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Description
The workforce demographics are changing as a large portion of the population is approaching retirement and thus leaving vacancies in the construction industry. Succession planning is an aspect of talent management which aims to mitigate instability faced by a company when a new successor fills a vacancy. Research shows that in addition to a diminishing pool of available talent, the industry does not have widespread, empirically tested and implemented models that lead to effective successions. The objective of this research was to create a baseline profile for succession planning in the construction industry by identifying currently implemented best practices. The author interviewed six companies of varying sizes and demographics within the construction industry and compared their succession planning methodologies to identify any common challenges and practices. Little consensus between the companies was found. The results of the interviews were then compared to current research literature, but even here, little consensus was found. In addition, companies lacked quantitative performance metrics demonstrating the effectiveness, or ineffectiveness, of their current succession planning methodologies. The authors recommended that additional research is carried out to focus on empirical evidence and measurement of industry practices surrounding talent identification, development, and transition leading to succession.
ContributorsGunnoe, Jake A (Author) / Sullivan, Kenneth (Thesis advisor) / Wiezel, Avi (Committee member) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
ABSTRACT
The problem of litigation and disputes in the construction sector is a major impediment to countries’ development goals. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the problem of high legal costs and long delays that arise due to litigation involving project owners, designers, contractors and other construction parties worldwide and in Saudi Arabia, as well as to give recommendation according to the outcomes of this research. The causes of litigious behavior in Saudi Arabia and other countries around the world were identified and documented, also the differences in litigation of the Saudi Arabian construction industry as compared to other countries were identified. Preliminary investigations revealed that there are some level of similarity in the nature of the causes. Thus, these causes were grouped into three main categories which are expectation factors, communications factors and documentation factors. Further research based on existing literature showed that the practices used to minimize litigation in the construction industry were investigated. The following delivery process were researched: design-build (DB) delivery method, Alliance Contracting, Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR), Best Value Approach, Integrated Project Delivery (IPD), and Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), and the PIPS/PIRMS approach. These delivery methods were found to have issues, which means the methods by observation do not seem to be the ideal solution to minimize litigation in the construction industry. The only delivery method found to have no litigation issues was the PIPS/PIRMS approach.
The problem of litigation and disputes in the construction sector is a major impediment to countries’ development goals. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the problem of high legal costs and long delays that arise due to litigation involving project owners, designers, contractors and other construction parties worldwide and in Saudi Arabia, as well as to give recommendation according to the outcomes of this research. The causes of litigious behavior in Saudi Arabia and other countries around the world were identified and documented, also the differences in litigation of the Saudi Arabian construction industry as compared to other countries were identified. Preliminary investigations revealed that there are some level of similarity in the nature of the causes. Thus, these causes were grouped into three main categories which are expectation factors, communications factors and documentation factors. Further research based on existing literature showed that the practices used to minimize litigation in the construction industry were investigated. The following delivery process were researched: design-build (DB) delivery method, Alliance Contracting, Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR), Best Value Approach, Integrated Project Delivery (IPD), and Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), and the PIPS/PIRMS approach. These delivery methods were found to have issues, which means the methods by observation do not seem to be the ideal solution to minimize litigation in the construction industry. The only delivery method found to have no litigation issues was the PIPS/PIRMS approach.
ContributorsAlmutairi, Saud (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis advisor) / Sullivan, Kenneth (Committee member) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
Delays are a major cause for concern in the construction industry both globally and locally in Saudi Arabia. This paper identifies the main causes of delay in infrastructure projects in the holy city of Makkah (Saudi Arabia) and compares these with projects around the rest of the country and other Gulf countries as well. Data were obtained from 49 infrastructure projects that were undertaken by the owner and were analyzed quantitatively to understand the severity and causes of delay. 10 risk factors were identified in this study and these factors were grouped into four categories. The average delay in infrastructure projects in the city of Makkah was found to be 39%. The most severe cause of delay was found to be the land acquisition factor. This highlights the critical land ownership and acquisition issues that is prevailing in Makkah. In addition to this, other factors include contractors’ lack of expertise, haphazard underground utilities (line services), and re-designing. It is concluded that majority of delays were caused from the owner’s side as compared to contractors, consultants, and other project’s stakeholders. This finding was in line with the research findings of the Gulf Countries Construction (GCC) Industry’s literature as well. This study will fill an important practice and research gap for improving the efficiency in project delivery for infrastructure projects in the holy city of Makkah and the Gulf countries at large.
