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The goal of this research study was to identify the competencies the Project Manager (PM) will need to respond to the challenges the construction industry faces in 2022 and beyond. The study revealed twenty-one emerging challenges for construction PMs grouped into four primary disruptive forces: workforce demographics, globalization, rapidly evolving

The goal of this research study was to identify the competencies the Project Manager (PM) will need to respond to the challenges the construction industry faces in 2022 and beyond. The study revealed twenty-one emerging challenges for construction PMs grouped into four primary disruptive forces: workforce demographics, globalization, rapidly evolving technology, and changing organizational structures. The future PM will respond to these emerging challenges using a combination of fourteen competencies. The competencies are grouped into four categories: technical (multi-disciplined, practical understanding of technology), management (keen business insight, understanding of project management, knowledge network building, continuous risk monitoring), cognitive (complex decisions making, emotional maturity, effective communication), and leadership (leveraging diverse thinking, building relationships, engaging others, mentoring, building trust). Popular data collection methods used in project management research, such as surveys and interviews, have received criticism about the differences between stated responses to questions, what respondents say they will do, and revealed preferences, what they actually practice in the workplace. Rather than relying on surveys, this research study utilized information generated from games and exercises bundled into one-day training seminars conducted by Construction Industry Institute (CII) companies for current and upcoming generations of PMs. Educational games and exercises provide participants with the opportunity to apply classroom learning and workplace experience to resolve issues presented in real-world scenarios, providing responses that are more closely aligned with the actual decisions and activities occurring on projects. The future competencies were identified by combining results of the literature review with information from the games and exercises through an iterative cycle of data mining, analysis, and consolidation review sessions with CII members. This competency forecast will be used as a basis for company recruiting and to create tools for professional development programs and project management education at the university level. In addition to the competency forecast, the research identified simulation games and exercises as components of a project management development program in a classroom setting. An instrument that links the emerging challenges with the fourteen competencies and learning tools that facilitate the mastering of these competencies has also been developed.
ContributorsKing, Cynthia Joyce (Author) / Wiezel, Avi (Thesis advisor) / Badger, William (Committee member) / Sullivan, Kenneth (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
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Description
The construction industry has accepted the uncertainty that is included with every project that is initiated. Because of the existing uncertainty, best practices with risk management are commonly recommended and educated to industry participants. However, the current status of the construction industry's ability to manage risk was found to be

The construction industry has accepted the uncertainty that is included with every project that is initiated. Because of the existing uncertainty, best practices with risk management are commonly recommended and educated to industry participants. However, the current status of the construction industry's ability to manage risk was found to be limited, unstructured, and inadequate. Furthermore, many barriers block organizations from implementing and improving risk management practices. A significant barrier with improving risk management methods is the lack of evidence that clearly demonstrates the need to improve risk management practices. Logical explanations of the benefits of risk management doesn't provide the necessary justification or motivation needed for many organizations to dedicate resources towards improving risk management.

Nevertheless, some organizations understand the importance of risk management practices and have begun to measure their risk maturity in order to identify weaknesses and improve risk management practices. Risk maturity measures the organization's ability and perceptions towards risk management. It is possible that many of the barriers to improving risk management would not exist if increased risk maturity was found to have a positive correlation with successful project performance.

The comprehensive hypothesis of the research is that increased risk maturity improves project performance. An exploratory study was conducted on data collected to identify measurable benefits with risk management. Quantitative and qualitative data was collected on 266 construction projects over a seven year period. Multiple statistical analyses were performed on the data and found a positive correlations between risk maturity and project performance. A positive correlations was found between customer satisfaction and contractors risk maturity. Additional findings from the recorded data included the increased ability to predict risks during construction projects within an organization. These findings provide clear reasoning for organizations to devote additional resources in which improve their risk management practices.
ContributorsPerrenoud, Anthony (Author) / Sullivan, Kenneth T. (Thesis advisor) / Weizel, Avi (Committee member) / Badger, William (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
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Description
Recent studies have identified that contractors in the Saudi construction industry are not the main party that cause risks as owners and other parties have the major share of causing risks. However, with the identification that risks out of contractors’ control are a leading cause of low performance, there is

Recent studies have identified that contractors in the Saudi construction industry are not the main party that cause risks as owners and other parties have the major share of causing risks. However, with the identification that risks out of contractors’ control are a leading cause of low performance, there is a lack of efficient risk mitigation practices in Saudi to manage these risks. The main aim of this dissertation is to assess the current practices applied by contractors to minimize risk out of their control and develop a risk mitigation model to manage these risks. The main objectives of the study are: investigating the risks that are out of contractors’ control, assessing the contractors’ current risk mitigation and performance measurement practices, and finally developing and validating a risk mitigation model to minimize risks out of contractors’ control and measure performance of involved project parties. To achieve the study aim, a mixed methodological approach was adopted. Theoretical approaches were utilized to review previous research and to develop a conceptual risk mitigation framework followed by a practical approach that is considered with collecting data from contractors. The quantitative method was mainly used to meet the study objectives through distributing a survey in the form of a questionnaire. As a consolidation of the study findings, the top ranked risks that are out of contractors’ control were identified. Furthermore, the results identified that the contractors’ current risk management and performance measurement practices are not effective in minimizing projects risks caused by other parties and ineffective in measuring performance of all parties. The developed model focuses on increasing accountability of project parties through mitigating project parties’ activities and risks with measuring the deviations and identifying sources of deviations. Transparency is utilized in the model through sharing weekly updates of the activities and risks combined with updated information of performance measurements of all project parties. The study results showed that project risks can be minimized and projects’ performance can be increased if contractors shift their focus using the developed model from only managing their own activities and risks to managing all project parties’ activities and risks.
ContributorsAlgahtany, Mohammed (Author) / Sullivan, Kenneth (Thesis advisor) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Committee member) / Badger, William (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018