The importance of hard project management and team motivation for construction project performance

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 275-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johan Larsson ◽  
Per Erik Eriksson ◽  
Ossi Pesämaa
Keyword(s):  
Project Management ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Construction Projects ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Equation Model ◽  
Process Performance ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Planning And Control ◽  
Team Motivation

Purpose Hard project management practices, based on strict planning and control, are traditionally applied in construction projects, although research frequently promotes the importance of teams for various project outcomes. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to examine the importance of hard project management and team motivation for process performance in construction projects. A hypothesis tested is that hard project management can impair process performance if team motivation is not promoted. Design/methodology/approach The paper presents and empirically tests a structural equation model, with and without a mediating link between hard project management and process performance, based on data from a survey of 2,175 respondents, representing contractors and clients involved in 109 Swedish construction projects. Findings The results confirm that hard project management is best conveyed through teams to enhance process performance. “Path analysis,” using the model with the mediating link, confirms that neglecting team motivation can significantly impair process performance. Research limitations/implications The data set provides unusually high representation of views of contractors and clients involved in diverse Swedish construction projects. Thus, the results have likely relevance in other project-based industries and/or national settings, but this possibility requires further investigation. Originality/value The findings show that team motivation is a key process performance factor; hard project management may indeed be important, but its effects will be enhanced by (and partially mediated through) team motivation. Thus, the findings have important theoretical and practical implications for the development of project management practices.

Improving firm performance through inter-organizational collaborative innovations

2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (6) ◽  
pp. 1167-1182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Hernandez-Espallardo ◽  
Fabian Osorio-Tinoco ◽  
Augusto Rodriguez-Orejuela
Keyword(s):  
Firm Performance ◽  
Open Innovation ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Strong Support ◽  
Equation Model ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Innovation Culture ◽  
Collaborative Innovation

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to add to the existing knowledge about how firm performance is influenced by their involvement in collaborative innovation. The contextual resource-based dimensions improve the participating firm’s performance through its impact on the job-related attitudes of the firm’s personnel. Design/methodology/approach Hypotheses were tested using structural equation model to analyze a set of data collected through surveys among a sample of Colombian manufacturers. Findings This study provides empirical evidence that contributes to the scarce research in the open innovation arena about how human resources influence performance in the inter-organizational collaborative innovations. In particular, it offers strong support for the key mediating role of the employees’ job-related attitudes in the relationship between complementary capabilities and innovation culture as value-creating conditions, and the participating firm’s ultimate sales and financial performance. Research limitations/implications The results may be affected by the context of the data set. Further studies considering the influence of specific contextual variables, such as the type of innovation, the national culture or the type of partner, could yield richer insights that would help validate the results of this study. Practical implications This study provides useful information for managers. As well as creating the required conditions to add value in the collaborative innovation, they should work to guarantee the better job-related outcomes for the employees involved in collaborative innovation projects. Originality/value This research contributes to the open innovation literature. It posits the employee’s attitudes toward collaborative innovations as a factor of the utmost importance in determining how the external collaboration affects internal performance.

Investigating the managerial ‘‘nuts and bolts’’ for the construction industry

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 331-348
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Boon Hui Yap ◽  
Ian Ni Chow
Keyword(s):  
Project Management ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Questionnaire Survey ◽  
Construction Projects ◽  
Rank Correlation ◽  
Construction Time ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Planning And Control ◽  
Spearman’S Rank Correlation ◽  
And Control

PurposeManagerial shortfalls can considerably undermine the delivery performance of construction projects. This paper appraises the project management essentials (PMEs) for successful construction project delivery.Design/methodology/approachFollowing a detailed literature review, a questionnaire survey was developed encompassing 20 PMEs that were identified. An opinion questionnaire survey was used to facilitate data collection from key construction stakeholders in the Malaysian construction industry. The survey data were subjected to descriptive statistics and exploratory factor analysis.FindingsFindings indicated that the leading PMEs are competency of the project team, competency of project manager, good leadership, effective planning and control and realistic cost and time estimate. Spearman’s rank correlation tests affirmed a good agreement on the ranking of PMEs across stakeholder groups. The present study found that PMEs for construction have a total of four dimensions, namely: scope, communication and competence management; stakeholder commitment and collaborative engagement; construction time–cost planning and control; and environment, health, safety and quality management.Practical implicationsThe findings could potentially contribute to the development of appropriate project management best practices to address managerial shortfalls in Malaysia and other developing countries.Originality/valueThis paper bridges the identified knowledge gap about critical managerial dimensions for successful project management in construction. The present study adds to the existing body of knowledge around this under-explored area in the construction management literature.

