Integrated Infrastructure Management

is discussing on Relational Contracting and Teambuilding: Assessing Potential Contractual and Non-Contractual Incentives?, Rahman and Kumaraswamy emphasise that integration in construction projects implies alignment of both structural arrangements and operational mechanisms. To effectively coordinate and streamline the combined efforts of various interacting parties for improved project outcomes, the authors recommend applying relational contracting principles. In their research, they identify seven components that deter the building of integrated project teams and seven components that facilitate the building of integrated project teams.

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Introduction:

The construction sector is crucial for the development of countries. It is very common that economic growth of countries is measured by valuating the existing infrastructure. Construction projects especially infrastructure projects are very famous by its complexity, high risk and the possibility of failure. For that reason, organizations should consider the factors that might have direct effect on project success. This can be achieved by adapting and implementing managerial and operational mechanism. Many researchers suggested various processes and procedures to improve and the project performance; Creedy, et al. (2010) recommends managing project performance risks closely, while Faram, et al. (2006) suggests paying close attention to internal & external relationships. On the other hand, Rahman & Kumaraswamy (2008) recommends a combination between both processes and performing relational contract (RC) to improve project performance. Industrial reposts shows that, In order to improve performance and client satisfaction, UK & Hong Kong promotes to implement non-adversarial procurement techniques (Rahman, et al, 2005).

In this week discussion, we will be discussing Rahman & Kumaraswamy (2008) seven facilitating & deterring characteristics of integrated project teams. One characteristics of each group will be discussed, explaining how we can use these characteristics to maximize its positive effect and to minimize it negative effect on the project performance.

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Team selection and mobilization as one of the key facilitating component for building integrated project teams:

In order to achieving success in construction projects and effective collaboration between interacting parties, it requires alignment of both operational and structural mechanisms. Proper use of Relational Contracts (RC) can help in attaining this integration. RC is as a suitable tool that can facilitate contractual relationships & overtaking transactional hurdles. Similar to other processes, RC main objective is to improve performance in construction projects to achieve optimum business value through promoting new relationship culture between the involved parties. According to the CIRC (2001), in order to obtain best outcomes, it is recommended to implement integrated approach that encourage team work and partnering between the project team and other involved parties where the expectations, interests and needs of stakeholders will be considered.

Rahman & Kumaraswamy (2008) identified 28 facilitating factor for the building integrated teams. All of the 28 factors are important; however, the authors represented all the factors in seven broad components. Some of these components can be considered for long term consideration and some of them are for short term consideration. These seven components are:

? Team selection & mobilization strategy.

? Responsibility allocation.

? Encouraging team working.

? Enlightened & knowledgeable client.

? Preparing the team to work in a harmony.

? Existing corporate strategies and the individual skills.

? Encouraging participation and innovation.

Team selection & mobilizations is considered as the one of the most important components that affects the team building strategy (Rahman & kumaraswamy, 2008). Choosing the right team is very essential for the success of any project. Every project requires various types of people with different skills. The advantage of this is to have a wide range of skills and wide range of views. Faram, et al. (2006) supports this by expressing the importance of collecting and aligning various skills and managing these skills to achieve the best results. Selecting the right project team is the first sign for successfully obtaining all following steps, and ensures trivial effort in the early planning stages. It is very rare that project manager gets involved in selecting the team, however, PM can maximize this by facilitating RC that encourage and promote integrated planning, better communication and collaboration. Working in construction sector in UAE has many advantages; most of the project team are integrated from different background and each team member is bringing his experience and new ideas to the project.

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Key Deterrent Component:

Rahman & Kumaraswamy (2008) identified 16 facilitating factor for the RC. All of the 16 factors are important for the RC; however, the authors represented all the factors in seven broad components. Some of these components can be considered for long term consideration and some of them are for short term consideration. These seven components are:

? Continuous adversarial setting.

? Missing of integrated risk-reward plan.

? Continuous regulatory incompatibilities.

? Bad communication & relationships.

? Insufficient support of top management.

? Commercial pressure and legal concern.

? Incompatible client?s knowledge.

Top management support is considered as one of the most deterrent factors to building integrated teams. Young & Jordan (2008) said client and top management support has great influence on project success and ignoring this component can lead to project failure. There are many recommendations to assure the involvement of client or senior management, these recommendations can vary according to the project type and size of project. From the project manager?s side, there are many steps can be followed such as; engagement of top management, communicating project updates ?etc. while the top management have the same responsibility to do, such as; delegation of responsibilities, appreciation, minimizing penalties, show interest ?etc. the value of projects is not always clear, and the failure to communicate and elucidate the goal of the project will harshly reduce the senior management interest which will might lead to project failure (Moony, et al., 2008). Cheng & Le (2004) said in order to implement RC approach, top management involvement and commitment is a must. lack of support from one of the top management team lead to disappointing results in TechMedia in upgrading their system to ERP (Young & Jordan, 2008).

Conclusion:

Construction projects involve people coming from different backgrounds, each one might have his own goals and motivations which are rarely aligned. Studies showed that implementing RC is very helpful in building integrated teams, ensuring top management support ?etc (Ling, et al, 2004). The fundamental problem in most of the construction projects is the failure to consider RC in the core of project management plan.

Creedy, G., Skitmore, M. and Wond, J. (2010) ?Evaluation of risk factors leading to cost overrun in delivery of highway construction projects?. Journal of Construction Engineering & Management, 136 (5), pp. 528-537

Construction Industry Review Committee. (2001). ?Construct for excellence?. Rep. of the Construction Industry Review Committee, Hong Kong.

Faram, M., Saker, J. and Story, V. (2007). ?Perspective of different parties involved in the selection of capital equipment for sewerage and wastewater-associated infrastructure investment projects?. Water and Environment Journal, 21 (3), pp. 165-172

Ling, F. et al. (2006). ?Incorporating contractual incentives to facilitate relational contracting?.Journal of professional issues in engineering education and practice, ASCE.

Moony, A. et al. (2008). ?Achieving top management support in strategic technology initiatives?. HSATM, volume 12, issue 2.

Young, R. Jordan, E. (2008). ?Top management support: Mantra or necessity?? international Journal of Project Manage.

Rahman, M. and Kumaraswamy, M. (2008) ?Relational contracting and teambuilding: Assessing potential contractual and non-contractual incentives?. Journal of Management in Engineering, 24 (1), pp. 48-63

Rahman, M. et al. (2005). ?Reconstructing cultures for relational contracting?. Journal of construction engineering and management, ASCE.

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