Benchmarking of Project Management Office Establishment: Extracting Best Practices

This paper deals with best practices in establishing, developing, and implementing project management offices (PMOs). First, a brief overview of the theoretical background for PMOs is presented. The research approach is described, along with an overview of the benchmarking partners used. In the main part of this paper, various aspects of a PMO’s life cycle are discussed based on observations from the benchmarking partners. Through the benchmarking study, we have discovered that although the PMO design differs greatly, certain key characteristics, responsibilities, and tasks are very similar. Successful PMOs take on responsibility for different project-related functions and core tasks related to development of shared methodology and processes for handling of projects, training and competence development within project management, proposing of new projects, and quality assurance of projects. The success of the PMO is related to ensuring the necessary authority of the PMO, real organizational authority as well as academic and social credibility, top management support, and that the PMO covers true needs in the organization.     

Benchmarking of Construction Productivity

Construction productivity has been a cause of great concern in both the construction industry and academia. Even though many companies have developed their own productivity tracking systems based on their experiences and accounting systems, none have been successful in establishing common definitions and developing a survey tool that collects standard productivity data at the appropriate levels. This research was initiated to establish a common set of construction productivity metrics and their corresponding definitions. As a result of this research effort, the Construction Productivity Metrics System (CPMS), which contain a list of direct and indirect accounts and 56 data elements grouped into seven major categories, was developed. The Construction Productivity Metrics System is a standard construction productivity data collection tool and provides a framework to report industry norms to benchmark construction productivity. Input from 73 industry experts was used in determining the 56 measuring elements and their corresponding definitions. Preliminary findings from initial sample of 16 industrial projects indicate that the productivity metrics can be produced and should be meaningful for construction productivity benchmarking. Because of the small sample size, more than general preliminary conclusion would be inappropriate. Based on the analyses, the developed CPMS is believed to be a reasonable productivity data collection tool and when sufficient data are available should be capable of producing reasonable industry benchmarks.     

Benchmarking Studies on Construction Safety Management in China

This paper presents information by which to measure safety management performance on construction sites. In China, the conventional construction safety benchmarking approach is to assess safety performance by evaluating the physical safety conditions on site as well as the accident records, while no attention has been paid to the management factors that influence site safety. This paper is to identify the key factors that influence safety management and to develop a method for measuring safety management performance on construction sites. Based on the survey and interview data collected on safety management factors in 82 construction projects in China, the safety management index as a means to evaluate real-time safety management performance by measuring key management factors was developed. The quantified factors were compared with the commonly accepted physical safety performance index, which was derived from inspection records of physical safety conditions, accident rates, and the satisfaction of the project management team. Multifactor linear regression was conducted and the result indicates that safety management performance on site is closely related to organizational factors, economic factors, and factors related to the relationship between management and labor on site. Based on this benchmarking study, a practical safety assessment method was developed and then implemented on six construction projects. The results show that this method can be an effective tool to evaluate safety management on construction projects.     

Management of Construction Firm Performance Using Benchmarking

In today’s highly competitive construction industry, there is a critical need for managers to continuously improve their firm’s efficiency and effectiveness. More specifically, managers need to know which performance measures are most critical in determining their firm’s overall success. Benchmarking, when done properly, can accurately identify both successful companies and the underlying reasons for their success. However, rigorous benchmarking within the construction industry still remains an embryonic field. This paper analyzes and critiques both the performance measures and metrics used traditionally in the construction industry and the benchmarking models developed to date for the industry. Based on the results of this analysis, benchmarking models using data envelope analysis are proposed that offer significant improvements over current models. The proposed models measure construction firm performance on a company-wide basis, foster trade-off analyses among various performance metrics, and tie the resources expended by construction firms to how well those firms perform overall. The models also provide managers guidance in determining how specific company resources can be reallocated to improve overall company performance.     

Benchmarking Framework to Measure Extent of ICT Adoption for Building Project Management

This paper discusses a component of the research study conducted to provide construction organizations with a generic benchmarking framework to assess their extent of information communication technology (ICT) adoption for building project management processes. It defines benchmarking and discusses objectives of the required benchmarking framework and development of the framework. The study focused on ICT adoption by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the construction industry and with respect to SMEs it is important to understand processes, their indicators, and measures in the local context. Structure of the suggested benchmarking framework has been derived after extensive literature survey and a questionnaire survey conducted in the Indian construction industry. The suggested benchmarking process is an iterative process divided into four stages. It can be implemented at organization and industry levels for rating the construction organizations for ICT adoption and performance measurement. The framework has a generic structure and can be generalized and applied for other countries with due considerations.     

