Construction Management Research

Theory of Construction Management

Effective theory

comprises

tested propositions

Theory of Construction Management

QUALITY OF RELATIONSHIPS

NUMBER OF INTERACTING

TEAMS

PERFORMANCE VARIABILITY

COMPLEXITYEXTERNAL

INTERFERENCE

INHERENT DIFFICULTY

CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT

STRATEGIES

AGREEDOBJECTIVES

Agreed Objectives

• Establish practical measures of key objectives• Encourage their use• Research the effectiveness of key

measures in guiding practice• Encourage the use of benchmarking

based on established measures

Potential Key Objectives

• Customer satisfaction• Quality• Time• Safety• Value• Effective relationships• Life cycle costs of facility• Profits of construction companies

Inherent Difficulty Indicators

• Encourage the use of IDIs• Research to demonstrate the value

of IDIs• Research effectiveness of IDIs• Establish the role of IDIs in

construction management research

Inherent Difficulty Indicators

• Established Relationships• Relationship Fluctuation• Relationship Quality• Relationship Configuration• Performance Variability• External Interference

Size of Construction Projects

• Establish effective size categories• Encourage the use of size categories• Research to demonstrate the value of size

categories• Research effectiveness of size categories• Establish the role of size categories in

construction management research

Size Categories

• Minor Project – 100 construction team days• Small Project - 1000 construction team days• Normal Project - 5000 construction team days• Large project – 10,000 construction team days• Mega Project – 25,000 construction team days

Construction Management Strategies

• Strategies are designed to deliver greater efficiency

• Agreed objectives describe project aims• Inherent difficulty plus size define the

challenge posed by a project• Propositions describe actions that deliver

greater efficiency

Research into Strategies

• Needs a map of every possible construction project

• Then individual projects can be plotted onto the map

• The effect of possible strategies can also be plotted to establish the likely benefits

Map of Construction Projects

• Size of project

• Construction technologies used

Research Data

• Number of interacting teams• Quality of relationships• Performance variability• External interference• Agreed objectives• Project efficiency

Individual Tests

• Pairs of identical projects• Different strategies• Compare efficiency

But this is slow and time consuming

Simulation

• Simulation can produce a virtual map of every possible construction project• Needs a robust method of simulating

the behaviour of construction projects• This will be tested using data from live

projects

Map of Construction Projects

• The map helps practice to select construction management strategies

• The map allows researchers to test individual construction management propositions

Research Question

What is the optimum number of teams for projects of each size category and distinct construction technology in terms of construction efficiency?

Research Question

What is the optimum configuration of teams in terms of the number of time intervals, the duration of time intervals, and the number of interacting teams in each time interval for projects of each size category and distinct construction technology?

Research Questions

What is the influence of established relationships on construction efficiency?

Which relationships in projects of each

size category and distinct construction technology benefit most from established relationships in terms of construction efficiency?

Research Questions

What are the most significant causes of teams having distinct levels of performance variability?

What are the effects of distinct patterns of

performance variability on construction efficiency?

Research Questions

What are the distinct categories of events which cause external interference in terms of their nature, duration and magnitude?

What is the impact on construction efficiency

of each distinct category of events which cause external interference?

Research Questions

What distinct categories of agreed objectives exist to guide construction project teams?

What influence does each category of agreed

objectives have on the optimum number of teams, the influence of established relationships, and the optimum configuration of teams?

Further Research Issues

• IDIs can be tested and probably made more effective

• The Theory of Construction Management provides a robust basis for future construction management research since it enables different studies to be related to each other throwing up new research questions