Case Study: Kabera Residential Property Development in Rwanda

Kabera Residential Property Development (KRPD) is a medium sized fast - growing construction company that has an ambitious plan to expand its business in Kigali the capital city of Rwanda as a result of the significant economic growth. This has resulted in a number of global and African companies setting up offices in Kigali, which in turn has increased the demand for good quality single-family homes and town homes. Further, KRPD has entered a joint venture with a Chinese construction firm which has provided a much-needed capital injection and construction expertise.

It has been 2 years since KRPD has entered a joint venture with the Chinese construction firm and both parties consider the joint venture to be a success. The number and size of construction projects they have been awarded and delivered successfully have exceeded their expectations, which has resulted in rapid growth. Its significant growth and good reputation for building quality single-family homes and town homes presents both challenges and opportunities. KRPD has considered various options to expand its operations whilst retaining its focus on managing resources effectively and efficiently, to increase profits and market share.

Once a mid-sized company, KRPD has expanded its business to maximum capacity in Rwanda, as the economies of other Rwandese cities outside of Kigali are too small. Therefore, the firm's growth strategy is to expand into the East African region, targeting much more economically active countries like Kenya and Tanzania. The Chinese construction firm fully supports this growth strategy and has already provided additional capital and leveraged its already existing networks and businesses in Kenya and Tanzania to bolster this regional expansion. To date, KRPD has acquired one of the top 5 construction companies in Kenya, and part of the acquisition terms was to integrate two of the former owners and directors of the Kenya firm, as part of the KRPD executive team.

KRPD's has a functional organisation structure and given the nature of its projects and its recent regional acquisition, KRPD is considering either a projectised or matrix organisational structure. With its focus on maintaining high quality in its construction tasks and end product, as well as quality assurance in implementing project management processes, the company is actively considering a combination of the Define Measure Analyse Improve Control (DMAIC) model with a construction project life cycle model.

Since organisational culture plays an important role in sustaining and promoting efficiency, which in turn is influenced by the organisational structure, KRPD is highly committed to employee development and functional expertise through training, mentoring and collaborative learning, across project teams in both countries.

Based on the case study:

(i) Which type of organisation structure is more suitable as KRPD integrates the newly acquired construction firm in Kenya?

(ii)What advice would you give to KRPD for a successful transition towards a project-oriented organisation structure, creating an environment for successful projects?