Project Planning and Control in a D eveloping Econ om y : Implementation an d Reali s ation
H. Abd ul-Rahma n,M. Othma n,N.Zakaria,I.A.Yahya, O.Mohamed andL.C.Lan
Centrefor Projectand FacilitiesManagement(CPFM) Facult y oftheBuiltEnv ironment,
UniversityofMalaya
Abstract
In thecompetitive and uncert ainenviron men tof the constructionindustry,theability to deliver end prod ucts with the requi red qua lity, sched ule and budget is vita l to the su rvival ofany construction-rela tedfirm.Before emba rkingonanyproject,realistic plannin g and,consequently, acon trolproceduremustbe in placetoenablethepartiestomanage the projectwithsu fficient degreeofauthority and certa inty.
Thispaperaddressesissues associatedwith the implementation of project planningand con trol, identificati on of impacts in the im pleme n ta tion of project plann ing and the critical success factorsof project plann ing.Aquestionn airesurvey wasconductedonconstruction profession als andcontractors involvedin therunning ofcons truction projects.Thesu rveyresultsshowed that common probl ems associa ted with theproject plann ingandcon trol arethelackofexperienced staffand poorcoordinationby the contractor.
During siteope ration, a delay in decision making aggravatesthe effect of poor planning and control and much of theeffect ofproject planning restson the pro-activenessofexpe rienced sta ff.The positiveimpactassociated with prop erplanning andcontro listhehighprobability of finishingtheprojecton time while the negati ve impac t isthat itis atime-consum ingandcostly process.The critica lsuccess factors identified from the su rvey are ExcellentTeamwor k and Experienced Team.
Keywords:tlte ill/ pacts of project pln/l/l illgandcontrol, projt'ctplallllillg,problems, solution
Intr oduction
Plan ning the construction projectis vitalto ensu re that work is ca rr ied ou t to the required quality,withinthe specified time andaccord ing to budget.Dueto thenature of co n struction work in wh ich man y uncertainties are involved,divergencesfrom the original plan are common ,When the differencesbetwee n theplan and the actual workperformanceare large,control actions arctaken tobring theactualperformance back oncour se with the original plan.
In monito ring project performance, measuremen ts are taken and compared with thedesired orexpected valuesas the
project progresses. However, the typicaI measurementsmadearelimitedin number becau se ofthecost ofdata collectionand restrictions by com pan)' policy and precedence [Al-jibo uri, 2002). Due to the nature of data available, it is difficult to determ ine the actual performance in a project. The complex ity and the limited number of measur ements willprovidealess th an com plete picture of the actual performance.
The main aim of this pape r is to ascertain the problems associated with the im plemen tati on of project plan ning
[ournn!a/Desigll andthe BuiltEnulronmen!
and control fr om the vie wpoints of construction consu ltants and con tractors in a develo pi ng cou nt ry. The secon d object ive is to identify th e positive and negativeim p acts in impl ementi ng project planningandcon trolfrom the persp ectives of thepartiesinvolvedinthestud y. Fina lly, the critical success fac tors are identified for succes sfu l pla nning and projec t performance.
Project Planning - An Overview Construc tion projects need tobeproperly planned,Project planningisa fundamental necessity for the construction industry playersto getsp ecificresults witha definite set ofobjectives.It isdefin ed asthe process ofidenti fying all the activ ities necessa ry to co m ple te the proj e ct suc cess fu ll y (Ober len d e r, 2000). It has also been describedbyWes tney(1985) astheprocess of brea king a project down into spe cific tasks, anddefining theseque ncein which those tasks can or mus t be performed.
According to Payne et a!(1996), project pla n ni ng means plan nin g meth od s, choosing between 'in-house' services and externalsu p p liersor constructors,deciding on cash flow for the cost pla n or budge t, and deciding on thesched u leofopera tions orthetimin g plan.
