Managing Construction Projects

Graham Winch is Professor of Project Management, Director of the Centre for Research in the Management of Projects, Director of the BP Managing Projects executive education programme and Head of the Decision Sciences and Operations Management Subject Area Group at Manchester Business School, University of Manchester.

“Returning to the opening paragraph of this review and the target audience for the book, it is clear that, owing to the complexity of managing construction projects, both current and future professionals will find this text, and the ‘frameworks for thinking’ it offers, invaluable.” (Construction Management and Economics, 1 October  2010)"This outstanding book is a 'bible' for Construction/Project Managers and deserves a place on the book shelves of libraries of Universities offering courses for the Built Environment." (Building Engineer, June 2010)

• Preface to 1st Edition xiiiPreface to 2nd Edition xviiPart I Introduction 11 The Management of Construction Projects 31.1 Introduction 31.2 Projects as the creation of new value 51.3 The project as an information processing system 61.4 Project management and the management of projects 81.5 Projects and resource bases 81.6 The five generic project processes 101.7 Critiques of the first edition 101.8 A theoretical perspective on managing construction projects 131.9 A practical contribution to managing construction projects 141.10 The plan of the book 141.11 Summary 15Case 1 The Channel Fixed Link 152 The Context of Construction Project Management 202.1 Introduction 202.2 The industry recipe for construction 212.3 National business systems in construction 242.4 The regulatory context 262.5 The construction cycle 312.6 The development of concession contracting 332.7 Summary 34Case 2 The UK Construction Business System 35Further reading 48Part II Defining the Project Mission 493 Deciding What the Client Wants 533.1 Introduction 533.2 From artefact to asset: facilities as new value 533.3 Understanding spatial quality and business processes 563.4 Indoor environmental quality and business processes 573.5 Symbolic quality: beyond peer review 583.6 Justifying the investment 613.7 Strategic misrepresentation in investment appraisal 643.8 Defining the project mission: a conceptual framework for product integrity 663.9 Summary 68Case 3 Defi ning the Mission at the University of York 69Further reading 734 Managing Stakeholders 744.1 Introduction 744.2 Which are the project stakeholders? 744.3 Mapping stakeholders 774.4 The regulatory context 794.5 Managing consent 824.6 Ethics in project mission definition 844.7 The role of visualisation 854.8 Summary 86Case 4 The Rebuilding of Beirut Central District 88Further reading 92Part III Mobilising the Resource Base 935 Forming the Project Coalition 995.1 Introduction 995.2 The principal/agent problem in construction 995.3 Procuring construction services 1015.4 The formation of project coalitions 1095.5 Selecting resource bases 1155.6 Forming more effective project coalitions 1175.7 The development of e-procurement 1235.8 Probity in procurement 1245.9 Summary 127Case 5 Partnering Between Marks & Spencer and Bovis 127Further reading 1316 Motivating the Project Coalition 1326.1 Introduction 1326.2 The problem of moral hazard in construction projects 1336.3 The problem of switching costs 1346.4 Managing the problem of moral hazard 1366.5 Contractual uncertainty and risk allocation 1376.6 Governing the contract and the role of third parties 1436.7 The dynamic of adversarial relations 1466.8 Alliancing 1476.9 Summary 151Case 6 NHS ProCure 21 151Further reading 1547 Managing the Dynamics of the Supply Chain 1557.1 Introduction 1557.2 Horizontal and vertical governance 1567.3 Internal resource mobilisation 1577.4 Shirking 1617.5 The role of sequential spot contracting in construction employment 1627.6 Managing the supply chain 1657.7 Managing consortia and joint ventures 1677.8 The dynamics of supply chains 1697.9 Clustering the supply chain 1707.10 Summary 172Case 7 Building Down Barriers 172Further reading 177Part IV Riding the Project Life Cycle 1798 Minimising Client Surprise 1938.1 Introduction 1938.2 Projecting a perfect future 1948.3 Strategies for imagining the future: options thinking 1968.4 Moving from phase to phase: gating the process 2028.5 The gap analysis approach 2038.6 What do we mean by project success? 