Search results

1 – 10 of 11
Per page
102050
Citations:
Loading...
Available. Open Access. Open Access
Article
Publication date: 23 April 2024

Anna Kadefors, Kirsi Aaltonen, Stefan Christoffer Gottlieb, Ole Jonny Klakegg, Pertti Lahdenperä, Nils O.E. Olsson, Lilly Rosander and Christian Thuesen

Relational contracting is increasingly being applied to complex and uncertain construction projects. However, it has proved hard to achieve stable performance and industry-level…

1093

Abstract

Purpose

Relational contracting is increasingly being applied to complex and uncertain construction projects. However, it has proved hard to achieve stable performance and industry-level learning in this field. This paper employs an institutional perspective to analyze how legitimacy for relational contracting has been produced and challenged in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, including implications for dissemination and learning.

Design/methodology/approach

A collaborative case study design is used, where longitudinal accounts of the developments in relational contracting over more than 25 years in four Nordic countries were developed by scholars based in each country. The descriptions are underpinned by literature sources from research, practice and policy.

Findings

The countries share similar problem perceptions that have triggered the de-institutionalization of traditional contracting practices. Models and policies developed elsewhere are important sources of knowledge and legitimacy. Most countries have seen pendulum movements, where dissemination of relational contracting is followed by backlashes when projects fail to meet projected outcomes. Before long, however, relational contracting tends to re-emerge under new labels and in slightly new forms. Such a proliferation of concepts presents further obstacles to learning. Successful institutionalization is found to rely on realistic goals in combination with broad competence development at the organizational and industry levels.

Practical implications

In seeking inspiration from other countries, policymakers should go beyond contract models to also consider strategies to manage industry-level learning.

Originality/value

The paper provides a unique longitudinal cross-country perspective on the field of relational contracting. As such, it contributes to the small stream of literature on long-term institutional change in the construction sector.

Details

International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, vol. 17 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-8378

Keywords

Access Restricted. View access options
Article
Publication date: 17 August 2020

Jaakko Kujala, Kirsi Aaltonen, Nadezhda Gotcheva and Pertti Lahdenperä

The purpose of this study is to create a framework to analyze approaches for coordination, adaptation and safeguarding of exchanges in interorganizational project networks.

1533

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to create a framework to analyze approaches for coordination, adaptation and safeguarding of exchanges in interorganizational project networks.

Design/methodology/approach

An analysis framework to analyze governance in project networks was created based on a systematic review of existing literature. The framework was applied to analyze governance approaches used in a large infrastructure project implemented with an alliance project delivery method to illustrate the practical validity of the framework.

Findings

The analysis framework categorized governance in project networks in six dimensions: goal setting, rewarding, monitoring, roles and decision-making, coordination and capability building. A set of questions for each governance dimension was created and the analysis framework was applied in the context of a project alliance.

Research limitations/implications

The focus of this research is on governance internal to a project network. The authors identified dimensions of governance in project networks and related governance approaches based on a systematic literature review. The practical applicability of the framework was validated in a single case study setting.

Practical implications

The paper introduces a concept of governance in project networks, which takes the perspective that all actors that have an influence on project implementation are part of an interorganizational project network. The focal organization may have had a significant role in the design of governance, but governance also emerged from the network structure of companies and the interactions among them. The analysis framework created in this research can be used to design and analyze governance in different type of project context.

Originality/value

The paper introduces a concept of governance in project networks, which takes the perspective that all actors that have an influence on project implementation are part of an interorganizational project network.

Details

International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, vol. 14 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-8378

Keywords

Access Restricted. View access options
Article
Publication date: 1 March 2013

Pertti Lahdenperä

Early involvement of the construction team is increasingly utilized in demanding projects to incorporate versatile expertise in their planning. For public owners this is a…

269

Abstract

Early involvement of the construction team is increasingly utilized in demanding projects to incorporate versatile expertise in their planning. For public owners this is a challenge since they are obliged to use competitive, transparent team selection based on the ‘most economically advantageous’ criterion which ensures that both price and quality viewpoints are taken into account. In the case of early involvement, the price component naturally does not include the total price, but may consist only of the fee-percentages of competing service providers. This study examines such a selection situation in project alliancing in the European context and seeks to find a way to integrate the fee component in a multi-criteria selection system and determine reasonable fees for different levels of capabilities. The study builds on the performance difference between different capabilities, derived from a survey of practitioners, and determines an indifference curve arithmetically for the planning of a selection method. The influence of the owner‘s risk attitude and risk premiums are also considered exploratively based on the pricing methods of the theory of finance.

