Ershadi, M; Jefferies, M; Davis, P and Mojtahedi, M (2021) Enhancing productivity in infrastructure development: The key role of project management offices. In: Scott, L and Neilson, C J (eds.) Proceedings of 37th Annual ARCOM Conference, 6-7 September 2021, Online Event, UK.
Abstract
Infrastructure development contributes to economic growth and constitutes the backbone of industries. The importance of this underpinning sector of the construction industry has led contracting organizations to adopt robust project management mechanisms; enabling them to tackle ever-increasing complexities and uncertainties associated with infrastructure delivery. Project management Office (PMO) is one of the emerging concepts that has been introduced to centrally coordinate projects and integrate project management arrangements in support of on-target delivery of large-scale infrastructure projects. Previous research underlines the potential benefits of employing these entities in the construction industry. However; there is a paucity of research on the role of these units in enhancing productivity in construction operations. This study focuses on this area and explains the requirements for boosting productivity in infrastructure delivery. The opinions of 20 construction management experts in Australian organizations were obtained and their suggestions were thematically analysed to develop a framework for boosting productivity by leveraging PMO units. The results revealed that employing such units can result in achieving higher productivity outcomes by emphasizing initiatives such as resource optimization; safety improvement; cost minimization; and waste control. The suggested approach provides construction contractors with insights on how to employ PMO entities and run them effectively to achieve satisfactory outcomes in infrastructure delivery.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | infrastructure development; infrastructure delivery; productivity; project management office; the construction industry |
| Index terms: | construction operation, infrastructure development, productivity, infrastructure delivery, minimization, complexity, project management, resource optimization, construction industry, economic growth, infrastructure project, construction contractor, contracting organization |
| Subjects: | practitioner, control systems, strategic project management, construction operations, algorithms, management, economic development, infrastructure engineering, project management theory and practice, systems engineering, infrastructure and transport systems, industry analysis |
| Topics: | Roles and Professions, Sustainability, Business Strategy, Project Management, Research Practice, Engineering Principles, Site Management, Digital Applications |
| 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