Sensitivity Analysis of Key Cost Performance Determinants Using Extreme Bound Analysis Method
Publication: Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution in Engineering and Construction
Volume 15, Issue 1
Abstract
The complex nature of construction projects makes achieving positive outcomes challenging, and cost overruns, which frequently occur in all three construction phases, are one of the major impediments to success. When indicators of cost overruns are determined early in a project, however, strategies for reducing or eliminating them can be adopted. Therefore, this study aimed to identify primary cost performance indicators (CPIs) and assess their robustness during the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) phases of heavy industrial projects. To accomplish this, an extensive survey was designed and distributed to experienced construction professionals to gather information on tried and true cost performance indicators they had successfully employed. The chi-square test, two-sample -test, and the Kruskal-Wallis test were used to evaluate their responses, and a final list of cost performance indicators was developed using the all-possible combination regression analysis approach. The robustness or fragility of the indicators was investigated using extreme bounds analysis (EBA), and the results were analyzed using Sala-i-Martin and Leamer’s EBA methods. Because Leamer’s approach concentrates exclusively on the indicators’ extreme boundaries and Sala-i-Martin’s approach considers the entire distribution of the variables, the conclusions were drawn using the Sala-i-Martin method. The results revealed that the three determinants of cost performance indicators in all three construction phases are a project’s alignment, effective management strategies, and the staff turnover rate. Two more robust indicators in all three phases were the fundamental essence of a project and the number of designer/engineering organizations. The study findings will help project managers of construction projects effectively allocate their financial, human, and machinery resources.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Data Availability Statement
All data generated or analyzed during the study are available from the corresponding author by request.
References
Works Cited
Abdou, S. M., K. Yong, and M. Othman. 2016. “Project complexity influence on project management performance—The Malaysian perspective.” In Vol. 66 of Proc., MATEC Web Conf., 00065. Les Ulis, France: EDP Sciences.
Akpan, E. O. P., B. Amade, S. E. Okangba, and C. O. Ekweozor. 2014. “Constructability practice and project deliver processes in the Nigerian construction industry.” J. Build. Perform. 5 (1): 10–21.
Anderson, S., C. Quiroga, J. Overman, K. Choi, J. Sahu, S. Kermanshachi, P. Goodrum, T. Taylor, and Y. Li. 2016. Effective project scoping practices to improve on-time and on-budget delivery of highway projects. Washington, DC: Transportation Research Board.
Assaf, S. A., and S. Al Hejji. 2006. “Causes of delay in large construction projects.” Int. J. Project Manage. 24 (Nov): 349–357. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2005.11.010.
Azhar, N., R. U. Farooqui, and S. M. Ahmed. 2008. “Cost overrun factors in the construction industry in Pakistan.” In Proc., 1st Int. Conf. on Construction in Developing Countries: Advancing and Integrating Construction Education. Karachi, Pakistan: Research and Practice.
Bubshait, A. A., and Y. A. Al-Juwait. 2002. “Factors contributing to construction costs in Saudi Arabia.” Cost Eng. 44 (5): 30–33.
Cantarelli, C., B. Van Wee, E. Molin, and B. Flyvbjerg. 2012. “Characteristics of cost overruns for Dutch transport infrastructure projects and the importance of the decision to build and project phases.” Transp. Policy 22 (Apr): 49–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2012.04.001.
Chan, A. P., D. Scott, and A. P. Chan. 2004. “Factors affecting the success of a construction project.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 1 (153): 153–155. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9364(2004)130:1(153).
Flyvbjerg, B., M. K. S. Holm, and S. L. Buhl. 2002. “Cost underestimation in public works projects: Error or lie?” J. Am. Plann. Assoc. 68 (3): 279–295. https://doi.org/10.1080/01944360208976273.
Ghribi, S., P. A. Hudon, and B. Mazouz. 2019. “Risk factors in IT public–Private partnership projects.” Public Works Manage. Policy 24 (4): 321–343. https://doi.org/10.1177/1087724X18823009.
Habibi, M., and S. Kermanshachi. 2018. “Phase-based analysis of key cost and schedule performance causes and preventive strategies: Research trends and implications.” J. Eng. Constr. Archit. Manage. 25 (8): 1009–1033. https://doi.org/10.1108/ECAM-10-2017-0219.
He, Q. H., L. Luo, Y. Hu, and A. P. C. Chan. 2015. “Measuring the complexity of mega construction projects in China—A fuzzy analytic network process analysis.” Int. J. Project Manage. 33 (3): 549–563. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2014.07.009.
Heravi, G., and A. Gholami. 2018. “The influence of project risk management maturity and organizational learning on the success of power plant construction projects.” Project Manage. J. 49 (5): 22–37. https://doi.org/10.1177/8756972818786661.
Imran, S. M. J. I., M. S. Nawaz, S. H. Siddiqui, and M. Kashif. 2019. “Does project teamwork matter? Investigating the relationship between transformational leadership and project success.” J. Manage. Sci. 6 (1): 79–95. https://doi.org/10.20547/jms.2014.1906106.
