Hermans, M; van Zoest, S and Volker, L (2016) Assessing the maturity of public construction client organisations. In: Chan, P W and Neilson, C J (eds.) Proceedings of 32nd Annual ARCOM Conference, 5-7 September 2016, Manchester, UK.
Abstract
The construction sector is changing, and commissioning organizations have to rethink the way they approach the market. This is especially important for (semi-)public organizations, because of their importance in the sector and their social responsibility. The 'Public Commissioning Maturity Model' (PCMM), first presented in 2014, can give guidance for further professionalization of client organizations. The objective of this model is to create insight into the nature and impact of characteristics of public organizations as determinants of their professionalism as public commissioning entities regarding construction. As a result of six workshop-based discussion sessions with mixed groups of employees of four housing associations, a transport organization and a central government organization, the value of the model was determined. In this paper the results of these sessions are presented and communal discussions within commissioning agencies investigated are portrayed. The findings resulted in changes to improve the usability of the model for the construction sector, as well as implications to increase the understanding of the model for workshop participants. Adjustments regarding stylistic issues and elements in the maturity model and supporting materials were also made. The model has proven to be an effective means to elicit discussion and awareness of public commissioning. It is however not configured for numerical ranking, sector-wide monitoring or benchmarking purposes while these needs also do exist among client organizations. Furthermore, it was found that the model is less suitable for organizations in the middle of a comprehensive change process.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | client; maturity model; performance indicators; procurement; public sector |
| Index terms: | benchmarking, housing association, professionalism, construction sector, agency, determinant, social responsibility, commissioning, monitoring, public construction, public sector, client organization, usability, maturity model, professionalization, workshop, performance indicator |
| Subjects: | control systems, risk assessment, construction type, user-centered design, client relations, institutional client, health safety and environment, professional development, evaluation, performance measurement, performance management, administrative law, industry analysis, completion, building construction, sociology |
| Topics: | Quality Management, Legal Issues, Design Practice, Site Management, Engineering Principles, Information Management, Research Practice, Health and Safety, Construction Technology, Risk Management, Stakeholder Management, Roles and Professions |
| 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