Spice (2003) highli ghted that the projectplancanbe usedto make forecasts, estimate impacts of risks and to ma ke con tingency plansfor the consequencesof delays or oth e r cha n ges in the plan. Mawdesley et a! (1997) identified the objec tives for pro ject pla n ning as a) to prov ide a basi s fo r estimating time and cost,b) to predict the timing of activi ties,
their sequence and the total con struc tion period, c) to pro vid e a basis for claims evaluatio n,in partic ularextensio nof time entitlemen tcalcu la tions,d) to predict the level of lab our, sta ff, plant and material, and e) to enable the safety, qua lity and env ironm ental im p act of the work to be prop erly considered.From themanagemen t view point, theobjectivesof properproject planning, in cl u de: a) to redu ce the 20
consequence of uncertai n ties and risks,b) to pers uadepeople toperformsequen tial taskstoens ure that the availab le resour ces arebestutilisedat all times,andc) to provide the basisforprojectcontro l(Lee,1998).
In any con struction project, the three inter -related factors of time, money and qualit y need tobe contro lled(Ma wdesley, etal.,1997).An impo rtanteffortin overa ll project con trol isthe accura cy anddetailof thefirstestim a te that becomesthe control documen t for futuredesigndecisions.The sim p les t defin ition of project con trolling, accordingto Babcock(1991), is compe lling eventstoconformto plans.Control entails seeing that project tasks are carried ou t accord ing to pla n an d to avoid lar g e deviationsfro mthe plan(Roman,1986).
Controlling a project is done by measuring performance and correc ting dev iati onfrom the projectplan(Lee,1998).
It begins with the identifi cati on of the owner's objecti ves and ends wh en th ose objectiveshavebeenmet(Gouldand]oyce , 2002). Con trolling a construc tio n project fulfilstheneed fora) spotting mist akes,b) recognizing lack ofwork progress,and c) id e n ti fy in g areas of poor quality (Mawdesleyetal(1997)).Gou ldand Joyce (2002)identified that the purposes of project controlare to guara n tee th at the project's design,budgetandsched u le aremet by the project andtoide n tify deviationearlywhen an y objecti ve begins to slip so tha t appropriate correctioncanbemad e.
Roman (1986) pointed out that the objectivesof project controlare:
a) to minimizelo ssandtheconsequences of poorperformance, and
b) to en h a nce project team an d client relatio ns and prevent in te rna l dis equilibrium and to promote co m m unication amo ng fun cti onal groups.
ProjectPlmlllillg and COlltrolilln Deve/opillgECOIIOIllY The Necessity of Construction
Project Planning and Control
Some of the reasons why plan ning and con trol isnecessary include:
a) to prep are for unforeseen factors to reduce conse quences of uncertainti es and risks(Lee, 1998 and Roman,1986) b) tope rsuade team s to perform tasksto ensure project's objectivesare met (ie.
tim ely completion, optimal use of resou rces etc)(Chan, 2002 and Gould and Joyce, 2002)
c) to provid ebasic coord ina tion(Benne tt, 2000)
d) to avoid com m u nica tion breakdown (Rom an ,1986andAh uja,1994) e) to fulfill finan cier's requiremen t(Ah uja,
1994) and
Q to providecontinuityof personnelwhen experienced personnel leaves (Ahuja, 1994).
Problems In Implementing Construction Project Planning And Co n t ro l
Probl e ms that usuall y occur during the implem entation of planning and control facedbythe projectplanni ng team includ es:
(1) Com mu nica tion failure (Malliet,2001), (2) Disinterest in pro ject pla nn ing and control due to perceiv ed poor returns from itsimplement ation(Clarke,1999 and Cox,1993),
(3) lack of infor ma tioninput and feedback for pla nn ing and con trol due to its image as a 'corpo rate reporting' tool (Clarke, 1999),
(4) cha nges in projects' scope(Clarke,1999 and Rakes,1992),
(5) cultura l and indi v id ual issues (Baba, 1996), and
(6) unavailability of resources (Ro ma n, 1986).
