ASSESSMENT OF FACTORS INFLUENCING CONSTRUCTION PROJECT COMPLEXITY (CPC)

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1 International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET) Volume 9, Issue 4, April 2018, pp , Article ID: IJCIET_09_04_044 Available online at ISSN Print: and ISSN Online: IAEME Publication Scopus Indexed ASSESSMENT OF FACTORS INFLUENCING CONSTRUCTION PROJECT COMPLEXITY (CPC) B. Priyadharsini M. Tech Student, School of Civil Engineering, SASTRA Deemed to be University, Thanjavur, Tamilnadu, India V. Rathinakumar Assistant Professor, School of Civil Engineering, SASTRA Deemed to be University, Thanjavur, Tamilnadu, India ABSTRACT The construction trade plays a major role in the economic growth in India. Complexity is an important issue among the construction and it also affect the level of growth of the construction. Complexity is one such critical project that indicates in determining the planning, coordination, and control requirements of the project. The aim of this research paper on the assessment of project complexity in the construction projects. The questionnaire survey was taken from 50 answerer. From the response of the answerer various factors which influence the project complexity are the organizational, operational and technological, planning and management, environmental and the uncertainty. Key words: Construction Projects, Project Complexity and Project Management. Cite this Article: B. Priyadharsini and V. Rathinakumar, Assessment of Factors Influencing Construction Project Complexity (CPC), International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology, 9(4), 2018, pp INTRODUCTION Project complexity is defined as the various parts interconnected in terms of physical elements and their interdependencies and also by adding the uncertainty elements. The project complexity mainly depends on the two factors which are the project difficulty and the project risk. The project difficulty is related to the team experience and skills of the team member. The project risk determines the unknown factors that affect the project. The main attributes of the complexity are the project size, location, team experience and interfaces within the project and the social issues. It can also be defined as the measure of the measure of the difficulty of implementing a plan to achieve a number of quantifiable objectives. Many research efforts have been made to study the causes of the complexity in different projects. The main factors that editor@iaeme.com

2 Assessment of Factors Influencing Construction Project Complexity (CPC) affect the complexity are the inherent complexity, uncertainty, rigidity sequence, number of technologies and the organizational inherent complexity. 2. LITERATURE REVIEW STUDY David Baccarini (1996) he was the first researcher to tell about the project complexity. In this paper he tells that complexity is one such critical project dimension. It also affects the time, quality and the cost of the projects. Here in this paper he also describe about the two types of the project complexity which are the organizational complexity and the technological complexity. The organizational complexity is mainly based on the two factors they are the differentiation and the interdependency. The complex organization by differentiation is of two dimensions they are the vertical differentiation and the horizontal differentiation. The more the differentiated parts the more will be the complex organization. The more the interdependencies the higher will be the complexity of the project. Baccarini has concluded that as the project has become more and more complex there will be increase in the project complexity. Nassar (2006) in this paper it has been said that the measuring complexity is difficult to analysis for the given network. One of the important attribute of the complexity is the connectivity and the interdependencies between the activities of the project. The more the interdependencies between the activities in the project the more relationships the more relationships between the project s activities and therefore the more complex the project schedule will be. Complexity of project schedule can be good judge of the project s complexity. Therefore it is clear that the complexity of the project schedule does not increase linearly with the number of relationships. Brockman (2007) he tells the complexity that has occurred in the megaproject. It is based on the types of the complexity he has found are the overall complexity, task complexity, social complexity and the cultural complexity. The contractors in the project will respond to the overall and task complexity by the trust and the commitment but the cultural complexity by the sense making process. Megaprojects are normally built by the international construction joint ventures which comprises of two parts which is more complex compared with the normal project. The types of complexity also explained in this paper, first the task complexity which is based on the time or segment activities, second the social complexity about the stakeholders in the project and finally the cultural complexity about the new ideas and the innovation of the software or the method used in the project. Dmitri s Antoniadis (2008) the complexity has been linked to the non-technical project aspects such as the behavioral, social, cultural and the interconnections of the project. The complexity is not defined it is identified predominantly by the control and mechanistic parts of the project management process. It has come to the conclusion that the socio-organization complexity in terms of the interconnections of the project that is identified as the communications and the number of parties in the project. Saleem Gul (2011) developments of the project complexity are classifiable as contributing to either complexity of the either complexity of projects or the complexity in project streams. In this paper it also explains about the differentiation and the interdependencies. Differentiation and interdependency according to Baccarini could be examined within the contexts of various project dimensions, such as: organizational complexity and technical complexity; and perhaps other dimensions of complexity e.g. resource complexity, and structural complexity. Edward Ochleng (2013) this paper tells that the construction project success is related to the project complexity which affects the overall performance of the project. It also tells that the construction project is not complex but during the implementation process it becomes more complex. Complexity is also a critical throughout the project life cycle and which plans are developed to manage the complexity that arises in the project. It has concluded that without any editor@iaeme.com

