Effect of project complexity on cost and schedule performance in transportation projects

Project complexity is a contributing factor to project performance. Understanding how project complexity interacts with management actions and project performance is imperative. This study fills this knowledge gap by empirically exploring the relationship between construction project complexity and project performance and their interaction with resource allocation. Empirical data were collected from 79 transportation projects. Due to its capability to build several regression models by adding independent variables to previous models, moderated hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to identify the underlying effect of resource allocation on the project complexity and performance relationship. The results show that: (i) project complexity was significantly correlated with schedule growth (positive correlation) but not significantly correlated with cost growth; (ii) resource allocation was significantly correlated with schedule growth (negative correlation) but not with cost growth; and (iii) resource allocation had a buffering effect where increasing resource allocation significantly decreases the effect of project complexity on schedule growth. The findings from this study contribute to the extant literature on construction project complexity by empirically showing that the impact of project complexity on schedule performance interacts with the level of resource allocation. This understanding of the role of resource allocation may help construction managers and engineers to better administer and manage their complex transportation projects. The findings also imply that organizations should appropriately evaluate project complexity to allocate necessary resources to achieve project success.     

Success conditions for international development capacity building projects

Current research on success factors fails to adequately explain why development projects will achieve success in one setting yet not in others, thus making improvements to project management practice difficult. By examining the underlying conditions enabling project success, we provide additional context and practical meaning for success factors. Through a case-study and a qualitative analysis of twenty interviews with project practitioners, we look into four capacity building projects in Ghana, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Vietnam and draw out structural, institutional, and managerial success conditions, whether they are initial or emergent. We further propose a hypothesis that high levels of multi-stakeholder commitment, collaboration, alignment, and adaptation are necessary for projects to succeed. Thus, we put the ability of projects to deliver development into context and call on practitioners to harness their ability to trigger development through a better understanding of enabling success conditions or the right circumstances under which projects thrive.     

Learning from international development projects: Blending Critical Project Studies and Critical Development Studies

This article aims at making international development (ID) projects critical. To that end, it shows that project management (PM) in ID has evolved as an offshoot of conventional PM moving like the latter, but at varying speeds, from a traditional approach suited to blueprint projects where tools matter (1960s–1980s); towards eclectic and contingent approaches suited to process projects where people matter the most (1980s–now); and finally pointing towards the potential contribution of a critical perspective which focuses on issues of power (1980s–now). Consequently, it points to a confluence between the Critical Project Studies movement and Critical Development Studies movements. More specifically, it argues that the postdevelopment, the Habermasian, the Foucauldian and the neo-Marxist lenses may be effectively called upon in that scholarship. Thus, it suggests a framework to encourage project actors to reflect on their personal positions in light of the power relations which shape PM in ID.     

Approximately predicting the cost and duration of school reconstruction projects in Taiwan

Regression and neural network models have been developed to predict the cost and duration of projects for the reconstruction of schools which must be quickly rebuilt. Data for the school reconstruction projects in central Taiwan, which received the most serious damage from the Chi‐Chi Earthquake, were collected and analysed. The analytical results demonstrate that the floor area provides a good basis for estimating the cost and duration of school reconstruction projects, and suggest that the neural network model with back‐propagation learning technique is a feasible approach that yields better prediction results than the regression model for school reconstruction projects.     

浅谈施工企业加强工程造价管理的重要性及对策措施

本文分析了建筑安装施工企业工程造价管理的主要问题,并就加强施工企业工程造价管理水平重要性进行了阐述和探讨以及对策措施.     

Predicting final cost for competitively bid construction projects using regression models

This paper studies the relationship between the low bid and completed cost for competitively bid highway projects. Data are analyzed from several agencies managing highway and dredging projects. A natural log transformation of the low bid and final cost was found to produce regression models for each agency that had high R and R² values. These models can predict completed project cost using only the project low bid as input. A separate regression model was determined for each agency. Based on the form of the calculated models it appears that highway agencies construct projects where the final cost increases as an increasing percentage of the low bid price as the project magnitude increases. The dredging projects appear to follow different mechanisms of cost increase than the highway projects and were not predicted as well by the regression models. The regression models can also be used for budgeting purposes by submitting the sum of the low bids for a group of projects as input. The regression models output a prediction of the cost of the group of projects that was found to be highly accurate.     

钢铁企业建设项目工程造价的控制

工程造价控制是一项系统工程,贯穿于项目建设的全过程。本文针对钢铁企业建设单位在工程建设中存在工程造价失控的一些原因,提出了一些有效的控制方法,减少或避免建设资金的浪费,最大限度地提高投资效益。     

The impact of project capabilities on project performance: Case of open source software projects

Open Source Software (OSS) projects are contingent on volunteer developers and voluntary contributions from users, accordingly, traditional performance measures used for software projects, like being on time and budget, and satisfying specifications, may not be relevant for such projects. Although researchers have studied some predictors of OSS project performance, there is a lack of empirical work that studies the impact of project capabilities on the performance of OSS projects. Therefore, this paper studies project capabilities as potential predictors of OSS project performance. The data, gathered from 607 OSS projects over time (in two snap-shots), were consistent with Dynamic Capability Theory (DCT). In other words, the results showed that in order to achieve higher project performance, OSS projects need to have strong capabilities in terms of proactive and efficient defect-removal as well as proactive and efficient functionality-enhancement. The implications of these results for the OSS research community are discussed, followed by recommendations for OSS practitioners.     