Research Methodology
The primary aims of thestudyinclu d e to ex p lo re the cu rre n t prac tices and to dete rmin e the difficulti es encount er ed during the impl em e nt ati o n pro jec t planning.Theobjeclivesof theinvestiga tion include:
The investigation is divided into th ree (3) types of inpu t to fulfill the research objec tives, nam el y: a literatu re revi e w, interview s andaquestionnaire su rvey.A literatur e revi e w was carri ed ou t to exam ine the concep t,problem associates and cu rren t practi ce on plan n ing and con tro l. A questio nna ire survey was Measuring Project Perfo rmance
Perfo r ma nce of a proje ct reflec ts the project'ssuccess or failure.In the con textof cons tru ction project performan ce, project perfor ma nce is the achie vement of the project at the endof the constructio n. Payne, et al,(1996)pointed out tha t oncethe project begins,project performanceis periodically determined so that an y necessary adjustments can be ma d e qu ic kl y.
Accord ing to Gould and Joyce (2002),the evalua tio n of act ua l perfo rmance to planned perfo rman ce is a cri tic al and recurring step in thecon tro lprocess.
Hendrickson andAu(1989) men tioned that the key fa cto rs for unsuccessful projec ts are ill defined scop e, poor management, poor planning, breakdown in communication betwe en engineering and construction, un realistic sco pe, sche d ules and budge ts, man y cha nges at variousstagesofprogressand lack ofgood projectcontro l.
•
•
•
To identify problems encountered duringprojectplanningand controlin constructionproject s,
Todeterminethe positive and negative impac tsof projectplanningand control, and
To reviewthefactorsthat influencethe effectiveness of projectplan ning and controland the criticalsuccess factors in projectperform ance.
[onrna!ofDes;gllandtireBuiltElIv;rolllllellf
cond ucted on construct io n compa nies and cons ultants inWestMalaysia.
Atotalof 500 questionnaire forms were mailed ou t to 300 co ntractors an d 200 consultant firms.Thesa mp le was chosen from the 2003-2004Construc tion Industr y Deve lop me n t Board (CIDIl) Directory of contractors and while the consu ltants were selected randomly from two main sou rce s name ly The Associatio n of Consulting Eng inee rs Malaysia Directory and advertisementsinlocal newspapers.
Out of the 500 questionnaire form s mailed , 20forms (4%)were retu rned mainly du e to the ch ange in the com p a n ies' addres ses. A to tal of 75 co m ple te d questionnaire swere receivedrepresenting a 15%response rate.The resp onse rate is low and this low response may be due to the lack understan di ng of the needed informati on ,lackofinteres t in the surveyor even the lack of aw ar ene s s on the investigatedissue.
Fin d ing s an d discus sion
Thefind ingsand discussion ofthe research conducted are present ed in seve ral parts withthe followingheadings:
a) problem s encou n tere d during project plan ni ngandcon tro l,
b) positive and negativ eimpact of project planning and control,and
c) factors influence the effective ness of project pla nning and con tro l and factor s lead ing to succe ss ful project performance.
Problems enco u n te re d during project planning and control
Problems encoun te re d during project planning and con trol in this research arc categorize d intothree categories, namely:
a) common problems,
b) pro b le ms durin g plannin g and controllinga construc tion projecttime, and
c) problem s in plann ing and controlof cons tructionprojectcost.
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Commo" problems
Table 1.1shows the common problems encountered during implementing planning andcontrol. Fromthe contractors' perspectiv e,lackofexpe rie ncedsta ff isthe most criticalproblem in project plan n ing an d con tro l (15 .5%) foll ow ed by 'unavailability of knowled g eable sta ff' (14.7%). Planning and contro ll ing a construction project is strong ly based on the staff's experi enc e and this will result in a high demand for experi enced sta ff particularl y experienc ed in pla nn ing, if planni ng and control is trea ted seriously by the cons tru ctio n ind us try. A relatively long period is required for staff to gain invaluab le experien ce and a member of staff needs to be exposed to a varie ty of project types to be able to plan and anticipate problems. A new staff has an oppo rtu ni ty to deal on ly with a sim ple pro ject. This phe nomenon has red uced the cha nc e fo r the yo u nger and newer stafftobeexpo sed to the variety ofworks and problemsand the available su p ply of experien ced staff ca nnot meet the high deman d of the cons truc tion industry and cons eque ntly has resulted in the lack of expe riencedstaffin theind ustry.
