Professor Rodney Howes, 1943–2005

Strategic IT implementation decisions for major construction projects in Hong Kong are subject to various forces or factors identified in previous research—such as external forces, technological factors and organizational factors. The aim of this research was to examine the relationship (if any) between these families of forces and evaluate their impact, individually and collectively. A complex combination of several families of forces/factors that affect decision making was found to be ‘temporal’ with respect to project teams on major projects in Hong Kong. The research was underpinned by a broad questionnaire survey to establish ‘current practice’ before in‐depth analysis of the forces by means of a case study followed by interviews with industry leaders to confirm the results. It was found that respondents (n = 33) ordered cost, security and confidentiality as the most influential factors affecting IT implementation. A difference was found in the perceptions of ‘hired‐in’ project‐based staff in joint ventures and ‘permanent staff’ of single companies, the former evaluating IT performance more highly but evaluating the strategic use of, and user satisfaction with, IT significantly lower. The major constraint on IT implementation was found to be lack of budget, not cost per se. It is concluded that the temporal factors that apply to implementing innovative IT technology in project teams are relevant to different team members at different stages in the project life cycle and these factors are conditioned by a set of business conditions applying to project‐specific coalition organizations that are different from those that apply to single‐entity organizations.     

In search of 'project chemistry'

The paper aims to provide a language and a conceptual toolkit to deepen our understanding of the impact of relational and social issues on the success of construction projects. Building on several streams of literature, as well as on individual and group interviews with construction practitioners, the paper develops the notion of ‘project chemistry’ as a way of capturing some of the relational and behavioural dimensions and factors that may affect project success and effectiveness in construction. The paper introduces a provisional theoretical framework that (a) identifies a number of external and project level determinants of ‘project chemistry’, (b) suggests ways of measuring how and how well people interact, perceive, and work together in a project, and (c) relates these issues to broader economic and technical factors. The paper concludes with some reflections on the implications and challenges for future research and management practices raised by the notion of ‘project chemistry’.     

A framework for evaluating the safety performance of construction contractors

Improvements to contracting organisations’ safety standards could inevitably be helped by continuous monitoring and review of their safety performance. To achieve this, an objective Safety Performance Evaluation (SPE) framework is a prerequisite. Although various methods of SPE have been proposed, a more comprehensive SPE framework which takes into account factors pertinent to an organisation and its project has yet to be realised. In this paper, the importance of SPE factors is examined through a questionnaire survey conducted in Hong Kong. The results of the questionnaire survey are used to develop a SPE framework suitable for use in the construction industry and protocols for evaluating the safety performance at the organisational and project levels. Through this analytical framework, SPE scores can be computed which would facilitate the benchmarking process and various initiatives to improve the safety performance of construction contractors.     

Design error management: interaction of people,organisation and the project environment in construction

Design errors can have a negative impact on the cost, schedule and safety performance of construction projects. They can also have an adverse effect on an organisation's profitability, as additional work requires resources and time to rectify the error that has occurred. The reduction (i.e. measures designed to limit the occurrence of failures) and containment (i.e. measures designed to increase the detection and accelerate the recovery of errors) of design errors can therefore ameliorate organisational and project performance as well as improve safety. A systemic framework that classifies design error reduction and containment strategies according to people, organisation and project is propagated. It is suggested that when people, organisational and project strategies are implemented, incongruence then the propensity for design error reduction will significantly increase. The proposed framework can be used as a point for reference for implementing error management strategies to anticipate for ‘what might go wrong’ in construction projects.     

Relationships between project governance and information technology governance and their impact on project performance

This research endeavors to address the question of how to enhance project performance through exploring the relationships among information technology (IT) governance, project governance and project performance. The research utilizes an empirical survey methodology. The survey of 533 working professionals in various industries renders 282 usable responses or a response rate of 53.91%. The results suggest that both IT governance and project governance have a positive impact on project performance. Moreover, we found that three dimensions of IT governance (i.e., strategy setting, value delivery, and performance management) are positively associated with project performance while all three dimensions of project governance (i.e., portfolio direction, project sponsorship as well as project effectiveness & efficiency, and disclosure & reporting) are positively associated with project performance. Additionally, the alignment between IT governance and project governance is also found to be positively associated with project performance. These findings provide evidence to project management professionals in regard to IT governance and project governance being part of the operational strategy in facilitating the success of projects. It also demonstrates the importance of the alignment strategy between IT governance and project governance in enhancing project performance.     