Details

Journal of Public Procurement, vol. 13 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1535-0118

Available. Open Access. Open Access
Book part
Publication date: 1 May 2019

Pertti Lahdenperä

The paper aims to describe the evolution and use of project alliancing in Finland: how the model was discovered, and then, little by little, became an established practice.

Abstract

Purpose

The paper aims to describe the evolution and use of project alliancing in Finland: how the model was discovered, and then, little by little, became an established practice.

Design/Methodology/Approach

The paper is based on a long-term observation of the construction sector activities, involvement in their development and a review of related research and practice documents.

Findings

The paper illustrates how a major change may be laborious. It also reveals that the application of project alliancing seems to have been successful so far, but there are still threats on the horizon.

Research Limitations/Implications

The overview ignores many meaningful details and does not include a critical review of the positive experiences reported by the industry. There certainly is need for related research.

Practical Implications

The study offers a point of reference for evaluation of the smoothness of the progress of industry wide changes.

Originality/Value

This paper seems to be the first one providing a more comprehensive picture of the progress and use of alliancing in Finland, thus supplementing existing view- and project-specific examinations.

Details

10th Nordic Conference on Construction Economics and Organization
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83867-051-1

Keywords

Access Restricted. View access options
Article
Publication date: 4 January 2016

Pertti Lahdenperä

Early involvement of the project team with the construction resources seems to be gaining popularity as it aims to improve the cost efficiency of a project as there is…

833

Abstract

Purpose

Early involvement of the project team with the construction resources seems to be gaining popularity as it aims to improve the cost efficiency of a project as there is significantly more potential to influence the project solution at that point in time. The missing price during early involvement/selection and the principal-agent setting, however, tend to leave the project owner in doubt of the reasonableness of pricing when it is fixed only later after the joint design phase involving the service provider and the owner. The purpose of this paper is to find a solution for this challenge.

Design/methodology/approach

A two-stage target-cost (2STC) arrangement has been proposed as the solution. In this model the service provider earns a bonus by suggesting a lower target cost than the reference set at the time of the involvement of the provider. The amount of bonus also impacts the cost over-run risk transferred to the service provider to avoid overly optimistic promises. The proposition encompassed just the basic idea, and did not really delve into actual model formulations and their functioning under practical realities. Therefore, the required work is presented here in the form of a conceptual, discursive study focusing on relevant theories and empirical findings from major investment projects.

Findings

The study produces a requirement framework for the 2STC model to allow functioning models to be formulated and tested. The framework incorporates numerous requirements, constraints and a suggested path forward. For instance, while the model may not be manipulatable, it must incentivise the service provider to seek more cost-effective project solutions, be feasible also from the view of the project owner and adapt to various project risk profiles and ranges of efficiency improvements.

Research limitations/implications

The study suggests more concrete model formulations to be provided under the guidance of the presented framework.

Originality/value

The 2STC model is a unique concept and no comparable construct is known to exist. Besides the requirement framework, the study also strengthens the foundation of and need for the 2STC model by a thorough survey of its theoretical linkages. Accordingly, the study presented in this paper forms the second stage in the overall 2STC development process focused on benefiting project owners and the industry.

Details

International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, vol. 9 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-8378

Keywords

Access Restricted. View access options
Article
Publication date: 4 January 2016

Pertti Lahdenperä

Early involvement of the project team with the construction resources seems to be gaining popularity as it aims to improve the cost efficiency of a project as there is…

585

Abstract

Purpose

Early involvement of the project team with the construction resources seems to be gaining popularity as it aims to improve the cost efficiency of a project as there is significantly more potential to influence the project solution at that point in time. The missing price during early involvement/selection and the principal-agent setting, however, tend to leave the project owner in doubt of the reasonableness of pricing when it is fixed only later after the joint design phase involving the service provider and the owner. The purpose of this paper is to find a solution for this challenge.

