Thesis (doctoral)--Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz.

A atuação de empresas internacionais no setor da construção civil no Brasil tem se tornado cada vez maior e essa atuação exige uma articulação eficiente na gestão dos projetos para seu sucesso. Diante dos desafios do processo de internacionalização, as empresas precisam adaptar-se ao ambiente local, por meio da integração dos conhecimentos, estratégias e processos bem definidos, uma vez que, se as empresas concentrarem-se apenas em um aspecto e negligenciarem o outro, a eficácia dos projetos pode reduzir. O objetivo deste trabalho foi analisar como a gestão de projetos influencia o sucesso dos empreendimentos de infraestrutura executados por empresas brasileiras e empresas estrangeiras, atuantes no mercado de construção civil brasileiro. Essa análise foi elaborada por meio de pesquisa bibliográfica e de seis estudos de caso, nos quais foram entrevistados gerentes dos empreendimentos e coordenadores de projetos de quatro empresas, uma de origem espanhola, uma de origem argentina e duas de origem brasileira. Por meio de um comparativo entre os processos adotados por essas empresas, foi possível identificar os pontos críticos e as dificuldades nos processos de gestão de riscos, gestão do processo de projeto (design), gestão da informação e do conhecimento e gestão da comunicação para execução de empreendimentos. Como resultado, foram propostas diretrizes aos agentes envolvidos, visando à melhoria contínua dos processos adotados. Pretende-se que o resultado desta pesquisa seja útil à definição de referências sobre a internacionalização no mercado da construção civil e as características que devem ser consideradas na gestão de projetos. / The performance of international companies in the civil construction sector in Brazil has grown significantly and this requires an efficient articulation in the project management for its success. The companies need to adapt to the local environment by integrating knowledge, strategies and well-defined processes due to the challenges of this process, since, if the companies focus only on one of these aspects and neglect others, their projects performance may reduce. The aim of this paper is to analyze how project management impacts on the success of infrastructure projects executed by Brazilian and foreign companies operating in the Brazilian civil construction. This analysis has been developed through literature review and case studies, in which, project managers and project coordinators of four companies, one of Spanish origin, one of Argentine origin and two of Brazilian origin were interviewed. Through a comparison of the processes adopted by these companies, it was possible to identify the critical points and difficulties in the processes regarding risk management, design process management, information and knowledge management, and communication management for the project execution. As a result, guidelines were proposed to the agents involved, aiming the continuous improvement of the processes adopted. The research results shall be useful to the definition of references on internationalization in the construction sector and the characteristics that should be considered in project management.

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<p>Bid/no-bid decisions in international construction markets are considered difficult, being characterized by its uncertainties and complexities, especially in today’s highly competitive market. Additionally, it is claimed by some authors that many companies still utilize tools and methods that are fragmented, incomplete and rudimentary based on “personal intuition” or “previous-experience-based” (Han and Diekmann 2001a; Han and Diekmann 2001b). On the other hand, other authors emphasize that most of the bid/no-bid models found in the literature ‘remained in academic circles and did not find their way into the practical world’ (Wanous et al, 2000, pp.457). Thus, the focus of this work is to make a contribution towards the reduction of the actual gap between theoretical and practical bidding decision models and contribute to the development of a consistent model that could satisfactorily support the bid/no-bid decision for international construction projects. This way, an investigation of the practical bid/no-bid decision models is performed combined with an evaluation of the degree of applicability of theoretical models in practice. The research is based on a multiple case study analysis. The results suggest that although bidding decisions are still based on subjective judgments, the process applied by companies is formal and highly structured. It is a defined routine with a clear sequence of steps to be followed in which relevant information is analyzed by experienced staff. Additionally, it is designed to be followed by all bids in the companies, including formal presentations for the top management of the companies, who are actively involved in the decision. However, the results also reinforce that although some features of theoretical models can be observed in practice, none of them is being fully employed. Thus, it is possible to affirm that, although the current theoretical models bring some important highlights to bidding situations, they are still not fully suitable for the international construction environment. An important contribution can be done not only to the academic field but also to managerial one if future research focuses on the improvement of the practical models.</p>