A Multiply Connected Belief Network approach for schedule risk analysis of metropolitan construction projects

Metropolitan construction projects may be distinguished from other types of projects due to their specific nature. Issues with regard to purchase of property obstacles, a lack of accurate layout drawings for some underground facilities and, therefore, following probable changes in designs make it vital to have specific studies on risk analysis of such engineering projects. However, conventional methods offered in literature of risk analysis fail to consider the interactional mechanisms of risks and their simultaneous occurrence. This paper exploits the Multiply Connected Belief Network approach in MATLAB environment to analyse the simultaneous occurrence of risk factors on schedule delay of a highway project. The method of inference is through Junction Tree Algorithm due to existence of multiply connections in the developed network of the project. The findings for schedule delay were tested in a different space using Monte Carlo simulation and had satisfactory results.     

业主方造价工程师对工程造价的管理探析

工程造价控制是建设工程项目管理中的三大控制(质量、造价、工期)之一,在建设项目保证质量、满足进度要求的前提下,必须合理控制工程造价。造价工程师作为业主方项目管理组织中的核心成员,运用造价管理的相关知识,在招投标、施工、竣工结算3个阶段对建设工程造价进行合理控制,能够对工程投资控制起到非常有效的作用。     

议建筑施工中的进度控制和质量控制

探讨了质量控制和进度控制的相互作用与关系,分析了进度控制和质量控制的要素和任务,并进一步总结了进度控制要素与质量控制要素在施工各阶段的作用,为工程项目管理工作提供参考。     

建设工程服务与发展

简单概括了建筑工程的特点,针对建筑工程服务与发展这一课题提出了观点和建议,并分析了影响建筑工程服务与发展的因素,总结了做好服务与发展的同时必须坚持的原则,为建筑工程施工管理者积累了经验。     

Coordinating temporary organizations in international development through social and temporal embeddedness

Programs of international development utilize groups of individuals, or temporary organizations, to provide specialist knowledge inputs at key stages in an aid program. Despite their significant role nothing is known about the coordination of the activities of these groups. Using four case studies of temporary organizations created to provide inputs to aid programs in the WATSAN sector, this study inductively derives a 4-stage, 10-step process model of coordination of activities in this context. It is argued that the model of coordination is based on mechanisms of temporal and social embeddedness, such that there is a shared understanding amongst members of the required sequence of activities.     

The impact of uncertainty and ambiguity related to iteration and overlapping on schedule of product development projects

Overlapping and iteration stemming from concurrent engineering are fundamental features of product development (PD) projects. They may not only reduce project duration but also create process uncertainty and ambiguity. We propose that the iteration and overlapping are the main causes of uncertainty and ambiguity in the PD process. Based on discrete-event simulation modeling and analysis with Arena software, our empirical research provides a quantitative method to reveal how uncertainty related to iteration and ambiguity related to overlapping impact on project schedule. In the simulation model, we use four variables to characterize uncertainty: iteration probability, iteration length, number of iterations and activity's learning curve effect. And different sequential and overlapped process structures are used to describe the variable of ambiguity in the model. Propositions regarding the reduction of uncertainty and ambiguity by controlling iteration and overlapping are derived. Simulation experiment results yield and reinforce several managerial insights, including: the relationship between uncertainty or ambiguity reduction and the complexity of iteration or levels of overlapping; and how to control project schedule and hedge the risk resulting from overlapping and iteration.     

Implementation of project strategy to improve new product development performance

Poor project strategy is one of the major causes of project failure. However, many projects do not adequately develop strategy leading to a poor basis in subsequent phases. Thus, implementation of project strategy is critical to the success of any project. The primary purpose of this study was to validate a model for assessing the relationships among implementation of project strategy, new product development (NPD) project outcomes, and market performance. The analyses suggest that implementation of differentiation, operational, and quality strategies may improve NPD project outcomes. The research results also imply that improvement in NPD project outcomes may enhance market performance, while it helps accomplish the market share and sales goals.     

杭州市建设工程造价备案管理系统开发与利用

针对杭州市建设工程造价备案管理系统开发的必要性,对该系统进行功能分析,并提出其结构及流程设计方案,最后对其开发与应用过程中急需解决的问题予以阐述。     

Leadership,regulatory focus and information systems development project team performance

One primary function of a leader is to motivate followers to achieve project goals. Based on regulatory focus theory, actors may strive to the optional situation (promotion focus) or try to avoid not meeting the minimum requirements (prevention focus). This paper focuses on exploring the effect of leadership styles (transformational and transactional) on the collective regulatory focus of project team (promotion and prevention) and investigate the relationship between regulatory focus and project teamwork outcome. Data collected from 154 IS professionals shows that intelligent stimulation, idealized influence, and inspiration components of transformational leadership lead to promotion focus, and exception management and error-focus components of transactional leadership lead to prevention focus. Promotion focus associates with a higher quality system and less delay. The relationship between regulatory focus and project performance is contingent on the level of uncertainty.     

大型建设工程的进度延迟分析

采用P3软件对一个大型工程项目进行进度延迟分析,并且定量分析工程进度延迟的责任,提出避免大型建设工程建设项目进度延迟的有效措施,对大型复杂项目进度控制提供借鉴。     

Relating risk to project performance in Indonesian building contracts

A construction project is unique, specific and dynamic, and therefore projects have different levels and combinations of risks, different responses are taken to minimise those risks and different consequences affect project performance. The primary aim of this study was to analyse the impacts of perceived project risk on project performance. A path model was developed and path analysis was used to determine the relationships between risk and performance. The main survey was predominantly based on a series of interviews with project managers. A total of 22 building projects under construction were surveyed; however, only 13 projects used an ‘S’ curve to monitor their project performance. The study focused on these 13 projects and found that perceived project risk had a direct negative effect on monthly progress achievement, while monthly progress had a direct positive impact on schedule performance. Although project risk had no direct effect on schedule performance, this was influenced indirectly with monthly progress as the mediator between them. These findings indicate that the higher the project risk in a project, the greater the negative impact on monthly progress, and consequently the worse the schedule performance will be.