12/10/2012
Project Management &
Construction Practice
Chapter 4
Construction Project Organisation
Dr Mohamad Syazli Fathi
UTM RAZAK School of Engineering & Advanced Technology
UTM International Campus
Tel: 03-2615 4211
Mobile Number: 013-3557207
Email: syazli@ic.utm.my
Blog: http://dda3033.wordpress.com
December 10, 2012
Please refer to:
Types of Project Organizations
Chapter 13
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Growth of Project
Oriented Organizations
• There are many reasons for the rapid growth,
but most of them can be grouped in four general
areas:
– Speed and market responsiveness have become
absolute requirements for successful competition
– The development of new products,
products processes
processes, or
services regularly requires input from diverse areas
of specialized knowledge
Growth of Project Oriented
Organizations
• Four reasons for growth (cont.)
(cont )
– Rapid expansion of technological possibilities in
almost every area of enterprise tends to destabilize
the structure of organizations
– A majority of senior managers rarely feel much
confidence in their understanding and control of the
activities in their areas
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Introduction
•
There are several possible organizational
approaches to the design and construction of
a project. The major concepts addressed
here include:–
–
–
–
Functional
Task force
Line and staff
Matrix
Organizational Concepts
- Project Accountability Task Force
Project Accountability Task Force
Owner
Project Manager
Design Manager
Support Services
Construction Manager
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Project Accountability Task Force
• Notably successful when a self-sufficient
organization is required
required.
• Task forces work best when all team members can be
located physically in the same area to foster close
relationship, when attempting something new without
organized standards and when the team is made up of
very experience members
members.
• Large remote overseas construction projects are
generally organized on a task force basis.
Project Accountability Task Force
• Weaknesses
• Advantages
– Hi
High
h adaptability
d t bilit
– High understanding of the
overall task and can foster an
excellent team spirit if given
the proper leadership.
– The task force features close
relationships and can be
responsive
i to
t new ideas
id
andd
methods.
– Poor stability
– Everyone may not have
corporate
p
home for long
g term
career development or for
continuity of employment
between assignment periods
– Everyone may not understand
his or her own task
– There are no functional
checks and balances to
ppreserved workmanshipp
quality and accepted
standards.
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Organizational Concepts
– Line and Staff Task Force
Line and Staff Task Force
Owner
Design Division
Project Manager
Construction Division
Design Manager
Support Services
Construction Manager
Line and Staff Task Force
• The line and staff organizations has worked well in
the manufacturing industries.
industries
• Many construction companies evolved from a
functional organization to a line and staff
organization as growth required additional
management strengths.
• Line responsibility is often indicates by a solid line on
organization charts while staff responsibility is shown
as a dotted line.
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Line and Staff Task Force
• Weaknesses
• Advantages
– Are sometimes evident in the
conflict between the operating
organization and and the
functional staff
– Organizational structure tend
to be somewhat top heavy,
and overall cost mat exceed
more simplified operating
concepts.
– Combination of functional
strengths and expertise with
the project oriented team.
– This form of organization
strikes a balance between
overall control of both
craftsmanship and project
objectives.
– Provides a high corporate
memory and if managers are
memory,
given diversified assignment,
offer an excellent climate for
developing project manager.
Organizational Concepts
- Functional Organization
Functional Organization
Owner
Project Manager
Design Division
Construction Division
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Functional Organization
• Traditionally been used in the construction industry. The
strengths of these approaches will include:
include:–
–
–
–
High stability
High professional standards
Incorporation of the latest technology
And an excellent corporate memory
• Notable success has been achieved by functional organizations
when design and construction do not fully overlap, thus
minimizing interaction.
• In this case, the overall project management plan can be said to be
on a functional basis, using
– a separate designer and
– a separate contractor or construction manager.
Functional Organization
• Weaknesses
• Advantages
– Everybody knows where
they stand compared to
others
– Understands their tasks
– Has a permanent home
base
– Permits the tightest
discipline control of any
organization concept
– Low adaptability
– Minimum appreciation
pp
of overall project
objectives
– Overly rigid operating
rules
– Resistance to change
– Difficulty in developing
well-rounded Project
Manager
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Organizational Concepts
– Matrix Organization
Matrix Organization
• Most design-build organization and a number of public owners
have developed
p some form of the matrix organization.
g
• This organizational form is something of a cross between a
task force and a functional organization and represent an
attempt to preserved the strong point of each.
• The matrix organization endeavors to solved the conflicts
between the operating line organization as represented by the
project manager and the functional staff by opening up lines of
communications at all levels and through assigning
subordinates managers dual reporting responsibility.
• The matrix organization combines functional strengths with
the advantages of a project oriented team.
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Matrix Organization
• Weaknesses
• Advantages
Ad antages
– It foster an excellent
climate for developing
project managers,
– retain access to the
corporate memory
– and allows control of
both craftsmanship and
project objectives.
– Difficulties in precisely
defining accountability to
both functional and project
manager.
– Observation have shown that
in many organizations the
strongest managers often
dominate and that individual
team members may be unsure
of their position in the
pecking order.
– The organization form
generally has the highest
overall management and
administrative cost.
Project Matrix Organizations
9