BO Awuzie
A systems approach to assessing organisational viability in project based organisations
Awuzie, BO; McDermott, P
Abstract
Purpose: Extant literature highlights the increasing inability of project-based organisations (PBOs) to meet infrastructure client’s expectations, particularly as it concerns the delivery of socio-economic outcomes during the delivery process. Unclear communication channels and poor processing of information especially as it pertains to client’s strategic objectives results in a misalignment of objectives among participating parties. As its central proposition, the purpose of this paper is to hold that unclear communication channels between parties within infrastructure project PBOs affects their degree of internal cohesion hence posing strong challenges to their overall viability.
Design/methodology/approach: Applying the Viable Infrastructure Delivery Systems Model (VIDM); a model premised on the tenets of the Viable Systems Model, this qualitative study proceeds to assess a particular PBO within a developing country to understand its communication and control channels and to identify where gaps likely to affect the internal cohesiveness of the PBO, if any, existed. Whereas semi-structured interviews and project/policy documents were used as data collection tools, data were analysed using pre-set themes.
Findings: According the study’s findings, an absence of a prevalent common identity was observed among the various parties to the PBO. Contractors’ capabilities to deliver on time and to budget based on their expertise remained pivotal within the PBO thus abandoning the attainment of the client’s pre-defined socio-economic objectives. Cases of faulty and ineffective organisational architecture, functional and communication issues were observed.
Research limitations/implications: Based upon these findings, it is recommended that the VIDM be adopted at the commencement of the PBO lifecycle and used at various intervals by project managers and other stakeholders for assessing the levels of organisational viability.
Originality/value: The methodology and findings resulting from this study represent information from fieldwork conducted by the author and as such have not been used elsewhere.
Citation
Awuzie, B., & McDermott, P. (2016). A systems approach to assessing organisational viability in project based organisations. Built Environment Project and Asset Management, 6(3), 268-283. https://doi.org/10.1108/BEPAM-08-2014-0037
Journal Article Type | Article |
---|---|
Online Publication Date | Apr 7, 2016 |
Publication Date | Apr 7, 2016 |
Deposit Date | Aug 18, 2017 |
Journal | Built Environment Project and Asset Management |
Print ISSN | 2044-124X |
Publisher | Emerald |
Volume | 6 |
Issue | 3 |
Pages | 268-283 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/BEPAM-08-2014-0037 |
Publisher URL | http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/BEPAM-08-2014-0037 |
Related Public URLs | http://www.emeraldinsight.com/loi/bepam |
You might also like
Framing the barriers to construction industry transformation
(2022)
Journal Article
Achieving social value through construction frameworks : the effect of client attributes
(2017)
Journal Article
A systems approach to strategic infrastructure delivery
(2016)
Journal Article
The role of contracting strategies in social value implementation
(2016)
Journal Article
Downloadable Citations
About USIR
Administrator e-mail: library-research@salford.ac.uk
This application uses the following open-source libraries:
SheetJS Community Edition
Apache License Version 2.0 (http://www.apache.org/licenses/)
PDF.js
Apache License Version 2.0 (http://www.apache.org/licenses/)
Font Awesome
SIL OFL 1.1 (http://scripts.sil.org/OFL)
MIT License (http://opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.html)
CC BY 3.0 ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)
Powered by Worktribe © 2025
Advanced Search