Due to its high-risk nature, international construction projects are more vulnerable to adverse changes in project environment and company objectives. To achieve successful project outcomes, early provision of risks has a vital place in managing construction projects. Within the literature, several risk assessment methodologies have been offered to simulate probable consequences of risks. The majority of the proposed methodologies are limited in reflection of real project conditions as they require probabilistic measures or rely on solely intuition and experience of decision makers. In this study, it is argued that an additional assistance is needed for decision-makers when they are assessing magnitudes of risks under different project and country conditions. The purpose of this study is to develop a knowledge-based risk mapping tool for international construction projects using an ontology that relates risk and vulnerability to cost overrun and a novel risk-vulnerability assessment methodology. The tool incorporates a &lsquo / lessons learned database&rsquo / that utilizes learning from previous projects in order to assist decision-makers when quantifying the risk-related variables. The database is expected to aid decision-makers by retrieving and making use of the knowledge of previous projects that have been captured, codified, and stored within the database previously. In addition, to guide decision-makers by giving better understanding of the risk variables, attributes of the risk-related variables are identified that lists probable triggering events for the occurrence of the relevant variables. The tool has also been tested on a real construction project as well as its usability has been ensured by conducting some usability tests.

Bid/no-bid decisions in international construction markets are considered difficult, being characterized by its uncertainties and complexities, especially in today’s highly competitive market. Additionally, it is claimed by some authors that many companies still utilize tools and methods that are fragmented, incomplete and rudimentary based on “personal intuition” or “previous-experience-based” (Han and Diekmann 2001a; Han and Diekmann 2001b). On the other hand, other authors emphasize that most of the bid/no-bid models found in the literature ‘remained in academic circles and did not find their way into the practical world’ (Wanous et al, 2000, pp.457). Thus, the focus of this work is to make a contribution towards the reduction of the actual gap between theoretical and practical bidding decision models and contribute to the development of a consistent model that could satisfactorily support the bid/no-bid decision for international construction projects. This way, an investigation of the practical bid/no-bid decision models is performed combined with an evaluation of the degree of applicability of theoretical models in practice. The research is based on a multiple case study analysis. The results suggest that although bidding decisions are still based on subjective judgments, the process applied by companies is formal and highly structured. It is a defined routine with a clear sequence of steps to be followed in which relevant information is analyzed by experienced staff. Additionally, it is designed to be followed by all bids in the companies, including formal presentations for the top management of the companies, who are actively involved in the decision. However, the results also reinforce that although some features of theoretical models can be observed in practice, none of them is being fully employed. Thus, it is possible to affirm that, although the current theoretical models bring some important highlights to bidding situations, they are still not fully suitable for the international construction environment. An important contribution can be done not only to the academic field but also to managerial one if future research focuses on the improvement of the practical models.

This thesis offers a comprehensive risk assessment methodology that provides a decision support tool, directed for Turkish construction organizations, which can be utilized through the bidding decisions for international construction projects. Within this context the analytic network process technique is implemented to develop a risk assessment model, which is used to derive the relative priorities of the risk factors associated with international construction projects. The findings of the risk assessment model have demonstrated that the most significant sources of risk are vagueness of contract conditions about risk allocation, client, and immaturity of legal system in the host country. Factors such as low % of advance payment, geographical distance, and bribery were found to be relatively insignificant. An international construction project risk rating software application is then developed. The application incorporates the derived priorities from the risk assessment model to calculate a risk rating for a given international construction project. To increase the credibility of the results a risk rating adjustment methodology was integrated into the application. Its purpose is to count for the potential influencing factors that may increase the risk level of a given project. The influencing factors which were considered are the company&rsquo / s experience, contract type, level of the available project data from the outset, and project delivery system. The application is also structured to enhance the organizational learning practices. It improves the process of the organizational memory formation with respect to postproject risk data by developing a database of risk information of the rated projects for future references. The reliability of the application was tested with post-projects risk data and was found to be satisfactory.

