Arabiat, A; Edum-Fotwe, F T and McCaffer, R (2007) Does client behaviour actively induce risk in construction projects? In: Boyd, D (ed.) Proceedings of 23rd Annual ARCOM Conference, 3-5 September 2007, Belfast, UK.
Abstract
The construction industry is often associated with a reputation for delivering projects that are characterised by budget and schedule growth. Several researches have explored the conditions and factors that produce incorrect estimates as a key factor to increase or decrease the risk. Risk is seen as part and parcel of construction projects, where two key stakeholders, the contractors and consultants, are considered the originators, mitigators and managers of risk. However, risk is not usually associated with the client. Recent developments have shown that clients can equally be the cause of risk, contrary to what is commonly presumed. Some cases as in the new Wembley Stadium and the Holyrood building project have featured the client role in the outcome. The paper presents initial thoughts on a study into how the role and behaviour of the client induces or mitigates risk in projects. The study will approach the client role from an organisation behaviour perspective. The study aims to demonstrate whether the characteristics of certain behaviour create a risk management style for the client, and whether these characteristics affect the project risk positively or negatively.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | client; contractor; organisational behaviour; project management; risk management; risk perception |
| Index terms: | organizational behaviour, risk perception, manager, project management, construction industry, estimate, schedule growth, risk management, construction project |
| Subjects: | project controls, environmental hazards, industry analysis, project management theory and practice, production management, financial and cost management, business, risk assessment, practitioner |
| Topics: | Time Control, Organizational Design, Sustainability, Risk Management, Roles and Professions, Research Practice, Project Management, Cost Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCT |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here