Strategies utility business organizations use to deliver construction projects On-budget and on-schedule

Authors

  • Jayeola O Fakilede Post University, Waterbury, Connecticut, United States

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.19255/JMPM02905

Keywords:

Project management, Contingency theory, Construction, Utilities, Project overrun.

Abstract

In many organizations, capital construction projects fail at an alarming rate despite the adoption and application of sophisticated project management techniques and tools. Utility organizations that lack effective strategies to deliver construction projects on-budget and on-schedule are at a high risk of experiencing project failure. Grounded in the contingency theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies successful project executives in utility organizations use to deliver construction projects on-budget and onschedule. The participants comprised 3 project executives from 3 utility organizations located in the northeastern United States who implemented strategies to complete construction projects on-budget and on-schedule. Data were collected from semistructured interviews, the organizations’ project documents, and the organizations’ websites. The following themes emerged from the analysis of research data: develop a detailed project scope, apply relevant project management tools, customize project management processes and procedures, and capture knowledge and share lessons learned. A key recommendation is that project executives develop a robust format or template for the project scope development before construction.

References

Abdulla, H., & Al-Hashimi, M. (2019). The impact of project management methodologies on project success: A casestudy of the oil and gas industry. Journal of Engineering,Project, and Production Management, 9, 115-125. https://doi.org/10.2478/jeppm-2019-0013

Abusafiya, H. A. M., & Suliman, S. M. A. (2017). Causes and effects of cost overrun on construction project inBahrain: Part I (Ranking of cost overrun factors and risk mapping). Modern Applied Science, 11(7), 20-27. https://doi.org/10.5539/mas.v11n7p20

Adesina, O. T., Omoregbe, S., & Oyewole, O. M. (2015). Anassessment of project portfolio management techniqueson product and service innovation: Evidence from Nigerianselected industries. IOSR Journal of Economics andFinance (IOSR-JEF), 6(4), 8-20. https://iosrjournals.org/Adom, D., Yeboah, A., & Ankrah, A. K. (2016). Constructivism philosophical paradigm: Implication for research, teaching and learning. Global Journal of Arts Humanities and SocialSciences, 4(10), 1-9. https://www.eajournals.org/

Aerts, G., Dooms, M., & Haezendonck, E. (2017).Knowledge transfers and project-based learning in largescale infrastructure development projects: An exploratoryand comparative ex-post analysis. International Journalof Project Management, 35, 224-240. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2016.10.010

Allen, M., Clark, R., Cotruvo, J. A., & Grigg, N. (2018).Drinking water and public health in an era of aging distributioninfrastructure. Public Works Management & Policy, 23,301-309. https://doi.org/10.1177/1087724X18788368

Aljohani, A., Ahiaga-Dagbui, D., & Moore, D. (2017).Construction projects cost overrun: What does the literaturetell us? International Journal of Innovation, Managementand Technology, 8(2), 137-143. https://doi.org/10.18178/ijimt.2017.8.2.717

Amoatey, C. T., & Anson, B. A. (2017). Investigating themajor causes of scope creep in real estate constructionprojects in Ghana. Journal of Facilities Management, 15,393-408. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFM-11-2016-005

Alsaawi, A. (2014). A critical review of qualitative interviews.European Journal of Business and Social Sciences, 3(4),149-156. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2819536Anney, V. N. (2014). Ensuring the quality of the findingsof qualitative research: Looking at trustworthiness criteria.

Journal of Emerging Trends in Educational Research and Policy Studies, 5, 272-281. http://www.jeteraps.scholarlinkresearch.com/index.php

Antwi, S. K., & Hamza, K. (2015). Qualitative andquantitative research paradigms in business research: Aphilosophical reflection. European Journal of Business and Management, 7(3), 217-225. http://www.iiste.org/Journals/index.php/EJBM Banda, R. K., & Pretorius, L. (2016). The effect of scope

definition on infrastructure projects: A case in Malawi’spublic and private implementing agencies. South AfricanJournal of Industrial Engineering, 27, 203-214. https://doi.org/10.7166/27-4-1562

Barnham, C. (2015). Quantitative and qualitative research:Perceptual foundations. International Journal of MarketResearch, 57, 837-854. https://doi.org/10.2501/IJMR-2015-070

Baxter, P., & Jack, S. (2008). Qualitative case studymethodology: Study design and implementation for noviceresearchers. The Qualitative Report, 13, 544-559. http://nsuworks.nova.edu/tqr/vol13/iss4/2Beach, L., & Mitchell, T. (1978). A contingency modelfor the selection of decision strategies. The Academy

of Management Review, 3, 439-449. https://doi.org/10.2307/257535Becerra-Fernandez, I., & Sabherwal, R. (2001).Organizational knowledge management: A contingencyperspective. Journal of Management Information Systems,18, 23-55. https://doi.org/10.1080/07421222.2001.1104566

