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- Genre: Doctoral Dissertation
Description
ABSTRACT
The objective of this dissertation is to identify a recommended balance between
leadership and management activities of a project manager who aims to rehabilitate a distressed construction project.
The data for this research was collected from 338 construction project professionals belonging to fifteen large construction companies who participated in leadership seminars originated by professors from Arizona State University. The seminars contained various leadership games and exercises that were designed specifically to collect data about leadership and management actions taken by the project managers.
The data from one of the games, called “Project from Hell” (PFH), was used in this research. The PFH game presents the participants with a set of fifty-two actions cards written on a deck of game cards and asks them to select the ten action cards they perceive as being most effective for turning a troubled construction project around. Each suit of the deck represents a different category of actions, focusing on either Traditional Leadership (Hearts), Best Value Leadership (Diamonds), Traditional Management (Spades), or Micro- Management (Clubs).
Statistical analysis of the results revealed that only sixteen of the fifty-two actions cards were selected with statistically significant consistency. Of these sixteen actions, six actions were form Traditional Management actions, five were Traditional Leadership actions, and five were Best Value Leadership actions. This rendered a recommended balance of 62% leadership activities vs. 38% management activities for project managers to rehabilitate distressed construction projects. It was also found that the same balance is recommended for the normal condition construction projects. The calculated weighted
i
scores for ranking the sixteen effective leadership and management actions revealed that the five Traditional Management actions are the top-most effective actions. This demonstrates the importance of stand still management actions in rehabilitating in trouble construction projects
The findings were converted into easy to implement guidelines about how project managers can change habits to increase their effectiveness by focusing on the right type of actions.
A generalization of the methodology for interpreting the results of any study based on selection of activities, was also developed.
The objective of this dissertation is to identify a recommended balance between
leadership and management activities of a project manager who aims to rehabilitate a distressed construction project.
The data for this research was collected from 338 construction project professionals belonging to fifteen large construction companies who participated in leadership seminars originated by professors from Arizona State University. The seminars contained various leadership games and exercises that were designed specifically to collect data about leadership and management actions taken by the project managers.
The data from one of the games, called “Project from Hell” (PFH), was used in this research. The PFH game presents the participants with a set of fifty-two actions cards written on a deck of game cards and asks them to select the ten action cards they perceive as being most effective for turning a troubled construction project around. Each suit of the deck represents a different category of actions, focusing on either Traditional Leadership (Hearts), Best Value Leadership (Diamonds), Traditional Management (Spades), or Micro- Management (Clubs).
Statistical analysis of the results revealed that only sixteen of the fifty-two actions cards were selected with statistically significant consistency. Of these sixteen actions, six actions were form Traditional Management actions, five were Traditional Leadership actions, and five were Best Value Leadership actions. This rendered a recommended balance of 62% leadership activities vs. 38% management activities for project managers to rehabilitate distressed construction projects. It was also found that the same balance is recommended for the normal condition construction projects. The calculated weighted
i
scores for ranking the sixteen effective leadership and management actions revealed that the five Traditional Management actions are the top-most effective actions. This demonstrates the importance of stand still management actions in rehabilitating in trouble construction projects
The findings were converted into easy to implement guidelines about how project managers can change habits to increase their effectiveness by focusing on the right type of actions.
A generalization of the methodology for interpreting the results of any study based on selection of activities, was also developed.
ContributorsBehzad, Navid (Author) / Wiezel, Avi (Thesis advisor) / Gibson, Jr., G. Edward (Committee member) / Sullivan, Kenneth (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
Entering a new market in the construction industry is a complex task. Although many contractors have experienced the benefits of expanding their market offerings, many more have had unsuccessful experiences causing hardship for the entire organization. Standardized decision-making processes can help to increase the likelihood of success, but few specialty contractors have taken the time to develop a formal procedure. According to this research, only 6 percent of survey respondents and 7 percent of case study participants from the sheet metal industry have a formal decision process. Five sources of data (existing literature, industry survey, semi-structured interviews, factor prioritization workshops, and expert panel discussions) are consulted to understand the current market entry decision-making practices and needs of the sheet metal industry. The data help to accomplish three study objectives: (1) determine the current processes and best practices used for market entry decision-making in the sheet metal industry, (2) identify motivations leading to market entry by sheet metal contractors, and (3) develop a standardized decision process that improves market entry decision outcomes. Grounded in a firm understanding of industry practices, a three-phased decision-making framework is created to provide a structured approach to guide contractors to an informed decision. Four industry leaders with over 175 years of experience in construction reviewed and applied every step of the framework to ensure it is practical and easy to use for contractors.
