was initiated by a Fulbright Scholar (FS) from the Performance Based Studies Research Group (PBSRG), bringing a new research model, a new risk management (RM)/project management (PM) model, and a concept of a research based graduate education that had been very successful at PBSRG. They proposed increasing the level of research activity of the UB PM section by merging the graduate MPM program and the industry research effort. They proposed using a research based graduate program, treating the graduate students from industry as a resource instead of a student, and their organizations as a potential testing laboratory. The mechanism to make the effort a success is the very powerful technology of the Performance Information Procurement System (PIPS) and the deductive logic of the Information Measurement Theory (IMT). This paper captures the case study results and future potential of the concept, highlighting the operational model to sustain the research platform in an underdeveloped country in a resource starved environment.