Effect of the Combination of Management Theory and the Project Delivery System on the Cost and Schedule of a Construction Project

Abstract

Management theories have been ignored by the construction industry for quite some time. Though there has been a significant impact of management on other fields, construction has never stepped up to embed them into the system. With advancement of technology, there is a necessity to bring all the streams together. This thesis investigates the effect of the two fundamental and competing conceptualizations of management: management by means (MBM) and management by results (MBR) in the field of construction. Therefore, this thesis analyzes the influence of these management concepts on project delivery systems like Design Build (DB) and Construction Management at Risk (CMAR) for commercial projects. The research objectives were achieved through a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. A thorough review of the existing literature on these topics and statistical analysis of data are steps taken to develop the matrix which determines the best combination of management theory and project delivery system for commercial projects. This research concludes that only time of a project will get affected with respect to the combination and cost will not. Because this research is limited to a data set of 73 projects, this research serves to create a model template or pilot study for a larger study.