In con tras t, thecon sultants identified thetwo main probl em sencountereddur ing project planning and con tro l as 'poo r coordination'(15 .9%)and'com munication problem' (14.3%) asillust ra ted inthe Table 1.2. Poor coord ina tion tnay occur due to unwillingness to coope rate whe n there is rivalry or conflictamong team members.This con ditioncausesthetea mmembers to work againsteach othertoperform,Coo rdina tion becomesamoresig nifican tproblemwhen there isanindivid ualismcultureamong the projectteam .Team membersare concerned only with part of theprojectthatisassigned to the m. Other par ts of the projec tare ignored to avert them from getti ng add itiona l wo rk. Co ord ination and firm follow-upactions by an experienced staff member are required to minimis e the interfacing problem s.
Project Pin/lllillgand Controlilln Developing[COIIOIllY
A cons u lta n t's desi gn team ofte n consi st s of tuany professi onals such as archite ct, civ il eng inee r, mechani cal eng inee r and electrical eng inee r. Each of them is an exper t in differ ent areas of kno wl ed g e. Comm unica tion problems may arise fro m these differe n t back gro u n ds an d project goals, if left unattended / gui de d. This will resultin the receiver of the messageputting a different interpretation on it from that intendedby the sender.
Problelllsduringplnnningnlldcontrolling cons truction projecttime
It was obse rve d that the three most signifi cant pro bl ems in pla n n ing an d con tro lling project time as perceiv ed by the con trac tors an d cons u lta n ts as shown in Table 1.3 belo w are 'de lay in decisi on-m ak in g ' (16.7%), 'change in design and construction method' (15.7%) and 'unforeseen sitecond ition'(15.6%).
Delayin decision-makingmay bedue to poorunderstanding or lack of knowled ge about a pa rtic ula r problem . The process of investigating and und er st an ding the proble m will spend some considera ble tim e. In add itio n, lack of a systematic docum entation system in recording the project informat ion can cause failures in passin gpertin ent info rma tion upanddown in a projectconuuunicationstructure. This may causedifficulty for a decision makerin gathe rin g essential inform ati on and thus causes delayin decision making.
Clientshave the tend encyto reducethe cost for a construc tio n project during the start,for example, by cha ng ing theinitial desi gn s and constru cti o n method s / material. After the commen cement of the cons truction work, new need s or even a change of mind from the clie n t or his rep resentative will give rise to variation orde rs that will fo rce the contractor to accept the new designs orcons truct io n method s.Hence,more timeisrequired to accommodate these cha nges in desig ns and cons truction methods .
Unfore s e en site con d i tions that unexpectedly ariseou tof,say, probl ematic ground con dit ion orobs tructions that arc not id entified befor e a projec tstar ts will ultimat ely slow down the pro gr ess of a project.
Pmblellls ill pl anniug ant! controlling constructionproject cost
Tabl e 1.4 pres ents the problems encountered in planni ng and con trolling project cost. "Unex pec ted mar ket fluctua tion" was ide nti fied as the most crucial (20.0%). Changes in the global econOlny have, attimes,caused theprices of raw materialsto fluctuateunexpectedl y.
Increases in the price of cons truc tion material s such as cem ent and stee l will directly increasethe project cost. Inad d ition, sho rtage of materials would also be the result of excessive demand oversupplyin the market. This may causethe price of raw materials to fluc tuate unp redictabl y. These sit ua tions ha ve mad e the cons truc tio n marketdifficultto pred ictandcon tribu ted to difficulties in estimat ingtheprojectcost.
