Shikhrobat, M B; Kabiri, S and Flanagan, R (2019) Project planning and scheduling using system dynamics for dealing with complexity on construction projects. In: Gorse, C and Neilson, C J (eds.) Proceedings of 35th Annual ARCOM Conference, 2-4 September 2019, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, UK.
Abstract
Projects planning and scheduling in the construction industry, and also in other industries, is reflected by many different types of research and empirical to be critical to project success. Traditional project planning methods, for instance, CPM, are used and still uses as managerial assistance in different industries of construction, IT, defence and oil and gas projects. However, many projects developed by these methods are failed to predict and deliver the final duration of projects at completion point. The results are deterministic and unreliable to deliver the project objectives. This is originated from ignorance of understanding the cause and effects relationships of different internal and external elements. Increased complexity is one of the fundamental issues causing project failure. Planning systems must deal with increased complexity, which traditional systems were never designed for. Projects can be technically complex, organisationally complex, and environmentally complex. This research uses a bottom-up approach and designed to understand and develop a conceptual framework to map complexity and improve the flow of information in the project planning stage of construction projects in Iran. The expectation is to understand the realistic view of project scheduling considering projects complexity and uncertainties and project factors interactions as a result. This is based on project scheduling with simulations using system dynamics, documents and feedback of questionnaires from the construction sector of Iran. The questionnaires are used to justify the proposed conceptual framework. The proposed framework provides an enhanced sympathetic of project behavior. The contribution is to understand the causes of complexity in construction projects to overcome the shortcoming of tradition project planning and scheduling methods.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | project scheduling; complexity management; uncertainty management; risk management; project planning |
| Index terms: | documents, risk management, uncertainty management, questionnaire, construction project, system dynamics, complexity, project planning, interaction, bottom-up approach, construction industry, duration, construction sector, oil and gas, conceptual framework, project success, scheduling, project failure, project scheduling |
| Subjects: | operations research, urban planning, computing systems, control systems, project completion, data collection methods, risk assessment, behavioral psychology, systems engineering, industry analysis, project controls, professional development, project management theory and practice, production management, theoretical framing |
| Topics: | Digital Applications, Time Control, Project Management, Research Practice, Engineering Principles, Information Management, Risk Management, Governance |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
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