Knowledge transfer between projects within project-based organizations: the project nature perspective

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 1082-1103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xu Ren ◽  
Xiaofang Deng ◽  
Lihua Liang
Keyword(s):  
Project Management ◽  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Evaluation System ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Construction Enterprises

Purpose This paper aims to investigate how project nature affects the effectiveness of knowledge transfer between projects in project-based organizations (PBOs) and to analyze the roles of inter-project communication, transfer intention and information technology (IT) in the influencing process. Design/methodology/approach This paper adopted a questionnaire survey method to collect data from construction enterprises in China and subsequently proceeded to structural equation modeling analysis with a total of 261 samples. Findings The results indicate that the similarity of projects could promote the inter-project communication and improve transfer intention, which further influences knowledge transfer effectiveness positively within PBOs. The urgency of projects has a negative impact on inter-project communication and transfer intention. The temporality of projects also negatively affects inter-project communication. They consequently hinder the knowledge transfer behaviors between projects. Additionally, the application of IT improves the frequency of communication and makes up for the negative impact of geographical distance between projects on knowledge transfer. Practical implications Based on the results, a series of strategies is recommended to improve knowledge transfer effectiveness between projects, including standardizing project management, promoting information construction, establishing a post-project evaluation system and creating a shared culture, so that the competitive advantages of PBOs could be improved. Originality/value The study explores the factors influencing knowledge transfer between projects from the perspective of project nature and provides guidance for enhancing knowledge management and project management practices.

scholarly journals Studying the relationship between causes and effects of poor communication in construction projects using PLS-SEM approach

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yaser Gamiljj ◽  
Ismail Abd Rahman
Keyword(s):  
Construction Industry ◽  
Information Exchange ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Construction Projects ◽  
Equation Model ◽  
Hypothetical Model ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Threshold Criterion ◽  
Relationship Model ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop a structural relationship model to study the relationship between causes and effects of poor communication and information exchange in construction projects using Smart-PLS. Design/methodology/approach The first method of this research is to identify the causes and effects factors of poor communication in construction projects from the extant of literature. The data used to develop the model was collected using a questionnaire survey, which targeted construction practitioners in the Malaysian construction industry. A five-point Likert type scale was used to rate the significance of the factors. The factors were classified under their relevant construct/group using exploratory factor analysis. A hypothetical model was developed and then transformed into Smart-PLS in which the hypothetical model suggested that each group of the cause factors has a direct impact on the effect groups. The hypothesis was tested using t-values and p-values. The model was assessed for its inner and outer components and achieved the threshold criterion. Further, the model was verified by engaging 14 construction experts to verify its applicability in the construction project setting. Findings The study developed a structural equation model to clarify the relationships between causes and effects of poor communication in construction projects. The model explained the degree of relationships among causes and effects of poor communication in construction projects. Originality/value The published academic and non-academic literature introduced many studies on the issue of communication including the definitions, importance, barriers to effective communication and means of poor communication. However, these studies ended up only on the general issue of communication lacking an in-depth investigation of the causes and effects of poor communication in the construction industry. The study implemented advanced structural modeling to study the causes and effects. The questionnaire, the data and concluding results fill the identified research gap of this study. The addressed issue is also of interest because communication is considered one of the main knowledge areas in construction management.

