Impacts of Internal Communication on Dynamic Schedules in Mega Highway Projects by Mohammad Amin Shamloo A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF APPLIED SCIENCE in THE COLLEGE OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Civil Engineering) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Okanagan) June 2014 © Mohammad Amin Shamloo, 2014 1 Abstract Traditionally, construction project management has consisted of three main areas of focus: 1- cost, 2- schedule, and 3- quality. This style of project management primarily developed for new projects has changed during the development and maintenance of transportation infrastructure projects in past years. During this time, these management practices were used for projects that would replace, repair, or expand existent transportation infrastructure. This change in direction has ultimately remodeled current management practices, that focused on the mitigation of risks associated with quality, time and costs. Thus, it is crucial for today’s project management teams to understand and effectively convey the relationships between communication, resources, and organizational hierarchy with scheduling conflicts. The main focus of this study was to observe the relationships between communication, resources, and organizational hierarchy, and how they affect construction schedules. This study is presented as a case study on the Port Mann Highway 1 extension project (PMH1) in British Columbia, Canada. At the time of commission, the PMH1 project was the largest infrastructure project in North America, and was based on a design-build contract. The estimated cost for this project was initially set at 2.46 billion dollars, but with the changes initiated to date, the cost may total more than 3 billion dollars by the time of completion. The two main variables that can affect the construction schedule have been identified as communication and resources. The managers of the general contractors through extensive interview processes have indicated that 77% and 62% of the factors that cause delay to the construction schedule are respectively communication and inexperienced labor force. It was also found that, by moving and replacing medium level managers in the organizational hierarchy, the delays to the construction schedule can be minimized. Based on these findings, a recommended solution has been proposed and validated by a second set of interviews with a second group of senior project managers. It is recommended that a strategized use of computer software be utilized in similar infrastructure projects, which will help management staff minimize costly delays and conflicts caused by miscommunication. ii Preface A paper based on this research was co-authored by Dr. Kasun Hewage and Dr. Russell Alan with the title The Port Mann Highway 1 Project – A case Study on Linking Organizational Charts & Schedule Conflicts. This paper has been published in the 2013 CSCE Annual Conference Proceedings, 4th Construction Speciality conference, CN-068. A University of British Columbia Okanagan Behaviour Research Ethics Board certificate was received for this research. The UBC-BREB number is H13-00322. iii Table of Contents Abstract ..................................................................................................................................................................... ii Preface ..................................................................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents ................................................................................................................................................. iv List of Tables ........................................................................................................................................................viii List of Figures ........................................................................................................................................................ ix List of Equations ................................................................................................................................................... xi List of Abbreviations ......................................................................................................................................... xii Acknowledgments .............................................................................................................................................. xiv Dedication.... ................................................................................................................................ xv Chapter 1: Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Background ....................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Problem Statement ........................................................................................................... 2 1.3 Research Questions .......................................................................................................... 3 1.4 Research Objectives ......................................................................................................... 3 1.5 Research Deliverables ...................................................................................................... 4 1.6 Thesis Structure................................................................................................................ 5 Chapter 2: Literature Review ............................................................................................................. 8 2.1 Construction Management ............................................................................................... 8 2.2 The project schedule ...................................................................................................... 12 2.3 Labor Force .................................................................................................................... 14 2.4 Construction Communications ....................................................................................... 15 2.5 Literature Review Summary .......................................................................................... 24 Chapter 3: Research Methodology ................................................................................................... 26 iv 3.1 Methodology Overview ................................................................................................. 26 3.2 Rational for Research Methods ...................................................................................... 29 3.3 Selection of the Case Study ........................................................................................... 29 3.4 Observations .................................................................................................................. 30 3.4.1 Setting ......................................................................................................................... 30 3.4.2 Sample/Participation .................................................................................................. 32 3.4.3 Measurement Instrument ............................................................................................ 32 3.4.4 Data Analysis ............................................................................................................. 32 3.5 Expert Interviews ........................................................................................................... 32 3.5.1 First Expert Interviews ............................................................................................... 33 3.5.2 Designing the Interview Questions ............................................................................ 36 3.5.3 Participants ................................................................................................................. 37 3.5.4 Setting ......................................................................................................................... 41 3.5.5 Data Collection Procedure.......................................................................................... 41 3.5.6 Measurement Instrument ............................................................................................ 42 3.5.7 Data Collection and Analysis ..................................................................................... 43 3.5.8 Data Collection Procedure.......................................................................................... 43 3.5.9 Tier One ...................................................................................................................... 44 3.5.10 Tier Two ..................................................................................................................... 44 3.5.11 Tier Three ................................................................................................................... 44 3.6 First Interview data summary and analysis .................................................................... 45 3.6.1 Measurement Instrument ............................................................................................ 45 3.6.2 Data Analysis ............................................................................................................. 45 3.7 Fine Tuning Solution Proposal .....................................................................................