Journal of Management in Engineering

The growing literature on game theory models in project management is reviewed in this paper. A systematic study that includes collecting materials, defining the structural dimensions and categories, presenting a descriptive analysis, and evaluating the results has been carried out. Application areas of game theory in project management were explored and the research gaps were identified. The literature review revealed the need for studying knowledge-sharing mechanisms to enhance project governance and cooperation, developing dynamic models to integrate various sources of uncertainty, optimizing different financial objective functions to improve the project’s capital structure, developing integrated scheduling techniques to facilitate project planning and control, and formulating strategies to improve bidding under fierce competition. These findings contribute to identifying the promising directions in the management in engineering research.

While information communication technologies (ICTs) have the potential to significantly improve construction project outcomes for small builders, their take up is relatively poor as they often face severe resource constraints. Previous construction studies have examined a range of adoption determinants, but there has been no previous research into how much small construction businesses’ readiness to use ICTs predicts their intention to use ICTs—readiness being assessed by reviewing the business management’s beliefs about ICTs, which are argued herein to have an important influence on the use of ICTs. The widely validated technology readiness (TR) model is used to test four hypotheses concerning the relationship between small builders’ readiness and intention to use ICTs in project management. Data from an online survey of 110 small Australian builders were analyzed, with six semi-structured expert interviews later conducted to help validate and interpret the results and provide some context-specific interpretation of the quantitative results. The main finding is that the readiness dimensions of optimism, innovativeness, and insecurity are key determinants of small construction businesses’ intention to use ICTs. Thus, this study shows that the use of ICTs is largely dependent on management’s beliefs about their benefits and the risks involved. This is particularly significant, because small businesses contribute a large proportion of industry output.

This paper presents the development of a novel model for optimizing the planning of renovation work in leased buildings that utilize the integrated project delivery (IPD) method to maximize the income of leased units during renovation work. The present model is developed in two main phases: optimization and renovation planning. The model integrates a novel methodology that enables decision makers to select optimal crew deployment data and number of assigned crews for all renovation activities, identify an optimal unit renovation order of all leased units, generate feasible renovation schedules, and quantify and minimize total net renovation cost. A real-life case study of three renovation projects was analyzed to illustrate the use of the model and demonstrate its capabilities. The results of this analysis clearly illustrate the original contributions of the model to the body of knowledge and its novel capability in generating optimal renovation schedules for leased buildings that enable contractors to maximize their share of rewards under IPD projects while minimizing their total renovation cost.

In February 2021, Texas was hit by a severe winter storm. The extreme cold weather triggered an unprecedented increase of electricity demand and simultaneous failure of multiple electricity grid components. The dual effect caused a widespread power outage that left millions of Texans without power for days. This paper estimates the indirect economy-wide cascading impact of that power outage. It utilized historical make and use tables between 1997 and 2019 in an inoperability input-output analysis–based economic impact assessment model to quantify the expected indirect cost of the power outage in terms of the loss of gross domestic product of Texas. This research found that expected loss to be approximately $664 million in 2019 values. It also found that in Texas industries such as oil and gas extraction, petroleum, coal products, and so on are particularly vulnerable to such weather-related prolonged power outages. The outcomes of this paper can be used in planning for strategies to make the grid robust, reliable, and resilient to severe weather events. The identification of vulnerable industries can also help in planning for auxiliary capacities so the cascading economic impacts of the weather-related power outages can be reduced.

The lack of effective and comprehensive risk identification leads to ineffective risk management, which accordingly leads to failure in achieving project goals. Previous research efforts related to simulating risks in construction projects mostly have been limited to viewing risks as segregated factors, and thus providing static analysis. This paper addressed this knowledge gap through a risk path simulation–driven approach that addresses construction risks as a continuum of risk sources, events, and project characteristics. The authors (1) identified 131 construction project risks by conducting an extensive literature review, (2) designed a risk path by analyzing risk paths available in the literature, capitalizing on identified benefits, and avoiding drawbacks, (3) conducted a project-based survey to collect data from 53 construction projects related to the magnitude and impact of occurrence of the identified risks on cost overruns, (4) developed a series of two genetic algorithm (GA) models and one artificial neural network (ANN) model to quantify the impact of construction risks on cost overruns, and (5) created an ontology model to facilitate data structuring and retrieval. An ontology is a data modeling tool used to represent unstructured information into structured forms. Results show that 80% of the risks identified in this research were found to have a significant impact on cost overruns, and 89% can be recognized at project initiation. The contribution of this framework lies in its ability to represent the cost impact of a chain of conditions and events, rather than a single-point risk factor using GA and ANN modeling techniques. The proposed framework may help industry practitioners assess the impact of significant construction risks on cost overruns.

