Construction Companies internal challenges - management of the multi-project organization
Student thesis: Master Thesis and HD Thesis
- Niels Rohde Brandes Andreassen
- Rasmus Hornemann
4. term, Management in the Building Industry, Master (Master Programme)
Management of multi-project organizations and knowledge sharing in order to utilize own experiences, are some of the challenges that present Danish construction companies are struggling with. This thesis therefore addresses suggestions and solutions for how construction companies can streamline their production by a more qualitative resource management of project organizations and more effective knowledge management of the organization's expertise.
In the majority of the Danish construction companies, the management systems to manage resources, i.e. staffing projects with the right staff, with the right skills and at the right time, are currently ineffective. Resource management in multi-project organizations are often difficult to execute because of the environment in which they operate. This is caused by the several ongoing projects at the same time and therefore the available resources must be divided between these projects. Furthermore the discontinuous supply of new orders is complicating the resource management by the constantly different need of resources in ongoing projects. Hereby it is at great challenge to manage the staffing of various projects. Among other problems related to resource management is the trend of corporate manager’s over-commit capabilities of the organization by taking on more projects than there are capacity to handle. This is supported by the scientific article "The resource allocation syndrome" and a questionnaire survey among managers of the construction companies that the project team has done in this thesis. As a result of having accepted more projects than there are available resources, each project is running with understaffing and each project must compete for the few available resources in the organization. The problems of resource management in a multi-project organization are diverse and in this thesis it is tried to illuminate and overcome these problems.
Knowledge sharing is another area that many Danish construction companies are struggling with in the daily management of the company. Often use of knowledge management and knowledge sharing is limited to digital databases that poorly serves its purpose. Construction companies are therefore most challenged when it comes to information flowing freely within the organization. This is especially applicable between the basic organization and the individual project organizations, which are two physically distinct groups. This organizational structure that divides the companies' employees into two general groups that rarely meet in person seems to have a significant impact on the success of knowledge sharing. Furthermore, companies have difficulty in collecting the knowledge generated in the project organization by each employee and how to store and disseminate it with the rest of the organization, both basic- and project organization. This means that other people will repeat the same mistakes that were previously committed elsewhere within the organization and consequently, the cost of error correction increases. The problems of knowledge sharing and knowledge management are equally diverse as for resource management in multi-project organizations and therefore it is also tried to illuminate and overcome the problems in this area.
Solution
As a solution for construction companies' internal challenges in management of multi-project organizations and knowledge sharing, it is discussed in this paper how a Project Management Office can be designed and implemented into the organization. This unit can, among other things, help managers to implement and manage the organization's project methodology and thereby ensure a consistency in the way that all project organizations are managed. This applies both in resource management and knowledge management. Furthermore, it is considered appropriate and relevant to review how a construction company can build and maintain the optimal organization and corporate culture for effective leadership and management of the company. As an extension of the optimal organization of the company, it has been a solution to implement project teams as independent entities, representing a team of which both members of the basic organization and project organization are represented. This team will jointly run through the process that a construction company's production facilities consist of. This will allow multiple interfaces within the company to be minimized with better service to the customer to follow.
The thesis is completed with a conclusion that summarizes the solutions to individual problems and responding to problem formulation issues.
In the majority of the Danish construction companies, the management systems to manage resources, i.e. staffing projects with the right staff, with the right skills and at the right time, are currently ineffective. Resource management in multi-project organizations are often difficult to execute because of the environment in which they operate. This is caused by the several ongoing projects at the same time and therefore the available resources must be divided between these projects. Furthermore the discontinuous supply of new orders is complicating the resource management by the constantly different need of resources in ongoing projects. Hereby it is at great challenge to manage the staffing of various projects. Among other problems related to resource management is the trend of corporate manager’s over-commit capabilities of the organization by taking on more projects than there are capacity to handle. This is supported by the scientific article "The resource allocation syndrome" and a questionnaire survey among managers of the construction companies that the project team has done in this thesis. As a result of having accepted more projects than there are available resources, each project is running with understaffing and each project must compete for the few available resources in the organization. The problems of resource management in a multi-project organization are diverse and in this thesis it is tried to illuminate and overcome these problems.
Knowledge sharing is another area that many Danish construction companies are struggling with in the daily management of the company. Often use of knowledge management and knowledge sharing is limited to digital databases that poorly serves its purpose. Construction companies are therefore most challenged when it comes to information flowing freely within the organization. This is especially applicable between the basic organization and the individual project organizations, which are two physically distinct groups. This organizational structure that divides the companies' employees into two general groups that rarely meet in person seems to have a significant impact on the success of knowledge sharing. Furthermore, companies have difficulty in collecting the knowledge generated in the project organization by each employee and how to store and disseminate it with the rest of the organization, both basic- and project organization. This means that other people will repeat the same mistakes that were previously committed elsewhere within the organization and consequently, the cost of error correction increases. The problems of knowledge sharing and knowledge management are equally diverse as for resource management in multi-project organizations and therefore it is also tried to illuminate and overcome the problems in this area.
Solution
As a solution for construction companies' internal challenges in management of multi-project organizations and knowledge sharing, it is discussed in this paper how a Project Management Office can be designed and implemented into the organization. This unit can, among other things, help managers to implement and manage the organization's project methodology and thereby ensure a consistency in the way that all project organizations are managed. This applies both in resource management and knowledge management. Furthermore, it is considered appropriate and relevant to review how a construction company can build and maintain the optimal organization and corporate culture for effective leadership and management of the company. As an extension of the optimal organization of the company, it has been a solution to implement project teams as independent entities, representing a team of which both members of the basic organization and project organization are represented. This team will jointly run through the process that a construction company's production facilities consist of. This will allow multiple interfaces within the company to be minimized with better service to the customer to follow.
The thesis is completed with a conclusion that summarizes the solutions to individual problems and responding to problem formulation issues.
Language | Danish |
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Publication date | 1 Jun 2012 |
Number of pages | 128 |