Kaliba, C., M. Muya, and K. Mumba. 2009. “Cost escalation and schedule delay in road construction projects in Zambia.” Int. J. Project Manage. 27 (5): 522–531. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2008.07.003.
Kermanshachi, S. 2016. “Decision making and uncertainty analysis in success of construction projects.” Doctoral dissertation, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Texas A&M Univ.
Kermanshachi, S., C. Beaty, and S. D. Anderson. 2016. “Improving early phase cost estimation and risk assessment: A department of transportation case study.” In Proc., Transportation Research Board 95th Annual Meeting. Washington, DC: Transportation Research Board.
Kermanshachi, S., B. Dao, J. Shane, and S. Anderson. 2017. “Uncertainty analysis of procurement phase performance indicators using extreme bounds analysis (EBA).” In Proc., 6th CSCE Int. Construction Specialty Conf. Vancouver, Canada: Canadian Society for Civil Engineering.
Kermanshachu, S., and B. Rouhanizadeh. 2019. “Robustness analysis of design phase performance predictors using extreme bound analysis (EBA).” In Proc., ASCE Internal Conf. on Computing in Civil Engineering. Reston, VA: ASCE.
Kissi, E., K. Agyekum, B. K. Baiden, R. A. Tannor, G. E. Asamoah, and E. T. Andam. 2019. “Impact of project monitoring and evaluation practices on construction project success criteria in Ghana.” Built Environ. Project Asset Manage. 2019 (May): 7. https://doi.org/10.1108/bepam-11-2018-0135.
Kog, Y. C. 2019. “Construction delays in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam.” Pract. Period. Struct. Des. Constr. 24 (3): 04019013. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)SC.1943-5576.0000434.
Kouskili, P. A., and N. Kartan. 2004. “Impact of construction materials on project time and cost in Kuwait.” J. Constr. Archit. Manage. 11 (2): 126–132. https://doi.org/10.1108/09699980410527867.
Leamer, E. E. 1983. “Sensitivity analysis would help.” Am. Econ. Rev. 57 (3): 308–313.
Le-Hoai, L., Y. D. Lee, and J. Y. Lee. 2008. “Delay and cost overrun in Vietnam large construction projects: A comparison with other selected countries.” J. Civ. Eng. 12 (6): 367–377. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12205-008-0367-7.
Levine, R., and D. Renelt. 1992. “A sensitivity analysis of cross-country growth regressions.” Am. Econ. Rev. 82 (4): 942–963.
Moosa, I. A., and B. A. Cardak. 2006. “The determinants of foreign direct investment: an extreme bounds analysis.” J. Multinational Financ. Manage. 16: 199–211.
Narayan, S., and H. C. Tan. 2019. “Adopting big data to forecast success of construction projects: A review.” Malaysian Constr. Res. J. 6 (1): 132–143.
Park, Y., and T. C. Papadopoulou. 2012. “Causes of cost overruns in transport infrastructure projects in Asia: Their significance and relationship with project size.” Built Environ. Project Asset Manage. 2 (2): 195–216. https://doi.org/10.1108/20441241211280873.
Safapour, E., S. Kermanshachi, M. Habibi, and J. Shane. 2018. “Resource–Based exploratory analysis of project complexity impact on phase-based cost performance behavior.” In Proc., Construction Research Congress, 2–4. Reston, VA: ASCE.
Safapour, E., S. Kermanshachi, J. Shane, and S. Anderson. 2017. “Exploring and assessing the utilization of best practices for achieving excellence in construction projects.” In Proc., 6th CSCE Int. Construction Specialty Conf. Vancouver, Canada: Canadian Society for Civil Engineering.
Sala-i-Martin, X. 1997. “I just ran two million regressions.” Am. Econ. Rev. 87 (2): 178–183.
Sohail, M., and A. N. Baldwin. 2004. “Performance indicators for ‘micro-projects’ in developing countries.” Construct. Manage. Econ. 22 (1): 11–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/0144619042000186022.
Tummalapudi, M., M. Harper, T. R. Taylor, S. Waddle, and R. Catchings. 2022. “Causes, implications, and strategies for project closeout delays in highway construction.” Transp. Res. Rec. 2676 (9): 03611981221087229. https://doi.org/10.1177/03611981221087229.
Wang, J., Z. Li, and V. W. Tam. 2015. “Identifying best design strategies for construction waste minimization.” J. Cleaner Prod. 92 (5): 237–247. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.12.076.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Apr 18, 2022
Accepted: Jul 21, 2022
Published online: Sep 26, 2022
Published in print: Feb 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Feb 26, 2023
ASCE Technical Topics:
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.
Cited by
- Nikhitha Adepu, Sharareh Kermanshachi, Apurva Pamidimukkala, Karthikeyan Loganathan, Analysis of the Factors Affecting Construction Project Cost during COVID-19, International Conference on Transportation and Development 2023, 10.1061/9780784484883.062, (718-727), (2023).
- Nikhitha Adepu, Sharareh Kermanshachi, Apurva Pamidimukkala, Karthikeyan Loganathan, Evaluation of Challenges to the Construction Industry’s Project Efficiency Caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic, International Conference on Transportation and Development 2023, 10.1061/9780784484883.058, (674-682), (2023).