Public institution facility operations and maintenance is a significant factor enabling an institution to achieve its stated objectives in the delivery of public service. To meet the societal need, Facility Directors must make increasingly complex decisions managing the demands of building infrastructure performance expectations with limited resources. The ability to effectively measure a return-on-investment, specific to facility maintenance indirect expenditures, has, therefore, become progressively more critical given the scale of public institutions, the collective age of existing facilities, and the role these institutions play in society.

This research centers on understanding the method of prioritizing routine work in support of indirect institutional facility maintenance expense through the lens of K-12 public education in the state of Arizona. The methodology documented herein utilizes a mixed method approach to understand current facility maintenance practices and assess the influence of human behavior when prioritizing routine work. An evidence-based decision support tool, leveraging prior academic research, was developed to coalesce previously disparate academic studies. The resulting process provides a decision framework for prioritizing decision factors most frequently correlated with academic outcomes.

A purposeful sample of K-12 unified districts, representing approximately one-third of the state’s student population and spend, resulted in a moderate to a strong negative correlation between facility operations and student outcomes. Correlation results highlight an opportunity to improve decision making, specific to the academic needs of the student. This research documents a methodology for constructing, validation, and testing of a decision support tool for prioritizing routine work orders. Findings from a repeated measures crossover study suggest the decision support tool significantly influenced decision making specific to certain work orders as well as the Plumbing and Mechanical functional areas. However, the decision support tool was less effective when prioritizing Electrical and General Maintenance work orders.

Moreover, as decision making transitioned away from subjective experience-based judgment, the prioritization of work orders became increasingly more consistent. The resulting prioritization, therefore, effectively leveraged prior empirical, evidence-based decision factors when utilizing the tool. The results provide a system for balancing the practical experience of the Facility Director with the objective guidance of the decision support tool.

Planning efforts conducted during the early stages of a construction project, known

as front end planning (FEP), have a large impact on project success and significant

influence on the configuration of the final project. As a key component of FEP, front end

engineering design (FEED) plays an essential role in the overall success of large industrial

projects. The primary objective of this dissertation focuses on FEED maturity and accuracy

and its impact on project performance. The author was a member of the Construction

Industry Institute (CII) Research Team (RT) 331, which was tasked to develop the FEED

Maturity and Accuracy Total Rating System (FEED MATRS), pronounced “feed matters.”

This dissertation provides the motivation, methodology, data analysis, research findings

(which include significant correlations between the maturity and accuracy of FEED and

project performance), applicability and contributions to academia and industry. A scientific

research methodology was employed in this dissertation that included a literature review,

focus groups, an industry survey, data collection workshops, in-progress projects testing,

and statistical analysis of project performance. The results presented in this dissertation are

based on input from 128 experts in 57 organizations and a data sample of 33 completed

and 11 on-going large industrial projects representing over $13.9 billion of total installed

cost. The contributions of this work include: (1) developing a tested FEED definition for

the large industrial projects sector, (2) determining the industry’s state of practice for

measuring FEED deliverables, (3) developing an objective and scalable two-dimensional

method to measure FEED maturity and accuracy, and (4) quantifying that projects with

high FEED maturity and accuracy outperformed projects with low FEED maturity and

accuracy by 24 percent in terms of cost growth, in relation to the approved budget.

