Search results

An increase in outsourcing of consultancy services has been observed during procurement and delivery of public-sector infrastructure projects. However, the incidence of project failure has continued unabated despite this shift by public-sector entities. Also, there appears to be limited literature focussed on seeking to provide the rationale governing the decision to outsource or insource consultancy services by public-sector organisations. The purpose of this study was to appraise the performance of public-sector projects in which consultancy services have been outsourced or insourced. These are the gaps which this study was undertaken to fill.

A grounded theory methodology (GTM) research design was adopted based on the nature of evidence sought and gathered from a Provincial Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (PDPWI) in South Africa. Data was obtained from a mixture of semi-structured interviews and project-specific documents spanning a five-year period and was analysed according to the procedures associated with GTM. Accordingly, open coding, axial coding and pattern matching were carried out at several intervals to develop categories and themes.

The findings of the study showed the absence of a structured approach within the PDPWI for facilitating decisions pertaining to outsourcing or insourcing consultancy services within construction projects. Furthermore, the study established that both approaches yielded similar results across all performance facets of cost, time and quality. In addition, a detailed insight into the steps required for the successful application of GTM in built environment research has been provided in the study.

Limited studies have been undertaken to compare the impact of either outsourced or insourced services on the organisational and project performance. This was the gap to which the study reported in this paper was undertaken to contribute.

The amount of expenditure required to scale up smart infrastructure projects is often enormous. Public–private partnership (PPP) is one of the proposed and viable solutions for addressing the financial issues of smart infrastructure projects. However, the most important criterion in choosing PPP over other procurement methods is that the project under the PPP method should deliver the best value for money (VFM) while also including defined economic and social objectives, rather than relying exclusively on efficiency factors. While PPP provides a variety of advantages for developing infrastructure, significant challenges may arise as a result of smart infrastructure initiatives. Diverse PPP approaches have been used to build smart infrastructure around the world, with varying degrees of success. The purpose of this study is to identify the VFM factors that are suitable for smart infrastructure projects and to examine the impact of their interrelationships.

The methodology for this study consisted of three stages: identifying VFM factors in PPP for smart cities based on an extensive literature review, analyzing data from a sample of 90 PPP practitioners using a Likert scale questionnaire and estimating interrelationships among VFM factors using structural equation modeling (SEM).

After performing a SEM analysis on the gathered data, the best fitted measurement model consisted of 11 VFM factors acting as indicators of three latent variables for smart infrastructure projects (clear output specification for measuring performance, efficient dispute resolutions, optimized risk allocation and business models, improved and integrated community services, economic sustainability, appropriate capital structure and collaterals, smart asset management, diffusion of smart technologies, technical innovation, Ince) and three clusters of their interrelations (economic sustainability, integration drive, optimization and smart technology).

This research has resulted in a useful and readily applicable list of factors and clusters of value for money criteria for the implementation of PPP in smart infrastructure projects, assisting public sector management by providing a measure of pre-conditions that can be used as an assessment tool when determining whether a PPP should be used instead of conventional methods.

In addition to the theoretical and methodological contributions, this study produced a usable and readily adaptable list and clusters of value for money factors for the implementation of PPP in smart infrastructure projects.

It is widely accepted that one criterion for determining if a construction project is successful is whether it is completed within the expected budget. There have been advancements in the management of building projects throughout time but cost overruns remain a key concern in the construction sector internationally, particularly in emerging economies such as Ghana. This study aims to answer the question, “What are the critical success factors (CSFs) that can assist reduce cost overruns in public sector infrastructure projects in the Ghanaian construction industry?”

This study used a quantitative survey method. The questionnaire was pre-tested by interviewing 15 contractors to ascertain the validity of the content. Factor analysis and multiple regression were adopted to analyze the data.

This study discovered that the critical factors that can reduce cost overruns in construction projects in Ghana are directly linked to five themes: early contractor involvement in the project planning stage, adequate funding, good project team relations, competent managers/supervisors and project participant incentives/bonuses. This study identifies indestructible, empirically measurable important success criteria for reducing cost overruns in public building projects in Ghana.

