Built Environment Project and Asset Management

Liisa Lehtiranta; Juha‐Matti Junnonen

2014 Built Environment Project and Asset Management

doi: 10.1108/BEPAM-06-2013-0019

Purpose – Standard frameworks for project risk management (RM) are currently mostly focussed on single‐firm organizations, whereas in practice, construction project RM involves multiple organizations. The purpose of this paper is to identify and systematically maps practical processes that bridge the gap between single‐organizational RM standards and multi‐organizational RM (MORM) needs. Design/methodology/approach – This case study covers three large construction management (CM) projects in Finland. The 35 interviews with project owners, project management consultants, design groups, and contractors identify the participants’ positions on RM roles, integration within organizations, and further development requests. Findings – Most (16 of 21) of the identified RM practices are multi‐organizational; i.e. they involve two or more organizations. Compared to single‐organizational standards, MORM practices involve less emphasis on detailed risk analysis processes but highlight both participant selection and managing collaborative performance. Research limitations/implications – The research results are attached to Finnish CM projects but may be applicable to other types of collaboration‐based construction projects, such as alliances and public‐private partnerships. The efficiency of the MORM model requires further evaluation in future research. Practical implications – A model for MORM is a systematic presentation of the research results. The model provides guidance for efficiently setting up MORM processes and for refining multi‐organizational research. Originality value – The multi‐organizational interfaces of RM processes are mainly overlooked in the current literature, standards, and frameworks. This research provides a rare explication of parallel MORM processes.

Gary D. Holt

2014 Built Environment Project and Asset Management

doi: 10.1108/BEPAM-08-2013-0032

Purpose – Societal needs produce infrastructural demands that often, require innovative industrial solutions to optimally satisfy them. One such need is fresh clean water and this has been met in part, by a global infrastructure of dams and reservoirs. Dams have borne witness to their innovative construction design, technology and management (CDTM) over the years and the purpose of this paper is to examine an example of this, relating to Claerwen dam in Great Britain. Design/methodology/approach – The study used historical case study method based on Busha and Harter's (1980) model, to accommodate synthesis of extant, historical and archive data. Subsequent archival data analysis is founded predominately on document synthesis and embraces a longitudinal character. Findings – Benefiting incontrovertibly from industrial innovations, Claerwen was constructed in markedly different ways from its “sister” phase 1 Elan Valley dams built 50 years earlier, to uniquely combine vernacular aesthetic with contemporary CDTM of the time and create a reservoir with capacity almost equal to that of the entire phase 1 dams combined. Research limitations/implications – Findings offset a dearth of historical construction research more generally; and that relating to dam infrastructure, more specifically. Originality/value – Minimal literature exists regarding innovations in British dam building so the study is especially original in that respect.

Zhen Hu; Shu Chen; Xueqing Zhang

2014 Built Environment Project and Asset Management

doi: 10.1108/BEPAM-12-2012-0055

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study the key influential factors and their impacts on the value for money (VFM) of projects developed through public‐private partnerships (PPPs) with an objective to improve the VFM assessment of PPP projects. Design/methodology/approach – This paper has studied the key influential factors and their impacts on VFM of projects developed through PPPs with an objective to improve the VFM assessment of PPP projects. Findings – There are large variations in the VFM of PPP projects in many countries due to a number of factors affecting the setting and attainment of the VFM. This paper has identified the key factors that influence the VFM in PPP projects in Japan and evaluated their impacts on the VFM. Originality/value – Outputs of this study would provide some insights on the improvement in the VFM assessment of PPP projects, in terms of determining a suitable VFM for a particular PPP project in accordance with its specific operational environment, balancing the interests of both public and private sectors, and promoting the participation of the private sector in the timely provision of necessary public works and services.

Bryan Tyrone Adey; Nam Lethanh; Andreas Hartmann; Francesco Viti

2014 Built Environment Project and Asset Management

doi: 10.1108/BEPAM-06-2013-0020

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the use of the impact hierarchy and the optimization model to determine the optimal intervention strategy for a road link composed of multiple objects. The paper focusses on the results of a case study of intervention project on A20 road link in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Design/methodology/approach – The study was a case study research. It describes briefly the impact hierarchy and its link to the optimization model, and then focussed on analyzing the results obtained from running the model. In order to understand the influence of various factors affecting the results of optimization, sensitivity analysis was performed. Findings – The proposed hierarchy is suitable to be used to support the determination of optimal intervention strategies (OISs) for public road. From the case study, it was also realized that optimal intervention strategy can be changed due to not only intervention costs incurred by the owner, but also due to the setup of traffic configuration during the execution of interventions since the impacts incurred to users, directly affected public, and indirectly affected public are significantly different from one traffic configuration to the others. The optimal intervention strategy also depends greatly on the factors of deterioration during the operation of the infrastructure objects. Research limitations/implications – In the impact hierarchy, some impact factors are difficult to be quantified, e.g., the long‐term economic impacts on the region where having intervention projects. The use of only exponential function for impacts could be oversimplified the actual behavior of the impacts. Other functional form should be investigated to be used within the framework of the optimization model. Practical implications – The proposed hierarchy and the optimization model could be used in practical situation for determination of OISs for multiple objects within a road link. Originality/value – This paper contributes to the body of knowledge of stakeholder analysis in the field of infrastructure asset management. It also gives a guideline and tool for infrastructure administrators to select the OISs for their infrastructure network.

Job Taiwo Gbadegesin; Bioye Tajudeen Aluko

2014 Built Environment Project and Asset Management

doi: 10.1108/BEPAM-04-2013-0010

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors that influence the adoption of private finance initiatives (PFIs) for infrastructure projects in tertiary institutions of learning. It also determines the relationship between the levels of awareness, years of experience and the identified factors. Design/methodology/approach – Data for this study were gathered from administration of questionnaires. The instruments were administered after validation on the stakeholders in the concerned departments. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive, cluster and correlation analyses. Findings – There is a high level of awareness and experience in public private partnerships (PPPs) among the respondents on the initiative. It is found that nature of project, risk involvement and the technical capabilities are the three most influential factors. There is correlation between the identified factors. There is also a significant relationship between the respondents’ years of experience in PPP and “technical capabilities factors.” Research limitations/implications – The study is limited to four selected public tertiary institutions in a single geo‐political zone (six states) in southwestern Nigeria, out of four geo‐political zones in Nigeria. Southwestern Nigeria is a major zone where tertiary institutions embrace PPP/PFIs initiative. Practical implications – Empirically, PPPs in the educational sector of a developing economy have been explored and consequently implied that there is a relationship among the factors that determine the adoption of PPP. Hence, findings would be useful for the policy makers and stakeholders on decision relating to infrastructure provision in tertiary institutions. Originality/value – This study is one of the few empirical studies in relation to educational sector in developing/emerging economies on the subject of PPP/PFIs for infrastructure projects.