1 Project Management Practices and Information Technology Research.docx

1 Project Management Practices and Information Technology Research.docx

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1ProjectManagementPracticesandInformationTechnologyResearch

ProjectManagementPracticesandInformationTechnologyResearch

OssamaSalem,M.ASCE1

andSameerMohanty2

1AssociateProfessorofConstructionEngineeringandManagement,Dept.ofCivilandEnvironmentalEngineering,P.O.Box210071,Univ.ofCincinnati,Cincinnati,OH45221.

2GraduateStudent,Dept.ofCivilandEnvironmentalEngineering,CollegeofEngineering,Univ.ofCincinnati,Cincinnati,OH45221.

（Accepted5December2006）

Introduction

Computing,electronic,andcommunicationtoolshavebeenexperimentedandusedextensivelybytheconstructionindustryinthelastfewdecades.Forthemostpart,however,suchtoolswereusedfortheconceptualdrawing,design,andpreconstructionplanningaspectsoftheproject.Theuseofsuchapplicationstoplan,schedule,manage,andoptimizeconstructionprojectsisbelievedtobeminimal（Ding20024）.Inthelasttwodecades,manynewsoftwareapplicationshavebeendevelopedtoaidplanningandcontrolofprojectsandarealsobeingimplemented.Thecapabilityoftheseapplicationstobecompliantwiththelatestresearchinnovationsis,however,eitherlackingorunknown.

AnumberorreasonshavebeencitedbyresearchersandindustryprofessionalsfortheinadequatepenetrationofadvancedITandcomputingtoolsintotheconstructionindustry.Commerciallyavailableoff-the-shelfprojectmanagementsoftwareisveryexpensiveandcanbeaffordedonlybylargeprojectmanagement（PM）andconstructionfirms.Smallersoftwareischeaperbutisunabletoaddressimportantaspectsofprojectcontrolsthataredemandedbyspecificcompanies（Gidado19966）andisalsonotamenabletocustomization.Itiscumbersomeandcostlytoprocureasoftwareandexperimentwithitinordertooptimizeitforagivenfirmorproject（Becerik20052）.Introducinganewtechnologyiscitedasbeingmoredifficultintheconstructionindustrythaninotherindustries（Allmon2000）.Off-the-shelfsoftwaretoolsarenotseenasasourceofcompetitiveedge,sinceotherscanprocureitaswell（FIATECH20045）.Thefragmentednatureofstructureandoperationsoffirmswithintheconstructionindustryalsomakeitdifficultforsoftwarevendorstogaugeacommonsetoffeaturesortoolstoincorporateintheirexistingsoftwareapplications（MolenaarandSonger20017）.IthasbeennotedbyNitithamyongetal.thattechnologypushisonlyoneofthecriticalsuccessfactorsforeffectiveimplementation（Nitithamyong2004）.ThereisapreferenceforestablishedconventionalmethodsandtheindustryseemsdisinterestedinITresearchanddevelopment.SurveysofITexpendituresinUSconstructioncompanieshavehighlightedthattheconstructionindustryisoneofthelowestspendersamongmajorindustries（Cutter19993）.AnimplementationcentricstudybyBecerikstatesthatlittlehasbeendonetoanalyzewhathashappenedinthepastandthecurrentsituationoftheconstructionprojectextranet（CPE）marketaswellasreasonsforslowadoptionofCPEtechnologybytheAECindustry（Becerik20041）.

Background

Advancedcomputingtechnologieshavethepotentialtoempowerprojectmanagersandconstructionengineerstomakequickdecisionsbasedonaccurateinformationthatcanbevisualized,studied,optimized,andquantifiedwithgreateraccuracy.ResearchinstitutionssuchastheConstructionIndustryInstitute,NationalInstituteofStandardsandTechnology,CenterforIntegratedLifecycleFacilityattheStanfordUniversity,NationalResearchCouncilCanada,CenterforConstructionIndustryStudiesattheUniversityofTexasatAustin,ProjectManagementInstitute,FullyIntegratedandAutomatedTechnologies（FIATECH）,etc.,alongwithindustryparticipation,areworkingtowardthedevelopmentofsuchtools.

Researcheffortsarealsobeingmadetointroducetechnologicalinnovationssuchasprocesssimulations,databasemanagementsystems,4Dortimebound-3Dcomputeraideddesign（CAD）,datamigrationthroughwirelessnetworks,andsoftwareapplicationsintegration（FIATECH20045）.

Someoftheoutlinedtargetsthatthesetoolsofthefutureneedtoachieveinclude:

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Supportingaccurateandcompleteplanningandanalysisofallimportantaspectsoftheproject.

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Analyzingactivities,recognition,andevaluationofconflicts,analyzingrisks,andrecommendingactionsbasedonsituationalanalysis.

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Learningandcontinuallybuildingtheenterpriseknowledgebase.

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Adaptingtoneedsofindividualcompanies.

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Ensuringseamlessdataaccessthatisavailablethroughreliableandsecuresearchmechanisms.

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Enablinginformationsharingandonlinecapabilities.

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Interoperatingwithallsystemsrelatedtoconstructionprojectmanagementandservices.