To move precast concrete (PC) components to the site through vehicles in a PC project, a construction manager must establish a PC components–vehicle allocation (CVA) plan everyday by integrating factory, transport, and site information and by reflecting various considerations for CVA. However, in practice, the manager establishes the plan manually, which often leads to an increase in transportation costs due to inefficient use of vehicles and plan errors. Thus, this study develops an automated method for CVA by deriving considerations for CVA via interviews and literature review and by formalizing a CVA process that satisfies the considerations. The process has the following five steps: determining component loading type, developing preliminary CVA, determining vehicle loading type, crashing CVA for reducing the number of vehicles, and setting site arrival time and type of vehicles. Charrette test results indicate that the automated method can generate CVA plans faster than practitioners and reduce the number of vehicles by taking the derived considerations into account comprehensively. This study contributes to the off-site construction management theory by formalizing the process knowledge about how to deal with different considerations in CVA. This can help alleviate social and environmental problems, such as increased transportation cost and carbon dioxides emission by supporting decision-making of construction managers in planning installation of PC components and allocating them to vehicles.

Will women and men follow distinctively different paths to achieve executive engineering leadership positions in the US architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry? Using Engineering News Record’s (ENR’s) 2019 Top 400 list, this research analyzed LinkedIn profiles for over 2,800 executives to assess career differences between genders. Statistical comparisons of important features, highlighted by number of companies, titles, education, and network size, revealed a significant impact of gender on individual career paths. A key finding was that men ascend to leadership with a single firm throughout their career, outpacing women almost fourfold (37% to 10%). Applying random forest (RF) as an ensemble classifier, researchers successfully predicted profile gender with accuracy of 98.95% for training and 89.53% for testing samples. Collating and categorizing the activities and milestones of individual and collective executives offer insight regarding successful experiences, skills, and choices to reach leadership roles. This creates a roadmap for current and future early and midlevel professionals to model their own vocational journey and accelerate progression up the corporate ladder. From an industry perspective, firms deprive themselves and customers of the proven wide-ranging benefits of diversity.

Balancing schedule, cost, mobility, and livability when planning urban highway projects built under accelerated contract provisions is a daunting task. Despite the wealth of research analyzing the effects of highway construction alternatives, holistic studies systemically integrating the scheduling, cost, and traffic risk-related aspects of accelerated highway projects to determine the most economical plans and contract times are rare. To fill this gap, this study developed a novel seven-step approach to choosing the most cost-effective construction alternatives and contract times through balanced tradeoffs that reduce disruption to the traveling public while minimizing construction time and road user cost. This study blends existing schedule and mobility impact assessment techniques with a risk analysis under accelerated construction conditions for the integration of schedule, cost, traffic, and risk into the determination of the most economical construction contract times. A best use case based on an actual project was also developed according to these seven steps, validating the practicality of the proposed systematic approach. This study will help state transportation agencies by providing a systematic integrative approach to decision-making, thus allowing for well-informed and optimally efficient choices among all available options.

The construction sector is one of the largest industries that were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. While the COVID-19 outbreak had numerous negative impacts, the pandemic is perceived to have positive impacts on the construction industry such as an increased reliance on innovative construction technologies and methods. Despite the pronounced benefits of offsite construction and its potential to address many uncertainties and challenges experienced by the construction industry, little-to-no previous research has been performed to study the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on offsite construction. To this end, this paper used an integrated methodology to study how the COVID-19 crisis would unfold for offsite construction as well as to examine the offsite construction measures that were taken by companies during the pandemic. First, subcommittees of industry experts were formed to guide the research process. Second, interviews were conducted to get information related to the industry’s perceptions on the current and future impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on offsite construction. Third, data from business case studies were collected to verify the perceptions of the interviewed experts and the validity of the obtained findings from the interviews. The main findings of this paper showed that the COVID-19 pandemic has raised industry awareness on the importance of leveraging offsite construction technologies and methods in both short and long terms, since the pandemic required companies to seriously plan for further increasing their offsite construction capabilities. This research concluded that the enhanced focus on worker safety due to the pandemic will help accelerate the industry’s move to offsite construction methods in the future. Ultimately, this research adds to the body of knowledge by showcasing why and how offsite construction technologies helped the industry adapt and respond to the challenging times during the COVID-19 pandemic and how the outbreak could be a catalyst for an increased reliance on offsite construction methods in the future.

