Dynamics of control in construction project teams

Control is pervasive in construction project environments. The management of projects through various planning and control tools has therefore been described essentially as rebureaucratization which increases control over individuals, teams and organizations through ideologies of efficiency and performativity. Yet certain characteristics of the project setting make it an ideal climate for the empowerment of individuals and teams. The manifestations of control in five construction project management teams involved in two ongoing construction projects in Hong Kong are examined. The interpretive and exploratory focus of the study favoured the use of a qualitative research design and the case study approach in particular. Control is viewed as all devices and systems employed to ensure that acts, behaviours, outcomes and decisions of individuals, teams and organizations are consistent with meeting organizational or project goals, objectives and strategies. The findings indicate that a portfolio of control modes is implemented in project teams comprising both formal (i.e. behaviour- and outcome-based) and informal (i.e. clan- and self-based) control mechanisms which are not necessarily incompatible. While formal control remains the primary control mode, a portfolio of control appears necessary to augment the inadequacies of formal control due to the evolving nature of the project environment

Stakeholder management through relationship management

Stakeholder management through relationship managemen

A cultural perspective to stakeholder management in the Hong Kong construction industry

The Hong Kong construction industry is lauded for its “can-do” attitude and the apparently high levels of integration and cooperation that enables its high level of performance. An industry that can regularly complete four day floor cycles on high rise buildings over 40 storeys should be an innovative and relationship based industry. However, this is not the case. For example`, the predominant form of procurement in Hong Kong is still design-bidbuild (the “traditional” approach) and “partnering” has been introduced into the industry but in a piece-meal fashion and in a manner which is hardly effective. Still, the industry is characterised by hierarchy, tradition and procedures but the industry is also heavily influenced by the Chinese culture in which it was situated. Hence, values such as face, harmony and conflict avoidance are also embedded in the industry culture. In such a situation, the issue of stakeholders and their management has been paid scant regard; the government was used to making decisions on development rather than consulting widely and the other major players, the oligarchy of large property developers, adopted a simple, economic approach to their business plans and only over the past few years have issues such as corporate social responsibility reached their boardrooms

Control modes and mechanisms in construction project teams: drivers and consequences

Control is purposive or goal directed, hence, there are underlying drivers and consequences of the exercise of control modes and mechanisms. In response to recent empirical findings that cast doubts on the empowerment-control incompatibility thesis, the broader question of whether control is predominantly 'controlling' or rather supportive in work environments is addressed. Drivers and consequences of control modes and mechanisms in five project teams involved in two ongoing construction projects in Hong Kong are explored. As an interpretive and exploratory study, a qualitative research design and the case study approach in particular was appropriate. Framework, category formation and cross-case analysis techniques were employed to analyse data collected through documentary analysis, passive observations and semi-structured face-to-face interviews. The exercise of control is driven by a range of factors emanating from the individual-, team-, organization- and project-level. Control modes and mechanisms also have performance-related consequences for individuals, teams and organizations and are predominantly attributable to self-based control mechanisms. Preliminary evidence of the important link between self-control/empowerment and performance is therefore provided which is instructive for the performance improvement agenda in the construction industry

Relational pluralism in project settings: towards a research agenda

Construction projects are characteristically complex undertakings whose successful realisation requires the engagement of a myriad of individuals, teams and organisations. Projects therefore provide a platform for the emergence of multiplex (i.e. entities having more than one type of relationship), heterogeneous (i.e. entities connected to others from different backgrounds) and overlapping (i.e. entities belonging to clusters or spanning boundaries) relationships. This notion of the existence of relational pluralism in projects has implications for project constituents and project delivery. For individuals, it is how to grapple with multiple and conflicting identities in achieving outcomes. For teams, it is how to grapple with multiple types of inter-team relations and still maintain harmony to achieve goals, and for organisations, it is how to deal with the multiplicity of relationships among individuals and teams and still achieve goal congruence. This paper draws on social identity theory, social network theory and social capital, and their complementarity to explicitly examine the presence of multiplex, heterogeneous and overlapping relationships in projects and explain how relational pluralism can be exploited to facilitate effective project delivery. We further highlight the research avenues relational pluralism presents in project settings and examine the methodological implications of such research agendas

Sustainable procurement through a construction project: a vignette

Sustainable procurement through a construction project: a vignett

Portfolio of control modes in project teams: a Hong Kong case study

The management of projects through various planning and control tools has been described essentially as rebureaucratisation which increases control over individuals, teams and organisations through ideologies of efficiency and performativity and, thus, aspire a new form of “iron cage” of project rationality. Yet, it has also been argued that certain characteristics of the project setting makes it an ideal environment for the empowerment of individuals and teams. The manifestations of control in project teams are examined through a case study of a Hong Kong public housing development project. Control in this context is viewed broadly as encompassing all devices and systems employed to ensure that acts, behaviours and decisions of individuals, teams and organisations are consistent with meeting organisational or project goals, objectives and strategies. The data was collected through documentary analysis, passive observations and semi-structured face-to-face interviews, and analysed using descriptive methods. The findings indicate that all stakeholders implement a portfolio of control modes comprising both formal (i.e. behaviour-based and outcome-based) and informal (i.e. clan and self) control mechanisms which are not necessarily incompatible. A portfolio of control modes appears necessary because formal modes of control are static in nature and can become redundant in dealing fully with the evolving nature of the project environment in which plans, targets and procedures are often not immutable but fluid and changeable. Controllers design new control mechanisms to help in implementing the formal controls already in place or invoke informal control modes which are more responsive to changing project conditions and particularly appropriate when uncertainty is high, knowledge of the transformation process is imperfect and outputs are immeasurable. The control of projects is therefore not only a function of what formal control mechanisms stakeholders put in place, but what informal control mechanisms those being controlled also put in place to augment the inadequacies of formal control