Martin, H; Lewis, T; Peters, E and Petersen, A (2017) Construction project delivery cloud decisionsupport model. Proceedings of Institution of Civil Engineers: Management, Procurement and Law, 170(1), pp. 6-26. ISSN 17514304
Abstract
For construction clients, the presence of uncertain information inhibits their ability to choose correctly among project delivery methods because uncertainties maximise the risk associated with the choice. Also, the process of forming an opinion and making a decision contains uncertainty. Fuzzy uncertainties arise because of imprecision in the estimation of the relative importance of criteria and the weighting of each delivery method on any criterion by a decision maker. Random uncertainties stem from the variance of these imprecisions. Presently, the modelling of project delivery decisions accounts for fuzziness, but there is no account of randomness. Cloud theory, which is an infusion of fuzzy set theory with probability theory and which uses a 'bell-shaped' membership function, is used to order decision makers' preferences while incorporating both fuzzy and random uncertainties in project delivery selection. An investigation of a student recreational facility and the sensitivity of criteria associated with the case study revealed that the proposed infusion improves certainty in the derived outcome. The application of cloud theory provides the opportunity to simplify and structure decisions and improves the decision-making quality where uncertainty exists. This formulation of project delivery selection reduces the gap that exists between procurement practice and theory.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | contracting; procurement; project management |
| Index terms: | preference, decision-making, construction project delivery, relative importance, project delivery, project management, modelling, presence, investigation, recreational facility, fuzzy set theory, estimation, construction client, delivery method, case study, variance |
| Subjects: | decision-making and reasoning, decision-making and optimization, practitioner, construction type, analytical methods, environmental science, project management theory and practice, measurement and scaling, decision analysis, delivery method, project controls, risk assessment, data collection methods, financial and cost management, project delivery |
| Topics: | Time Control, Construction Technology, Roles and Professions, Research Practice, Cost Management, Sustainability, Procurement, Risk Management, Engineering Principles, Project Management |
| 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