Second-order confirmatory factor analysis model for estimating the overall risk of change orders in road projects

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Badawy
Keyword(s):  
Latent Variables ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Construction Projects ◽  
Equation Model ◽  
Analysis Model ◽  
Factor Analysis Model ◽  
Systematic Analysis ◽  
Change Orders ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Road Projects

Purpose Change orders in construction projects may lead to an increase in time and cost highlighting the need for a systematic analysis of the causes of change orders. Each cause of change orders has a probability of occurrence and impact; therefore, there is a need to reassess the causes of change orders based on the probability and impact. The purpose of this paper is to determine the risk score for each factor and develop a model for estimating the overall change orders based on the measured and latent variables. Design/methodology/approach The research methodology consists of four parts. The first part identifies the causes of change orders in road projects from a literature review and develops the final list using the Delphi technique. The second part includes designing the final questionnaire to determine the probability and impact of each factor on the five-point Likert scale and 237 questionnaires received validity. The data were divided into training and testing sets and analyzed using AMOS software. Findings The proposed structural equation model presents an insight into the influence of measured and latent factors, which are not obvious in the traditional equations. The main cause for change orders was a change in design. Originality/value The results of this research are expected to improve the execution of road projects by identifying the main causes of the change orders and hence the project manager can develop a proper risk response plan.

Towards excellence in managing the public-sector project cycle: a TQM context

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos F. Gomes ◽  
Michael H. Small ◽  
Mahmoud M. Yasin
Keyword(s):  
Project Management ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Equation Model ◽  
Project Managers ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Total Quality ◽  
Planning Stage ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Implementation Stages

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess the management of public-sector projects in Portugal paying particular attention to the extent to which total quality management (TQM) principles are being utilized in such projects. Design/methodology/approach Based on an extensive review of the literature, nine propositions are advanced about the interrelationships among seven factors that were identified, in a previous study, as having some influence on the management process in the planning and implementation of public-sector projects in Portugal. Structural equation modeling was used to investigate these propositions using data obtained from 211 respondents to a survey of project managers from municipalities across Portugal. Findings The results of the structural equation model indicate that the TQM components working in tandem with project-management-specific variables provide a systematic means of managing the planning and implementation stages of projects, with technical items being critical in the planning stage and softer management items becoming important in the implementation stage. Research limitations/implications Readers should be careful not to generalize the findings in a global context or for private sector projects. However, researchers are encouraged to extend this study by including other planning and implementation variables with a view to discerning what particular characteristics of a project make it more amenable to TQM solutions. Practical implications The findings are presented to show how the key components of TQM, customer focus, employee involvement and continuous involvement, can be applied during the planning and implementation stages of projects. Originality/value The sample size of 211 is representative of the underlying population of project managers in municipalities across Portugal and is comparatively large in relation to other empirical project management studies from Portugal, lending credence to the generalizability of these finding to public-sector projects in Portugal.

A model for promoting student participation in school governance

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 737-749
Author(s):  
Eric C.K. Cheng ◽  
Yan Wing Leung ◽  
Wai Wa Yuen ◽  
Hei Hang Hayes Tang
Keyword(s):  
Citizenship Education ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
Student Participation ◽  
Equation Model ◽  
School Governance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Quasi Experimental

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to highlight the urgent need for a genuinely effective and attainable citizenship education model in Hong Kong’s schools, which focusses on promoting student participation in school governance. It is an empirical citizenship education management model for school leaders that illustrates the predictive effects of personally responsible, participatory, justice-oriented and patriotic citizenship, necessarily supported by school management practices, school ethos and teacher beliefs. Design/methodology/approach A total of 3,209 students from 51 secondary schools in Hong Kong participated in a quasi-experimental design questionnaire survey. A structural equation model (SEM) was applied to confirm the model. Findings The results of the SEM show that the values and cultural practices held by a school’s teachers drive the implementation of its citizenship education. Moreover, it is well known that organizational values can exert a powerful influence and it is the same within educational structures: management practices in schools have an impact on ethos, teachers’ beliefs and student participation in school governance. Practical implications The paper provides practical proposals for school leaders to create opportunities for student participation in school governance. Originality/value This study builds on existing literature and provides school leaders with a practical model for implementing student participation in school governance.

