INTERNATIONAL PROJECT
MANAGEMENT
INTRODUCTION
- Construction forms a large part of the gross domestic product of almost all the
countries around the world. The enterprises that envisage, produce, repair, and maintain
the products which make up the built environment is collectively called the construction
industry. The industry (companies or individuals) organizes its works as a series of
individual projects. A project organization may consist of architects, engineers,
construction managers, and other professionals as well as trade workers to manufacture and
construct a product or repair an existing one. Once the job is completed, the team members
may join forces to work on another new project. The success of a project depends on
bringing together the right teams of people and foster the right relationships among them.
In order to achieve this result, it is necessary to have the knowledge of the concepts,
theories, principles, and techniques underlying the practice of management. For
international project management, it is also necessary to be able to apply this organized
knowledge to the realities of a situation with a blend or compromise to obtain practical
results.
SOME PRINCIPLES OF PROJECT
ORGANIZATION
- Project management is a function of project organization. Bennett (1991) provides some
general models for project organization for joint venture projects that may be useful also
in international context.
- Networks: The term network is usually used to describe systems of human interactions,
either formal or informal. They may be contained in one firm or may encompass individuals
in more than one firm.
- Hierarchies
- Hierarchies are one of the traditional as well as useful models of project organization.
Most projects require a single management hierarchy, but some complex ones may require a
multi-tiered model.
- Programs: Programs essentially represent the hierarchy of time. For example, basic unit
of work in any construction project is the work per day for a team of workforce. The next
levels would be week's for a team, month's work for a number of teams, and finally the
total completion time for all the project teams as a whole. Relationship between project
programs and organizational hierarchies are shown in Table 1.
Level of management |
Management hierarchy |
Hierarchy of time |
Planning unit of work |
Top management |
Project Manager |
Year |
Project stages |
Middle management |
Staff Managers |
Year |
Projected stages, elements, and week's work for teams |
Middle Management |
Project Coordinator |
Month |
Project element and week's work for teams |
Front-line management |
Team Manager |
Week |
Week's work for team |
Basic workforce |
Team |
Day |
Day's work for team |
Table 1. Programs and management hierarchy
- Projects that can be completed in less than one year may require less than five levels
of project management hierarchy illustrated in Table 1.
- Budgets: The hierarchy model can also be applied successfully to project budgets. The
pattern of stages, elements, teams, weeks-work, and days-work bring forth a variety of
specific targets. Budget targets can be set in their own terms at each of these levels
(see Table 2).
Level of management |
Management hierarchy |
Budget targets |
Top management |
Project Manager |
Project stages |
Middle management |
Staff Managers |
Project stages and elements teams |
Middle Management |
Project Coordinator |
Project element |
Front-line management |
Team Manager |
Week's work |
Basic workforce |
Team |
Day's work |
Table 2. Budget and management hierarchy
- The targets may be set in both in terms of money and production. It may help the teams
to understand where the work done by them fits into the overall project and also the
financial consequences of not being able to meet the target.
- Procedures: Teams usually bring with them (most of the times) their normal standard of
works and ways of executing them. It is a good idea to select teams with work methods that
match the overall pattern of work intended for the project.
MANAGEMENT PRACTICE IN SELECTED
COUNTRIES
- USA
- Japan
- The Japanese construction has a reputation of delivering the product in time, meeting
extremely high quality standards. The application of the principles of mass
production--simplification, standardization, and being systematic--has probably helped the
industry in achieving such a high level of performance.
- One of the reasons of the industry's success is probably a tightly knit, family-like
long-term relationship among the different actors (clients, general contractors,
suppliers, specialist contractors, etc.) involved in the process. This relationship is
based on trust and a sense of brotherhood. A specialist contractor, for example, finds it
obligatory to achieve the high level standards set up by the general contractor.
- Stages in construction projects
- Conceptual design: Conceptual designs are produced by architects. Usually the architects
are employed by the major construction firms. Therefore, in most of the cases, the client
would employ a construction firm at the very inception of a project.
- Design development: The design development and construction planning stage is the most
critical in terms of productivity. Everything is so meticulously planned and worked out at
this stage that almost no uncertainty or surprise crops up during production. The design
is complete in every detail at this stage, before the commencement of manufacture and
construction.
- Manufacture and construction: Despite the complexity of construction works, in general,
the Japanese are very close to achieving total integration in this area. This has become
possible because of a highly integrated and extensive detail design and construction
planning in association with just-in -time (JIT) approach.
- Project Management
- The focus of Japanese project management is on the end product. It seeks to eliminate
any activity that will not contribute to directly to the desired result.
- The project manager works directly with design development and construction planning
unit in order to produce the plans of action for manufacture and construction. All the
issues concerning safe building procedures, time frame, and quality are defined and
specified at this time. Detailed program and project budget are also worked out at this
time from detailed drawings.
- The project manager depends on the technical advice from the company's specialist
departments and from the subcontractors for overall planning.
- Since inflation is low and prices of materials vary little from established figures,
there is little opportunity for bargaining with subcontractors. Cost reduction, therefore,
has to be achieved through efficiency in construction. This provides enough incentive to
the project manager for preparation of a tight schedule before moving to the site.
- Once the production commences, the project manager is completely responsible for the
project. All purchase orders and other instructions originate from his/her office. The
project management team consists of well-informed and experienced professionals.
- Armed with extremely detailed pre-construction planning, the project management team at
site knows exactly what is required to be done in order to complete the project in time
and within budget, maintaining the quality.
Figure 4. Project Management Team for Construction Project in Japan