Performance management in construction: a conceptual framework

This paper presents a review of the literature on performance management and measurement in various industries with the aim of transferring best practice into construction. A framework is presented which ensures that effective strategies are deployed to form the performance management system that construction organizations can adopt. The performance measurement process (conceptual) framework (PMPF) adopts the balanced scorecard (BSC) with the addition of a number of elements and perspectives. It rationalizes the relationships between performance measures and goals derived from strategy, so the impact of those measures on an organization's performance can be examined and analysed to indicate potential areas for improvement     

Shared and fragmented understandings in interorganizational IT project teams: An interpretive case study

Shared understanding is essential in interorganizational projects to integrate the divergent knowledge of individual team members and support collaborative knowledge building. This can nevertheless be a challenging undertaking in interorganizational projects as team members must continuously negotiate differences in their organizational and professional backgrounds during project work. In this paper, we explore how interorganizational IT project teams deal with sources of ‘fragmentation’ in their understanding, explicating the theoretical and practical implications that these have for project management. Our study is needed to explore the increasingly complex and emergent nature of interorganizational project management today where neither goals nor the means of attainment are known with precision at a project's launch. We analyze interpretive case study findings from an 8-month IT project involving diverse organizations from industry, academia, and healthcare. Based on our findings, we develop a framework which highlights the relationship between three sources of fragmentation of understanding (interpersonal, technical, and contextual) across key project activities. We contribute towards project management literature by revealing how these sources of fragmentation might be overcome through framing project activities (the problem, method, and solution formulation) differently. While fragmentation may characterize any, or all, of these key activities, it is not without remedy.     

A competency‐based performance model for construction project managers

The role of competency‐based performance management is growing in significance in many industries and sectors. Unlike functional competences, which measure performance against predetermined minimum occupational standards, competency‐based systems are founded on the key behavioural competencies that underlie superior levels of performance. In order to identify the key behaviours leading to performance excellence amongst construction project managers, in‐depth behavioural event interviews were used in which managers were asked to recount critical management incidents, decisions and actions from which their behavioural competencies could be identified. By delineating the sample according to their performance against a range of role‐based criteria, the competencies defining superior management performance were determined. Statistical techniques were then used to develop a model that can be used to predict likely employee performance, which was subsequently validated on a second criterion sample. The research identifies 12 core behavioural competencies that underpin effective project management performance, of which two – ‘composure’ and ‘team leadership’ – were the most predictive. The paper explores the potential role and application of the framework in the drive for performance excellence within the industry, such as in selection, management development, succession planning, performance management and team deployment. It is argued that it offers an innovative alternative to normative micro‐competence‐based approaches that do little to engender performance excellence amongst the industry's key managers and professionals.     

Generic and specific IT training: a process protocol model for construction

This paper considers the generic processes involved in structuring an information technology (IT) training strategy to meet a construction organization's business strategy. It identifies and discusses how generic and specific IT training needs can be affected by the availability and priority of resources, type of organizational infrastructure, degree of management commitment, and prevailing level of culture. It goes on to discuss the principles of the capability maturity model (CMM), developed at Carnegie Mellon University, and the concepts of the process protocol (PP), developed by Salford University. It builds upon these approaches to analyse the key sequential stages and links needed to satisfy (or close) the ‘performance gap’ between the business strategy and the IT training strategy. An IT training model is presented the remit of which can help managers assess the impact of IT training on their organization's business strategy.     

Developing a procurement path determination chart SEM-based approach

The choice of an appropriate procurement system is crucial to construction project success. Procurement selection is largely based on path determination charts, with at least eight key criteria needing to be weighted by decision-makers. Including certain criteria whilst ignoring client-borne transaction costs (TCs) resulting from environmental uncertainties simplifies this process. TCs are ‘unseen’ costs associated with pre- and post-contract work. The effects of uncertainties in the transaction environment and procurement systems on TCs are investigated, comparing the traditional and design-build procurement systems. A cross-sectional sample approach was deployed, involving survey questionnaire and results verification through ‘real-world’ cases. Data was sought from construction professionals in management, design and operation of construction projects. The research participants evaluate their time spent on procurement activities using a five-point Likert scale. Hypotheses of the relations between environmental uncertainties, procurement systems, and pre- and post-contract TCs are tested using a structural equation modelling (SEM) approach. The study found that TCs account for about 46.75% and 42.88% of the daily time spent by project managers in traditional and design-build procurement systems in New Zealand respectively. The study concludes that the TC concept is a useful framework for determining objective instead of subjective opinions for procurement decisions.     

