scholarly journals Four stages of making project management flexible: insight, importance, implementation and improvement

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 2117-2136
Author(s):  
Afshin Jalali Sohi ◽  
Marian Bosch-Rekveldt ◽  
Marcel Hertogh
Keyword(s):  
Project Management ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Management Practice ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Practical Method ◽  
Project Performance ◽  
Main Question ◽  
Project Complexity ◽  
Project Phases ◽  
Management Flexibility

Abstract Increased project complexity, project dynamics and changes in clients’ requirements are a few examples that suggest the necessity for flexibility in project management in order to deliver successful projects. Despite the fact that literature suggests adding flexibility to project management, there is no existing framework that provides a practical method for adding flexibility into the practice of project management in the construction industry. Therefore, this research is aimed at proposing a practical framework that helps practitioners in embedding project management flexibility into their project management practice. The research question is as follows: how to embed flexibility in the practice of project management in the early project phases? To answer the research question, four sub-questions have been formulated, which have been separately researched. The main question is answered by proposing a flexibility framework. This framework comprises four stages: understanding the current situation, practitioners’ perspectives on flexible project management, choosing enablers to become flexible and applying selected enablers to improve project performance. The framework is validated using the examples given by practitioners from 24 cases. Considering the movements towards flexibility and adaptability concepts, this research fills the gap in literature by providing a practical framework for project management flexibility. Moreover, it provides a step-by-step guideline for practitioners to embed flexibility in practice.

scholarly journals Does flexibility in project management in early project phases contribute positively to end-project performance?

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Afshin Jalali Sohi ◽  
Marian Bosch-Rekveldt ◽  
Marcel Hertogh
Keyword(s):  
Project Management ◽  
Project Performance ◽  
Mediating Effect ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Project Complexity ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Project Phases ◽  
Management Flexibility

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study the effect of project management flexibility in early project phases on end-project performance including its mediating role on the effect of complexity over project performance. Design/methodology/approach Out of 13 hypotheses, 6 hypotheses regarding the relationships between areas of flexibility and project performance, 1 regarding the effect of complexity on performance and 6 other hypotheses regarding the mediating effect of six areas of flexibility were formulated. Statistical analysis was performed using partial least squares–structural equation modeling on data gathered from 111 surveys. Findings Research results revealed that flexibility of “how-attitude” and “how-organization” has positive significant effects on project performance. “How-attitude” contributes to the flexibility of project management processes by having an “open attitude,” “wide approach” and “proactive attitude” while “how-organization” put the emphasis of flexibility on “facilitate planning,” “outer organization” and “inner organization.” Moreover, this research confirmed that complexity has a negative effect on project performance. Among the six areas of flexibility, flexibility of “how-organization” mediates the effect of complexity on project performance. Originality/value The increased project complexity requires some degree of flexibility in project management to deal with project dynamics. However, whether such flexibility in early project phases has an effect on end-project performance has not been empirically investigated. This research contributes to filling the gap in literature about the relationship between project management flexibility and project performance. Such effect was investigated by studying the direct effect of flexibility on project performance and the mediating role of flexibility on the negative effect of project complexity on project performance.

scholarly journals Socio-Organo Complexity, Project Schedule Performance and Underdamped Transient Motion

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Dimitris N. Antoniadis
Keyword(s):  
Project Management ◽  
Control Systems ◽  
Project Performance ◽  
Project Schedule ◽  
Management Processes ◽  
Project Complexity ◽  
And Performance ◽  
And Control ◽  
Made In ◽  
Main Factor

Complexity is an inherent property of all systems and a result of interconnections. In projects various systems come together to deliver the required outcome(s). The most common type of project complexity mentioned / considered in practice is the technical complexity and this has always been considered a main factor which affects project performance. Despite that, projects are delivered by people who interface ontinuously and therefore are effected by complexity, and in particular that caused by socio-organo interfaces and the boundaries between the various teams and parties. This has not been investigated. ocio-organo complexity leads to reduction in performance if interconnections are not managed. Research has been carried out to understand the effects of complexity through project management processes on project schedule and performance, aiming towards the development of a tool and identification of actions that will enable the management of these effects. The author presents results of five case studies, which demonstrate that socio-organo complexity affects performance and these results have similarities with the behaviour of underdamped control systems. The results have significant implications on the way socioorganisational complexity can be managed, how processes are implemented, but also enable parallels to be drawn between the fields of project management and control systems. Considering control systems theory proposals are made in this paper for actions to be taken which will contribute towards the management of the effects of socio-organo complexity on projects.