ContributorsSullivan, Jera J (Author) / El Asmar, Mounir (Thesis advisor) / Gibson, G Edward (Committee member) / Sullivan, Kenneth (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
A roofing manufacturer wants to differentiate themselves from other roofing manufacturers based on performance information. However, construction industry has revealed poor performance documentation in the last couple of decades. With no current developed performance measurement model in the industry, two roofing manufacturers approached the research group to implement a warranty program that measures the performance information of their systems and applicators. Moreover, the success of any project in the construction industry heavily relies upon the capability of the contractor(s) executing the project. Low-performing contractors are correlated with increased cost and delayed schedules, resulting in end-user dissatisfaction with the final product. Hence, the identification and differentiation of the high performing contractors from their competitors is also crucial. The purpose of this study is to identify and describe a new model for measuring manufacturer performance and differentiating contractor performance and capability for two roofing manufacturers (Manufacturer 1 and Manufacturer 2) in the roofing industry. The research uses multiple years of project data and customer satisfaction data collected for two roofing manufacturers for over 1,000 roofing contractors. The performance and end-user satisfaction was obtained for over 7,000 manufacturers' projects and each contractor associated with that project for cost, schedule, and quality metrics. The measurement process was successfully able to provide a performance measurement for the manufacturer based on the customer satisfaction and able to identify low performing contractors. This study presents the research method, the developed measurement model, and proposes a new performance measurement process that entities in the construction industry can use to measure performance.
ContributorsGajjar, Dhaval (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis advisor) / Sullivan, Kenneth (Thesis advisor) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
The goal of this research study was to identify the competencies the Project Manager (PM) will need to respond to the challenges the construction industry faces in 2022 and beyond. The study revealed twenty-one emerging challenges for construction PMs grouped into four primary disruptive forces: workforce demographics, globalization, rapidly evolving technology, and changing organizational structures. The future PM will respond to these emerging challenges using a combination of fourteen competencies. The competencies are grouped into four categories: technical (multi-disciplined, practical understanding of technology), management (keen business insight, understanding of project management, knowledge network building, continuous risk monitoring), cognitive (complex decisions making, emotional maturity, effective communication), and leadership (leveraging diverse thinking, building relationships, engaging others, mentoring, building trust). Popular data collection methods used in project management research, such as surveys and interviews, have received criticism about the differences between stated responses to questions, what respondents say they will do, and revealed preferences, what they actually practice in the workplace. Rather than relying on surveys, this research study utilized information generated from games and exercises bundled into one-day training seminars conducted by Construction Industry Institute (CII) companies for current and upcoming generations of PMs. Educational games and exercises provide participants with the opportunity to apply classroom learning and workplace experience to resolve issues presented in real-world scenarios, providing responses that are more closely aligned with the actual decisions and activities occurring on projects. The future competencies were identified by combining results of the literature review with information from the games and exercises through an iterative cycle of data mining, analysis, and consolidation review sessions with CII members. This competency forecast will be used as a basis for company recruiting and to create tools for professional development programs and project management education at the university level. In addition to the competency forecast, the research identified simulation games and exercises as components of a project management development program in a classroom setting. An instrument that links the emerging challenges with the fourteen competencies and learning tools that facilitate the mastering of these competencies has also been developed.
