Managing Construction Projects

Project management is of critical importance in construction, yet its execution poses major challenges. In order to keep a project on track, decisions often have to be made before all the necessary information is available. Drawing on a wide range of research, Managing Construction Projects proposes new ways of thinking about project management in construction, exploring the skills required to manage uncertainty and offering techniques for thinking about the challenges involved. The second edition takes the information processing perspective introduced in the first edition and develops it further. In particular, this approach deepens the reader’s understanding of the dynamics in the construction project process – from the value proposition inherent in the project mission, to the functioning asset that generates value for its owners and users. Managing Construction Projects is a unique and indispensible contribution to the available literature on construction project management. It will be of particular benefit to advanced students of construction and construction project management, as well as contractors and quantity surveyors. Reviews of the First edition:  "A massive review of the art and science of the management of projects that has the great virtue of being a good read wherever it is touched. It spills the dirt on things that went wrong, elucidates the history so you can understand the industry's current stance, draws on other countries experience and explains the latest management processes. Throughout it is liberally sprinkled with anecdotes and case histories which amply illustrate the dos and don't for practitioners wishing to deliver projects on time to expected quality and price. A valuable book for students and practitioners alike." —John D Findlay, Director, Stent "This is a valuable source for practitioners and students. It covers the A-Z of project management in a confident contemporary manner, and provides a powerful and much needed conceptual perspective in place of a purely prescriptive approach. The engaging presentation introduces a range of challenges to established thinking about project management, often by making comparisons between practices in the UK and those of other countries." —Peter Lansley, Professor of Construction Management, University of Reading "A refreshing and unique study of information management and its impact upon international construction project management.... The book is well presented and written, logical and succinct and is flexible enough to allow readers to either read from start to finish or to dip into selected chapters. This book deserves to be an established text for any construction or civil engineering under - and/or postgraduate course." —CNBR, 25th November 2003 "Generous use is made of anecdotes andc case histories throughout to support the theory. the book illustrates the mistakes made by others, and the means to deliver projects on time and to cost." —Building Services Journal, April 2004