'Inaccurate inestima te'wasidentifi ed asthe second criticalprobleminplanni ng and controlling construction project cost (18.4%).Early costestimateis done based on the project initialdesign bu tcha ngesin design,whichoften affect the projectcost, alway s occur afte r the cons truc tion has comme nced. The lack ofexper iencedstaff in esti ma ting wi ll con tr ib u te to the unr eliable project estima te as the re is no standardor specificformula for estimating the project cost. Allthe estimationsare based on the staff's experience and jud gment.
Inaccuracy incostestimate alwaysoccurs but the exte n t of inacc u racy must be minimised so as not to disoric ntate the client.
The impact of project planning and control
Basically the re arc two catego ries of Im pac t rel ated in th is resea rch namel y positiveand negativeimpacts .
23
lourno! of DeeignandtheBuiltEllvirolllllelli Positive impncts of project planning alld control
Tab le 1.5 illustrates tha t 'project finished within time' (28.8%) is the most vita l positive effe c t on the constr uc tion performa nce followed by 'p roje ct com p le ted wit h in bud g et' (26.6%) and 'achieved client's satisfaction '(16.5%).
Milestones set for eachactivityduring projectpla nn ingenableprojectprog ress to betra cked andcorrec tions mad e when there is dive rgence fromtheinitia l plan.Suitable measureslike acceleration,realloca tionof resourcesorworkingovert imecanbetaken tomitigat e delayor togetbackon track.
Resource sch e d uling when used in tand em withtimeplanni ng canbe used to reallocateresourcesto suit projectsneed.In the same way,cash flow projectionshelp the manag er to keep track on project spending and avoid or mini mize cost esca la tio n.Thesetools whe n usedtogether and the recognitionof client'srequirements in terms of constraints and expectations from thever yea rly stageofthe projectaid in timely comp le tionof the projec t,within its budgetand thussatisfyingclient'sneeds.
Negative intpacts of projectplnnning'and control
Table 1.6 shows the negative impacts of projectplanni ngand control. Responden ts claimed that 'time cons um ing' (30.2%)as themostnega tive effect.This isfollowed in descending order by 'a d d i tio n a l sta ff requ ired' (30.0% ) and 'in cre ase d co st' (22.2%).
The view that project plan n ing and contro l isa time cons uming andexpensive process is su p por ted by the lite rat ur e.To prod ucearealistic andworkableplan,itis necessary for the management team to gather all information needed from every party invo lved in a project.This will take some time and eve n more time, if the documentation syste m is not syste matic.
Additional limeisrequired for the data to be transferred to the project managem ent softw are and for it to prod u ce the plans andcontro lsched u les.
24
There are proje cts th a t view th a t planning and control as an extra task or bu rden that will need additiona l skilled sta ff to be employed . For la rg e 01'
comp lica ted projects,staff skilled inusing project manag e me nt softw are may be need e d to genera te the informa tion for projectplannin g an dcon trol while experts may have to be employed to oversee the planningandcon trolaspectof th eproject.
As forthe percep tio n thatproject cost will increase by performing the activities of project plan n ing and control, this can be explai ned by the add itiona l pla n n ing and con tro l sta ff required and the facilities, such as computers and project man ag cme nt so ftw are to sup port plan n ing and contro l fu n c ti on s. These
"sup plemen ta ry" functionsarcconsidered as additional expen ses, thus, 'increased cos t'isclaime dasthe thirdnegative impact forprojec tpla nn ingand contro l.
Factors influencing the
effectiveness of project plan ni ng and control
Table 1.7 shows the co n tra ct o rs ' perspe ctives on factors that infl uence the effective ness of project planni n g and contro l. Con tractors identi fied that 'p as t experience of staff'and 'attitude towards plan ni ng and con trol' are the most in flue n tia l fact ors (21.0%). Other factor s indicated by the contractors in the descending order of importance includ e:
'to p managemen t suppo rt' (19%) , 'appropriatecho iceof plann ing and cont rol techniq ues'(17.6%)respectively.
