Achieving better performance through target cost contracts - The tale of an underground railway station modification project

Author name used in this publication: Patrick T. I. Lam2009-2010 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalAccepted ManuscriptPublishe

Procurement of Railway Infrastructure Projects – A European Benchmarking Study

This benchmarking study compares how railway investments are procured in five European countries: Sweden, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK. In total, 19 procurement managers and project managers were interviewed. This study compares the national rail clients’ procurement strategies regarding: delivery system, reward system, contractor selection, and collaboration model. Historically, these clients have used in-house production. The first step towards a gradually increased usage of the market was to outsource the construction activities while keeping the design and development competence in-house. All five countries have mainly used Design-Bid-Build contracts in their initial outsourcing. However, the last few years there is a discernible trend in Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands and the UK towards allocating more design and development responsibilities to contractors (i.e. Design-Build contracts) and increasing the strategic focus on cooperation. The UK and the Netherlands are forerunners in this trend that can be viewed as a third step in the transition towards a market oriented railway sector. Norway and Sweden is in the middle of this transition, whereas Germany has not initiated this change. The transition towards a gradually increased usage of the market has two main dimensions; degree of cooperation and degree of contractor freedom, which differs among the countries. The UK and Sweden focus on increasing both these dimensions, while The Netherlands and Norway mostly focus on increasing the degree of contractor freedom. Germany still limits both dimensions by performing design and development in-house and letting contractors compete for construction work in Design-Bid-Build contracts. Due to historical and cultural reasons, Deutsche Bahn in Germany is very hesitant to engage in collaboration with external suppliers; focusing on competition is considered more appropriate and less controversial

A Gender Perspective on Water Resources and Sanitation

In most cultures, women are primarily responsible for the use and management of water resources, sanitation, and health at the household level. Women and girls walk many hours fetching and carrying back water whereas men do not

Collaborative Engagement Approaches For Delivering Sustainable Infrastructure Projects In The AEC Sector: A Review

The public sector has traditionally financed and operated infrastructure projects using resources from taxes and various levies (e.g. fuel taxes, road user charges). However, the rapid increase in human population growth coupled with extended globalisation complexities and associated social/political/economic challenges have placed new demands on the purveyors and operators of infrastructure projects. The importance of delivering quality infrastructure has been underlined by the United Nations declaration of the Millennium Development Goals; as has the provision of ‘adequate’ basic structures and facilities necessary for the well-being of urban populations in developing countries. Thus, in an effort to finance developing countries’ infrastructure needs, most countries have adopted some form of public-private collaboration strategy. This paper critically reviews these collaborative engagement approaches, identifies and highlights 10 critical themes that need to be appropriately captured and aligned to existing business models in order to successfully deliver sustainable infrastructure projects. Research findings show that infrastructure services can be delivered in many ways, and through various routes. For example, a purely public approach can cause problems such as slow and ineffective decision-making, inefficient organisational and institutional augmentation, and lack of competition and inefficiency (collectively known as government failure). On the other hand, adopting a purely private approach can cause problems such as inequalities in the distribution of infrastructure services (known as market failure). Thus, to overcome both government and market failures, a collaborative approach is advocated which incorporates the strengths of both of these polarised positions

Making innovation happen in a megaproject: London's crossrail suburban railway system

Isolated pockets of innovation can be found in projects - such as the novel solution used to redesign the Velodrome roof during the London 2012 Olympics - but there have been few, if any, systematic efforts to manage innovation in a megaproject. This paper presents the initial findings of an ongoing three-year (2012-2014) action research project between Crossrail and researchers at Imperial College London and University College London. Action research is well suited to a setting where an intervention is required to diagnose and solve an organizational problem and produce scientific findings (Miles & Huberman, 1994; Van de Ven, 2007). Undertaken in collaboration with practitioners, the aim of action research is to transform the research setting through a process of critical inquiry and action. Our engagement with Crossrail aimed to formulate and implement an innovation strategy to improve the performance and outcomes of the project. We identified four stages - or windows of opportunity - to intervene to generate, discover, and implement innovation in a megaproject: (1) the bridging window during the front-end when ideas, learning, and practices from other projects and industries can be used to create an innovative project process, organization, and governance structure; (2) the engaging window, when tendering and contractual processes can be used by the client to encourage contractors and suppliers to develop novel ideas and innovative solutions; (3) the leveraging window, when all the parties involved - clients, delivery partners, and suppliers - are mobilized to develop novel ideas, new technologies, and organizational practices to improve performance; and (4) the exchanging window at the back-end, when ideas and resources for innovation can be (re)combined with those of other projects in the wider innovation ecosystem to improve performance. The first two stages had largely occurred when we became involved in the Crossrail project in 2012. Our intervention addressed the final two stages, when we assisted in the development and implementation of an innovation strategy. Core to this strategy was a coordinated mobilization of the innovative capabilities across the project supply chain. Though, to be successful, this approach had to be open enough to span organizational boundaries beyond the supply chain, reaching into the broader ecosystem. The four windows provide a valuable new heuristic for organizing innovation in megaprojects, pointing to areas where project managers can craft targeted innovation interventions and compare their efforts with those of others

