Causes of cost overrun in construction projects in developing countries: Gas-oil construction industry of Iran, a case study

Cost overrun in construction projects is a common issue affecting project performance, and Gas-Oil construction projects in Iran are no exception. This paper presents the results of a questionnaire conducted to identify and evaluate the relative importance of the significant factors contributing to the Gas-Oil construction industry of Iran as a case study for developing countries. The survey respondents included project owners, contractors and consultants involved in Iranian Gas-Oil construction projects. The results of the survey revealed that the main causes of cost overrun in this industry include inaccurate cost estimations, improper planning, frequent design changes, inadequate labour/skill availability, inflation of costs of machinery, labour, raw material and transportation prices.  The first three factors are the project consultants' responsibilityand the appointment of qualified consultants and personnel training are strongly recommended to alleviate cost overrun. The paper also reviews and compares findings of a set of similar researches in a number of developing countries.

Fostering justice and care in complex project systems: An empirical study

While projects are becoming increasingly more complex in their organizational, technological, and environmental dimensions; complex systems are deemed by being unjust by nature. Previous research has suggested that heedful interconnection among the actors of the system can enhance organization’s capability in ethical coping with complexity. However, project-based organizations tend to cope with complexity through developing adaptive capacity within the borders of the organization and marginalizing the demands and concerns of some stakeholders. By investigating the controversial project of Rome Metro Line C and drawing on ethics of care and ethics of justice, this article suggests that coping with complexity is attainable by extending the organization’s border to include all stakeholders of the network. The empirical study proposes that by fostering the interrelation of a broader range of stakeholders with the organization through a decentralized decision making will improve the extended organization’s capability in identifying and absorbing complexity

Cost overrun in construction projects in developing countries, Gas-Oil industry of Iran as a case study

 Cost overrun in construction projects is a common issue affecting project performance, and Gas-Oil con­struction projects in Iran are no exception. This paper presents the results of a questionnaire conducted to identify and evaluate the relative importance of the significant factors contributing to the Gas-Oil construction industry of Iran as a case study for developing countries. The survey respondents included project owners, contractors and consultants in­volved in Iranian Gas-Oil construction projects. The results of the survey revealed that the main causes of cost overrun in this industry include inaccurate cost estimations, improper planning, frequent design changes, inadequate labour/skill availability, inflation of costs of machinery, labour, raw material and transportation prices. The first three factors are the project consultants’ responsibility and the appointment of qualified consultants and personnel training are strongly recommended to alleviate cost overrun. The paper also reviews and compares findings of a set of similar researches in a number of developing countries. First published online: 13 Jul 201

Opening the Black Box of Local Communities; Exploring their Perception and Judgment

Project organizations are globally facing challenges for satisfying local communities through allocation of higher financial resources on hard infrastructure and development programs. Ascending trend of communities’ protest and resistance against the projects, on the other hand, deems the efficiency and effectiveness of these schemes. Furthermore, reviewing the stakeholder management literature elucidates that vast majority of stakeholder research is underpinned by the implicit assumption that the focal organization is the one and only decision maker and thus over emphasizes on reflecting the organization’s viewpoint. Consequently, the perception and viewpoint of the local communities are neglected and the literature fails to bring a comprehensive image of the debate. The purpose of this research is to depart from the organization centric approach of stakeholder management literature and analyze the local communities’ stakeholders to explore how they perceive the project organizations. To achieve that, this research establishes its foundation over the normative core of stakeholder theory and adopts theoretical lenses from psychological research, organizational studies and ethics of care to investigate how individuals within local community perceive organization’s activities and how contextual and organizational factors influence this perception. The results of this research concur that project organizations essentially assign roles and rights to the stakeholders according to their group belonging. In the governance structure of the organizations, the local communities’ stakeholders are routinely positioned quite distal from the organizational level where the decision making processes are undertaken. The local communities’ individuals, consequently, are excluded from the decisions that influence them the most. Conceptualization through attribution theory elucidates that this exclusion results in development of negative bonds between the organizations and local communities. The communities’ perception can also be influenced by the level of power and perceived legitimacy of local government and media. Informed by feminist formulation of stakeholder theory, this research suggests that construction of the organization’s knowledge from the demanded care of the local communities and carrying out the caring activities at the local level considerably alters the perception of the communities. To recognize the communities’ demanded care, the organizations ought to decentralize the decision making to their border where individuals from inside and outside of the organization are in contact with each other. Through principled dialogues, these multidimensional selves at the local level develop a unified army to conduct the caring activities. The responsibilities of organizations, therefore, are not essentially identified by the organization’s limited knowledge and are not broad brushed by excessive concentration on the financial developments. They rather have an adoptive and democratic nature and are designed according to the recognized demands of the local communities. This approach empowers the local communities and protects them on their vulnerable points from the harm of the projects. For the practical implications, this research suggests that management for stakeholders in large organizations ought to be done through the embodiment of virtue of caring in individuals. It is believed that these are the virtuous individuals that allow the organization to perform ethically. The code of ethics and formal contracts developed at the organizational level do not independently result in satisfaction of local communities. Furthermore, these contracts cannot support the local communities’ individuals to make correct perceptions from the motives behind the organization’s behavior. These are the individuals at the local level who, getting connected to these stable components of the organization, make caring activities practical and by conducting principled dialogues with them create an environment within which the perceptions at the two sides of the organization border are mutually constructed

Uncertainty in megaprojects: Opportunities for the future

International literature presents many definitions of megaprojects generally characterized by large-scale, technical and organizational complexity, often with budgets higher than US$1 billion, a lifecycle of decades and major social, political and economic impacts (Flyvbjerg, 2014). Referring to the classical "iron triangle" (time, cost and scope management) many studies give evidence of the low performance of megaprojects management due to the high level of uncertainties these projects needs to face (Eweje, Turner, & Muller, 2012), and that situation reduces also the mega project success. This paper wants to investigate the understanding of megaproject success from the point of view of value management, defining best and proven practices to maximize added value in megaproject value, and so limiting the predominant "iron triangle" perspective (that refer to project management success and not to the project success). The evidence of these opportunities normally emerges only during the project execution phase and is not predictable in the planning phase. Taking stack of these unforeseen opportunities plays an important role in long term success of megaprojects. The research is based on the usage of case studies and interviews that allowed the analysis of the Oil and Gas sector and put the bases for future trends and approaches towards prosperity of megaprojects