Table 1.8 sho ws the co ns u lta n ts' perspectiveson factorsthatinfl ue ncethe effectivenessofprojectplanningandcontrol, Factorsobservedbytheconsultantsin the dec re as ing in fl ue n ti a l order are 'p ast experience of sta ff' (20.8%) , 'at titude tow ar ds planningandcon trol' (20.6%),and 'app ro pria te choiceof planningandcon trol techniques'(16.7%). The anal ysisindicates thatthetw o top rankedfacto rsrecognized by both parties are the same, alt hough
ProjectPlanningandCOlli 1'01ill n Developillg ECOIlOIIIY
the poin ts sco re d by each facto r are different.
Facto rs Leading to Succ es sful Pro j e ct Perfo rm anc e
Table 1.9 depicts the fa ct ors leadi n g to successfu l project performance from the con tractors' persp ective.The contractors vie w 'exce ll ent te am w ork betwee n all pa rti es ' (16.8%) as the most imp ortant fa ct or that contribu tes to a succes sfu l project.Itisfollowed by'experienceof the project team' (16.4%)and 'go od financial condition'(15.2%).
Table 1.10 depictsthefactorslead ingto successfu l proje cts from consu ltan ts' perspectives.Theconsu ltantsagreed that 'exp erienceoftheprojectteam' isth e most importantfactor that contributestow ardsa successfu l project (15.5%) follow e d by 'excellent teamw o rk between all pa rties' (15.3%) and 'realis tic and de finite set of goals' (13.8%).
Both the con tractors and consu ltants agreed that'excellen tteamwor k betweenali parties' and'experienceof theproject team' arethetw o mostimportantfactorsthatcan lead to suc cessful perfo rman ce.Teamwork isnece ssarytoensurethegoodco ordination and adequate com mun icatio n.Through teamwork ea ch person invo lved in the project isena bled toworktowardsthe same set of project objective s. Teamwork also enhance s the relation bet ween te am members.Experienceson theeffectofpoor planning and cont rol gained fro m other proj ects wou ld expose project team members on the weaknesses in plann ing andcon trolcurrent projects .Byimp rovi ng theweakness, the team.willbecome more efficie n t to han dle current and future project s .Experience wou ld in crease the awareness on the prob able problems in projectsand would helpeachprojectteam to be more confident in overcoming the problems encou n teredwhe nconducting a project.
Conclusi ons
Duetotheuncertaintiesin thecons truction ind u st ry, a projec t is highl y unlikel y to proceed in its en tire ty acco rd ing to the orig inalplan.Thisphenome no n is further agg ra va ted if pro blem s identified by the consultants,namelypo orcoordinationand communicatio n exist in a project.For the contractors, appa ren tly, the pro b le ms to implemen ta prop er project plan n ing are associated withalack ofexperienced staff an d the costinvoived. Theindustr y canbe plag u e d with a med iocre attitu de and performa nce towards planning con trolif insufficientmeasuresprevailand nothing isdone to ensurethatpooror nonexistence of "real"planni ngandcon trolbytheparti es.
The problem s as a resultof poorplanning and control documentation will continue to exist for the clien ts, cons ulta nts and con tracto rs if plan ni ng an d con trol docum entationsarenotupdated, recorded andarch ived.This aspectofplanning and contro l can lead to delays in processing of claims , the project progres s and may affec t the progress of a pro ject and the rela tionships betw e en project team s.
Clien ts and cons ultants must be read y to acceptthe responsibility and consequences of any poor decisio ns an d be ar the conseq u ences of their decisi ons if the planning andcontro lrecordsshowed that they contrib uted towardsprojectdelay and increa sed cost.Withoutth e resp onsibility an d accoun tab ility attitude projec t planning will alw a ys be a cos metic requirement and serve s no real purpose for the project.The end result ma yaffect the profess ion ali s m of constr uction project management.