Project teams expend substantial effort to develop scope definition during the front end planning phase of large, complex projects, but oftentimes neglect to sufficiently plan for small projects. An industry survey administered by the author showed that small projects make up approximately half of all projects in the infrastructure construction sector (by count), the planning of these projects varies greatly, and that a consistent definition of “small infrastructure project” did not exist. This dissertation summarizes the motivations and efforts of Construction Industry Institute (CII) Research Team 314a to develop a non-proprietary front end planning tool specifically for small infrastructure projects, namely the Project Definition Rating Index (PDRI) for Small Infrastructure Projects. The author was a member of CII Research Team 314a, who was tasked with developing the tool in September 2015. The author, together with the research team, scrutinized and adapted an existing infrastructure-focused FEP tool, the PDRI for Infrastructure Projects, and other resources to develop a set of 40 specific elements relevant to the planning of small infrastructure projects. The author along with the research team supported the facilitation of seven separate industry workshops where 71 industry professionals evaluated the element descriptions and provided element prioritization data that was statistically analyzed and used to develop a corresponding weighted score sheet. The tool was tested on 76 completed and in-progress projects, the analysis of which showed that small infrastructure projects with greater scope definition (based on the tool’s scoring scheme) outperformed projects with lesser scope definition regarding cost performance, schedule performance, change performance, financial performance, and customer satisfaction. Moreover, the author found that users of the tool on in-progress projects agreed that the tool added value to their projects in a timeframe and manner consistent with their needs, and that they would continue using the tool in the future. The author also conducted qualitative and quantitative similarities and differences between PDRI – Infrastructure and PDRI – Small Infrastructure Projects in support of improved planning efforts for both types of projects. Finally, the author piloted a case study that introduced the PDRI into an introductory construction management course to enhance students’ learning experience.

Despite advancements in construction and construction-related technology, capital project performance deviations, typically overruns, remain endemic within the capital projects industry. Currently, management is generally unaware of the current status of their projects, and thus monitoring and control of projects are not achieved effectively. In an ever-increasing competitive industry landscape, the need to deliver projects within technical, budgetary, and schedule requirements becomes imperative to sustain a healthy return on investment for the project stakeholders. The fact that information lags within the capital projects industry has motivated this research to find practices and solutions that facilitate Instantaneous Project Controls (IPC).

The author hypothesized that there are specific practices that, if properly implemented, can lead to instantaneous controls of capital projects. It is also hypothesized that instantaneous project controls pose benefits to project performance. This research aims to find practices and identify benefits and barriers to achieving a real-time mode of control. To achieve these objectives, several lines of inquiry had to be pursued. A panel of 13 industry professionals and three academics collaborated on this research project. Two surveys were completed to map the current state of project control practices and to identify state-of-the-art or ideal processes. Ten case studies were conducted within and outside of the capital projects industry to identify practices for achieving real-time project controls. Also, statistical analyses were completed on retrospective data for completed capital projects in order to quantify the benefits of IPC. In conclusion, this research presents a framework for implementing IPC across the capital projects industry. The ultimate output from this research is procedures and recommendations that improve project controls processes.

Transportation systems in the U.S. are in a poor state of disrepair. A significant investment is needed to replace or rehabilitate current transportation infrastructure. Currently, transportation investments are lackluster with the recession of 2008 heavily impacting transportation spending, inciting deficits and budgetary cuts at state and federal government levels. As a result, policy makers and public officials are increasingly looking for innovative financing and alternative delivery methods to supplement traditional financing and delivery for transportation projects. Subsequently, the number of public-private partnerships (PPP or P3) has increased substantially over the last two decades.

There is a growing need to quantify the project performance and financial benefits of PPP. This dissertation fills this gap in knowledge by performing a comprehensive quantitative analysis of PPP project performance and financial sources for transportation projects in the U.S. This study’s specific research objectives are:

(1) Develop a solid baseline for comparison, comprised of non-PPP projects;

(2) Quantify PPP project cost and schedule performance; and

(3) Quantify private versus public financing sources of PPP.

A thorough literature review led to the development of a structured data collection process for PPP and comparable non-PPP projects. Financing data was collected and verified for a total of 133 ongoing and completed projects; while performance data was verified for a subset of 81 completed projects. Data analysis included regression analysis, descriptive statistics, inferential statistics and non-parametric statistical tests.

The results provide benchmarks for PPP project performance and financing sources. For the performance results, non-PPP projects have an average cost change of 8.46 percent and an average schedule change of -0.22 percent. PPP projects have an average cost change of 3.04 percent and average schedule change of 1.38 percent. Statistical analysis showed cost change for PPP projects were superior to that of non-PPP; however, schedule change differences were not significant. For the financing results, private financing totaled 44.5 percent while public financing totaled 55.5 percent. This result shows private financing can be used to leverage public financing with close to a one-to-one ratio and that PPP has the potential to double the amount of infrastructure delivered to the public.