3 B. Priyadharsini and V. Rathinakumar endless coordination during the delivery of the project there will arise a effective project complexity management. Qinghua He (2014) it leads to the complexity that arises in the mega project that takes place. In this complexity is difficult in the construction projects. The complexity is categorized into six frameworks as techonological, organizational, goal, environmental, cultural and information complexities will help to measure the complexity of megaproject construction. In this a fuzzy analytic technique is used measure the complexity which is a advanced version of the analytical network processing. Bac Dao (2016) this study provide a constructive approach to identify and assess project complexity as a several factor influencing project. Project complexity was described in terms of managing projects rather than the project physical features to ensure the results can be generalized across different industries. This research finding helps in project management field in developing an appropriate strategy to manage project complexity effectively. Sven Bertelsen (2016) the paper introduces the world of complex systems and examines construction in this perspective and by that it proposes several new elements to the understanding of project management. The complexity has been explained in three perspectives as first, second and third. Complexity seems to provide a fruitful new understanding of the construction process and is should thus be an inspiration to new approaches to project management such as the organizing, planning and controlling process. Seungjun Ahn (2016) this study is about the effectiveness of the complexity and the interface management in the large scale engineering and construction projects. In this study the complexity is also divided into several categories as we seen in the previous literature as technological complexity and the organizational complexity. This results in that the components of the complexity such as the uncertainty, technological and scope which make it difficult to effectively manage the interface in the projects. Bac Dao (2016) the complexity theory defines generally what a complex system is within the specific area of interest, computer science and studies the interaction between the elements in that system. This paper defines complexity as the system is a whole that consists of several elements interacting with each other in many different ways. The degree of project complexity was determined by identifying and measuring the complexity attributes. One limitation to this paper is that this separate, second contribution of the research project, the process of developing complexity management strategy, and will be published in another paper. Sharareh Kermanshachi (2016) in this study it deals with the complexity which affects the construction projects. This also study on identifying the strategies which manage the complexity to increase the success of the project. The Delphi method is used in the study to analyze the complexity of the project. The research paper has been concluded that a good team should first be identified and to manage the complexity a better strategy has to be identified to complete the project without any difficulty. Lan Luo (2016) the relation between the complexity and the success of the project has been identified. Complexity is defined as having many interacting parts but the complexity deals with the interactions between the numbers of parts present in the project. Here the project success indicators should be in consideration for the analysis. In this study the author grouped the project complexity into six frame which are the technological, goal, environmental, information, cultural and the organizational complexities which we have already seen the before literature. The factors influencing the project complexity has been identified by the correlation analysis and also the reliability analysis to check whether the data collected by the questionnaire is reliable or not for the further analysis editor@iaeme.com