Charrettes as a Method for Engaging Industry in Best Practices Research

Gaining innovative and useful research findings concerning construction industry best practices requires an interaction and feedback mechanism between industry respondents and academia. Typical research methods such as surveys, source document reviews, and structured interviews will work, but suffer from barriers which can hamper results. Examples of these barriers include low response rates, asynchronous communication, time commitment of the researchers and respondents, access to project data, and travel costs. Structured workshops (research “charrettes”) are a unique and useful method for facilitating data collection between industry respondents and academic researchers. They combine the best tenets of surveys, interviews, and focus groups in an accelerated time frame. This paper will explain how these workshops provide a critical avenue for industry interaction. Characteristics leading to successful charrettes will be outlined. The paper will conclude by describing the benefits of these workshops to researchers including lessons learned from successful workshops.     

Comparable Performance Measurement System for Construction Companies

The construction industry has mainly relied on financially focused performance measurements, and studies on performance measurement systems (PMSs) have been carried out at the project level. However, recently, the demand for performance evaluation and management at the company level has increased. A few previous efforts have aimed to develop a conceptual framework for company performance, but there have been few follow-up studies. From this perspective, we have developed an implementation model and practical methodology to measure and compare the performance of construction companies. First, our thorough qualitative and quantitative analysis was used to develop a set of indicators for performance measurement, and an analysis of the relative weightings of the indicators was carried out. Second, we calculated the performance score of construction companies using a study of 34 Korean construction companies. Finally, we carried out a performance evaluation and system analysis using the calculated performance scores and identified practical issues for the implementation of our PMS. Using the results of our analytical processes identified in this work, further research is suggested.     

Scorecard Approach to Benchmarking Organizational Safety Culture in Construction

This paper promotes adopting the balanced scorecard tool to benchmark organizational safety culture in construction. It argues that this tool has the potential to provide a medium to translate the organization’s safety policy into a clear set of goals across four perspectives: management, operational, customer, and learning. These goals are then further translated into a system of performance measures that could effectively communicate a powerful strategic focus on safety to the entire organization. Four perspectives have been developed to represent all stakeholders, thereby ensuring that a holistic view of safety is used for strategic reflection and implementation. The paper argues that by selecting and evaluating the appropriate measures, in each perspective, requirements can be identified, and actions to the identified goals can be aligned and facilitated. The proposed balanced scorecard approach should therefore enable construction organizations to pursue incremental safety performance improvements. Work-in-progress is briefly reported to give insight into the potential applicability of this approach.     

Benchmarking Initiatives in the Construction Industry: Lessons Learned and Improvement Opportunities

Benchmarking is a systematic process of measuring and comparing an organization’s performance against that of other similar organizations in key business activities. The lessons learned from other companies can be used to establish improvement targets and to promote changes in the organization. The benchmarking process can create a fertile ground for ideas, but only in a receptive environment; companies that share good practices and compare their performance against others benefit most. Recently, industry groups in several different countries have initiated benchmarking programs focused mainly on construction performance measures. This paper describes the scope of these initiatives and discusses the lessons learned and improvement opportunities that were identified in their design and implementation. This investigation is focused on four initiatives, carried out in Brazil, Chile, the United Kingdom, and the United States. This paper concludes by recommending some further directions on this research topic.     

Benchmarking, Benchaction, and Benchlearning: Rework Mitigation in Projects

The Australian government has issued several calls to improve the performance of the construction industry. A lack of available benchmark metrics has made it difficult, if not impossible, for organizations to identify areas to target for process improvement. A significant factor that has been found to contribute to poor organizational and project performance is rework. Using the results of a questionnaire survey, the paper presents and discusses a series of benchmark metrics for the causes and costs of rework for 161 construction projects. A generic framework for benchmarking rework at the interfaces of a project’s life cycle is proposed, and unstructured interviews are used to subject the proposed framework to validation by industry practitioners.     