Elements of the industrial operation model in the Iranian construction industry

Abstract. The construction industry is notorious for its conservatism and low levels of productivity. During the previous decade, this industry lagged behind other efficient and profitable industries, such as the automobile industry, and was slow to adopt its best practices. The rate of development in this industry is not very encouraging. This research aims to adopt best practices and efficient systems from other industries into the construction industry. This research aims to create a model for a case study of Iranian construction companies to achieve the objective of a productive construction industry. In this study, several important Iranian construction companies that mostly operate as contractors were chosen for the case study. The author prepared the semi-structured interview to collect empirical data. The interview topic and questions were derived from a survey of the relevant research literature to determine the main elements of the industrial operation model (IOM). Following the interview, the data was evaluated to illustrate the existing status of Iranian construction companies, and then a model was developed for IOM. The data indicate that Iranian construction companies are well behind other industries, such as automotive, in terms of industrial operation model and productivity. The research reveals the limited product lifecycle engagement, simple portfolio management, limited data strategy, lack of advanced visualization, and marketing and sales processes. This study employs empirical data to establish a methodology for Iranian construction companies to maximize their IOM benefits. In the created model, construction companies are present throughout the product lifecycle, from the feasibility study through the sale, marketing, and operation stage. According to this model, organizations could profit from improved alliance contracts, more income from more work, effective data strategy and knowledge management, and enhanced production processes. To accomplish this, they must reorganize their business operations and place greater emphasis on portfolio management, data strategy, and marketing and sales processes, resulting in enhanced productization

An investigation of guaranteed maximum price (GMP) and target cost contracting (TCC) procurement strategies in Hong Kong construction industry

xii, 152 p.Author name used in this publication: Patrick T.I. Lam2007-2008 > Academic research: refereed > Research book or monograph (author)Other Versio

Strategies for Collaborative Work Delivery: The Case of Local Regeneration Partnerships in Nigeria

Strategies for collaborative work have been paramount in the context of public-private partnerships delivery as they determine long-term feasibility of relevant programmes. This paper discusses and provides explanation about the challenges and contexts faced in partnership working for the survival of Nigerian local regeneration partnerships. To this extent, three performance criteria are used: goals that were met; ability by partners to implement agreed actions and the perceived effectiveness of the partnership working as argued by participants. Methodology-wise the paper is primarily depended on a qualitative approach that offers ability for conduct of semi-structured interviews as well as accumulation of secondary data. A rich context of findings was collected via based upon collaborative elements i.e. mutual interdependence, trust, transparency and accountability that was identified at the delivery stage of two Nigerian local regeneration partnerships. The impact of these findings are comprehensively analysed and discussed and advantages and challenges are recognised

Integrating knowledge forms in public transport planning and policies: the case of the Lisbon metropolitan area

Public policy debates about transport planning are often focused on more technical analyses to the detriment of other forms of knowledge. Combining document analysis and interviews with relevant actors, we identify a clear imbalance in the design of transport planning in Lisbon’s Metropolitan Area. There is a clear prevalence of political knowledge, with conflict among key actors as the major source of knowledge and the neglect of other forms, particularly those associated with deliberative processes. The findings also suggest that these imbalances decrease the legitimacy and optimality of potential solutions to complex problems in Lisbon’s transport policy.This work was supported by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia [UIDB/00713/2020, UIDB/CPO/00758/2020]