2078.7 The nature of information flows in problem solving 2098.8 Process representation 2118.9 Knowledge management and learning from projects 2138.10 Summary 217Case 8 Riding the Life Cycle on the Glaxo Project 218Further reading 2259 Defining Problems and Generating Solutions 2279.1 Introduction 2279.2 Tame and wicked problems in the project process 2289.3 Solving the briefing problem 2299.4 Client organisation for briefing and design 2349.5 Solving the design problem 2369.6 The cult of wickedness 2399.7 The management of design 2409.8 Summary 248Case 9 Designing the Sheffield Arena 249Further reading 25510 Managing the Budget 25610.1 Introduction 25610.2 Levels of accuracy in project budgets 25710.3 Developing a budgetary system 26010.4 Using the PBS to control the budget 26210.5 Value engineering and cost management 26310.6 Constructability 26410.7 Controlling the budget 26610.8 Earned value analysis 26910.9 Mitigating optimism bias 27110.10 Budget overruns and escalating commitments 27310.11 Summary 276Case 10 The Centuria Project Budget 279Further reading 28311 Managing the Schedule 28411.1 Introduction 28411.2 Critical path method 28511.3 Resourcing the project 29011.4 The limitations of the critical path method 29211.5 New approaches to project scheduling 29411.6 The dynamics of the project schedule 30411.7 Summary 305Case 11 Centuria Project Schedule 306Further reading 31512 Managing Conformance 31612.1 Introduction 31612.2 The principles of quality management systems 31712.3 Inspection 32212.4 Quality control 32312.5 Quality assurance 32612.6 Integrated management systems for quality, environment, safety and health 32812.7 Creating a culture of improvement 32912.8 Quality awards and self-assessment 33412.9 Conformance management in a project environment 33412.10 Standardisation and pre-assembly 33612.11 Summary 340Case 12 From Navvies to White Van Man: Managing Conformance at T5 340Further reading 34513 Managing Uncertainty and Risk on the Project 34613.1 Introduction 34613.2 Risk and uncertainty: a cognitive approach 34713.3 The elicitation of subjective probabilities 35413.4 Propensity for risk and uncertainty 35713.5 The practice of managing risk and uncertainty 35913.6 Managing opportunities and threats on projects 36513.7 The strategic management of project risk and uncertainty 36613.8 Summary 368Case 13 Managing Front-End Risks Through Networks: Boston Central Artery/Tunnel 370Further reading 37714 Managing the Project Information Flow 37814.1 Introduction 37814.2 The principles of integrated project information 37914.3 The development of information and communication technologies 38014.4 Engineering information management systems 38314.5 Enterprise resource management systems 38714.6 e-construction 39014.7 Project extranets 39214.8 The role of the project manager in managing project information 39414.9 Summary 396Case 14 Building Information Modelling at One Island East 398Further reading 403Part V Leading the Project Coalition 40515 Designing Effective Project Organisations 40915.1 Introduction 40915.2 The rise of the project management concept 41015.3 Projects, programmes and portfolios 41315.4 The responsibilities of the client 41615.5 Who is the project manager? 42015.6 Organising the project through the life cycle 42015.7 Project organisation in construction 42215.8 Determining the organisation breakdown structure 42515.9 Project teamworking 42615.10 Constructing the team 42915.11 Summary: project organisation design 431Case 15 Glaxo Project Organisation 431Further reading 43716 Infusing the Project Mission 43816.1 Introduction 43816.2 Appropriate leadership 43916.3 Leadership style 44216.4 Construction project leadership 44316.5 Resolving conflict on the project 44616.6 The levers of power 44716.7 Project culture and leadership 44916.8 Leading the construction project 45216.9 Summary: infusing the project mission 453Case 16 Patrick Crotty: Project Director on the Waterloo International Terminal 45516.10 The project life cycle 45616.11 Keeping control 459Further reading 46217 Conclusions: Managing Construction Projects Consummately 46317.1 Revaluing construction 46417.2 Managing for product integrity 46717.3 Managing for process integrity 46917.4 Construction as a manufacturing process 47017.5 Systems thinking and managing projects 47417.6 Professionalism and managing construction projects 47517.7 Judgement in managing construction projects 47617.8 Summary of the book 47717.9 A concluding thought 478Case 17 Tinker Bell Theory in Practice 478References 484People Index 511Project Index 514Subject Index 516