When well thought through from the project initiation stage to completion, these critical successes can also be used to deal with damaging economic effects such as allocative inefficiency of scarce resources, further delays, contractual disputes, claims and litigation, project failure and total abandonment.

The uniqueness of this research resides in the fact that it is, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, a first-of-its-kind investigation of the CSFs for reducing cost overruns in public building projects in developing countries.

The Government’s investment in infrastructure projects is considerably high, especially in bridge construction projects. Government authorities must establish an initial forecasted budget to have transparency in transactions. Early cost estimating is challenging for Quantity Surveyors due to incomplete project details at the initial stage and the unavailability of standard cost estimating techniques for bridge projects. To mitigate the difficulties in the traditional preliminary cost estimating methods, there is a requirement to develop a new initial cost estimating model which is accurate, user friendly and straightforward. The research was carried out in Sri Lanka, and this paper aims to develop the artificial neural network (ANN) model for an early cost estimate of concrete bridge systems.

The construction cost data of 30 concrete bridge projects which are in Sri Lanka constructed within the past ten years were trained and tested to develop an ANN cost model. Backpropagation technique was used to identify the number of hidden layers, iteration and momentum for optimum neural network architectures.

An ANN cost model was developed, furnishing the best result since it succeeded with around 90% validation accuracy. It created a cost estimation model for the public sector as an accurate, heuristic, flexible and efficient technique.

The research contributes to the current body of knowledge by providing the most accurate early-stage cost estimate for the concrete bridge systems in Sri Lanka. In addition, the research findings would be helpful for stakeholders and policymakers to propose policy recommendations that positively influence the prediction of the most accurate cost estimate for concrete bridge construction projects in Sri Lanka and other developing countries.

Competitive tendering in South Africa is often associated with procurement based on the lowest fee tendered. Previous research on this topic did not provide in-depth examinations of how pricing within consulting engineering companies was affected by competitive tendering nor did it illuminate the extent to which professional services were impacted by competitive tendering. This paper aims to examine the implications of competitive tendering on pricing and delivery of consulting engineering services in South Africa.

A survey research strategy with a questionnaire as the research instrument elicited qualitative data from 28 experienced consulting engineers in South Africa. Thematic analysis was used to analyse qualitative data from the questionnaires.

Three key themes were identified, namely: considerations when determining consulting engineering fees on competitively tendered projects; the impact of reduced fees due to competitive tendering on the delivery of consulting engineering services; and interventions to prevent unsustainably “low” professional fees. Many consulting engineers in South Africa still determine fees using fee scales, while other considerations include resources, project complexity, risk, etc. Most participants asserted that design optimisation/value engineering, training, meetings and construction monitoring were adversely impacted by “low” fees.

This paper provides in-depth qualitative feedback from experienced consulting engineers (most having more than 20 years’ experience) on a topical issue in the South African construction industry. Thematic analysis was a novel method of analysis that was not used previously in this area of study.

This study delves into the dynamics between Agile Response to Change (AR), Adaptive Scoping (AS), Stakeholder Engagement (SE) and Project Performance (PP), with a special focus on the moderating influence of Project Complexity (PC). The research, grounded in a thorough literature review, identifies critical gaps in these areas and examines the extent to which PC moderates the effects of AR, AS and SE on PP, offering new perspectives for managing complex projects.

The research develops a conceptual model based on a critical analysis of existing literature. A comprehensive questionnaire was designed, incorporating 28 items to measure AR, AS, SE, PP and PC. Data was collected from 136 project managers across various industries, and the responses were analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM) to explore the complex interplay between these variables.

The analysis revealed that internal AR (ARint) significantly enhances both quantitative (PPqt) and qualitative aspects of PP (PPql). AS and SE were found to positively influence PPql, but their impact on PPqt was not significant. Interestingly, PC was observed to negatively moderate the relationship between ARint and PPql, while its moderating effect on the relationship between ARint and PPql was not significant. The study also notes that PC does not significantly alter the positive correlations between AS, SE and PPql.

