The previous work done focused on the construction industry, particularly on its scopes, costs, schedules, and uncertainties. In this paper, the author tries to continue what was started in that discussion only that this time, the focus would be on the application of project management principles in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). For the first part of this project, the author focuses on providing and discussing two qualitative studies about the chosen topic—i.e. the application of successful strategies in UAE’s construction project management industry.
Greening Project Management Practices for Sustainable Construction
The effects of climate change can be devastating. The world has witnessed the horrible effects of heightened change in global weather in the past years and slowly but surely, countries are starting to realize the importance of sustainability. Unfortunately, for sustainability and other anti-climate change initiatives to work, the implementation of the much needed programs and reforms should be multi industry-wide. One of the industries where sustainability is being pushed is the construction industry. Focusing on the case of the UAE, its construction industry is booming. Construction projects are visible almost everywhere. Real estate investment is in a boom phase; investors are pouring in their money towards real estate ownership. As a result, real estate firms and developers are being more motivated to put up new projects. All in all, this creates a strong upward push for the economy; more jobs are generated and the effects of the larger than usual disposable income for the citizens who work on these jobs trickle down to other sectors and industries. The only problem remaining so far for booming countries like UAE is that their construction industry still relies primarily on non-sustainable construction industry practices, something which runs counterproductive to the worldwide effort of lessening the effects of climate change . In an academic paper published in the Journal of Management Engineering, a group of researchers presented certain modifications to conventional project management processes and practices within the construction industry in an effort to highlight the sustainability factor. According to the researchers, “greening project management practices can add significant value to a sustainable construction project while delivering it within acceptable cost constraints” ; in the end, this creates a win to win situation for the stakeholders.
Construction Claims in United Arab Emirates: Types, Causes, and Frequency
Zaneldin (2006) argued in a qualitative research he authored that the construction industry in the United Arab Emirates is among the largest single industry. However, it is tough and challenging to regulate because it is mostly fragmented, which is mainly a result of its being composed of multidisciplinary participants. This, in turn, leads to project management-related problems such as delays in the delivery and turnover of the projects, unnecessary increase in total construction costs, and other consequences of project management inefficiencies. In his study, Zaneldin (2006) analyzed some 124 claims in the UAE construction industry in an effort to learn the lesson why those claims happened. His focus, however, was on the recommendation side. He synthesized the recommendations that the stakeholders in this claims provided on how to reduce and prevent the occurrence of such claims. This way, it would be easier for new entrants in the construction project management industry especially those who have not experienced the challenges included in the study that Zaneldin authored to succeed. One of the direct consequences of claims in the construction industry is project delays among other forms of inefficiencies and this is counterproductive considering how project managers exist to combat all forms of inefficiencies.
So far, both of these two projects are directly relevant in the study that the author of this paper is trying to propose because of two main reasons. Firstly, the specifically talk about the greatest challenges in the construction project management industry. Secondly, they critically analyze the way how to solve those challenges.
As mentioned in the previous work, this proposed qualitative study will focus on the UAE’s construction project management industry. Directly related to the topic of project management cost, schedules, risks, and uncertainty management are the claims and other setbacks that construction industry project managers encounter. Therefore, it is important to fully understand how these setbacks emerge and how one can address them using the best project management strategies in light of the current best practices in the industry such as the promotion of sustainability among others.
The research question for the proposed study would be the one that asks: what are the successful strategies some UAE-based project managers use? The independent variable would be the claims made and the benchmarks that were not met—a triggering factor for claims. The dependent variable, on the other hand, would be the risk-taking behaviors as defined by the literature. Basically, what will be determined will be whether the number of unmet benchmarks and claims in the UAE construction industry affect the risk-taking behaviors of the project managers.
The proposed null hypothesis suggests that failure to meet deadlines or time-sensitive benchmarks has no effect on safety incidents on the UAE-based construction sites. This will be opposed by three alternative hypotheses: H1) The UAE-based project managers exhibit higher rates of risk taking behaviors when faced with a failure to meet time-sensitive benchmarks during construction projects; H2) The UAE-based project managers take deliberate and targeted action that increases the likelihood of meeting further benchmarks when a time-sensitive project benchmark is missed during a project and H3) Failure to meet time-sensitive benchmarks during construction is correlated with the number of safety-related incidents on the UAE-based construction sites.
Notice that the previous work made use of a quantitative experimental research design in the proposal. This time, however, the author will have the same set of goals, objectives, research framework, and hypotheses. The methodology used, however, will be qualitative. A case study approach will be used to gather the needed information about the topic. Specifically, the researcher will recruit test subjects who are veteran project managers in the UAE’s construction industry currently working on a construction project. The respondents will then be interviewed; questions will be asked regarding the challenges that they are currently facing and are expecting to face and how they plan on overcoming them. The bulk of the case study questions and discussions will be directed towards the identification of the strategies that they are going to use to solve the challenges that they identified, why they think such strategies would work, and what other alternatives they are thinking about that would solve the problem. This way, the research questions that were posted earlier would be answered using primary research data and the hypotheses that were formulated would also be verified.
A target population of five project managers would suffice for the data gathering procedures. Their responses to the discussions would then be collated and synthesized by the researcher. In the end, the author of this paper expects to unfold a lot of winning strategies from the respondents and that they respondents would be willing enough to share them.
The proposed ideas cannot be tested using experimental means within the same study because a qualitative research desigm was chosen instead. This may only be possible if an entirely new research will be conduucted. The cases study research design is one of the most commonly used research approach because of its reliability and ease of implementation. An alternative may be the use of a phenomenology or any exploratory study. Quality and reliability of the data can be ensured by recruiting appropriate respondents who in this case would be the project managers themselves.
References
Amritha, A. (2009). Green Design Initiatives in the UAE Construction Sector. Diss British University in Dubai.
Robichaud, L., & Anantatmula, V. (2011). Greening Project Management Practices for Sustainable Construction. Journal of Management Engineering, 48-57.
Zaneldin, E. (2006). Construction claims in United Arab Emirates: Types, Causes, and Frequency. International Journal of Project Management, 453-459.