ContributorsElawi, Ghazi Saad A (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis advisor) / Sullivan, Kenneth (Committee member) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
Saudi Arabia has been having many issues with large construction projects such as delays, low performance and high cost. Some studies show that around 70% of the public projects in Saudi Arabia are delayed. These issues have resulted from many factors. One of the factors believed to be delaying projects is the Saudi procurement system. The Saudi procurement system only selects contracts based on the lowest bid price offered. However, the Saudi procurement system has been found to not only produce delayed low quality projects, but also has resulted in higher costs.
This paper shows how to modify the Saudi procurement system by implementing a clarification phase, which is the most important phase in the Performance Information Procurement System (PIPS). The clarification phase requires the bid’s winning contractor to submit a project scope, a project schedule, to identify risks that not their responsibility, performance measurements and a milestone schedule. The PIPS system has been one of the most successful systems around the world and has shown a 98% success rate in six different countries with risks and cost reductions up to 30%.
This research conducted a survey of 157 engineers, 33 consultants, 9 owners, 5 vendors, 13 academics, and 28 architects to develop the public procurement system in Saudi Arabia. The participants work in government sectors with an interest in the Saudi Arabian procurement system. 80.61 % of participants believe that the traditional Saudi procurement system consistently selects poor performing contractors. Moreover, 95.97% of participants think that the selection of contractors based only on the lowest price criterion affects projects negatively. Also, 96.20% of participants in the survey feel that there needs to be a change in the traditional Saudi Arabian procurement system. 88.7% of participants agree to require the contractor to identify risks, and 96.03 % of participants agree that the contractors must have a plan. Moreover, 95.45% of participants agree to require a contractor review the scope of a project and verify that it is correct. Finally, 82.18% of participants agree to require a contractor to resolve all owner concerns before signing a contract to improve construction projects performance. The paper shows the need to change the Saudi procurement system and a solution to this growing problem.
This paper shows how to modify the Saudi procurement system by implementing a clarification phase, which is the most important phase in the Performance Information Procurement System (PIPS). The clarification phase requires the bid’s winning contractor to submit a project scope, a project schedule, to identify risks that not their responsibility, performance measurements and a milestone schedule. The PIPS system has been one of the most successful systems around the world and has shown a 98% success rate in six different countries with risks and cost reductions up to 30%.
This research conducted a survey of 157 engineers, 33 consultants, 9 owners, 5 vendors, 13 academics, and 28 architects to develop the public procurement system in Saudi Arabia. The participants work in government sectors with an interest in the Saudi Arabian procurement system. 80.61 % of participants believe that the traditional Saudi procurement system consistently selects poor performing contractors. Moreover, 95.97% of participants think that the selection of contractors based only on the lowest price criterion affects projects negatively. Also, 96.20% of participants in the survey feel that there needs to be a change in the traditional Saudi Arabian procurement system. 88.7% of participants agree to require the contractor to identify risks, and 96.03 % of participants agree that the contractors must have a plan. Moreover, 95.45% of participants agree to require a contractor review the scope of a project and verify that it is correct. Finally, 82.18% of participants agree to require a contractor to resolve all owner concerns before signing a contract to improve construction projects performance. The paper shows the need to change the Saudi procurement system and a solution to this growing problem.