To overcome the im pl ernentation prob ie m that is related to cost, it is recommended that clien tsshouldap por tion a fixed amo unt of the project budget for planningand mo nitoringpurposes.Clients must be comm itted to disburse funds for planning ifplanning is to ha ve value in the local cons truction ind ustry. Withou t se rio us comm itmen t, plann ing and monitoring willcontinueto haveacosme tic
25
[ourna!ofDesigllolldtile Built Ellvirollmelli
value. Probably, this can overcome the issue of lack of staff that is availab le for project planning.
The studyshowedthat past experience of sta ff,altitudes towards planning and control, top man a g ement su p p o rt, appropriatechoiceofplann ingandcontro l technique s are essential ing r ed ien ts towards project plann ing and co ntro l.
Once there is a plan ning and contro l system, other factors suc h as teamw ork, expe rience of project team,good financial stand ing and realistic and definite goals would further determine thesuccessofa project.
Divergences from the plan represent a breach of the agreement and if not countered effectiv ely and in a tim el y manner the devia tionswouldalwaysresult in expanded project duration,morecosts and a lower quality. Probl ems with planning of time are associa ted with the len gth of time todecid e a particular issue and changes of design and construction method.Theproblemsincost planning are rel at ed to fluc tua ting of prices and inaccurateestimates.While the formeris quitedifficulttopredict,thelat ter hasto be tak en serio us ly if localcom panies are to competeglobally.
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27
[ournn!oj Design and tile BuiltEnvironment
Ranking Pro blem s Score Percen ta ge
(point ) (%)
1 Lack ofexperiencedstaff in thisfield 94 15.5 2 Unavailabili tyofknowledgeablestaff 89 14.7
3 Poor informa tionflow 75 12.4
4 Comm unicat ionproblem 74 12.2
5 Po orcoordina tion 70 11.5
6 Lackofsup po r t from topmanagement 63 10.4
7 Lackad aisicalattitude 60 9.9
8 Po orfinanci alstatus 50 8.2
9 Lack of planning andcon tro lsoftware 32 5.3
10 Others 0 0
Tota l 607 100
Table1.1: Contractors'Responsestothe Rankingof ProblemsFaced duri ng Projec t Planning an dControl
Ranking Prob lems Score Perc entage
(poi nt) (%)
1 Poor coord ina tion 89 15.9
2 Communica tionproblem 80 14.3
3 Lack ofexperiencedsta ffin this field 78 14.0
4 Poorin form a tion flow 77 13.8
5 Unavailab ilityof knowled geabl e staff 75 13.4
6 Lackada isicalattitude 47 8.4
7 POOl' financialstatus 42 7.5
8 Lack of planning andcon tro lsoftwa re 37 6.6
9 Lack ofsuppor t fromtopmanagem ent 35 6.3
10 Othe rs 0 0
Tolal 560 100
Tab le1.2: Cons ulta n ts' Resp ons es tothe RankingofProblemsFacedduring Project Planni ngandControl
28
ProjectPlm'"/"gGildCOlltrol inGDeoetoping.ECOIlOIllY
Ran king Probl em s Score Percen tage
(p oin t) (%)
1 Delayin deci sio nmaking 210 16.7
2 Ch angein designand 198 15.7
co nstruc tion methods
3 Unforeseen site cond ition 197 15.6
4 Un p red ictable weathercond ition 154 12.2
5 Unrealisticcontract duration 147 11.7
6 Uncertain labourproductivity 128 10.2
7 Com m unicationproblem lOS 8.3
8 Unavailability ofmat erial 101 8.0
9 Others 21 1.7