Linking project complexity to project success: a hybrid SEM–FCM method

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (9) ◽  
pp. 2591-2614
Author(s):  
Lan Luo ◽  
Limao Zhang ◽  
Qinghua He
Keyword(s):  
Structural Equation ◽  
Construction Projects ◽  
Project Success ◽  
Hybrid Approach ◽  
Equation Model ◽  
The State ◽  
Fuzzy Cognitive Map ◽  
Dynamic Interactions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Project Complexity

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to develop a novel hybrid approach that incorporates the structural equation model (SEM) and fuzzy cognitive map (FCM) to investigate the impacts of the variation in project complexity on project success.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopts SEM to identify and validate a correlation between project complexity variables and PS. Standardized causal coefficients estimated in SEM are used to construct an FCM model to illustrate the effect of complexity on PS with linkage direction and weights. Predictive and diagnostic analyses are performed to dynamically model the variation in project complexity on the evolution of PS.FindingsResults indicate that (1) the hybrid SEM–FCM approach is capable of modeling the dynamic interactions between project complexity and PS; (2) information, goal and environmental complexities are negatively correlated with PS, and technological, task and organizational complexities are positively correlated with PS and (3) the recommendations of complexity management for construction projects are put forward under the guideline of success monitoring.Originality/valueThis research contributes to (1) the state of knowledge by proposing a hybrid methodology that can model the dynamic interactions between project complexity and PS and (2) the state of practice by providing a new perspective of PS evaluation to enhance the probability of success in complex construction projects.

Handling inter-organisational conflict based on bargaining power

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 781-800
Author(s):  
Wenxue Lu ◽  
Yuxin Wei ◽  
Rui Wang
Keyword(s):  
Bargaining Power ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Construction Projects ◽  
Power Distance ◽  
Equation Model ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Negatively Associated ◽  
Power Distance Orientation ◽  
Final Sample ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose This paper aims to reveal the effects of an organisation’s bargaining power on its negotiating behaviours (including integrating, obliging, compromising, dominating and avoiding) in the context of inter-organisational conflict in construction projects and investigate how organisational power distance orientation moderates the relationship between the organisation’s bargaining power and its negotiating behaviours. Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted a questionnaire survey among practitioners in the Chinese construction industry with the final sample consisting of 219 responses. A structural equation model was used to analyse the data and test the hypotheses. Findings The results reveal that an organisation’s bargaining power is positively associated with dominating and integrating behaviours but negatively associated with obliging and avoiding behaviours. Additionally, bargaining power is found to be negatively associated with compromising behaviour when the organisation has a high power distance orientation. Finally, a higher degree of power distance orientation strengthens the positive effect bargaining power has on dominating behaviour. Practical implications The findings can help practitioners to predict the negotiating behaviours of a counterpart according to its bargaining power and the power distance in its organisational culture. This can then enable practitioners to adjust their strategies accordingly and steer the negotiations towards a win–win outcome. Originality/value This study applies the approach-inhibition theory of power to inter-organisational negotiations and empirically tests the relationship between an organisation’s bargaining power and its negotiating behaviours in the context of construction projects. Additionally, this study reveals that organisational power distance orientation moderates this relationship.

Transaction costs in construction projects under uncertainty

Kybernetes ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 45 (6) ◽  
pp. 866-883 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Guo ◽  
Huimin Li ◽  
Peng Li ◽  
Chengyi Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Transaction Costs ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Construction Projects ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Equation Model ◽  
Risk Allocation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Hard Data ◽  
The Many

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to find how those uncertainty factors influence transaction costs generated and to identify ways to minimize the transaction costs borne by the construction owner. Design/methodology/approach – The literature indicates that there is no consensus on a standard definition of transaction costs in the construction industry. A detailed literature review of research work on transaction costs in construction is conducted in order to identify the determinants of transaction costs in construction projects. A structural equation model is tested on data collected by means of a survey administered to construction owners. Findings – The findings indicate that the transaction costs borne by the owner can be minimized if the owner minimizes the uncertainties inherent in the construction project by making sure the engineering design is as complete as possible before bids are sought from contractors; harmonious relationships between project participants; fair risk allocation; have experience in similar type projects; and contractor selection practices that routinely detect irregular behavior. Research limitations/implications – The data used in this research are primarily based on the experiences of public owners and the markets in which they operate; a larger representation of private owners could make the conclusions more general. Another limitation of the study is that it relies on a survey of opinions rather than actual records of costs and other hard data. Practical implications – No empirical study has ever been conducted of transaction-related issues in the construction industry because of the lack of a common understanding of transaction cost. This paper provides the groundwork for such a study. Originality/value – This paper attempts to reconcile the many determinants of transaction costs in construction projects under uncertainty considered by different researchers in a multitude of research studies.

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