A doctoral thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of PhD of Loughborough University.

Mega construction projects are complex undertakings. The complexity is increased during a construction boom in a city such as Dubai where more than 80% of material and labour resources are imported. The complexities inherent in mega construction projects include uncertainty and interdependencies, which affect project management performance at the operational level where most of the problems occur. Understanding these processes, how they interrelate and how to overcome the complexities is crucial for increasing the chances of project management success. This research contributed to construction project management theory and practice by using a highly inductive exploratory qualitative approach for capturing formal and informal processes in mega construction projects in Dubai. A dynamic model depicting the complementary formal and informal processes is developed showing formal and informal processes and how they interrelate to reduce complexity. Guidelines on how and when to use specific processes are provided as a framework for the model. This framework may be used to help develop communication processes in future complex projects to increase chances of project management success. The research was conducted by exploring two case study projects fitting the characteristics of mega construction projects. Both case study projects were of values above 1.5 Billion US Dollars and were similar in scope with elements including amusement parks, retail areas, hotels, extensive infrastructure and large landscape areas. Both case study projects were of an experimental character, considered an engineering achievement, complex, and thereby, difficult to control. The research data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 83 project staff from both case study projects. Rich picture diagrams of the organization and processes were made from data collected during the interviews and case study project documents. The analysis was performed in three phases where the results from each phase were built upon cumulatively. The first phase examined what the most crucial critical success factors (CSFs) were in the case study projects. These were revealed to be communication, top management support and effective change management. In the second phase each CSF was analyzed where it was found it that the majority of important communication modes were informal and were was most effective in reducing complexity. Furthermore, it was found that the characteristics of the client were crucial in both case study projects. The third phase involved development of the dynamic hybrid model from the rich picture diagrams created showing the interplay between formal and informal processes. It was found that informal processes are ad-hoc and chaotic in nature and controlled by individuals in the project. Development of guidelines for the positive use of informal processes was required. From the analysis it was found that the characteristics of client staff and individuals in the case study projects provided the main guidelines for effective use of the hybrid model. The research provides insights into the formal and informal processes and the reduction and management of complexity inherent in mega construction projects. Current research in managing complexity is from the perspective of the formal process where the informal processes are neglected, despite research and practice indicating their importance in construction projects. The research presents a systemic dynamic model of the processes for mega construction projects revealing that formal and informal processes are required and are complementary. Guidelines for the successful use of the model provide a framework for its application in practice. This shows how it can be used to inform understanding of processes in the context of the research. The model and guidelines were validated via discussions with practitioners experienced in construction of mega projects. Future work should expand the findings to applications of the model in practice for management of complex projects. The model may be used by practitioners to act as a guide in how to manage construction processes to consciously overcome the inherent complexities to achieve project management objectives. This tool may also be used to inform clients of the inherent complexities and the level of informality required to overcome them. IT/IS practitioners may use the model and framework to understand the complexities in construction, and thereby, develop systems that are practically applied in construction projects. Researchers in the field may build upon the model and findings to increase knowledge regarding construction processes, particularly informal processes.

A heterogeneous research partnership (HRP) is one in which industry, academia and government collaborate to conduct research, typically of national importance. Whilst most HRPs complete their planned duration and deliver their agreed tasks, it is not uncommon for participants to be left feeling somewhat dissatisfied, suggesting that the requirements which are being met are incomplete. There is an opportunity to improve the success of HRPs by establishing principles and practices for the application of systems engineering in their development. The thesis reviews literature drawn from a broad body of work covering three main areas: the context of HRPs themselves, systems engineering and related disciplines, and research methodology. The research adopts an interpretive approach, initially applying Soft Systems Methodology in a pilot case study and subsequently conducting a qualitative analysis of sixteen HRP case studies in order to develop and refine generic models which are relevant to HRPs. Drawing from the commentary of interviewees, published sources and other evidence, major themes across the case studies are integrated in order to develop ten principles and ten practices for the application of systems engineering to HRPs. The importance of consistency between the research context, systems approach and research methodology is emphasised, and the thesis highlights a significant philosophical challenge facing system of systems research as the discipline seeks to use a range of hard and soft systems approaches which are fundamentally rooted in different paradigms.

In 1996, a concept was proposed by the UK Ministry of Defence with the intention of making the field of reliability more useful to the end user, particularly within the field of military aerospace. This idea was the Maintenance Free Operating Period (MFOP), a duration of time in which the overall system can complete all of its required missions without the need to undergo emergency repairs or maintenance, with a defined probability of success. The system can encounter component or subsystem failures, but these must be carried with no effect to the overall mission, until such time as repair takes place. It is thought that advanced technologies such as redundant systems, prognostics and diagnostics will play a major role in the successful use of MFOP in practical applications. Many types of system operate missions that are made up of several sequential phases. For a mission to be successful, the system must satisfactorily complete each of the objectives in each of the phases. If the system fails or cannot complete its goals in any one phase, the mission has failed. Each phase will require the system to use different items, and so the failure logic changes from phase to phase. Mission unreliability is defined as the probability that the system fails to function successfully during at least one phase of the mission. An important problem is the efficient calculation of the value of mission unreliability. This thesis investigates the creation of a modelling method to consider as many features of systems undergoing both MFOPs and phased missions as possible. This uses Petri nets, a type of digraph allowing storage and transit of tokens which represent system states. A simple model is presented, following which, a more complex model is developed and explained, encompassing those ideas which are believed to be important in delivering a long MFOP with a high degree of confidence. A demonstration of the process by which the modelling method could be used to improve the reliability performance of a large system is then shown. The complex model is employed in the form of a Monte-Carlo simulation program, which is applied to a life-size system such as may be encountered in the real world. Improvements are suggested and results from their implementation analysed.