ContributorsKing, Cynthia Joyce (Author) / Wiezel, Avi (Thesis advisor) / Badger, William (Committee member) / Sullivan, Kenneth (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
This dissertation examines an analytical methodology that considers predictive maintenance on industrial facilities equipment to exceed world class availability standards with greater understanding for organizational participation impacts. The research for this study was performed at one of the world's largest semiconductor facilities, with the intent of understanding one possible cause for a noticeable behavior in technical work routines. Semiconductor manufacturing disruption poses significant potential revenue loss on a scale easily quantified in millions of dollars per hour. These instances are commonly referred to as "Interruption to production" (ITP). ITP is a standardized metric used across Company ABC's worldwide factory network to track frequency of occurrence and duration of manufacturing downtime. ITP, the key quantifiable indicator in this dissertation, will be the primary analytical measurement to identify the effectiveness of maintenance personnel's work routines as they relate to unscheduled downtime with facilities systems. This dissertation examines the process used to obtain change in an industrial facilities organization and the associated reactions of individual organizational members. To give the reader background orientation on the methodology for testing, measuring and ultimately assessing the benefits and risks associated with integrating a predictive equipment failure methodology, this dissertation will examine analytical findings associated with the statement of purpose as it pertains to ITP reduction. However, the focus will be the exploration of behavioral findings within the organization and the development of an improved industry standard for predictive ITP reduction process implementation. Specifically, findings associated with organizational participation and learning development trends found within the work group.
ContributorsMcDonald, Douglas Kirk (Author) / Sullivan, Kenneth (Thesis advisor) / Badger, William (Committee member) / Verdini, William (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Owner organizations in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry are presented with a wide variety of project delivery approaches. Implementation of these approaches, while enticing due to their potential to save money, reduce schedule delays, or improve quality, is extremely difficult to accomplish and requires a concerted change management effort. Research in the field of organizational behavior cautions that perhaps more than half of all organizational change efforts fail to accomplish their intended objectives. This study utilizes an action research approach to analyze change message delivery within owner organizations, model owner project team readiness and adoption of change, and identify the most frequently encountered types of resistance from lead project members. The analysis methodology included Spearman's rank order correlation, variable selection testing via three methods of hierarchical linear regression, relative weight analysis, and one-way ANOVA. Key findings from this study include recommendations for communicating the change message within owner organizations, empirical validation of critical predictors for change readiness and change adoption among project teams, and identification of the most frequently encountered resistive behaviors within change implementation in the AEC industry. A key contribution of this research is the recommendation of change management strategies for use by change practitioners.
ContributorsLines, Brian (Author) / Sullivan, Kenneth (Thesis advisor) / Wiezel, Avi (Committee member) / Badger, William (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Using experience, observations, data, current research, and writings in the field of volunteer management, it was determined there was a need to study the effects of leadership/management practices on the productivity outcomes of a volunteer construction workforce. A simple wood bench that would be tiled and painted was designed to test the areas of Time, Waste, Quality, Safety, and Satisfaction of different volunteer groups. The challenge was bolstered by giving the teams no power tools and limited available resources. A simple design of experiment model was used to test highs and lows in the three management techniques of Instruction, Help, and Encouragement. Each scenario was tested multiple times. Data was collected, normalized and analyzed using statistical analysis software. A few significant findings were discovered. The first; the research showed that there was no significant correlation between the management practices of the leader and the satisfaction of the volunteers. The second; the research also showed when further analyzed into specific realistic scenarios that the organizations would be better to focus on high amounts of Help and Encouragement in order to maximize the productivity of their volunteer construction workforce. This is significant as it allows NPO's and governments to focus their attention where best suited to produce results. The results were shared and the study was further validated as "significant" by conducting interviews with experts in the construction nonprofit sector.
ContributorsPrigge, Diedrich (Author) / Sullivan, Kenneth (Thesis advisor) / Wiezel, Avi (Committee member) / Badger, William (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
This research seeks to better understand the current state of US healthcare FM industry hiring practices from colleges and universities to identify potential employment barriers into healthcare FM and interventions to help overcome them. Two national surveys were distributed to healthcare facility managers and directors to collect quantifiable information on healthcare organizations, hiring practices from FM academic programs, individual demographics, and opinions of FM college graduates. Designated survey respondents were also contacted for phone interviews. Additionally, a Delphi method was used for this research to draw upon the collective knowledge and experience of 13 experts over three iterative rounds of input.
Results indicate that the healthcare FM industry is hiring very few college interns and new college graduates for entry-level management jobs. Strong homogeneousness demographics, backgrounds, and paths of entry among existing healthcare FM professionals has created an industry bias against candidates attempting to enter healthcare FM from non-traditional sources. The healthcare FM industry’s principal source for new talent comes from building trade succession within healthcare organizations. However, continuing to rely on building tradespersons as the main path of entry into the healthcare FM industry may prove problematic. Most existing healthcare facility managers and directors will be retiring within 10 years, yet it is taking more than 17 years of full-time work experience to prepare building tradespersons to assume these roles.