Bor, K. E., & Kiptum, D. K. (2017). Influence of integratedproject management information systems on performanceof construction projects in south rift construction companies,Kenya. Journal of Business and Management, 19(11), 17-28. https://doi.org/10.9790/487X-1911011728Bowen. G. A. (2009). Document analysis as a qualitativeresearch method. Qualitative Research Journal, 9(2), 27-40. https://doi.org/10.3316/QRJ0902027

Carter, N. (2014). The use of triangulation in qualitativeresearch. Oncology Nursing Forum, 41, 545-547. https://doi.org/10.1188/14.ONF.545-547

Castleberry, A., & Nolen, A. (2018). Thematic analysisof qualitative research data: Is it as easy as it sounds?Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning, 10, 807-815. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cptl.2018.03.019Cole, C. (2017). Project management evolution to improvesuccess in infrastructure projects. Management Dynamicsin the Knowledge Economy, 5, 619-640. https://doi.org/10.25019/MDKE/5.4.09

Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2018). Research design:Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method approaches(5th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2018). Qualitative inquiry& research design: Choosing among five approaches (4thed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Cristóbal, J. R. S., Carral, L., Diaz, E., Fraguela, J. A., &Iglesias, G. (2019). Complexity and project management:A general overview. Complexity, 2018, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/4891286

Denzin, N. K. (2006). Sociological methods: A sourcebook(1st ed.). Piscataway, NJ: Transaction Publishers.Derenskaya, Y. (2018). Project scope managementprocess. Baltic Journal of Economic Studies, 4, 118-125.https://doi.org/10.30525/2256-0742/2018-4-1-118-125

Desmond, C. (2017). Project management tools-softwaretools. IEEE Engineering Management Review, 45, 24-25.https://doi.org/10.1109/emr.2017.2765439Du, Y., Zhou, H., Yuan, Y., & Liu, X. (2019). Explore knowledge-sharing strategy and evolutionary mechanismfor integrated project team based on evolutionary gamemodel. Advances in Civil Engineering, 4365358, 1-23.https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/4365358

Durodola, O., Fusch, P., Tippins, S. (2017). A casestudyof financial literacy and wellbeing of immigrants inLloydminster, Canada. International Journal of Businessand Management, 12(8), 37-50. https://doi.org/10.5539/ijbm.v12n8p37Elo, S., Kaariainen, M., Kanste, O., Polkki, T., Utriainen,

K., & Kyngas, H. (2014). Qualitative content analysis: Afocus on trustworthiness. SAGE Open, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244014522633

Ferrer Romero, E. F. (2018). Strategic projectmanagement: A methodology for sustainable competitiveadvantage. Revista EAN, 2018, 15-31. https://doi.org/10.21158/01208160.n0.2018.2016

Forero, R., Nahidi, S., De Costa, J., Mohsin, M., Fitzgerald,G., Gibson, N., & Aboagye-Sarfo, P. (2018). Applicationof four-dimension criteria to assess rigour of qualitativeresearch in emergency medicine. BMC health servicesresearch, 18(1), 120. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-018-2915-2

Fusch, P. I., & Ness, L. R. (2015). Are we there yet? Data saturation in qualitative research. The Qualitative Report,20, 1408-1416. http://nsuworks.nova.edu/tqr/vol20/iss9/3Gaikwad, P. (2017). Including rigor and artistry in case studyas a strategic qualitative methodology. The QualitativeReport, 22, 3431-3446. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/tqr/vol22/iss13/4Gbahabo, P. T., & Ajuwon, O. S. (2017). Effects of project

cost overruns and schedule delays in Sub-Saharan Africa.European Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, 3(2), 46-58.https://doi.org/10.26417/ejis.v7i2.p46-59

Green, J., Willis, K., Hughes, E., Small, R., Welch, N.,Gibbs, L., & Daly, J. (2007). Generating best evidence from qualitative research: The role of data analysis. Australianand New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 31, 545-550.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1753-6405.2007.00141.xIslam, J., & Hu, H. (2012). A review of literature oncontingency theory in managerial accounting. AfricanJournal of Business Management, 6, 5159-5164. https://doi.org/10.5897/AJBM11.2764

Itegi, F. M. (2015). Improving organization performance:Project management approach sustainable developmentin face of globalization. Journal of Entrepreneurship& Organization Management, 4, 1-6. https://doi.org/10.4172/2169-026X.1000155

Jatarona, N. A., Yusuf, A. M., Ismail, S., & Saar, C. C.(2016). Public construction projects performance inMalaysia. Journal of Southeast Asian Research, 2016, 1-7.https://doi.org/10.5171/2016.940838Joslin, R., & Müller, R. (2015). Relationships between aproject management methodology and project successin different project governance contexts. InternationalJournal of Project Management, 33, 1377-1392. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2015.03.005