Total 1261 100
Tabl e1.3: ProblemsFacedin PlanningandCon trollingProjectTime
Ranking Problem s Score Percentag e
(point) (%)
1 Unexpec ted mar ket fluctuation 222 20.0
2 Inaccurateinestima te 205 18.4
3 Extraworksrequ ired bythe clien t 197 17.7
4 Poor financialcondi tion 177 15.9
5 Extraworkscausedby thecontractor 160 14.4
6 Fail ur e in collectiondate 130 11.7
7 Others 22 2.0
Tolal 1113 100
Table1.4: Problem sFacedinPlanningandControlling ProjectCost
29
101/1"1101of Desigl/andtileBuilt Ellvirolllllellt
Rank ing PositiveImpacts Sco re Percentage
(point) (%)
1 Project finishedwithin time 156 28.8
2 Projectcomp letedwithin bud get 144 26.6
3 Achievedclien t'ssatisfaction 89 16.5
4 Achievedqualityrequired 83 15.3
5 Improved profitability 66 12.2
6 Others 3 0.6
Total 541 100
Table 1.5:Positive Impacts ofProjectPlan ning andContro lonConst ruction Project Performance
Ranking NegativeImpacts Score Pe rcentage
(point) (%)
1 Time consuming 136 30.2
2 Additionalstaff required 135 30.0
3 Increa sed cost 100 22.2
4 Otherprojectsaregiven lessfocus 43 9.6
5 Inform ation notuseful 32 7.1
6 Others 4 0.9
Tot al 450 100
Table 1.6 : NegativeImpactsof ProjectPlanningand Controlon Construction ProjectPerformance
Ranking Factors Score Per centage
(point) (%)
1 Pastexperience ofstaff 121 21.0
1 Altitudetowardsplanningandcontro l 121 21.0
2 Top managementsupport 109 19.0
3 Appropriate cho ice of plan ningand 101 17.6 contro l techniques
4 Client's particip ati on 72 12.5
5 Uncertaintyof Project 49 8.5
6 Others 2 0.3
Tolal 575 100
Table1.7: Contractors' Responsestothe FactorsInfluencingthe Effectivene ss of Project Planningand Contro l
30
Project PlannillgandCOlltrolillaDeoelopingEcononnj
Ranking Factors Score Percentage
(poi nt) ('Yo )
1 Pastexperienceofsta ff 117 20.8
2 Alt itude towardsplanningand control 116 20.6
3 Approp riate choiceof planning and 94 16.7
con troltechniques
4 Top managemen tsupp ort 86 15.3
5 Client'spar ticipation 80 14.2
6 Unce rtain tyof Project 64 11.4
7 Others 6 1.1
Total 56 3 100
Tab le1.8: Consultants'ResponsestotheFactorsInfluen cingthe Effectiveness of ProjectPlanningandCon trol
Rankin g Factors Score Percenta ge
(po int) (%)
1 Excellent teamwork betweenall parties 116 16.8
2 Experienceof' theproject team 113 16.4
3 Goodfinancial condition 105 15.2
4 Planning andcontrolsystem 79 11.4
4 Realistic anddefinitesetof goal 79 t1.4
5 Communicationthroughoutthe proj ect 7t 10.3
6 Sufficient completion time 49 7.1
7 Client'scharacteristic 43 6.2
8 Projectcharacteristic/nature 35 s.i
9 Others 0 0
Total 690 100
Table1.9: FactorsLeadingto SuccessfnlProjectPerformance- Contrac tors' Perspective
[ourna! ofDesigllandth«BuiltEnuironment
Ranking Factors Score Percent age
(point) (%)
1 Exp erience of the projectteam 110 15.5
2 Excellent teamwork betweenallparties 109 15.3
3 Realisticand definite setofgoal 98 13.8
4 Good financial condition 88 12.4
5 Com munication throu ghouttheproject 86 12.1
6 Planni ngand contro lsystem 80 11.2
7 Su fficientcom pletion time 51 7.2
8 Project characteristic/nature 47 6.6
9 Client'scharacteristic 41 5.8
10 Others 1 0.1
Total 711 100
Table1.10: FactorsLeadingtoSuccessfulProjectPerformanceConsultan ts' Perspective'
32