This research was inspired by a particular business problem – the search for an optimal model of strategy-making process in Severstal, a major Russian metals and mining company going through a period of rapid growth and transformation. The research reports on the results of a longitudinal explorative case study based on two distinct empirical projects. The first project addressed strategy process nature, participants, roles of corporate centre, time perspective and impact of the external environment. Its results highlighted the importance of CEO leadership and personal traits, which became the principal focus of the second empirical project. The key empirical contribution of the research was definition of "leader-focused decentralisation" as a particular approach to strategy-making in a multi-business group. This approach combines decentralized, bottom-up, business units-led generation of strategic proposals and initiatives with a crucial role of a company leader as a deeply involved decision-maker, presiding over a small and lean corporate centre with minimal corporate rules and bureaucracy. In Severstal’s case, the "leader-focused decentralisation" approach to strategy was a good match to its volatile yet rewarding external environment. The suggested model can be seen as an empirically-derived step towards a theoretical synthesis of "activist" vs. "detached" views of corporate centre roles in relation to strategy process in multi-business firms. It exhibited some distinctive features which were not yet described in other contexts, including co-existence of strong entrepreneurial leadership and organisational decentralisation. From a practical standpoint, the research highlighted weaknesses and limitations of existing strategy-making model and offered a background for the discussion of ways to develop it in the future.

The application of composites has been increasing dramatically in aerospace structures recently, for example, composites have contributed over 50 percent of the structure mass of large transport airplanes Boeing 787 and Airbus 350XWB. However, the further usage has been restricted because of the high material and manufacturing costs. Hence, it is essential to utilize cost estimation tools for accurate cost estimation in the early design stages, and then efficient decisions and design optimizations could be made to reduce the cost of composite products. This research project aims to develop a cost model for aerospace carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) composites, which will help designers and cost engineers with the cost estimation for composites manufacturing in the early development stages. The main objectives of the research are to: (i) recognise the standard manufacturing stages and activities of CFRP components; (ii) identify the cost drivers of composites manufacturing; (iii) identify the cost estimation relationships; (iv) develop a cost model that can assist designers and engineers with manufacturing cost estimation for CFRP components; (v) validate the developed cost model through case studies and expert judgements. The process of model development was carried out through four main steps: firstly, conducting an integrated understanding of cost modelling for composites manufacturing; secondly, collecting data for cost modelling from industry and existing literature and databases; thirdly, developing the cost model with several function modules and databases; and finally, taking a validation of the developed model. The developed cost model consists of several modules: material selection, process planning, cost estimation, cost reporting and a user friendly interface. Moreover, the selection and planning modules are combined with databases including material and process. The developed model enables the user to estimate the manufacturing cost and process time of CFRP composites, and it can also help designers realize the impact of design changes on the manufacturing cost. The process planning can efficiently help estimators with manufacturing process understanding and accurate time estimation. Quality control activities are time consuming and investment sensitive in composites manufacturing.

In the context of sustainable supply networks, this research analyzes the evolution of governance mechanisms and network structure, including the interplay between network conditions, context factors, positional power and managerial actions. The study reports on a longitudinal empirical research on a multi-stakeholder sustainable sourcing network established by Nespresso, Nestlé’s specialty coffee subsidiary. The research analyzes both dyadic and multi-actor network dynamics and proposes a framework to study network evolution. Social network analysis techniques are also used to measure evolution of the network's structure and complexity as well as positional power opportunities. The research shows that in the initial start-up phase, in a context marked by uncertainty, pre-existing commercial and personal relationships were favoured in the choice of partners. These pre-existing relationships were also influential in defining the initial network structure and supporting an initial phase of exploration. Governance mechanisms initially relied mostly on informal mechanisms, while formal mechanisms were incorporated over time to enable the supply chain network to grow and to provide clarity to all actors. As the sustainability programme network expanded in size and complexity, Nespresso, the lead organization, also acted on the network's structure by introducing regional offices, thus increasing network centralization and reducing complexity. Power derived by actors occupying central or brokerage positions in multiplex networks also influenced power relationships in the sustainability network by moderating or expanding the power opportunities available to central actors. The research has implications for both the Inter-organizational Relationship and the Social Network Theory literatures. In contrast with prior literature, the research proposes that in conditions of uncertainty, the use of informal governance mechanisms can facilitate a search and experimentation process. Formalization of governance mechanisms can be used, not as a repair mechanism, but rather as an enabler for further growth and efficiency. The research also extends the concept of network complexity and proposes that network managers can reduce this complexity by introducing or managing nodes that in turn contribute to the re-centralization of relationships towards specific nodes. Lastly, the research has implications for managers and proposes mapping of existing commercial and personal relationships as a potentially valuable tool in the creation and management of networks, adapting coordination mechanisms to the objectives of the relationship and actively managing the network's structure as a mechanism to enable network growth and efficiency.