ABSTRACT

The objective of this dissertation is to identify a recommended balance between

leadership and management activities of a project manager who aims to rehabilitate a distressed construction project.

The data for this research was collected from 338 construction project professionals belonging to fifteen large construction companies who participated in leadership seminars originated by professors from Arizona State University. The seminars contained various leadership games and exercises that were designed specifically to collect data about leadership and management actions taken by the project managers.

The data from one of the games, called “Project from Hell” (PFH), was used in this research. The PFH game presents the participants with a set of fifty-two actions cards written on a deck of game cards and asks them to select the ten action cards they perceive as being most effective for turning a troubled construction project around. Each suit of the deck represents a different category of actions, focusing on either Traditional Leadership (Hearts), Best Value Leadership (Diamonds), Traditional Management (Spades), or Micro- Management (Clubs).

Statistical analysis of the results revealed that only sixteen of the fifty-two actions cards were selected with statistically significant consistency. Of these sixteen actions, six actions were form Traditional Management actions, five were Traditional Leadership actions, and five were Best Value Leadership actions. This rendered a recommended balance of 62% leadership activities vs. 38% management activities for project managers to rehabilitate distressed construction projects. It was also found that the same balance is recommended for the normal condition construction projects. The calculated weighted

i

scores for ranking the sixteen effective leadership and management actions revealed that the five Traditional Management actions are the top-most effective actions. This demonstrates the importance of stand still management actions in rehabilitating in trouble construction projects

The findings were converted into easy to implement guidelines about how project managers can change habits to increase their effectiveness by focusing on the right type of actions.

A generalization of the methodology for interpreting the results of any study based on selection of activities, was also developed.

Project teams expend substantial effort to develop scope definition during the front end planning phase of large, complex projects, but oftentimes neglect to sufficiently plan for small projects. An industry survey administered by the author showed that small projects make up 70-90 percent (by count) of all projects in the industrial construction sector, the planning of these project varies greatly, and that a consistent definition of “small industrial project” did not exist. This dissertation summarizes the motivations and efforts to develop a non-proprietary front end planning tool specifically for small industrial projects, namely the Project Definition Rating Index (PDRI) for Small Industrial Projects. The author was a member of Construction Industry Institute (CII) Research Team 314, who was tasked with developing the tool in May of 2013. The author, together with the research team, reviewed, scrutinized and adapted an existing industrial-focused FEP tool, the PDRI for Industrial Projects, and other resources to develop a set of 41 specific elements relevant to the planning of small industrial projects. The author supported the facilitation of five separate industry workshops where 65 industry professionals evaluated the element descriptions, and provided element prioritization data that was statistically analyzed and used to develop a weighted score sheet that corresponds to the element descriptions. The tool was tested on 54 completed and in-progress projects, the author’s analysis of which showed that small industrial projects with greater scope definition (based on the tool’s scoring scheme) outperformed projects with lesser scope definition regarding cost performance, schedule performance, change performance, financial performance, and customer satisfaction. Moreover, the author found that users of the tool on in-progress projects overwhelmingly agreed that the tool added value to their projects in a timeframe and manner consistent with their needs, and that they would continue using the tool in the future. The author also developed an index-based selection guide to aid PDRI users in choosing the appropriate tool for use on an industrial project based on distinguishing project size with indicators of project complexity. The final results of the author’s research provide several contributions to the front end planning, small projects, and project complexity bodies of knowledge.

In a conscious effort to combat the low enrollment of women in construction management, a program was created to retain women through a mentorship program - Advancing Women in Construction. A qualitative analysis, facilitated through a grounded theory approach, sought to understand if the program was indeed successful, and what value did the students derive from the programs and participating in the mentoring process.