Abstract:

The focus of the honours year of study is on the business of construction, and the traditional project-oriented integrated two-semester project was superseded by the business plan project (BPP) in 2015. The Honours BPP is intended to develop strategic planning and entrepreneurial skills, and ultimately to develop Honours students’ ability to ‘initiate’ and ‘close out’ a project, which is the essence of construction project management.

The purpose of the study reported on is to determine the impact of the two-semester BPP in terms of enhancing knowledge, skills, and understanding and appreciation of the functions in an organisation, functions and activities of management work, the project parameters, the construction process and its activities, and ultimately, the business of construction.
A quantitative approach, which entailed the completion of a nine-question self-administered questionnaire after the final phase and submission of part two of the project, determined the students’ perceptions. The questionnaire consisted of eight closed-ended Likert scale type questions, and an open-ended question.

The salient findings include - the BPP contributed mostly to: an increase in knowledge relative to entrepreneurship, human resources, management (business), and planning (strategic); an increase in planning, entrepreneurial, marketing, costing, and written communicating skills; an improvement in understanding and appreciation of the financial, procurement, human resources, and public relations functions, and an improvement in understanding and appreciation of the business of construction or related, and the relationship between the business of construction or related and projects.

It can be concluded that: the BPP had the desired impact in terms of the objectives of the project, an improvement in understanding and appreciation of the business of construction, and the development of entrepreneurial and strategic planning skills; there is a need to simulate entrepreneurship, strategic planning, and the management of the business of construction; the BPP enhanced understanding of the relationship between the business of construction and projects, and the BPP contributed to the integration of subjects in the respective undergraduate and honours programmes, and the integration of the undergraduate and honours programmes.

Recommendations include: the BPP must remain a feature of the Honours programme; students must be encouraged to consider more non-traditional construction-related businesses; the impact of the BPP must be assessed on an annual basis, and project should be a major feature of the construction management undergraduate and honours programmes.

Keywords:

Business, Construction Management, Honours Students, Plan.