New college graduates from FM academic programs are a viable recruitment source for new talent into healthcare FM as younger professionals are commonly entering the healthcare FM through the path of higher education. Although few new college graduates enter the healthcare FM industry, they are experiencing similar promotion timeframes compared to other candidate with many years of full-time work experience. Unfamiliarity with FM academic programs, work experience requirements, limited entry-level jobs within small organizations, low pay, and a limited exposure to healthcare industry topics present challenges for new FM college graduates attempting to enter the healthcare FM industry. This study shows that gaps indeed exist in student learning outcomes for a comprehensive healthcare FM education; key technical topics specific to the healthcare industry are not being addressed by organizations accrediting construction and facility management academic programs. A framework is proposed for a comprehensive healthcare FM education including accreditation, regulatory and code compliance, infection control, systems in healthcare facilities, healthcare construction project management and methods, and clinical operations and medical equipment. Interestingly, academics in the field of FM generally disagree with industry professionals that these technical topics are important student learning outcomes. Consequently, FM academics prefer to teach students general FM principles with the expectation that specific technical knowledge will be gained in the workplace after graduation from college. Nevertheless, candidates attempting to enter healthcare FM without industry specific knowledge are disadvantaged due to industry perceptions and expectations. University-industry linkage must be improved to successfully attract students into the field of healthcare FM and establish colleges and universities as a sustainable recruitment source in helping address FM attrition.
This paper is valuable in establishing the current state of the US healthcare industry’s hiring practices from FM academic programs and identifying major barriers of entering the healthcare FM industry for new FM college graduates. Findings facilitate development of interventions by healthcare organizations and universities to further open FM academic programs as a sustainable source of new talent to help address healthcare FM attrition, including a healthcare FM education framework to elucidate college student learning outcomes for successful employment in healthcare FM. These student learning outcomes provide a framework for both the healthcare industry and academia in preparing future facility managers.
Results indicate that the healthcare FM industry is hiring very few college interns and new college graduates for entry-level management jobs. Strong homogeneousness demographics, backgrounds, and paths of entry among existing healthcare FM professionals has created an industry bias against candidates attempting to enter healthcare FM from non-traditional sources. The healthcare FM industry’s principal source for new talent comes from building trade succession within healthcare organizations. However, continuing to rely on building tradespersons as the main path of entry into the healthcare FM industry may prove problematic. Most existing healthcare facility managers and directors will be retiring within 10 years, yet it is taking more than 17 years of full-time work experience to prepare building tradespersons to assume these roles.
New college graduates from FM academic programs are a viable recruitment source for new talent into healthcare FM as younger professionals are commonly entering the healthcare FM through the path of higher education. Although few new college graduates enter the healthcare FM industry, they are experiencing similar promotion timeframes compared to other candidate with many years of full-time work experience. Unfamiliarity with FM academic programs, work experience requirements, limited entry-level jobs within small organizations, low pay, and a limited exposure to healthcare industry topics present challenges for new FM college graduates attempting to enter the healthcare FM industry. This study shows that gaps indeed exist in student learning outcomes for a comprehensive healthcare FM education; key technical topics specific to the healthcare industry are not being addressed by organizations accrediting construction and facility management academic programs. A framework is proposed for a comprehensive healthcare FM education including accreditation, regulatory and code compliance, infection control, systems in healthcare facilities, healthcare construction project management and methods, and clinical operations and medical equipment. Interestingly, academics in the field of FM generally disagree with industry professionals that these technical topics are important student learning outcomes. Consequently, FM academics prefer to teach students general FM principles with the expectation that specific technical knowledge will be gained in the workplace after graduation from college. Nevertheless, candidates attempting to enter healthcare FM without industry specific knowledge are disadvantaged due to industry perceptions and expectations. University-industry linkage must be improved to successfully attract students into the field of healthcare FM and establish colleges and universities as a sustainable recruitment source in helping address FM attrition.