This research contributes to the existing body of knowledge by elucidating the relationships between ARint, AS, SE and different dimensions of PP. It uniquely explores the role of PC as a moderating variable in these relationships, offering valuable insights for practitioners and researchers in the field of complex project management.

The purpose of this study is to determine how project governance influences project success. According to the authors, such an effect is mediated by organizational support and project team cohesion. The direct and indirect effects of organizational support and project team cohesion provided helpful information. The authors’ objective is to contribute to the project management knowledge of how project team cohesion plays a significant role in project success.

Data were collected from 350 employees working in Pakistan’s oil and gas industry. Four prime oil and gas exploration companies were selected as samples based on their contribution to the revenue. SPSS v23 and AMOS v23 were used for constructing structural equation modeling and path analysis to examine the direct and indirect effects.

The results revealed that project governance is positively related to project success. Furthermore, organizational support and project team cohesion mediated the relationship between project governance and project success.

Team cohesion has been primarily a topic of interest in sports psychology literature, education and medical sciences. There is an expressed need to investigate team cohesion issues in the broad domain of organizational development, specifically the project management literature. This study contributed by discussing team cohesion in the project context. Second, project governance was investigated using the conservation of resources theory. The lens of intellectual capital was applied to examine intangible resources of project governance like rules, regulations and directives for project success.

Political risk devastates social and economic developmental projects. Countries with political stability attract foreign direct investment (FDI) and engage domestic investment corporations. This study aims to investigate the impact of perceived organizational politics and political risk on project success, considering the moderating and mediating roles of ethical leadership and the psychological contract.

A multimethod approach was adopted in this work that includes an exploratory content analysis to confirm the latent factors of the variables under study. A measurement scale was developed and tested for perceived organizational politics, political risk, the psychological contract and ethical leadership in the projectized environment. Lastly, cross-sectional data were collected from the senior-level professionals of the projectized organizations and analyzed using SPSS and SMARTPLS techniques.

The findings indicate that ethical leadership and the psychological contract mitigate political risk. The study recommends that developing countries emphasize well-defined policies and standard operating procedures to streamline the project design and execution processes.

The study claims that ethical leaders can play a vital role in mitigating perceived organizational politics and political risk and maximizing project value through the psychological contract.

Although previous research predicts that ethical leadership has very little effect on project success, this study provides critical theoretical and practical contributions to research on project success regarding leadership expertise and the psychological contract.

This research uses contingency theory and Venkatraman’s concept of moderating fit to explore how key project stakeholders (clients, consultants and suppliers) influence project performance from the perspective of small and medium contractors in the Jordanian construction industry.

An anonymous structured survey was performed comprising 200 key informants including senior project managers, construction managers, engineers and general managers working for small- and medium-sized contractors in the Jordanian construction industry. The Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyse the data.

The results of this study show that consultant-related factors (quality of documentation produced, ability to communicate and technical competencies) are perceived to have the most significant direct effect on project performance, followed by client-related factors (payment promptness, decision certainty and documentation control) and supplier-related factors (supplier performance, defects control and logistics management).

The results contribute new theoretical, empirical and practical insights to existing construction project performance research by highlighting the key performance factors which need to be managed for each stakeholder group to ensure effective project performance from a small- and medium-sized contractor perspective.

In comparison to other countries, power generation in Sub-Sahara Africa is poor. Public–private partnership (PPP) model has become increasingly popular for addressing infrastructural challenges, especially in the power sector. The purpose of this study is to evaluate and classify the factors that influence public sector involvement in Ghanaian PPP power projects.

Using purposive and snowball sampling techniques, questionnaires were used to gather responses from experts in the PPP power sector in a two round Delphi survey. Analytical tools adopted were descriptive statistics, mean score ranking, Cronbach’s alpha and factor analysis.

The most significant factors that influence public sector involvement in PPP power projects were: achieving improved value for money; access to additional capital; increased certainty of projects; greater efficiency of project delivery services; and improved ability to deliver new infrastructure. From factor analysis, the four components were: value for money and efficiency; capital and skills; innovation and technology; and project delivery.

Government bodies in the power sector will benefit from the findings, as it would aid them develop policies that would strengthen regulatory structures as well as institutions.