ISO 9000 certification and construction project performance: The Malaysian experience

Purpose

This paper explores the relationship between an ISO 9000 certified quality management system (QMS) and elements of performance in construction project environments.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey based approach is used to collect data from project managers working in the Malaysian construction sector in both ISO 9000 certified and non-certified organisations. Three elements of performance are explored: project management (PM) practices, financial management (FM) practices and Project Success. The Project Management Performance Assessment model (PMPA) (Bryde, 2003) is used as the framework for assessing PM Practices. 336 completed questionnaires are analysed, with a group of 73 being from ISO 9000 certified companies (a response rate of 48.3%) and a group of 262 being from non-certified companies (response rate = 32.6%). MANOVA are used to explore differences in levels of performance between the two groups.

Findings

Overall there is significance difference in mean scores at the 5% level in respect of each of the PM and FM Practice elements of performance, indicating that ISO 9000 certified companies have enhanced levels of performance in their project environments compared to those in non-certified companies. The two exceptions are the PM Practice related to establishing partnerships and managing resources and the FM Practice related to allowing for inflation and price escalations. The results also indicate that ISO 9000 certification has a positive moderating effect on the casual relationship between PM Practices and Project Success. Based on the survey results a Project Management Performance Assessment for Construction (PMPAC) model is developed, which extends the PMPA to include performance enablers linked to financial management activities.

Research limitations/implications

The survey focuses on the construction sector in Malaysia and further work is required to see if the findings are applicable to other countries and also to other business sectors beyond the construction sector.

Originality/value

The research reported in this paper is original in that prior research into the link of ISO 9000 certification and dimensions of organizational performance has not explicitly focused on project environments. The research findings provide evidence that those seeking to enhance their project performance could gain benefits from developing a QMS and seeking ISO 9000 accreditation. However the finding also indicate that an approach to performance management based solely on establishing a certified QMS may have its limitations in terms of establishing processes for managing the relationships on a project through partnership approaches and in dealing with uncertainty in the external environment, such as price fluctuations. The PMPAC model presented in this paper provides a framework for those working in construction project environments to ensure their project management systems incorporate the key activities that enable better performance.     

Implementing ‘Site BIM’: A case study of ICT innovation on a large hospital project

Numerous Building Information Modelling (BIM) tools are well established and potentially beneficial in certain uses. However, issues of adoption and implementation persist, particularly for on-site use of BIM tools in the construction phase. We describe an empirical case-study of the implementation of an innovative ‘Site BIM’ system on a major hospital construction project. The main contractor on the project developed BIM-enabled tools to allow site workers using mobile tablet personal computers to access design information and to capture work quality and progress data on-site. Accounts show that ‘Site BIM’, while judged to be successful and actively supporting users, was delivered through an exploratory and emergent development process of informal prototyping. Technical IT skills were adopted into the construction project through personal relationships and arrangements rather than formal processes. Implementation was driven by construction project employees rather than controlled centrally by the corporate IT function.     

IT project management control and the Control Objectives for IT and related Technology (CobiT) framework

Motivated by scarce academic consideration of project management control frameworks, this article explores usage, value and structure of frameworks with a focus on the popular Control Objectives for IT and related Technology (CobiT) construct. We attempt to add to an empirically validated structure of internal control over IT project management by including CobiT's views on the intended domain of content. Results from the empirical survey indicate that the metrics suggested by CobiT are regarded as feasible and important by project management professionals, and are regularly used in controlling practice. Experience, regularity of significant projects and the size of the hosting organisations, however, seem to be stronger moderators of success rates than the use of a management control system with or without support of CobiT. CobiT's suggestions are of generic nature and in particular useful for programme performance management. The latent dimensions of project quality on process and activity levels were not validated and gaps to other project assessment models were identified.     

Real time progress management: Re-engineering processes for cloud-based BIM in construction

Having timely access to information on the performance of a construction project enables the design team and contractor to improve their decision-making so as to ensure project deliverables are met. This paper examines the effectiveness of cloud-based BIM for real-time delivery of information to support progress monitoring and management of the construction of a reinforced concrete (RC) structure using action based research. To undertake this task, existing paper-based processes were re-engineered to accommodate the use of cloud-based BIM during construction. The design and implementation of a real-time object oriented bi-directional system, allowed information (e.g., the status of the ‘As-Built’ schedule) to be captured on-site and synchronized with a federated BIM. As a result of adopting cloud-based technology during construction, a new object oriented workflow and processes for progress management are proposed.     