The relationship patterns of organizations participating in disaster response projects have a significant impact on their performance. However, research on appropriate relationship patterns of disaster response organizations is lacking both in theory and practice. To fill this gap, we conducted a comparative study on three interorganizational relationship patterns: government-centric, decentralized participatory, and partially collaborative. Drawing on the complex network modeling method, the mechanism of the interorganizational network composed of participating organizations in disaster response projects are conceptualized to depict different relationship patterns. Then, we conducted numerical simulation to further explore the optimal relationship pattern from the perspective of disaster response project effectiveness, efficiency, and fairness. The results reveal that the optimal organizational relationship pattern varies with changes in disaster response conditions. In the initial situation of an emergency with insufficient resources, government agencies should coordinate nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to participate in disaster response in an orderly manner. When the demand for emergency resources drops, or the supply of emergency resources gradually becomes sufficient as disaster response projects progress, the government-centric pattern becomes the optimal relationship pattern. Moreover, the relationship between the response network structure and disaster response performance turns out to be inconsistent. At the early stage, response performance can be improved by reducing the number of steps to complete disaster relief and by appropriately increasing the connections between government agencies and NGOs. When a disaster situation is mitigated, the centralization of response power and unified coordination should be emphasized to improve emergency response performance. This study contributes to improving disaster response performance from the organizational relationship perspective and enriching disaster management theories.

Organizations can acquire a competitive advantage by managing effectively for today while simultaneously promoting innovation for the future. A recent review of the annual reports of large Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Owner Operator (AECOO) organizations in the United States (US) have indicated that firms have been allocating more attention to innovation. Previous studies concentrated on viewing the performance and growth of firms based on resources and knowledge. Researchers in strategic management have recently expanded to consider an innovation-based view for studying innovation-induced growth of firms. In this article, we introduce a strategic framework to illustrate the management and transformation of innovation in AECOO organizations on the basis of an innovation-based view of the firm. To support the transformation process, we argue that innovation performance attributes can serve as a reference in the strategic planning process. In particular, we find that innovation should be oriented to the engagement of staff, framed around the organization’s strategies, and contributive to the impact of the organizations. The transformation process is effective when organizations reference these key performance attributes in their strategic framework.

Collaboration is considered an enabler for effective use of building information modeling (BIM). However, little is known regarding the impacts of multiple collaborative behaviors on BIM effectiveness. Through a systematic literature review, this study selected six categories of necessary collaborative behaviors in BIM-enabled construction projects (BECPs) for empirical analysis, including adaptive behavior, joint working behavior, harmonious behavior, flexible behavior, server investment behavior, and information-sharing behavior. A questionnaire survey was used to collect the data from 162 BECPs. Then, partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to examine the impact of the individual category of collaborative behavior on BIM effectiveness. The results showed that adaptive behavior, information-sharing behavior, and harmonious behavior significantly facilitated BIM effectiveness, while joint working behavior decreased it. Flexible behavior and server investment behavior positively impacted BIM effectiveness only in task effectiveness improvement, and had insignificant impact on task efficiency improvement. The results jointly reflected that, although many collaborative behaviors were deemed essential for BIM use, their implementation cannot directly contribute to the final BIM effectiveness, for which additional interventions should be adopted to realize their positive impacts on BIM use effectiveness. Implications for theory and practice are provided herein.

Abstract

The current economic and infrastructural growth in developing countries has triggered the use of multiple forms of alternative contracting methods (ACMs)—including engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC)—in various public sector projects. However, the relative lack of in-depth experience in using EPC contracting methods among public agencies has presented numerous problems. To this end, the goal of this research is to identify the broad postaward construction and contract management (PA-CCM) challenges associated with EPC projects in developing countries using two major infrastructure hydropower projects in Uganda as case studies. A systematic literature review was first conducted to establish a preliminary list of challenges. Afterward, case study data were collected by examining project documentation, conducting site visits, and holding semistructured interviews. The results of this study offered a total of 73 PA-CCM challenges that were categorized into seven different themes. Also, 14 critical lessons learned were identified to better enable stakeholders to mitigate potential problems and promote improved performance for their EPC projects. The outcomes of this paper serve as a pivotal foundation for construction practitioners and future scholars to develop effective mitigation strategies for the challenges associated with EPC contracting methods in developing countries.

Abstract

This paper established a comprehensive list of postaward construction and contract management challenges related to engineering, procurement, and construction projects in developing countries. The presented challenges are extracted based on two project case studies and cross-validated with the current literature. Ultimately, lessons learned for industry practitioners to mitigate the key postaward construction and contract management challenges are devised. The outcomes of this paper provide a solid basis for industry practitioners to identify the various postaward construction and contract management challenges in engineering, procurement, and construction projects and subsequently promote effective implementation and enhanced project performance. The latter is achieved by considering the lessons learned and recommendations offered by this paper during the early stages of the project and before the contract award.