This paper is valuable in establishing the current state of the US healthcare industry’s hiring practices from FM academic programs and identifying major barriers of entering the healthcare FM industry for new FM college graduates. Findings facilitate development of interventions by healthcare organizations and universities to further open FM academic programs as a sustainable source of new talent to help address healthcare FM attrition, including a healthcare FM education framework to elucidate college student learning outcomes for successful employment in healthcare FM. These student learning outcomes provide a framework for both the healthcare industry and academia in preparing future facility managers.
ContributorsCall, Steven Alan (Author) / Sullivan, Kenneth (Thesis advisor) / Hurtado, Kristen (Committee member) / Standage, Richard (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
By the evolution of technologies and computing power, it is possible to capture and save large amounts of data and then find patterns in large and complex datasets using data science and machine learning. This dissertation introduces machine-learning models and econometric models to use in infrastructure transportation projects. Among transportation infrastructure projects, the airline industry and highways are selected to implement the models.The first topic of this dissertation focuses on using machine-learning models in highway projects. The International Roughness Index (IRI) for asphalt concrete pavement is predicted based on the 12,637 observations in the Long-Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) dataset for 1,390 roads and highways in the 50 states of the United States and the District of Columbia from 1989 to 2018. The results show that XGBoost provides a better model fit in terms of mean absolute error and coefficient of determination than other studied models. Also, the most important factors in predicting the IRI are identified.
The second topic of this dissertation aims to develop machine-learning models to predict customer dissatisfaction in the airline industry. The relationship between measures of service failure (flight delay and mishandled baggage) and customer dissatisfaction is predicted by using longitudinal data from 2003 to 2019 from the U.S. airline industry. Data was obtained from the Air Travel Consumer Report (ATCR) published by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Flight delay is more important in low-cost airlines, while mishandled baggage is more important in legacy airlines. Also, the effect of the train-test split ratio on each machine-learning model is examined by running each model using four train-test splits. Results indicate that the train-test split ratio could influence the selection of the best model.
The third topic in this dissertation uses econometric analysis to investigate the relationship between customer dissatisfaction and two measures of service failure in the U.S. airline industry. Results are: 1) Mishandled baggage has more impact than flight delay on customer complaints. 2) The effect of an airline’s service failures on customer complaints is contingent on the category of the airline. 3) The effect of flight delay on customer complaints is lower for low-cost airlines compared to legacy airlines.
ContributorsDamirchilo, Farshid (Author) / Fini, Elham H (Thesis advisor) / Lamanna, Anthony J (Committee member) / Parast, Mahour M (Committee member) / Sullivan, Kenneth (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
The United States building sector was the most significant carbon emission contributor (over 40%). The United States government is trying to decrease carbon emissions by enacting policies, but emissions increased by approximately 7 percent in the U.S. between 1990 and 2013. To reduce emissions, investigating the factors affecting carbon emissions should be a priority. Therefore, in this dissertation, this research examine the relationship between carbon emissions and the factors affecting them from macro and micro perspectives. From a macroscopic perspective, the relationship between carbon dioxide, energy resource consumption, energy prices, GDP (gross domestic product), waste generation, and recycling waste generation in the building and waste sectors has been verified. From a microscopic perspective, the impact of non-permanent electric appliances and stationary and non-stationary occupancy has been investigated. To verify the relationships, various kinds of statistical and data mining techniques were applied, such as the Granger causality test, linear and logarithmic correlation, and regression method. The results show that natural gas and electricity prices are higher than others, as coal impacts their consumption, and electricity and coal consumption were found to cause significant carbon emissions. Also, waste generation and recycling significantly increase and decrease emissions from the waste sector, respectively. Moreover, non-permanent appliances such as desktop computers and monitors consume a lot of electricity, and significant energy saving potential has been shown. Lastly, a linear relationship exists between buildings’ electricity use and total occupancy, but no significant relationship exists between occupancy and thermal loads, such as cooling and heating loads. These findings will potentially provide policymakers with a better understanding of and insights into carbon emission manipulation in the building sector.
ContributorsLee, Seungtaek (Author) / Chong, Oswald (Thesis advisor) / Sullivan, Kenneth (Committee member) / Tang, Pingbo (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018