Chen, C (2015) A proactive approach for change management and control on construction projects. PhD thesis, University of California, Berkeley, USA.
Abstract
Changes on construction projects present tough and controversial issues. Change is one of the primary reasons for schedule delay and cost overrun, which create negative impact on project performance and profitability. The liability of change and its consequences are major sources of disagreements between project participants, which often lead to disputes or claims. To answer the challenge of change, both industry and academia have developed change management techniques. Many studies have touched on the problem of quantifying project change's direct and cumulative impact and apportioning change's consequences to the responsible parties. However, more research needs to be done on predicting project change and proactive change management decision-making. This study addresses this important need and develops and tests a proactive change management tool. Accordingly, this study conducts a comprehensive change analysis and develops a proactive change management model to support project change management. The model is developed from a large set of project data. It addresses the proactive aspect of project change management and most of the key project attributes that determine the success of a construction project. A new set of project data is used to test the model and illustrate its applications. Among other things, this study identifies that: (1) Project change has a negative impact on project performance. (2) Design change and construction change are positively correlated. (3) Various factors affect the amount of project change. (4) Project decision-making should include careful consideration of these factors. (5) A tool for predicting the amount of change would help improve project performance. These findings and developments provide a good framework for proactive change management. This study recommends that proactive change management be taken seriously in the project planning and design phases. In addition, the decision-making process should usually be directed towards minimizing project change. Finally, companies and organizations in the construction industry should collect and mine their project data to support their decision-making and improve cost efficiency. The primary contribution of this study to the existing body of knowledge is the development of the proactive change management model that is based on analysis of a very large and detailed project database. This model will help industry professionals predict potential change on their projects and benchmark their change performance against a large set of projects. It improves stakeholder ability to manage project change and its consequent effects. With this tool, better change management will result and the cost effectiveness of the construction industry will be improved.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Ibbs, W |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | cost overrun; effectiveness; efficiency; liability; construction project; change management; disputes; project planning; professional; project performance |
| Index terms: | change management, design change, project data, cost-effectivenes, liability, body of knowledge, cost efficiency, project planning, decision-making, construction project, decision-making process, cost overrun, dispute, database, schedule delay, efficiency, construction industry, profitability, effectiveness, academia, design phase, project performance |
| Subjects: | economics, performance management, management, project management theory and practice, educational institutions, decision analysis, data management, project controls, industry analysis, data collection methods, dispute resolution, control systems, financial and cost management, production management, liability law, economic analysis, knowledge management, contractual arrangements, professional practice |
| Topics: | Education, Quality Management, Legal Issues, Procurement, Risk Management, Project Management, Time Control, Organizational Design, Digital Applications, Design Practice, Information Management, Research Practice, Cost Management, Business Strategy |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTE |
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