Karaman, E., & Kurt, M. (2015). Comparison of projectmanagement methodologies: Prince 2 versus PMBOK forIT projects. International Journal of Applied Sciences andEngineering Research, 4, 572-589. https://doi.org/10.6088.

ijaser.04059Khalid, K., Hilman, H., & Kumar, D. (2012). Get along withquantitative research process. International Journal of Research in Management, 2(2), 15-29. https://rspublication.com/ijrm/march 2012/2.pdf

Kiehne, J., Ceausu, I., Arp, A., & Schüler, T. (2017). Middlemanagement’s role in strategy implementation projects:A behavioral analysis. Proceedings of the InternationalConference on Business Excellence, 11, 539-549. https://doi.org/10.1515/picbe-2017-0058Kihn, L., & Ihantola, E. (2015). Approaches to validationand evaluation in qualitative studies of managementaccounting. Qualitative Research in Accounting &Management, 12, 230-255. https://doi.org/10.1109/QRAM-03-2013-0012Kononenko, I., & Lutsenko, S. (2018). The projectmanagement methodology and guide formation’s method.Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, 2018, 11-Science, 47, 394-414. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.47.3.394.9772

Shirazia, F., Kazemipoor, H., & Tavakkoli-Moghaddam, R.(2017). Fuzzy decision analysis for project scope changemanagement. Decision Science Letters, 6, 395-406.https://doi.org/10.5267/j.dsl.2017.1.003Starman, A. B. (2013). The case study as a type ofqualitative research. Journal of Contemporary Educational

Studies, 1, 28-43. http://www.sodobna-pedagogika.net/en/Suda, K. A., Rani, N. S. A., Rahman, H. A., & Chen, W.(2015). A review on theories used for decision makingin project management studies. International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, 6, 562-565. http://www.ijser.org

Sutton, J., & Austin, Z. (2015). Qualitative research: Datacollection, analysis, and management. The Canadian Journal of Hospital Pharmacy, 68, 226-231. https://doi.org/10.4212/cjhp.v68i3.1456

Tarter, C. J. & Hoy, W. K. (1998). Toward acontingency theory of decision making. Journal ofEducational Administration, 36(3), 212-228. https://doi.

org/10.1108/09578239810214687Terzieva, M. (2014). Project knowledge management:How organizations learn from experience. Procedia

Technology, 16, 1086-1095. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.protcy.2014.10.123

Terzieva, M., & Morabito, V. (2016). Learning from experience: The project team is the key. Business SystemsResearch, 7, 1-5. https://doi.org/10.1515/bsrj-2016-0001

Tshuma, B., Steyn, H., & van Waveren, C. (2018). The role played by PMO’s in the transfer of knowledge betweenprojects: A conceptual framework. South African Journalof Industrial Engineering, 29(2), 127-140. https://doi.org/10.7166/29-2-1966VanWynsberghe, R., & Khan, S. (2007). Redefining case

study. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 6(2),80-94. https://doi.org/10.1177/160940690700600208Valenko, T., & Klanšek, U. (2017). An integration ofspreadsheet and project management software for costoptimal time scheduling in construction. Organization,Technology and Management in Construction, 9, 1627-1637. https://doi.org/10.1515/otmcj-2016-0028

Vaismoradi, M., Jones, J., Turunen, H., & Snelgrove, S.(2016). Theme development in qualitative content analysisand thematic analysis. Journal of Nursing Education andPractice, 6(5), 100-110. https://doi.org/10.5430/jnep.v6n5p100Wali, K. S., & Othman, S. A. (2019). Comparison andassessment of using Primavera and Microsoft projectin construction projects in Erbil City. ZANCO Journalof Pure and Applied Sciences, 31, 285-291. https://doi.org/10.21271/ZJPAS.31.s3.39

Williams, C. (2008). Research methods. Journal ofBusiness & Economic Research, 5, 65-72. https://www.cluteinstitute.comWooton, L. M. (1977). The mixed blessings of contingencymanagement. Academy of Management Review, 2, 431-441. https://doi.org/10.2307/257699

Yin, R. K. (2011). Qualitative research from start to finish.New York, NY: The Guilford Press.Zeithaml, V. A., Varadarajan, P., & Zeithaml, C. P. (1988).The contingency approach: Its foundations and relevanceto theory building and research in marketing. EuropeanJournal of Marketing, 22, 37-63. https://doi.org/10.1108/EUM0000000005291

Zheng, E. Z. H., & Carvalho, M. M. de. (2016). Managinguncertainty in projects: A review, trends and gaps. Revistade Gestão e Projetos, 7(2), 95-109. https://doi.org/10.5585/gep.v7i2.402

Downloads

Published

2022-06-14

How to Cite

Fakilede, J. O. . (2022). Strategies utility business organizations use to deliver construction projects On-budget and on-schedule. The Journal of Modern Project Management, 10(1), 72–91. https://doi.org/10.19255/JMPM02905