THE CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES OF USING PROJECT MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM (PMIS) IN THE CASE OF ETHIOPIAN WOMEN’S LAWYERS ASSOCIATION (EWLA)

Abstract

Today the use of project management information system is one of the major and influential factors in the timely and successful implementation of projects so that by making proper flow of information to the managers such as project managers and executive managers help to the proper and timely implementation of projects. But, an Organization has many opportunities and challenges simultaneously. The aim of this paper is to extend the line of knowledge about the current challenges and opportunities of using Project Management Information System in the case of a non-profit women's advocacy group the Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association (EWLA). To do so the researcher conducted an extensive review literature in the field of PMIS to identify critical challenges of the EWLA to be alleviated and the current opportunities of the EWLA to be exploited. The paper assessed the current challenges and opportunities of the EWLA. The primary data will be collected using semi-closed ended questionnaires from project managers, project coordinators, regional coordinators and administrative staff of this organization. The sample size was 67 with 74.44% response rate. The secondary data were collected from organization‟ annual reports and publications, from various publications of EWLA and from other related books. The findings of the paper indicate that lack of system integration, multi-project capability, and precision of information are the current challenges of using PMIS in EWLA. On the other hand improvement of productivity at work, increase in quality of decisions, reduction of the time required for decision-making, reduction of the time required to complete a task, improve control of activities cost, better management of budgets, improve planning of activities, better monitoring of activities, more efficient resource allocation and better monitoring of the project schedule are the opportunities using PMIS in EWLA. Finally, the paper gives recommendations to overcome the challenges and exploit the existing opportunities of the Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association (EWLA).