Construction Management and Economics (April 2008) 26, 387–393
The impacts of change management practices on project change cost performance
YI ZOU1 and SANG-HOON LEE2*
1 2
FMC Technologies Inc., Houston, USA Department of Engineering Technology, University of Houston, 304A Technology Bldg, University of Houston, Houston 77204, USA Received 18 June 2007; accepted 15 January 2008
Change cost is one of the most sensitive aspects of construction project management, but it is also one of the most difficult to control. It has been widely recognized that construction projects that adopt change management practices generally incur lower change costs in comparison with project budgets. The relationship between change management
…show more content…
Table 1 illustrates the demographic composition of the BM&M database based on respondent type, project nature and industrial group. As can be seen in Table 1, most of the projects are in the heavy industry sector. Such an extremely uneven sample population distribution poses difficulty in the subsequent data analyses, and it is therefore one of the primary considerations when the analysis techniques are selected. Appendix II presents the 14 questions used in this research.
Zou and Lee of projects (Construction Industry Institute, 2003). With all of these considerations, this research only focuses on the impacts of change management practice on project change cost performance.
Research objectives
It is worth noting that this research is to be explanatory instead of confirmative or predictive. In other words, the purpose of this research is to reveal potential correlations1 among project characteristics, change management practice and project change cost performance. The two main objectives of this research are (1) to investigate the effectiveness of individual change management practice elements in terms of improving project change cost performance—e.g. for a particular change management practice element, could the construction project using it have a high probability of
Change management according to many becomes essential for the following reason: external pressure; which can encompass competition, new technology, cost, and regulation changes. Furthermore, economic and social conditions can escalate long-term change necessary. This paper will discuss several aspects of change management models, theories, and application thereof. In addition, it will provide overviews of the drivers of change, factors necessary for to implement change successfully, strategies and expectations of management, and leadership styles needed for influence and effectiveness.
In order to examine this issue further, this research will look at a number of different sources. Contemporary managerial sources are explored in order to understand how other voices in the field are describing similar methods for change. First, popular structures for change management are examined, especially within their correlation to Palmer & Dunford (2009). This is followed with an extensive
They also need to benefit from a fusion of the two approaches that are project management and change management and as a result they can gain significant opportunities by doing so. As stated by Crawford et al. (2014), while project managers claim to be implementers of change, current project management principles spotlight on change control but mostly ignore the composite and evolving characteristics linked with execution of change that is necessary to bring value.
Following the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) best practices, the change management plan was created during the project planning phase, during the develop project management plan process (PMI, 2013). The process of performing integrated change control is formal process which
Management of construction projects needs skills and knowledge in modern management and comprehension of construction and design process. In construction projects, the relevant technology processes, and arrangements differ, but common sequence of events apply. Construction projects generally require a specification of the project plans and objectives that entail budgeting, scope, setting of performance requirements, scheduling, and project participants (Rojas, 2009). It also requires project management specifics like the resource utilization by procurement of materials, labor, and equipment to project plan and schedule. In addition, it leads to implementation of several operations by effective control, estimation, design, construction, and contracting (Mincks & Johnston, 2010). The sequence of events occurring in the construction phase is categorized into three broad areas including foundation, structural, and finishes sequence.
This paper is designed to analyze some of the Lessons Learned and documented at project closeout phase. These analysis are based on the post implementation review and final review at completion of the project. Whether we are managing the upgrading or installations of a very small information technology (IT) system, or supervising a very large and complex construction project, there will definitely be some important lessons that we can all learn from these projects, even some projects that seems to be the most successful and trouble free have lessons from which we can all learn from. An effective Project Manager documents all the lessons learned from his project, analyzes them and applies all outcome of the lessons to future projects throughout the entire organization, this is because ability to review your project in addition to the outcome of Lessons Learned provides a very insightful and meaningful input to the success of future projects.
The following critique is written for the reflection review of change management. The report proceeds with a review of each question that was assigned as well as presents a brief exploration of my experience and ideas that were acquired from taking change management classes.
By studying the change management theories, techniques, and leadership styles to make managing changes successfully, it is necessary to attend to the wider impacts of the change.
1.1 Change management is described by Armstrong (1) as “the process of achieving the smooth implementation of change by planning and introducing it systematically taking into account the likelihood of it being resisted”. Change, the fundamental constant in any successful organisation, can be adaptive, reconstructive, revolutionary or evolutionary and can happen for a number of diverse reasons:
Leading change management requires establishing a theoretical foundation that supports change initiatives. This document will research the theoretical elements of change and change management models. Addressed will be the following: factors that contributed to the organic evolution of change, methodologies used in formulating strategic development approaches, commensurate leadership and management skills used to sustain growth during change management and data retrieval and analysis. As businesses continue to change and evolve the need for flexibility within
Change management is an important and critical part of leadership and has tremendous business value; with change, it’s important to consider the organization’s mission statement as well as how the change impacts goals and objectives. It is important to know what is driving the change as this is key to all those that are impacted by any change. With change, there is many elements needed and this starts with a change management model which includes planning, communication, and sustainability of the change. All of which, I have facilitated over the years in my role as a
Construction projects are always unique and risks raise from a number of the different sources. Construction projects are inherently complex and dynamic, and involving multiple feedback processes. A lot of participants – individuals and organizations are actively involved in the construction project, and they interests may be positively or negatively affected as a result of the project execution or project completion. Different participants with different experience and skills usually have different expectations and interests. This naturally creates problems and confusion for even the most experienced project managers and contractors.
Change Management Tools: Lewin's Change Model Periodical By: Levasseur, Robert E.. In: Interfaces, 7/1/2001, Vol. 31, Issue 4, p. 71-73; The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) Language: English, Database: JSTOR Journals
By understanding the importance of effective change management we can facilitate our commitment to the development of a successful change management program. By gaining insight into the different factors that can contribute to successful change management, we can guide the design of an appropriate change management program. In the following pages, it