Smart technologies in the Fourth Industrial Revolution can improve the performance of the construction industry with corresponding changes to project manager’s knowledge and skills. This study investigated the impact of smart technologies on project management knowledge and skills required of project managers with the following research objectives: (1) to investigate the project management knowledge areas and skills that are important in managing projects with smart technologies; (2) to evaluate the changes in the relative importance of project management knowledge areas and skills in managing projects with smart technologies; and (3) to determine if project managers from different organisation domains perceive the importance of the knowledge and skills differently. Project communication, cost, and risk management were found to be most important, with changes in the importance of project integration, stakeholder, scope, and procurement management when managing projects with smart technologies. The top skills required were found to be problem solving, information management, communication, project management, and planning and organizational skills. Higher importance was placed on technical and operational technology skills, information management skills, creativity, ethical awareness, strategic planning, active learning, decision-making, and motivation skills when managing projects with smart technologies. The findings from this study contribute to the knowledge through better understanding of the impact of smart technologies on project management knowledge and skills. This can serve as guidelines for practitioners to remain competent and consistently deliver successful projects with smart technologies.

Abstract

Team members’ project collaborative process evaluation is the key link to improve the management effectiveness of an organization. However, there is a lack of evaluation methods from the perspective of multiple team membership (MTM). Based on the data in the project management system (PMS) of engineering design enterprises, this article studies the project participation evaluation method of team members from the perspective of MTM. Using a clustering algorithm, this article developed and verified the participation evaluation index of single projects and multiple projects, a classification and statistics method, and the centrality evaluation method of team members. The research revealed the distribution law of MTM quantity and the influence of team members’ knowledge and ability on it. We found that this index can evaluate objectively team members’ project participation, which can divided into three levels: high, medium, and low. Collaborative activities that contribute significantly to the project account for 20% of the total. The reasonable range for team members to invest in high participation projects is from 2 to 4. For medium participation projects, the number is from 6 to 8. For low participation projects, the number is from 18 to 25, or even unlimited. This study found four positive and four negative effects of personal characteristics on work efficiency. When individuals have these characteristics, team members can better play to their abilities under the project management mechanism, which provides a reference for enterprises to identify and cultivate team members.

Practical Applications

With the transformation of the cooperation mode of consulting projects to diversification and remoteness, the organization has to adapt to the complexity of the project and environment, constantly adjust project team structure, and improve team efficiency. Individual employees increasingly participate in multiple project teams and play different roles. Multiple team membership (MTM) theory provides an important theoretical basis and practical guidance for an organization’s project management activities. Firstly, because it is difficult to quantify and evaluate the project participation of team members (TMs) in a multiproject environment, this article formulates the measurement indicators and classification description methods for evaluating single and multi-project participation in the MTM context, as well as the MTM quantitative statistics method. By dividing the project participation into high, medium and low levels, the distribution law of team members’ work efficiency is revealed, and the in-depth study of MTM theory is realized based on PMS data, so that survey and design enterprises can grasp the workload of employees in real time. Secondly, this study identified the key personal characteristics that affect the workload and the core of team members, so that organizations can cultivate and select talents according to their personal characteristics.

In today’s construction projects, which are getting more complex as a consequence of especially technical, organizational, and external aspects, complexities are considered a major source of risks. Moreover, risks may turn to complexity-creating elements and propagate additional risks through a bidirectional interaction. Complex construction projects, typically large-scale dynamic endeavors, require the realization of a high number of interdependent tasks through the consumption of various resources such as time, money, labor, and materials. In such projects, while complexities are usually assumed to be given or embedded, due to the subjective and dynamic characteristics of complexities, a tailored approach is required in order to manage them holistically without ignoring their interactions with risks. In this context, the aim of this study is to propose a practical approach that could be utilized to incorporate project complexities in the risk assessment of complex construction projects. The proposed approach entails the integrated usage of risk registers, risk breakdown structures, and complexity-incorporated risk-influence diagrams along with the utilization of a previously developed complexity assessment framework. The underlying basic assumption was that the complexities could directly or indirectly trigger risks, while the risks in turn affect the project objectives. The implementation of the approach in the case of an airport expansion construction project showed that linking the risks to project objectives starting from complexities based on this assumption is possible. In this way, it was shown that multidimensional cause-effect relationships between the complexities and risks, among the risks themselves, and the impact of this interaction on project objectives could be detected and diagrammatically evaluated. Furthermore, it was observed that incorporating complexities in the earlier stages of a project would lead to improvement in the assessment of risks. Considering the results of the case study, the proposed approach has the potential to contribute to improved risk management.