An empirical study of the benefits of construction partnering in Hong Kong

Many construction companies have adopted partnering in their construction projects over the past 10–15 years due to favourable project outcomes achieved. Its use in construction projects has been increasing rapidly as its benefits become more apparent and pervasive. This paper reviews the partnering literature within the construction field and tries to portray the comprehensive picture of benefits for the partnering practice. Through partnering and the active involvement of all key project parties, the project is more likely to be completed within budget, on time, and with the least number of conflicts, claims and work defects. Also, this paper reports upon the findings of a questionnaire survey of partnering benefits in Hong Kong. Seventy‐eight project participants completed a questionnaire to indicate the relative importance of partnering benefits. The perceived benefits were measured and ranked from the perspectives of the client, contractor and consultant for cross‐comparison. The results revealed that ‘Improved relationship amongst project participants’, ‘Improved communication amongst project participants’ and ‘More responsive to the short‐term emergency, changing project or business needs’ were the most significant benefits derived from the use of partnering. More partnering arrangements should be actively introduced into the construction procurement process so that every party can enjoy the full benefits of partnering.     

Researching the investment of information technology in construction: An examination of evaluation practices

The inherent worth and value of information technology (IT) employed within a business setting have been meticulously defined and subsequently examined throughout the general business community. However, within the construction industry issues surrounding the IT investment process remain largely unexplored as exhibited by recent survey work in Australia, which concludes that many construction organizations have not measured the impact of their IT investments. To address this aforementioned deficiency, a questionnaire survey was undertaken to examine the approaches used by construction organizations to evaluate and justify their IT investments. The analysis of 126 responses revealed the following key findings: different types of organization significantly (p<0.05) differ in the amount they investment in IT; investment levels in IT were not influenced by organizational size; and the scope of purpose of ex-ante IT evaluation was considered broader than a financial control mechanism. Instead, the organizations sampled used ex-post evaluation as an opportunity for learning and thus regenerated knowledge. Based on these findings a pragmatic ex-ante IT evaluation framework is proposed which can be used by construction organizations to ameliorate their investment decision-making process.     

对建筑工程项目管理信息化的研究分析

对工程项目管理信息化的发展、市场、价值和技术进行了分析,提出了只有充分认识到工程项目管理信息化存在问题的根源,掌握了工程项目管理信息化的发展趋势,才能提高工程项目管理信息化水平,让信息技术真正地为工程项目管理发挥积极作用.     

Achieving strategic benefits from business IT projects: The critical importance of using the business case across the entire project lifetime

Business projects with an information technology component are referred to here as ‘business IT’ projects. Their success rate is found to be unsatisfactory, resulting in wasteful expenditure running to billions of dollars annually. Literature indicates that sound business cases, used effectively throughout the project lifetime, underpin governance and have a major positive impact on the project success rate. However, it also suggests that business case processes are seldom used properly.The goal of this study is to determine the extent to which business case processes are used in practice, and to understand the implications of the pattern that emerges.The data analysis from a survey reveals that business case usage diminishes significantly after approval is given to proceed, with potentially serious negative consequences. The findings offer initial building blocks for project business case theory; they also give valuable insights to management as to the required processes and how to avoid the prevailing pitfalls and achieve the intended strategic project benefits.     

Critical success factors for enterprise risk management in Chinese construction companies

Construction businesses are risky ventures and enterprise risk management (ERM) has been advocated in construction companies. To ensure ERM success and the subsequent benefits, it is necessary to understand the key activities of ERM. The objectives are to identify the critical success factors (CSFs) for ERM and analyse the interrelationships among these CSFs in Chinese construction companies (CCCs). To achieve this objective, 16 CSFs were identified through a comprehensive literature review and 89 completed survey questionnaires were received. The results of the analysis show that the three most important CSFs are ‘commitment of the board and senior management’, ‘risk identification, analysis and response’ and ‘objective setting’. Additionally, the three underlying CSF groupings are (1) execution and integration; (2) communication and understanding; and (3) commitment and involvement of top management. The commitment and involvement of top management positively contributed to the communication and understanding as well as the execution and integration of ERM, while the communication and understanding facilitated the execution and integration of ERM. The proposed framework indicating the key ERM practices and the inter-grouping relationships provides an in-depth understanding of ERM in CCCs, compared with the existing not so relevant ERM frameworks in various other industries.