Runoff Characteristics for Construction Site Erosion Control Practices

Controlling soil erosion during and after construction is a major concern due to the impacts of sediment on stream water quality, and many studies have focused on the effectiveness of erosion control best management practices (BMPs) to prevent erosion. However, their ability to reduce runoff volume and peak discharge is not commonly studied or integrated into storm water designs due to lack of data and design guidelines. This study investigated runoff characteristics (total runoff, peak flow rate, curve number, and rational method runoff coefficient) from bare compacted soil conditions with and without erosion control BMPs, with an emphasis on compost erosion control blankets (CECBs), at three different slope (2H:1V, 3H:1V, and 4H:1V). Experiments were performed in the San Diego State University, Soil Erosion Research Laboratory on a 3-m by 10-m indoor titling soil bed using simulated rainfall based on conditions specified in ASTM D-6459. Eleven erosion control BMPs were evaluated at a slope of 2H:1V, three at 3H:1V, and three at 4H:1V. The variations in slope were used to assess the effects of slope and CECB thickness on runoff. The results from this study provide new insight regarding the runoff characteristics from bare soil and erosion control BMPs that can be used to improve construction-site storm water design. The results show that 2.5- and 5.0-cm-thick CECBs on top of netting or an excelsior fiber blanket provided a significant reduction in runoff relative to the bare soil and the other BMPs (e.g., 1.3-cm CECBs, other blankets) due to water storage within the CECB, the mass of the CECB providing a strong bond between the soil surface and the bottom of the blanket reducing the potential for flowing water from coming in contact with the soil surface, and the netting/blanket under the CECB providing additional friction that helps keep the CECB from sliding down slope. The results show that slope impacts on runoff are minimal but that as CECB thickness increases runoff was reduced due to the added storage within the blanket. The results from this study can be used to aid in the selection of CECB thickness and to assess the effects of CECBs on runoff for more efficient cost effective storm water designs.     

Operations Benchmarking in the Fluidized Bed Power Generation Industry

The writers analyzed data from a fluidized bed boiler survey distributed during 2001 in order to develop atmospheric fluidized bed combustion (AFBC) performance benchmarks relating to the year 2000 operating data. The benchmarks pertained to technical, operating, and environmental issues. The survey respondents principally use AFBC technology in steam and power plants ranging in size from a few megawatts (MW) to several hundred MW in size. The findings of our study, displayed according to the plant size and fuel type, will inform AFBC owners and operators of contemporary concerns and issues in the industry, and help them improve decision making in the industry with respect to current and future plant startups and ongoing operations.     

Greening Project Management Practices for Sustainable Construction

Environmentally sustainable building construction has experienced significant growth during the past 10 years. The public is becoming more aware of the benefits of green construction as prominent politicians, celebrities, documentarians, and journalists highlight the built environment’s impact on greenhouse gas emissions and natural resource consumption. Other factors, including higher energy prices, increased costs of building materials, and regulatory incentives, are also pushing the green building market to grow and expand. However, barriers to green building continue to exist, including the ability to deliver a green project within acceptable cost constraints. In order for project managers to deliver sustainable construction according to clients’ cost expectations, modifications must be made to traditional project management processes and practices. The objective of this paper is to suggest specific modifications to conventional building practices to optimize the delivery of cost-efficient green building projects. This paper presents an overview of research related to the costs and trends of green building and uses these research findings to make recommendations for greening project management practices for the construction industry. Our research results show that greening project management practices can add significant value to a sustainable construction project while delivering it within acceptable cost constraints. A detailed analysis using matrix present specific adjustments to traditional project management practices, with a premise that a green project improves its chances for financial success if a cross-discipline team is involved at the earliest stages and throughout the project.     

Identification of Effective Management Practices and Technologies for Lessons Learned Programs in the Construction Industry

Organizations in the construction industry cannot afford to make repetitive mistakes on major projects. Conversely, there are great benefits to repeating positive experiences from past projects. This need for institutional memory is amplified by the reality that in the course of normal turnover and retirement, people with years of experience leave their organizations. An effective lessons learned program is a critical element in the management of institutional knowledge; it will facilitate the continuous improvement of processes and procedures and provide a direct advantage in an even more competitive industry. This paper describes a research study that aimed to identify effective management practices and technologies for lessons learned programs in the construction industry. Data from 70 organizations that participated in this study are presented. Research found that even though more lessons learned programs are being initiated, the potential for savings and improvement has not been fully met. The study has also identified seven crucial characteristics of a successful program and verified that most organizations are stronger in some categories and weaker in others. The key to an effective program is to address all seven areas and guidance is provided for those wishing to implement lessons learned programs.     

