CIB TG 23 International Conference, October 2003, Hong Kong Page 1 of 20 Developing A Stress Management Model for Construction Estimators Mei-yung Leung Email: [email protected] Department of Building and Construction, City University of Hong Kong Introduction In recent years, Hong Kong is facing a serious recession period (GDP decreases 5.5% from HK $1,344.5 billions in 1997 to HK $1,271.1 billions in 2001) (Census and Statistics 2003). Hong Kong people have high GDP per capita amongst international cities, but they scored highest in feeling tired and tense (Lau 2003). Echoing the fact that a lot of construction projects have been postponed in recent years due to the recession, cost estimators play a significant role in the construction companies to bid the project successfully. Many research studies have been focusing on the behavior and performance of construction managers and estimators (Dawood 1998) as the management and estimating tasks are largely unstructured and relying on subjective judgment, while the problem solving ability and performance of the construction managers and estimators could be affected by the job stress. But yet, there is a lack of research in investigating an integrated relationship among stressors, stress, coping behavior and performance in the construction industry. Stress influences the estimator’s behavior and performance and the successful probability of tender bidding. To optimize the profitability of construction companies and to enhance the estimate performance in challenging environment, a stress management model is, thus, significant for providing us with valuable information on how to proactively manage stress among estimate participants (estimators, procurement staff and planners) in construction companies. 1 CIB TG 23 International Conference, October 2003, Hong Kong Page 2 of 20 Role of Estimators Estimators are indispensable specialists in the construction design team. The roles of estimators include collecting quotation from sub-contractors/suppliers, designing the best alternative design, forecasting the probable cost of a future project, and setting, monitoring and controlling the budget of the scheme throughout the design and construction phases (Seeley 1983; Dysert 2000). In order to fulfill all tasks, various estimating core competencies are required for an estimator, including business skills, software skills, communication skills and general skills (see Table 1). Table 1 A Summary of Estimating Techniques Estimating Description Skills • Understanding of the capital project process and estimate requirements for each class of estimate • Understanding of the contractual relationships • Ability to identify important aspects of the contract • Understanding of building design • Ability to read and interpret drawings, documents and specifications • Project breakdown structures • Basic project controls on budgets, schedules, cost control, change management, progress measurement, earned value, and forecasting • Data analysis on labor productivity, database standards and Business Skills development, historical data analysis, and benchmarking • Strategic estimating skills like capacity factoring, equipment factoring, cost modeling, general factor, and ratio development) • Detailed estimating skills for material takeoffs, pricing, and costing • Able to make sound and accurate judgments based on knowledge • Quickly analyze and interpret details and poorly defined information • Perceive construction details within the board lines of design sketches • Ability to identify risks and then neutralize them as much as possible • Creativity and ability to think of alternative construction methods • Company software (accounting system, purchase order system, material pricing system, timecard, and project charging systems) • General software (Excel, Word, Powerpoint, or Lotus Notes) Software Skills • Estimating software (all estimating software used by the department) • Estimating workload reporting system • Project historical retrieval and analysis system • Risk analysis software 2 CIB TG 23 International Conference, October 2003, Hong Kong Page 3 of 20 Estimating Description Skills • Presentation skills including report writing and listening skill • Communications and interpersonal skills • Organizational ability in order to communicate the estimate in a Communication logical and clear presentation Skills • Well-organized work to the extent that in an unforeseen circumstance, someone else may step in, complete the estimate, and submit a proposal on the project • Planning, organizing, and delegating • Resourcefulness and problem-solving • Decision-making • Teamwork and relationships • Following project process and procedures General Skills • Leadership and negotiations • Marketing • Knowledge of economics and basic mathematics • Patience and ability to do careful, thorough work • Ability to meet deadlines and still remain calm • Sensitivity (awareness of client’s requirements [Source: Collier (1987); Dagostino (1993); Skitmore et. al. (1994); Schuette (1994); Dysert and Elliott (2000)] In real world, an under-estimation of construction costs could have a significant impact on the success of a project as extra monetary resources may have to be directed to the scheme or changes in design may be necessary to reduce the cost to an acceptable level. Similarly, an over-estimation can lead to a failure in maximizing the design potential, an under use of earmarked funds and loss of bidding. Hence, it is difficult to predict an accuracy cost estimate in practice. Estimators are always confronted with a number of problems when preparing the project estimates. A common problem is the inadequacy of information for decision-making. During the early design stage, there are often limited drawings and specifications. Estimators have to rely on a lot of assumptions to perform the estimate. On the other hand, insufficient time for the completion of estimating task is another problem faced by the estimators. In some circumstances, estimators are required to produce a cost estimate within hours. Furthermore, previous cost information may not be compatible with the project being examined, since every construction project is heterogeneous in nature. Estimators are, thus, under pressure to produce an estimate as accurate as possible. Therefore, an estimating process should not only require the technical skills, but also comprise non- technical skills. An effective stress management method can support the estimators to manage the estimating tasks with optimizing performance. 3 CIB TG 23 International Conference, October 2003, Hong Kong Page 4 of 20 A S–B–P–O MODEL Stemming from psychological aspect (Feather 1979; Rokeach 1973), decision need considers three major components: person, object and environment (Leung and Liu 1998; Liu and Leung 2002). In the estimating process, the object is a building product which exists in an environment and influences the environment. Each project estimator’s judgement of the proposed building (an object) is affected by two variables –person and environment. The interdependence of these three components impacts upon subjective emotion, decisions and the performance. In order to improve the estimating performance (i.e. forecasting an accuracy project cost), optimisation of affective stress with appropriate coping behaviour and actual performance of estimators are critical for the tendering. An individual Stress Management Model is proposed in Fig.1 for estimators in construction projects. Feedback Stressors Task : process effectiveness - estimators & inter-relationships project performance - construction projects Person : cooperation, - psychical environment interpersonal relationship, Organization : organizational relationship Outcome Estimator’s Coping Behavior Performance (Successful stress (individual) /Satisfaction) Problem-focused coping Emotion-focused coping Feedback Figure 1 Stressor-Stress-iCopingBehaviour-Performance/Satisfaction Model Stressors–Stress In the estimation process, bidding strategy is defined by the estimators directly and, simultaneously, influences the behavior and performance of estimator in the estimation process. Estimator is the key person to set the bidding strategy for his/her company through the decision making process and prepare the estimation report for a particular construction project. The personal characteristics of estimator, the organizational structure of company, the inter-relationships amongst the colleagues and collaborators and the physical environment can influence the stress level of estimators during the estimation process. In an organizational setting, a wide array of variables is grouped into three main stressors, including personal (estimators) stressors, task (projects) stressors and physical (firms) stressors (Leung and Lam 2002; Leung et al 2003a). Each estimators has different cultural, gender, age, religions, belief and personal characteristics, etc. (personal stressors), therefore he/she has different levels of resistance to the stressor (Lee et al. 1990). An individual with Type A personality is 4 CIB TG 23 International Conference, October 2003, Hong Kong Page 5 of 20 extremely competitive, highly committed to work and strongly sense of time urgency (Ganster1986; Lee et al. 1990). Therefore, the estimator with this type of personality is generally higher emotional distress and suffers from more stress symptoms. Individual differences, private life and locus of control are one of the stressors influencing the stress of estimators.