ContributorsAlofi, Ahmed Abdulrahman (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis advisor) / Sullivan, Kenneth (Committee member) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
In today's era a lot of the construction projects suffer from time delay, cost overrun and quality defect. Incentive provisions are found to be a contracting strategy to address this potential problem. During last decade incentive mechanisms have gained importance, and they are starting to become adopted in the construction projects. Most of the previous research done in this area was purely qualitative, with a few quantitative studies. This study aims to quantify the performance of incentives in construction by collecting the data from more than 30 projects in United States through a questionnaire survey. First, literature review addresses the previous research work related to incentive types, incentives in construction industry, incentives in other industry and benefits of incentives. Second, the collected data is analyzed with statistical methods to test the significance of observed changes between two data sets i.e. incentive projects and non-incentive projects. Finally, the analysis results provide evidence for the significant impact of having incentives; reduced the cost and schedule growth in construction projects in United States.
ContributorsPaladugu, Bala Sai Krishna (Author) / El Asmar, Mounir (Thesis advisor) / Ernzen, James (Committee member) / Sullivan, Kenneth (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
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
Energy performance and efficiency plays of major role in the operations of K-12 schools, as it is a significant expense and a source of budgetary pressure upon schools. Energy performance is tied to the physical infrastructure of schools, as well as the operational and behavioral patterns they accommodate. Little documentation exists within the existing literature on the measured post-occupancy performance of schools once they have begun measuring and tracking their energy performance. Further, little is known about the patterns of change over time in regard to energy performance and whether there is differentiation in these patterns between school districts.
This paper examines the annual Energy Use Intensity (EUI) of 28 different K-12 schools within the Phoenix Metropolitan Region of Arizona over the span of five years and presents an analysis of changes in energy performance resulting from the measurement of energy use in K-12 schools. This paper also analyzes the patterns of change in energy use over time and provides a comparison of these patterns by school district.
An analysis of the energy performance data for the selected schools revealed a significant positive impact on the ability for schools to improve their energy performance through ongoing performance measurement. However, while schools tend to be able to make energy improvements through the implementation of energy measurement and performance tracking, deviation may exist in their ability to maintain ongoing energy performance over time. The results suggest that implementation of ongoing measurement is likely to produce positive impacts on the energy performance of schools, however further research is recommended to enhance and refine these results.
This paper examines the annual Energy Use Intensity (EUI) of 28 different K-12 schools within the Phoenix Metropolitan Region of Arizona over the span of five years and presents an analysis of changes in energy performance resulting from the measurement of energy use in K-12 schools. This paper also analyzes the patterns of change in energy use over time and provides a comparison of these patterns by school district.
An analysis of the energy performance data for the selected schools revealed a significant positive impact on the ability for schools to improve their energy performance through ongoing performance measurement. However, while schools tend to be able to make energy improvements through the implementation of energy measurement and performance tracking, deviation may exist in their ability to maintain ongoing energy performance over time. The results suggest that implementation of ongoing measurement is likely to produce positive impacts on the energy performance of schools, however further research is recommended to enhance and refine these results.
ContributorsThurston, Anna (Author) / Sullivan, Kenneth (Thesis advisor) / Okamura, Patrick (Committee member) / Slife, Curtis (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
The construction industry in India suffers from major time and cost overruns. Data from government and industry reports suggest that projects suffer from 20 to 25 percent time and cost overruns. Waste of resources has been identified as a major source of inefficiency. Despite a substantial increase in the past few years, demand for professionals and contractors still exceeds supply by a large margin. The traditional methods adopted in the Indian construction industry may not suffice the needs of this dynamic environment, as they have produced large inefficiencies. Innovative ways of procurement and project management can satisfy the needs aspired to as well as bring added value. The problems faced by the Indian construction industry are very similar to those faced by other developing countries. The objective of this paper is to discuss and analyze the economic concerns, inefficiencies and investigate a model that both explains the Indian construction industry structure and provides a framework to improve efficiencies. The Best Value (BV) model is examined as an approach to be adopted in lieu of the traditional approach. This could result in efficient construction projects by minimizing cost overruns and delays, which until now have been a rarity.
ContributorsNihas, Syed (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis advisor) / Sullivan, Kenneth (Committee member) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013