Table of Contents:
Preface to 1st Edition xiii Preface to 2nd Edition xvii Part I Introduction 1 1 The Management of Construction Projects 3 1.1 Introduction 3 1.2 Projects as the creation of new value 5 1.3 The project as an information processing system 6 1.4 Project management and the management of projects 8 1.5 Projects and resource bases 8 1.6 The five generic project processes 10 1.7 Critiques of the first edition 10 1.8 A theoretical perspective on managing construction projects 13 1.9 A practical contribution to managing construction projects 14 1.10 The plan of the book 14 1.11 Summary 15 Case 1 The Channel Fixed Link 15 2 The Context of Construction Project Management 20 2.1 Introduction 20 2.2 The industry recipe for construction 21 2.3 National business systems in construction 24 2.4 The regulatory context 26 2.5 The construction cycle 31 2.6 The development of concession contracting 33 2.7 Summary 34 Case 2 The UK Construction Business System 35 Further reading 48 Part II Defining the Project Mission 49 3 Deciding What the Client Wants 53 3.1 Introduction 53 3.2 From artefact to asset: facilities as new value 53 3.3 Understanding spatial quality and business processes 56 3.4 Indoor environmental quality and business processes 57 3.5 Symbolic quality: beyond peer review 58 3.6 Justifying the investment 61 3.7 Strategic misrepresentation in investment appraisal 64 3.8 Defining the project mission: a conceptual framework for product integrity 66 3.9 Summary 68 Case 3 Defi ning the Mission at the University of York 69 Further reading 73 4 Managing Stakeholders 74 4.1 Introduction 74 4.2 Which are the project stakeholders? 74 4.3 Mapping stakeholders 77 4.4 The regulatory context 79 4.5 Managing consent 82 4.6 Ethics in project mission definition 84 4.7 The role of visualisation 85 4.8 Summary 86 Case 4 The Rebuilding of Beirut Central District 88 Further reading 92 Part III Mobilising the Resource Base 93 5 Forming the Project Coalition 99 5.1 Introduction 99 5.2 The principal/agent problem in construction 99 5.3 Procuring construction services 101 5.4 The formation of project coalitions 109 5.5 Selecting resource bases 115 5.6 Forming more effective project coalitions 117 5.7 The development of e-procurement 123 5.8 Probity in procurement 124 5.9 Summary 127 Case 5 Partnering Between Marks & Spencer and Bovis 127 Further reading 131 6 Motivating the Project Coalition 132 6.1 Introduction 132 6.2 The problem of moral hazard in construction projects 133 6.3 The problem of switching costs 134 6.4 Managing the problem of moral hazard 136 6.5 Contractual uncertainty and risk allocation 137 6.6 Governing the contract and the role of third parties 143 6.7 The dynamic of adversarial relations 146 6.8 Alliancing 147 6.9 Summary 151 Case 6 NHS ProCure 21 151 Further reading 154 7 Managing the Dynamics of the Supply Chain 155 7.1 Introduction 155 7.2 Horizontal and vertical governance 156 7.3 Internal resource mobilisation 157 7.4 Shirking 161 7.5 The role of sequential spot contracting in construction employment 162 7.6 Managing the supply chain 165 7.7 Managing consortia and joint ventures 167 7.8 The dynamics of supply chains 169 7.9 Clustering the supply chain 170 7.10 Summary 172 Case 7 Building Down Barriers 172 Further reading 177 Part IV Riding the Project Life Cycle 179 8 Minimising Client Surprise 193 8.1 Introduction 193 8.2 Projecting a perfect future 194 8.3 Strategies for imagining the future: options thinking 196 8.4 Moving from phase to phase: gating the process 202 8.5 The gap analysis approach 203 8.6 What do we mean by project success? 207 8.7 The nature of information flows in problem solving 209 8.8 Process representation 211 8.9 Knowledge management and learning from projects 213 8.10 Summary 217 Case 8 Riding the Life Cycle on the Glaxo Project 218 Further reading 225 9 Defining Problems and Generating Solutions 227 9.1 Introduction 227 9.2 Tame and wicked problems in the project process 228 9.3 Solving the briefing problem 229 9.4 Client organisation for briefing and design 234 9.5 Solving the design problem 236 9.6 The cult of wickedness 239 9.7 The management of design 240 9.8 Summary 248 Case 9 Designing the Sheffield Arena 249 Further reading 255 10 Managing the Budget 256 10.1 Introduction 256 10.2 Levels of accuracy in project budgets 257 10.3 Developing a budgetary system 260 10.4 Using the PBS to control the budget 262 10.5 Value engineering and cost management 263 10.6 Constructability 264 10.7 Controlling the budget 266 10.8 Earned value analysis 269 10.9 Mitigating optimism bias 271 10.10 Budget overruns and escalating commitments 273 10.11 Summary 276 Case 10 The Centuria Project Budget 279 Further reading 283 11 Managing the Schedule 284 11.1 Introduction 284 11.2 Critical path method 285 11.3 Resourcing the project 290 11.4 The limitations of the critical path method 292 11.5 New approaches to project scheduling 294 11.6 The dynamics of the project schedule 304 11.7 Summary 305 Case 11 Centuria Project Schedule 306 Further reading 315 12 Managing Conformance 316 12.1 Introduction 316 12.2 The principles of quality management systems 317 12.3 Inspection 322 12.4 Quality control 323 12.5 Quality assurance 326 12.6 Integrated management systems for quality, environment, safety and health 328 12.7 Creating a culture of improvement 329 12.8 Quality awards and self-assessment 334 12.9 Conformance management in a project environment 334 12.10 Standardisation and pre-assembly 336 12.11 Summary 340 Case 12 From Navvies to White Van Man: Managing Conformance at T5 340 Further reading 345 13 Managing Uncertainty and Risk on the Project 346 13.1 Introduction 346 13.2 Risk and uncertainty: a cognitive approach 347 13.3 The elicitation of subjective probabilities 354 13.4 Propensity for risk and uncertainty 357 13.5 The practice of managing risk and uncertainty 359 13.6 Managing opportunities and threats on projects 365 13.7 The strategic management of project risk and uncertainty 366 13.8 Summary 368 Case 13 Managing Front-End Risks Through Networks: Boston Central Artery/Tunnel 370 Further reading 377 14 Managing the Project Information Flow 378 14.1 Introduction 378 14.2 The principles of integrated project information 379 14.3 The development of information and communication technologies 380 14.4 Engineering information management systems 383 14.5 Enterprise resource management systems 387 14.6 e-construction 390 14.7 Project extranets 392 14.8 The role of the project manager in managing project information 394 14.9 Summary 396 Case 14 Building Information Modelling at One Island East 398 Further reading 403 Part V Leading the Project Coalition 405 15 Designing Effective Project Organisations 409 15.1 Introduction 409 15.2 The rise of the project management concept 410 15.3 Projects, programmes and portfolios 413 15.4 The responsibilities of the client 416 15.5 Who is the project manager? 420 15.6 Organising the project through the life cycle 420 15.7 Project organisation in construction 422 15.8 Determining the organisation breakdown structure 425 15.9 Project teamworking 426 15.10 Constructing the team 429 15.11 Summary: project organisation design 431 Case 15 Glaxo Project Organisation 431 Further reading 437 16 Infusing the Project Mission 438 16.1 Introduction 438 16.2 Appropriate leadership 439 16.3 Leadership style 442 16.4 Construction project leadership 443 16.5 Resolving conflict on the project 446 16.6 The levers of power 447 16.7 Project culture and leadership 449 16.8 Leading the construction project 452 16.9 Summary: infusing the project mission 453 Case 16 Patrick Crotty: Project Director on the Waterloo International Terminal 455 16.10 The project life cycle 456 16.11 Keeping control 459 Further reading 462 17 Conclusions: Managing Construction Projects Consummately 463 17.1 Revaluing construction 464 17.2 Managing for product integrity 467 17.3 Managing for process integrity 469 17.4 Construction as a manufacturing process 470 17.5 Systems thinking and managing projects 474 17.6 Professionalism and managing construction projects 475 17.7 Judgement in managing construction projects 476 17.8 Summary of the book 477 17.9 A concluding thought 478 Case 17 Tinker Bell Theory in Practice 478 References 484 People Index 511 Project Index 514 Subject Index 516

About the Author :
Graham Winch is Professor of Project Management, Director of the Centre for Research in the Management of Projects, Director of the BP Managing Projects executive education programme and Head of the Decision Sciences and Operations Management Subject Area Group at Manchester Business School, University of Manchester.

Review :
“Returning to the opening paragraph of this review and the target audience for the book, it is clear that, owing to the complexity of managing construction projects, both current and future professionals will find this text, and the ‘frameworks for thinking’ it offers, invaluable.” (Construction Management and Economics, 1 October  2010) "This outstanding book is a 'bible' for Construction/Project Managers and deserves a place on the book shelves of libraries of Universities offering courses for the Built Environment." (Building Engineer, June 2010)