Construction Management: New Directions

The construction industry faces continual challenges and demands, due to market conditions and coercion by governments, for improvements in safety, quality and cost control, and in the avoidance of contractual disputes. To meet these challenges construction enterprises need to constantly seek new directions and business models in construction management.  A number of tools, methods and concepts have been developed and advocated as aids to achieving improved performance, but many in the industry find them confusing or are sceptical of their relevance.     The third edition of Construction Management: New Directionsbrings together, in a single volume, detailed discussion of a range of contemporary management concepts which are relevant to the construction industry, including strategic management; benchmarking; reengineering; partnering and alliancing; enterprise risk management; total safety management; total quality management; value management and constructability. It provides a straightforward, accessible and objective account of these concepts, showing how they interrelate and can be used to improve the performance of the construction firm. This research based text will be essential reading for industry leaders and practitioners, as well as researchers, postgraduate and senior undergraduate students. From a review of previous editions I am in no doubt that this book will quickly become a favourite among students and practitioners alike —Construction Manager

Table of Contents:
Preface to Third Edition ix Acknowledgements xiii 1 The Culture of the Construction Industry 1 The book’s contents 4 References 7 2 Strategic Management 9 Introduction 9 Overview 10 Strategic management process 12 Strategic management in construction 14 Paradoxes of strategic management processes in construction 17 Developing and implementing strategy in construction 18 Change management 19 Linking operational actions to strategy using a balanced scorecard 20 Stakeholder identification, analysis and consultation 22 Strategic management in action – a case study of Arup 25 An integrated strategic management framework 30 Conclusion 32 References 32 3 Benchmarking 35 Introduction 35 Definition of benchmarking 37 Historical development 38 Types of benchmarking 39 The process of benchmarking 42 The benchmarking team 54 Benchmarking Code of Conduct 55 Legal considerations 55 Benchmarking: The major issues 56 Case studies 59 Conclusion 61 References 62 4 Reengineering 65 Introduction 65 Reengineering: What’s in a name? 67 Origins of reengineering 68 Reengineering in a construction industry context 68 The goals of reengineering 70 Reengineering methodology 73 Pitfalls of reengineering 78 Information technology and reengineering 80 Reengineering from a European perspective 83 A case study of a process reengineering study in the Australian construction industry 84 Conclusion 92 References 94 5 Partnering and Alliancing 97 Introduction 97 The origins of partnering 98 Partnering in a construction industry context 98 The goals of partnering 99 Categories of partnering 100 Project partnering 101 Strategic or multi-project partnering 112 Legal and contractual implications of partnering 114 Dispute resolution 117 Partnering: Overview 118 Project alliancing – a natural progression from project partnering? 120 Alliance definitions 121 Alliancing in the construction industry 122 The differences between alliancing and partnering 122 Critical success factors in alliancing 124 The financial arrangements 125 The project outcome 126 Postscript 127 References 128 6 Enterprise Risk Management 132 Introduction 132 Why ERM in the construction industry? 133 Key terms and definitions 135 ERM principles and processes 136 The COSO ERM 137 AS/NZS ISO 31000 Risk Management Standard 138 Establish objectives, context and criteria 138 Risk identification 140 Risk analysis and evaluation 140 Risk response and monitoring 141 Risk review and learning 142 Risk communication and consultation 143 A comparison of risk management processes 143 ERM application techniques 144 Implementing ERM in the construction industry 144 Organisational culture and ERM 146 ERM performance 147 ERM misconceptions 148 Relationship between ERM and strategic planning 148 Improving ERM capability and maturity 149 The ERM3 model 150 ERM3 example 154 ERM capability improvement 156 Project risk management 157 Conclusion 159 References 160 7 Total Safety Management 163 Introduction 163 The science of safety management 164 What is safety risk assessment at the design stage? 164 Why safety risk assessment at design? 165 Barriers for implementing safety risk assessment at design 167 Methods for safety risk assessment at design 167 Case study 169 The art of safety management 176 Components of a safety culture 177 Dimensions of a safety culture 178 Safety culture maturity models 179 A construction safety maturity model 181 Development of measurement instruments 182 Conclusion 184 References 186 8 Total Quality Management 191 Introduction 191 Definition of TQM 191 What is quality? 193 Historical development of TQM 194 The need for a paradigm shift 197 A change in the culture of the construction industry 198 Customer focus 200 Integration 201 The all-embracing nature of TQM 206 Continuous improvement 206 Quality costs and the cost of quality 207 Universal standards of quality such as ISO 9000 208 Change management 209 The methods of TQM 209 How to implement TQM 209 Kaizen 210 Current research into TQM in the construction industry 210 Conclusion 211 References 212 9 Value Management 214 Introduction 214 Historical development 215 Function analysis 218 Organisation of the function analysis study 226 Who should carry out the study? 226 Who should constitute the team? 227 How should alternatives be evaluated? 231 Value management as a system 232 The American system 233 A case study of value management in the United States 233 The British/European system 235 A case study of value management in the UK 236 Value management in Australia 239 A case study of value management (and constructability) in Australia 240 The Japanese system 244 A case study of value management in Japan 244 Why are the systems different? 245 Differences in the style of management 246 Differences in management systems 246 The relationship between value management and quantity surveying 247 Conclusion 247 References 249 10 Constructability 251 Introduction 251 Origins 252 The goals of constructability 253 Implementing constructability 255 Constructability in practice 258 Constructability and the building product 260 Constructability and Building Information Modelling 263 Good and bad constructability 264 Quantifying the benefits of constructability 269 Conclusion 270 References 271 11 Linking the Concepts 274 References 280 Bibliography 282 Index 296

About the Author :
Denny McGeorge is Emeritus Professor in the School of Architecture and Built Environment at the University of Newcastle, Australia; an Honorary Professor at the University of New South Wales and a Visiting Professor at the University of Salford. Patrick Zou is Professor and Head of Discipline, Building and Construction Management at the University of Canberra, Australia. Prior to joining the University of Canberra, he was associate professor and director of the construction management and property program at the University of New South Wales, Australia.  He is Guest Professor at Hunan University and Shenzhen University, and was Visiting Scholar at the National University of Singapore, University of Florida, Tsinghua University and Renmin University of China.