IMPLEMENTING CONTRACTOR KNOW-HOW IN EARLY PHASES OF COMPLEX INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lena Paar ◽  
Cornelia Ninaus ◽  
Detlef Heck
Keyword(s):  
Project Management ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Construction Projects ◽  
Construction Project ◽  
Infrastructure Projects ◽  
Know How ◽  
New Approaches ◽  
European Guidelines ◽  
Project Phases ◽  
Early Phases

The importance of bringing contractor know-how into early construction project phases has long been recognized by the construction industry. Although experts and practitioners have considered new forms of procurement and management for construction projects, no significant solutions have been identified until now. It should be mentioned in this context that the Austrian government initiated the implementation of a new procurement approach in 2015 by reducing the opportunity for public clients to award the contract to the bid with the lowest price in conformity with the European guidelines. Austria's infrastructure industry is thus seeking new approaches that are able to implement the know-how of all parties involved in a project. The aim of this paper is to identify possibilities for early contractor involvement and its potential for optimizing the project management in the Austrian infrastructure industry.

scholarly journals Critical Strategies to Influence Project Success in Construction Industry

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 1170-1178
Author(s):  
Muhammad Hafizi Danial ◽  
◽  
Mohd Saidin Misnan ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Project Management ◽  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Project Success ◽  
Management Practice ◽  
Top Management ◽  
Project Implementation ◽  
Management Support ◽  
Top Management Support

: This research paper explored the critical strategies to be adopted by organizations that are mainly operating based on project based or project oriented organizational structure. The identified strategies are necessary to compensate the prolong issues embedded in project management practice particularly on misalignment issues between organization and its operational objectives and strategies. Generally, the issues are contributed from several factors such as unclear roles and responsibilities, limited autonomy and accountability, lack of a commercial and customer orientation, and weak of professional capacity. All these factors are extending the gap between the organization strategies and project implementation, and consequently put project success at stake. This study was conducted as an attempt to provide solutions to overcome these long rooted problems found in project implementation. The objectives of this study are to identify the importance factors of top management support to influence on project success, to investigate the relationship between top management support and project success, and to determine the critical top management support that influencing project success. This study was conducted by going through five main steps starting with understanding the nature of the research problems, followed with reviewing and compiling relevant literatures, journals and other sources of secondary data, preparing survey questionnaire form, collecting the data by gathering responses from the targeted samples, analysing the data to generalize the samples’ results, before closing with discussion and conclusion. The population of this study are constituted of professional serving in Construction Industry within Johor Bahru area, Malaysia. This study had gathered 100 responses from the targeted respondents through online survey form developed in “Google Form” system. The forms were distributed by forwarding the “link address” to the respondents. The data were analyzed using three different methods which are descriptive mean analysis, correlation analysis and regression analysis for respective research’s objectives. The results of this study discovered that organization should prioritize their strategies on three main areas namely financial system, stakeholder management and macro-economic factor. This study also found that organization should adopt all quality of top management supportive behaviours proportionally to ensure the effect of their actions are impactful to influence on project success at three different areas namely future preparation, project efficiency, and business adaptability and success. Organization should adopt different strategies when attempting to achieve different criteria of project success. This study’s outcomes could provide a useful source of information that may benefit other scholars or companies that are applying project management practice to formulate plan and prioritize line of actions in attempt to improve their organizational performance. This study implies ideas by focusing on optimum numbers of strategies and specific set of actions that are critical to achieve on different kind of project success.

scholarly journals Critical Strategies to Influence Project Success in Construction Industry

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 1170-1178
Keyword(s):  
Project Management ◽  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Project Success ◽  
Management Practice ◽  
Top Management ◽  
Project Implementation ◽  
Management Support ◽  
Top Management Support

This research paper explored the critical strategies to be adopted by organizations that are mainly operating based on project based or project oriented organizational structure. The identified strategies are necessary to compensate the prolong issues embedded in project management practice particularly on misalignment issues between organization and its operational objectives and strategies. Generally, the issues are contributed from several factors such as unclear roles and responsibilities, limited autonomy and accountability, lack of a commercial and customer orientation, and weak of professional capacity. All these factors are extending the gap between the organization strategies and project implementation, and consequently put project success at stake. This study was conducted as an attempt to provide solutions to overcome these long rooted problems found in project implementation. The objectives of this study are to identify the importance factors of top management support to influence on project success, to investigate the relationship between top management support and project success, and to determine the critical top management support that influencing project success. This study was conducted by going through five main steps starting with understanding the nature of the research problems, followed with reviewing and compiling relevant literatures, journals and other sources of secondary data, preparing survey questionnaire form, collecting the data by gathering responses from the targeted samples, analysing the data to generalize the samples’ results, before closing with discussion and conclusion. The population of this study are constituted of professional serving in Construction Industry within Johor Bahru area, Malaysia. This study had gathered 100 responses from the targeted respondents through online survey form developed in “Google Form” system. The forms were distributed by forwarding the “link address” to the respondents. The data were analyzed using three different methods which are descriptive mean analysis, correlation analysis and regression analysis for respective research’s objectives. The results of this study discovered that organization should prioritize their strategies on three main areas namely financial system, stakeholder management and macro-economic factor. This study also found that organization should adopt all quality of top management supportive behaviours proportionally to ensure the effect of their actions are impactful to influence on project success at three different areas namely future preparation, project efficiency, and business adaptability and success. Organization should adopt different strategies when attempting to achieve different criteria of project success. This study’s outcomes could provide a useful source of information that may benefit other scholars or companies that are applying project management practice to formulate plan and prioritize line of actions in attempt to improve their organizational performance. This study implies ideas by focusing on optimum numbers of strategies and specific set of actions that are critical to achieve on different kind of project success.