Models of R&D account for technical, technological and administrative factors of R&D implementation but underestimate the influence of behavioural and political factors such as power and conflict. They assume that R&D organisation is “well-insulated” from partisan, emotions, political reactions and contextual factors and that decision makers are rational and decisions are taken to best fit the content of R&D programme. The present study explores the effects of rational and irrational factors in the R&D implementation process on the performance of publicly funded research projects in universities. It uses realist and qualitative exploratory semi-structured interviews with 22 active researchers in Sultan Qaboos University provides “depth and detail” of the complexities of R&D implementation effects on its performance. The study discovers 18 measures of success of academic research and 30 effects of R&D implementation of the performance of publicly funded research.The study concludes that the iterative, non-linear and processual nature of R&D implementation is a continuous dynamic system. R&D success builds up the capacity for future success whilst failures decrease the chances of future successes. The integrated effects of implementation (IEI) influence R&D performance through technical and administrative capability of the R&D organisation as well as through behaviours of organisation members. These include leaders’ behaviours, conflict and political skills within individuals. Both success dynamism and IEI suggest contextualism implementation of R&D.

This investigation follows a philosophically interpretive approach on how the web developer developed Web-based Information Systems (WBIS) in a continuously changing higher education organisation. The investigation focused on emergence within the organisation and the resultant problems this gives the web developer in developing WBIS. The web developer used an action research methodology to investigate the emergent higher education organisation and its need for web-based aesthetics & internet speed. This approach was designed by the action researcher to assist both the web developer and manager in developing WBIS within emergent organisations. It is also designed to address a number of major constraining factors placed on the web developer. These included: time constraint, web-based aesthetics, internet speed, emergent aspects, methodology issues and accommodating planned organisational change. The interpretation of these constraining factors gained through the theory of deferred action enabled the action researcher to understand, interpret and create associations to explain the WBIS development process. The web developer had to defer the design process at several points because of unexpected events occurring in the organisation and take deferred action. As a result the Kadar Matrix was created and used by the web developer to manage the constraining factors. The Kadar Matrix has extended the theory of deferred action (ToDA) by implementing its constructs in the analytical tool, Kadar Matrix, for WBIS development. This is a modification of theory for practice. The research further identified that deferred action is necessary for the web developer in emergent organisations.

The organisation of maintenance, in the Aseptic Liquid Food (ALF) industry, represents an important management task that enables a company to pursue higher manufacturing effectiveness and improved market share. This research is concerned with the process to design and implement maintenance tasks. These two complementary processes (design and implementation) have been thought and designed to answer the particular needs of food industry regarding product safety and equipment reliability. Numerous maintenance engineering researchers have focused on maintenance engineering and reliability techniques highlighting the contribution of maintenance in achieving world class manufacturing and competitive advantage. Their outcome emphasizes that maintenance is not a “necessary evil” because of costs associated, but it can be considered an “investment” that produces an added value which generates a real company profit. The existing maintenance engineering techniques pursue equipment reliability at minimum cost; but in food industry, food safety represents the most critical issue to address and solve. The research methodology chosen is based on case studies coming from ALF industries. These show that low maintenance effectiveness could have dramatic effects on final consumers and on the company’s image and underline the need of a maintenance design and implementation process that takes into consideration all critical factors relevant to liquid food industry. The analysis of measurable indicators available, represents a tool necessary to show the status of critical performance indicators and reveals the urgency of a research necessary to address and solve the maintenance problems in food industry. The literature review underlines the increasing regulations in place in food industry and that no literature is available to define a maintenance design and implementation process for ALF and in general for food industry. The literature review enabled also the gap existing between theory and real maintenance status, in the ALF, to be identified and the aim of the research was to explore this gap. The analysis of case studies and Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) available highlights the problem and the literature review provides the knowledge necessary to identify the process to design and implement maintenance procedures for ALF industry. The research findings provide a useful guide to identify the process to design maintenance tasks able to put under control food safety and equipment reliability issues. Company’s restraining forces and cultural inertia, that work against new maintenance procedures, have been analysed and a maintenance implementation process have been designed to avoid losing the benefits produced by the design phase. The analysis of condition monitoring systems shows devices and techniques useful to improve product safety, equipment reliability, and then maintenance effectiveness. This research aimed to fill the gap in the existing literature showing the solution to manage both food safety and production effectiveness issues in food industry. It identifies a maintenance design process able to capture all conceivable critical factors in food industry and to provide the solution to design reliable task lists. Furthermore, the maintenance implementation process shows the way to maximize the maintenance design outcome through the empowerment of equipment operators and close cooperation with maintenance and quality specialists. The new maintenance design and implementation process represents the answer to the research problem and a reliable solution that allows the food industry to improve food safety and production effectiveness.