Managing successful construction projects is rooted in a thorough understanding of current pedagogical theories regarding project management. The stakes for project management benchmarks are quite high in the construction industry, and failure to safely meet these benchmarks can cause serious setbacks to a project. Alias, Zawawi, Yusof, and Aris (2014) suggest that recent and current practices of project management have failed to ensure the success of projects in terms of planning and quality. These failures have very important costs: they cost management time, resources, and even personnel, as any failure to meet project goals changes the timeline for the entire project.
Project management in the construction industry is based on planning, coordinating, and controlling the implementation of objectives successfully by aligning with stakeholders’ requirements to the best way possible (Harris & McCaffer, 2013). These project management activities require attention to processes that are broken down to the minute details and compose activities such as scope definition, cost estimation, management of stakeholders’ requirements, composition and competence of the project team, risk and uncertainty planning and management, front-end planning, and planning and control tools (Gibson Jr, Yu-Ren, Chung-Suk, & Pappas, 2006; Harris & McCaffer, 2013; Larson & Gray, 2011; Mazarr, 2016; Taleb, 2010). When these breakdowns are not carefully considered, the timeline for the project cannot be met. Project management leadership must, therefore, be very aware of realistic goals and targets for a particular project. Not having appropriately considered the aforementioned activities planned for would most probably lead to cost overruns, substandard quality outcomes, and schedule slippage (Gibson Jr et al., 2006).
Cost is, of course, a primary concern for project management teams, but safety must also be a concern, particularly insofar as time management issues are concerned (Gibson Jr et al., 2006). When a project team fails to meet strictly-set guidelines for any reason, that team will begin to rush to remain abreast of the project schedule, and this rushing can cause safety hazards for workers (Gibson Jr et al., 2006). In fact, some researchers suggest that once a project fails to meet a deadline or a standard, it becomes much more likely for that project to fall even further behind (Harris & McCaffer, 2013). This failure to meet further standards can often be caused by compounded mistakes in project management as a result of rushing to meet unrealistic goals and targets (Harris & McCaffer, 2013).
This research is focused on construction projects based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and examines three critical aspects that determine the performance outcomes of projects – cost, schedule, and risk and uncertainty management (El-Sayegh, 2008; Taleb, 2010; Zaneldin, 2006). The purpose of this research is to add to the project management body of knowledge and to provide a framework that bridges the gap of planning, scheduling, uncertainty management, and risk. Such a framework utilizes planning (front-end planning), scheduling, and risk and uncertainty management theories and concepts geared to benefit project managers and project management stakeholders. However, this research is limited to project management of construction projects, and it does not cover different industries that do utilize similar project management concepts, which in turn might have different outcomes.
Research Questions and Hypotheses
Qualitative Research Question
How do UAE-based project managers react when construction projects in this region fail to meet time-sensitive benchmarks?
Quantitative Research Question
Does the failure to meet time-sensitive benchmarks for construction lead to an increase in safety-related incidents on UAE-based construction project sites?
Mixed Methods Research Question
Null Hypothesis
H0. Failure to meet deadlines or time-sensitive benchmarks have no effect on safety incidents on UAE-based construction sites.
Alternative Hypothesis
H1. 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. 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.
H3. Failure to meet time-sensitive benchmarks during construction is correlated with the number of safety-related incidents on UAE-based construction sites.
References
Alias, Z., Zawawi, E. M. A., Yusof, K., & Aris, N. M. (2014). Determining Critical Success Factors of Project Management Practice: A Conceptual Framework. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 153, 61-69. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.10.041
El-Sayegh, S. M. (2008). Risk assessment and allocation in the UAE construction industry. International Journal of Project Management, 26(4), 431-438.
Gibson Jr, G. E., Yu-Ren, W., Chung-Suk, C., & Pappas, M. P. (2006). What Is Preproject Planning, Anyway? Journal of Management in Engineering, 22(1), 35-42. doi:10.1061/(ASCE)0742-597X(2006)22:1(35)
Harris, F., & McCaffer, R. (2013). Modern construction management: John Wiley & Sons.
Larson, E. W., & Gray, C. F. (2011). Project management: The managerial process.
Mazarr, M. J. (2016). Risk and Uncertainty Rethinking Risk in National Security (pp. 51-64): Springer.
Taleb, N. N. (2010). The Black Swan–The impact of the highly improbable.
Zaneldin, E. K. (2006). Construction claims in United Arab Emirates: Types, causes, and frequency. International Journal of Project Management, 24(5), 453-459.