An early-stage project complexity assessment tool for the AEC industry

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paulo Vaz-Serra ◽  
Peter Edwards ◽  
Guillermo Aranda-Mena
Keyword(s):  
Project Management ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Management Practice ◽  
Assessment Model ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Complex Projects ◽  
Project Complexity ◽  
Complexity Assessment

Purpose Complex projects require careful management. They may expose stakeholders to greater risks and place additional demands upon resources. In the initial stages of project development, however, little may be known about the nature and magnitude of such complexity. This paper aims to ensure that this gap is at least subjectively assessed and addressed. Design/methodology/approach Research, using focus group workshops with a convenience sample of construction professionals, was carried out to test the validity of a Project Early Stage Complexity Assessment Tool (PESCAT). The PESCAT concept brings together selected complexity theories and uses subjectively based measures for assessment. Findings The findings confirm that an early-stage project complexity assessment tool is practicable and can contribute to project management practice in the construction industry. It should be applied by individual project stakeholders using small teams of experienced staff. PESCAT explores project complexity through “filter” sets of perspective factors which should be customised to reflect the stakeholder’s role and processes in a project. Originality/value In the initial complexity assessment model, resolution space and uncertainty were tested as project complexity parameters. However, in subsequent versions of the tool, four measures (differentiation and differentiation uncertainty; interdependency and interdependency uncertainty) are used in an innovative way that focuses users’ attention more clearly and points to a more targeted approach for addressing project complexity. The value of our model lies in its practical application and the project management benefits it can deliver.

Construction Project Performance: Inhibiting Factors for Stakeholder

2021 ◽  
Vol 107 ◽  
pp. 209-214
Author(s):  
Chikezirim Okoroafor ◽  
Ayodeji Olatunji Aiyetan
Keyword(s):  
Project Management ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Time Management ◽  
Construction Material ◽  
Construction Project ◽  
Construction Materials ◽  
Project Performance ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
Construction Machinery ◽  
Under Performing

Globally, the construction industry is a catalyst for economic development. This is because it is the bedrock for economic activities. Over the years, the construction industry has been criticised for under-performing which brings about a decline in productivity. In order to improve construction project performance for infrastructural delivery, there are factors to be considered, inter alia, construction material related factors, construction machinery related factors, and project management related factors. In achieving this objective, a questionnaire survey was expedited to purposive practioners to evaluate the relative importance index of these factors. The paper reveals that in the category of construction material related factors, unsuitable locations for material and late delivery of construction materials topped the list with a MS value of 4.53 and 4.15, respectively; in the category of construction machinery related factors, poor maintenance of tools and machinery and difficulties in hiring construction tools and machinery topped the list with a MS value of 4.54 and 4.50, respectively; while in the category of project management related factors, efficient time management and project quality management topped the list with a MS value of 4.83 and 4.70, respectively. In addition, performance improvement factors were also highlighted.

Assessing the use of ICT systems and their impact on construction project performance in the Nigerian construction industry

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 252-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dubem Isaac Ikediashi ◽  
Amaka Chinweude Ogwueleka
Keyword(s):  
Construction Industry ◽  
Communication Systems ◽  
Word Processing ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
Management Practice ◽  
Project Performance ◽  
Accounting Systems ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Frequency Of Use ◽  
Ict Infrastructure

Purpose The use of information and communication technology (ICT) for business processes has witnessed exponential growth over the past two decades. This paper aims to explore the level of use of ICT infrastructure in the Nigerian construction industry and analyse the implications for construction management practice. Design/methodology/approach Using quantitative questionnaire survey, data from 148 respondents were analysed with the help of descriptive and inferential statistics as well as multiple regression analysis. Findings Findings establish project managers, site managers and quantity surveyors as the primary users of ICT with regards to the variety of ICT devices in the Nigerian construction industry, while the foremen are the least users. Besides, word processing/accounting systems, electronic communication systems and project management systems are the three top rated in terms of frequency of use, while quality as well as cost impacts of ICT infrastructure use are established as the most important factors contributing to overall project performance. Originality/value The study establishes causal relationships between ICT infrastructure use and project performance within the context of Nigeria’s construction industry.

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