Design/methodology/approach

A two-stage target-cost (2STC) arrangement has been proposed as the solution. In this model the service provider earns a bonus by suggesting a lower target cost than the reference set at the time of the involvement of the provider. The amount of bonus also impacts the cost over-run risk transferred to the service provider to avoid overly optimistic promises. Besides the initial conceptualisation of the idea, earlier research has also produced a framework for developing and assessing alternative formulations of the 2STC model. By means of mathematical modelling and optimisation and critical review the work seeks to provide formulations that meet the set requirements.

Findings

The study establishes concrete formulations that are believed to function as intended with certain reservations. Two potential mechanisms, the constant and variable share models, are generated and presented, and recommendations are given for their use in practice. In the former, the extent of cost efficiency improvement in the development phase has no impact on percentage shares, but in the latter the service provider’s relative development bonus and share of cost over-runs are the bigger, the bigger the improvement.

Research limitations/implications

The study suggests piloting the formulations in carefully selected projects in order to discover their practical feasibility.

Originality/value

The 2STC model is a unique concept and no comparable construct is known to exist. The study produced concrete formulations for a 2STC construct while ensuring and illustrating their functioning to avoid surprises in their use. The study presented in this paper forms the third stage in the overall 2STC development process focussed on benefiting project owners and the industry.

Details

International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, vol. 9 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-8378

Keywords

Access Restricted. View access options
Article
Publication date: 17 April 2009

Pertti Lahdenperä and Tiina Koppinen

A project delivery system (PDS) refers to the organizational framework of a project that defines the control mechanisms and the relationships between actors and their incentives…

2218

Abstract

Purpose

A project delivery system (PDS) refers to the organizational framework of a project that defines the control mechanisms and the relationships between actors and their incentives. It is of major importance to the project owner as it, for instance, contributes to the project's level of efficiency. This paper aims to define indicative, relative cost performances of different PDSs in a road management context to support the road owner's strategy development.

Design/methodology/approach

This study compares the costs of design‐bid‐build, construction management at‐fee, design‐build, design‐build‐operate and design‐build‐finance‐operate based on an international data capture focusing on the operational performance of these PDSs. A financial analysis was made to determine the systems' present costs to a road authority based on relevant market estimates. Moreover, a step towards understanding their overall efficiency was taken by focusing also on differences in speed of delivery which result in expenses or savings to the user community.

Findings

Although the applicability of a PDS depends on project properties and constraints, the study concludes that, in general, the broader the scope of services supplied by a single contract, the lower the system's present cost to the owner. The inclusion of private finance and early commissioning advantage, however, change the ranking so that universal conclusions cannot be drawn. DBFO seems to be commonly in the middle category.

Research limitations/implications

Here, PDSs are applied to a relatively large project, minimum size €30‐60m, in well‐known conditions and involving no factors of uncertainty due to third parties. The results are not valid in smaller and/or more constrained projects.

Originality/value

The study provided new knowledge of the owner's and society's average comparable cost performances in the case of five different PDSs. Since a single‐value, exclusive solution hardly exists, the study on the sensitivity of different PDSs to key financial parameters is also valuable.

Details

Journal of Financial Management of Property and Construction, vol. 14 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-4387

Keywords

Access Restricted. View access options
Article
Publication date: 1 March 2000

PERTH LAHDENPERÄ and VELIPEKKA TANHUANPÄÄ

There are numerous designers involved in building design, and the various parties need information from each other as a basis for their design decisions. The design co‐ordinator…

352

Abstract

There are numerous designers involved in building design, and the various parties need information from each other as a basis for their design decisions. The design co‐ordinator cannot be an expert on all information needs of every design discipline. The various designers, again, focus on their current work only, and neglect the planning of forthcoming design activities. This results in a lack of information, guess‐work, idling and delays in the self‐steering process. The end result is extensive redesign and problems in the construction stage. This article describes a design management system developed to minimize these problems. The system includes operational systematics to be followed by all the actors involved in the design process. Another part of the solution is a reference model on typical information needs by different designers in various stages and tasks of the design process. The system was developed as part of two actual building design processes.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. 7 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

Keywords

Available. Content available
Article
Publication date: 4 January 2016

Derek H.T. Walker

188

Abstract

Details

International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, vol. 9 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-8378

Available. Open Access. Open Access
Book part
Publication date: 1 May 2019

Abstract

Details

10th Nordic Conference on Construction Economics and Organization
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83867-051-1

1 – 10 of 11
Per page
102050