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Automaticallyextractingandinterpretingdata.

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Optimizingacrosstheenterprise,consideringinteractionsbetweenandamongprojectsforhighestbusinessvalue.

ForcurrentPMapplicationstoachievethegoalslistedabove,itisessentialtoinvestigatethecapabilitiesandlimitationsofcommerciallyavailableprojectmanagementsoftwaretoolsandanalyzeproblemareasthatseemtobeabarrierintheirimplementation.

Variousresearchershaveidentifiednumerouscapabilitiesandqualitiesthataredesirableinconstructionprojectmanagementapplications（FIATECH20045）.Thefollowingincludesomeofthecommonissueswithcommerciallyavailableprojectmanagementapplications.

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Theuseoftoolsforvisualizationandfitisquitewidespreadintheindustry,butmathematicalorstatistical-basedtoolsetsforprocessoptimizationandselectionarenotusedaswidely.

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Thereisnostandardmethodtoevaluatecost/benefitvaluepertainingtoacquisitionofsoftwareandtheiruse（FIATECH20045;Becerik20052）.

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Thereisresistancetochangefromdeeplyrootedindustrytraditions（FIATECH20045;Moselhietal.19918）.

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Thegoalofacomprehensivetoolasanaidtoprojectmanagersshouldnotbeacquisitionofdatabuttheinterpretationandprocessingofsuchdatasoastoenablethemtomakedecisionsincongruencewithallstakeholders（FIATECH20045）.

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Projectmanagerslackinformeddecisionmaking,especiallywithmanychangeshappeningsimultaneously（FIATECH20045）.

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Thereisalackofintegrationofknowledgeandinformationmanagementsystemswithintelligentcontrolsystems（FIATECH20045）.

Consideringthese,thereisaneedtofocusonthefunctionalcapabilitiesofsuchadvancedtoolsandtheirdeliverables,whilekeepingthecompatibilityandimplementationperspectivesofcurrentconstructionmanagementapplicationsinmind.

Hypothesis

Asexplainedabove,variousprocessesandphasesinconstructionprojectplanningandexecutionarebeingscrutinizedandresearchedinordertocovermostgrayareasthatmightresultinbetterprojectplanning,execution,anddelivery.Notwithstandingthese,thefactthatsuchadvancedprotocolshavenotyetpenetratedtheindustryiswellacknowledged.Keepingthedeliverablesofthisworkinmind,thestudywasconductedtounderstandthegenesisorreasonsthatnecessitatedtheuseofcomputingtools,theirramifications,andhowtheyhaveevolvedandhavebeenimplementedovertime.

Thestudywasbasedonthehypothesisthatmanyoftheproblemareasasidentifiedbyresearchorganizationsandrelevanttothenatureoftheindustryanditsworkforceneededsubstantiationanddeeperinsightthancurrentlyexists.

PMITWorkEnvironmentSurvey

ThequestionnaireforthisstudywasdesignedinordertoquantitativelyassesssomeoftheprimaryinfluencesonITsystemsandPMworkenvironmentsbycollectinginformationtoestablishsomegenerictrendswithintheconstructionmanagementITarea.Thesurveywasdesignedonlineinordertofacilitateeasydisseminationtoselectparticipants,easierdatacollection,interpretation,andanalysisaswellaseaseofusefromtheparticipant’sperspective.

Thequestionnairewasdividedintofourlogicalsectionsincludingpersonalinformation,generalinformation,projectmanagementworkenvironment,andprojectmanagementapplications.Thepersonalinformationsectioncontainedquestionsaboutthecompanythattheparticipantworksforandhispositioninthefirm.Thegeneralinformationsectionincludedquestionspertainingtotherespondentandhisfirm.Thethirdsectionincludedtheparticipant’sopiniononvariousPMfunctionssuchascollaborationandcommunication,ITtraining,anddeploymentissuesandgenericinformationabouttheirexistingprojectmanagementapplicationssetup.ThefourthsectionincludedquestionsregardingtheopinionsoftherespondentwithrespecttothefunctionalityoftheirPMapplications.

RecruitmentofParticipants

Personale-mailsweresenttorequestparticipationafterreviewingthecredentialsoftherespondentinordertoensurethereliabilityoftherespondentsaswellastheresponses.Thiswasdonebycollectingcontactandbusinessinformationofprospectiveparticipantsfromvariousmemberlistsprovidedbyesteemedacademicandindustryinstitutions.E-mailsweresenttoprofessionalsbelongingtocompaniesthatvariedinsize,geographicallocation,areaofoperations,andthetypeofprojectstheycaterto.

ResponseRates

Theresponserateforthequestionnairewascloseto18%.Ofthetotalof372mailssent,109peopleresponded.Ofthese,14werecompletelyemptyrecordsand30weremostlyincomplete.Allofthesecouldnotbeincludedinthedataanalysissinceitwouldaffecttheclassificationofrecordsetslater.Anyresponsesetwheretheparticipanthadskippedanentiresectionwasnotconsidered.Sixty-fiveresponseswereconsideredforthefinaldataanalysis.

IndustryRepresentation

Inordert