Survey of the Construction Industry Relative to the Use of CPM Scheduling for Construction Projects

While critical-path method (CPM) scheduling has been around since the 1950s, its application in the construction industry has still not received 100% acceptance or consistency in how it is used. Project controls, and CPM scheduling in particular, have gone unchanged in the standards arena with little focus for a common understanding and recognition of what is required for CPM schedule development, implementation, and use. In recent years, little research has been conducted relative to the use of CPM and its benefits. In order to determine how the industry views its applicability and usage, a survey was developed for the stakeholders in the construction industry. This paper summarizes extensive research that was performed of the construction industry relative to the use of CPM scheduling, its applicability and its acceptance in the execution of today’s constructed projects. The research obtained the stakeholders’ views on the use and effectiveness of CPM scheduling; the necessary qualifications of scheduling personnel; and opinions relative to whether standards and/or best practices are necessary. The paper discusses the different views of the stakeholders and recommendations as to how consistency can be obtained in the use of CPM scheduling in order to improve the construction industry.     

Factors Affecting Engineering Productivity

Engineering performance has a major impact on subsequent project phases, such as procurement and construction, and thus, has the potential to affect the overall project outcome. This study utilizes metrics and a database from the Construction Industry Institute (CII) benchmarking and metrics program to investigate relationships between factors thought to affect direct engineering labor productivity during detailed engineering. Collaborating with industry practitioners, quantitative assessments were analyzed with industry input through various CII committee meetings and industry forums. Significant correlations are found between engineering productivity and project size, project type, project priority, and phase involvement. Correlations are also found between degree of modularization, funded front-end planning effort, and quality management and engineering productivity. These findings extend and, in some cases, contradict previous research.     

Project Management in the Chinese Construction Industry: Six-Case Study

Originating from the West, project management was introduced into China after the country’s economic reforms in the 1980’s and has since spread quickly throughout the whole country, particularly in the construction industry. However, despite the wide adoption of project management practices by construction organizations and the growing recognition of the importance of project management as an enabler of organizational success, empirical studies on project management in the context of the Chinese construction industry have been inadequate. This paper presents the results of an empirical study of six Chinese construction organizations in order to come to a more comprehensive and sophisticated understanding of project management practices in the Chinese construction industry. The findings revealed: (1) a good appreciation of the role of projects and project management and satisfaction with current project management practices; (2) 11 key aspects of project management implementation; (3) 12 resultant value and benefits; and (4) five aspects of the main challenges facing the organizations. Meanwhile, variations in project management practices and the resultant organizational value were identified, first between the three owner- and the three contractor-case study organizations, then between the two construction contractor organizations and the one design contractor organization.     

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Best Management Practices Using Dynamic Modeling

Structural best management practices (BMPs) have become a tool for stormwater managers to achieve water quality improvement and regulatory compliance. Existing empirical evaluation of BMP performance is valuable, but has limited applicability to predict BMP performance over extended durations under a variety of storm types. This study applies a dynamic model to simulate BMP performance over a 10-year period. The BMP model used hourly output from a calibrated and validated land-use model to evaluate two BMP types: a retention facility and a flow-through swale. The model evaluated each BMP alone and in series targeting volume, total suspend solids, and total copper. Effectiveness was based on load reduction, event mean concentrations, and frequency of exceedence of relevant water quality standards. The model predicted over 60% removal of solids and copper over most conditions; however, effectiveness was reduced during large storms and wet years. Although performance was similar based on load reduction and water quality standard exceedence, the latter was most sensitive to storm size. This study demonstrates that BMP modeling can help managers understand expected BMP performance over a range of storms, time periods, and design parameters, and, perhaps more significantly, evaluate BMPs in series.     

Developing ERP Systems Success Model for the Construction Industry

Recently, a significant number of major construction companies embarked on the implementation of integrated information technology solutions such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems to better integrate various business functions. However, these integrated systems in the construction sector present a set of unique challenges, different from those in the manufacturing or other service sectors. There have been many cases of failure in implementing ERP systems in the past, so it is critical to identify and understand the factors that largely determine the success or failure of ERP implementation in the construction industry. This paper presents the process of developing an ERP systems success model to guide a successful ERP implementation project and to identify success factors for ERP systems implementation. The paper identifies factors associated with the success and failure of ERP systems, and develops a success model to analyze the relationships between key factors and the success of such systems. The proposed ERP systems success model adapts the technology acceptance model and DeLone and McLean’s information systems success model and integrates those with key project management principles. The goal of the ERP systems success model is to better evaluate, plan, and implement ERP projects and help senior managers make better decisions when considering ERP systems in their organization.