EVALUATING OPTIMISM BIAS IN PLANNING PROCESS OF MEGA CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS OF DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Abstract

Projects play a pivotal role in the development of societies by driving progress and growth. However, the potential benefits of projects are often hindered by challenges such as exceeding budgets, resulting in increased costs and compromised quality. Despite extensive research on project management tools and techniques, there has been limited substantial improvement in project performance statistics. This has led to a scholarly debate exploring alternative solutions that depart from traditional technical reasons for project failures, incorporating concepts from behavioral sciences. This emphasizes the need to consider optimism bias, a psychological effect, as one of the root causes for delays and cost overruns in projects. There is a dire need to assess the level of bias among project participants, rank the causes of project time, cost, and quality failures, and establish a mitigation strategy to address potential delays, cost overruns, and quality failures. By addressing optimism bias and its impact on project performance, this research aims to enhance the understanding of factors affecting project outcomes and contribute to effective project management practices