ABSTRACT A GENERIC RISK AND VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK FOR INTERNATIONAL CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS &Ouml / zcan, G&uuml / lbin M.Sc., Department of Civil Engineering Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. /rem Dikmen Toker Co-Supervisor: Prof. Dr. M. Talat Birg&ouml / n&uuml / l July 2008, 105 pages Project Risk Management (PRM) comprises of identification and assessment, analysis and mitigation of risk factors in order to meet the project objectives. Risk identification and assessment process has the greatest importance as the risk models are constructed based on previously defined risk sources and their interrelations. Although previous studies have concentrated on the relation between risk events and their consequences, the link between them must be modeled by considering the various chains of risk events and the capacity of a &ldquo / system&rdquo / to react to risk events simultaneously. The concept of &ldquo / risk paths&rdquo / should be used to identify chains of risk events by means of a Hierarchical Risk Breakdown Structure (HRBS) rather than defining individual risk factors. The &ldquo / system&rdquo / consists of the characteristics of the project, company and involved parties. The word &ldquo / vulnerability&rdquo / is used to describe the degree v to which a project is susceptible to adverse effects of change. The aim of the current study is to develop a common vocabulary and design a HRBS that integrates vulnerability factors with risk factors. A generic risk and vulnerability assessment framework for international construction projects is presented in this research. The justification of the factors considered within the breakdown structure has been achieved by referring to real construction projects carried out by Turkish contractors in international markets.

Within the context of construction projects, risk is generally defined as an uncertain happening which is the function of its occurrence probability and the severity of its possible impacts on pre-defined objectives. According to this definition, international construction projects are high-risk endeavors, since they are known with their complex natures, large sizes, multidisciplinary frameworks, and unfamiliar and uncertain environments. International construction projects have more complex risk emergence patterns as they are affected from multiple global and foreign country conditions as well as project-related factors. Huge and complicated interrelationships and dynamic interactions among these influencing factors necessitate more systematic, comprehensive, and multi-attribute risk management process for overseas projects. In order to satisfy the requirements of such a risk management system, a realistic, inclusive, and accurate picture of the real case, reflecting all the aforementioned aspects of the international projects, is necessary. The major aim of this study is to demonstrate that there are causal relationships between various risk factors which necessitate identification of risk paths rather than individual risk factors during risk identification and assessment phases. Identification of a network of interactive risk paths, each of which initiated from diverse v vulnerabilities of the project system, is considered to be a better reflection of the real conditions of construction projects rather than using generic risk checklists. In this study, using the data of 166 projects carried out by Turkish contractors in international markets, and utilizing Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique, 36 interrelated risk paths were identified and the total effects of each vulnerability factor and risk path on cost overrun were assessed. SEM findings prove the main hypotheses of the study. The results demonstrate that every risk path is generated from specific vulnerabilities of inherent in project environment. Risk identification using SEM helps decision-makers in answering &ldquo / what-if&rdquo / questions in early stages of a project, in tracing the effects of interdependent risks throughout the life of the project, and in evaluating the influence of alternative mitigation strategies, not only on specific risks, but also on the whole network of interrelated risk factors.

It is agreed upon by many researchers that, although risk management (RM) is accepted as one of the critical success factors for construction projects, project participants generally do not have sufficient knowledge pertinent to risk management concept and the number of risk management support tools which facilitate the process is rather low. In order to facilitate risk management activities, decision support tools that will enable risk identification, analysis and response strategy formulation should be developed. Decision support tools are necessary for systematic identification of risks, scenario generation, proactive management of risk and integration of risk management activities with other project management functions such as planning, cost estimating and monitoring project success. The aim of this study is to introduce a conceptual risk management model and a prototype risk management decision support system (DSS) which is applicable to construction projects. The proposed decision support system, namely Integrated Risk Management System (IRMS), is designed to support the user at all phases of the risk management process and to integrate risk management activities with other project management functions in the bid preparation stage of international construction projects. A risk management process model has been developed as well as a risk information model so that IRMS can be used for systematic management of risk by all parties involved in a construction project. Major functions of IRMS include, risk identification by using a built-in Hierarchical Risk Breakdown Structure (HRBS), risk analysis by Monte Carlo (MC) simulation, risk assessment by risk rating, risk re-assessment, response generation, risk monitoring and corporate memory. The applicability of the system has been tested by a real case study and its functionality has been demonstrated using the data associated with the case study.