Calzadilla, E; Awinda, K and Parkin, A (2012) An examination of the risk management process in Venezuelan construction projects. In: Smith, S D (ed.) Proceedings of 28th Annual ARCOM Conference, 3-5 September 2012, Edinburgh, UK.
Abstract
The construction industry has many sources of risk some of which can be attributed to the complexity of processes, the environment of construction projects, financial aspects, organizational structures and technology usage. In the success of construction projects, the importance of identifying and managing risks is widely acknowledged. Delays in time and cost overrun have become the most common risks facing the industry worldwide. However, they are particularly prevalent in developing countries where adversities such as shortage of materials, lack of management skills, unskilled labour as well as socio economic and political problems must be dealt with; all of which make construction projects more difficult to manage. Interviews with project managers responsible for projects in the public and private sectors were carried out in order to evaluate their perception of risks, how they manage these risks and the effects of the risks on their projects. The results of the investigation show the main sources of risk identified relate to: the risk management process; organizational structure; labour unions; and economic factors. For example, the Venezuelan construction companies face risks as a result of the current economic situation brought about by the currency exchange controls applied 10 years ago. This is causing a negative impact on the procurement and costs of construction projects. This paper explains how these factors are managed and their impact on time and cost. One of the recommendations proposed as a way of improving the risk management process in Venezuelan construction projects is to assess the internal processes and organizational structure of project management companies. This will aid advanced identification of the sources of risk in order to allow timely decision making.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | organizational structure; risk management; sources of risk; time delays |
| Index terms: | project manager, organizational structure, developing country, interview, construction company, cost overrun, private sector, face, risk management, investigation, construction project, time delay, decision-making, project management, complexity, economic factor, labour union, construction industry |
| Subjects: | organization, data collection methods, profession, risk assessment, psychology, financial and cost management, economics, development economics, project management theory and practice, economic concepts, production management, sociology, decision analysis, project controls, systems engineering, industry analysis |
| Topics: | Roles and Professions, Risk Management, Engineering Principles, Project Management, Research Practice, Cost Management, Business Strategy, Organizational Design, Time Control, International Construction |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
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