Gransberg, Nils (2021) A critical analysis of construction manager-at-risk project delivery in public university capital projects. PhD thesis, University of Oklahoma, USA.
Abstract
This research project provides novel tools and applications of techniques to better understand and utilize Construction Manager-at-Risk (CMR) project delivery in the context of public university capital projects by evaluating CMR project delivery in comparison to Design-Bid-Build (DBB) project delivery to understand and quantify the value of owner-driven scope growth in achieving critical success factors. Machine learning algorithms were used to support construction research and analysis, modeling cost and schedule growth using a sample of 37 CMR and 74 DBB projects, and accurately imputing missing data values in a sample of 67 CMR and 99 DBB projects. In-depth analysis of design and preconstruction services contracts illustrates the importance of synchronizing contractual language governing the duties, responsibilities, and obligations of collaboration and cooperation between the designer and general contractor. Analysis of project performance metrics demonstrated that traditional cost and schedule growth metrics may not accurately describe CMR projects in this market segment and a novel metric to evaluate design fee efficiency in developing scope changes was developed to assess the quality of project team integration. Results were validated by data envelopment which included a survey of public university capital projects staff, a content analysis of 44 CMR procurement documents not previously included in the research, and case studies of three database projects which appeared to have performed poorly but were considered as successful projects to their owners and end users. Finally, a method of quantifying the value for money from using CMR over DBB is proposed that accounts for collaborative behavior and improved relationships within the project team. Four best practices synthesized from the research project are proposed as techniques to allow public university owners to maximize the potential benefits of CMR project delivery.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Pittenger, Dominque |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction project management; preconstruction services; construction contracts; construction; engineering; capital projects; public university; construction manager-at-risk; value for money; alternative project delivery |
| Index terms: | market segment, public university, database, collaboration, construction project management, cooperation, case study, survey, critical success factor, documents, integration, project delivery, owner, machine learning, efficiency, schedule growth, construction contract, best practice, capital project, duty, project performance, scope change, designer, content analysis, project team, construction manager, value-for-money, general contractor, end user, design-bid-build, modelling |
| Subjects: | organizational analysis, stakeholder, data management, market analysis, artificial intelligence, practitioner, sociology, contract type, educational institutions, control systems, project delivery, business, evaluation, strategic project management, project controls, data analysis and analytics, analytical methods, contractual role, psychology, professional development, data collection methods, contractual arrangements, management, performance management, project management theory and practice, scope management, profession |
| Topics: | Business Strategy, Organizational Design, Education, Information Management, Procurement, Stakeholder Management, Value Management, Project Management, Quality Management, Digital Applications, Contract Administration, Roles and Professions, Time Control, Engineering Principles, Research Practice |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCEA |
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