4 Assessment of Factors Influencing Construction Project Complexity (CPC) Serghei Floricel (2016) this research investigates how the complexity influence the project. It defines that the complexity is the major source of uncertainty and risks in the projects which affect the cost and performance of the projects. Different analyses were used to measure the complexity of the project. The research also focuses on the complexity as an intrinsic property which is divided into static standard and the dynamic standard. J.R.San Cristobal (2017) in this study the concept of project complexity is analyzed and the main model that affect the complexity in the project. The complexity is defined as the number of different elements in system as it is complicacy and the number of elements in a system and the possible relation among these elements as complexity. In this paper it has been concluded that the complexity model must take into account not only the number of elements and their interdependencies but also the social and political context and the project manager s skills to achieve a good complexity model. Nan Gao (2018) this paper differentiate three types of the project complexity and it illustrates the relationship and performance risks that caused by each project complexity dimension. This research also distinguishes the types of contractual functions that affect the type of project complexity. The result shows that the contractual coordination can deal with risks induced by the technological, organizational and environmental complexity. 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Data were gathered through a questionnaire. The questionnaire consists of two parts the first part include the demographic details of the respondents whereas the second part consists of the factors that affect the project complexity in the construction. The ratings are 5=strongly disagree, 4=disagree, 3=neither disagree nor agree, 2=agree, 1=strongly agree. The questionnaire survey has been collected from 50 respondents. To check the internal consistency the data were subjected to reliability analysis. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics to obtain the percentage analysis of demographic profile of the respondents. It also includes the one way ANOVA (Analysis of variance) test and Pearson correlation test to identifies the factors which influencing the overall project complexity in the construction. This analysis was done using the SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Science). 4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 4.1. Reliability analysis Cronbach s alpha measures the set of values or items into a single or a group of individuals. In such cases we ask a series of questions and combine the answers into a single numerical value. It is used to measure the reliability. The value does not indicate that as a single dimension, if a cronbach s alpha value is high additional analyses to be performed to identify the dimensionality. Cronbach s alpha can be written as a function of the number of test items and the average inter-correlation among the items. Table 1 Reliability analysis Cronbach s alpha N of items Inference Reliability analysis leads to accurate or precision measurement in order to determine the internal consistency of the research. From the above table the cronbach s alpha value is which is higher than the standard value Then the reliability is accurate for the further analysis editor@iaeme.com

5 B. Priyadharsini and V. Rathinakumar 4.2. Frequency analysis The overall description of the participant are mentioned in the below table 2. Involvement of the respondent demographic details is obtained as per the frequency analysis which is given below. The gender participation shows that the involvement of male is more in the projects. In the educational qualification the response is more in ug and pg compare to the diploma and doctoral. The maximum of project has been done in greater than 60 lakhs in the construction project. Table 2 Descriptive analysis Profile Age Gender Education Qualification No of projects Experience Current project type Cost of current project Location Frequency analysis of the demographic details Maximum Classes First Second Third Fourth Sorting Less than Percentage 46.2% 32.4% 12% 10% Sorting Male Female Percentage 90% 10.1% Sorting Diploma Ug Pg Doctoral Percentage 6% 60.6% 28% 10.5% Sorting Less than Percentage 36% 10.5% 6% 7.2% Sorting Less than Percentage 11% 17.6% 13% 11.5% Sorting Residential Infrastructural Commercial Special works Percentage 7% 22% 2% 19.5% Sorting Less than Percentage 10% 15% 20% 46.3% Sorting Rural Urban Semi-urban Metro politan Percentage 42.2% 33.6% 24.2% 20% 4.3. One way ANOVA test The one way ANOVA is the short for Analysis of Variance. It is used to determine whether there is statically significant between the two or more independent groups. The factors determining the project complexity versus the outcome of the project with respect to the time. Table 3 One Way ANOVA analysis Factors F Significant Result Organizational Accepted null Operational and technological Rejected null Planning and management Accepted null Environmental aspect Rejected null Uncertainty aspect Rejected null editor@iaeme.com

6 Assessment of Factors Influencing Construction Project Complexity (CPC) Inference From the above table it is interpreted that the null hypothesis is accepted in case of the organizational, planning and management which means there is no significant relationship between the factors that determine the project complexity. Whereas from the table, it is evident that the null hypothesis is rejected in the case of operational and technological, environmental aspect and the uncertainty that is there is significant relationship at 5% and 1% with a level of p<0.05 thereby showing their contribution towards project performance with time Pearson correlation analysis The Pearson correlation will produce a sample correlation coefficient, r which measures the strength and the linear relationships between pairs of continuous variable. Factor that determining the project complexity versus the outcome of the construction projects with respect to time is shown in the below table. Table 4 correlation analysis Factors R Significant Result Organizational Positive Operational and technological Positive Planning and management Negative Environmental aspect Positive Uncertainty Positive Inference From the above table it is clear that the factors such as organizational, operational and technological, environmental aspect, uncertainty have a positive value. Therefore has a significant relationship with project outcome resulting in effective construction project without any complexity in the project. Whereas the factors planning and management has a negative value indicating that they should be concentrated to avoid project complexity. 5. CONCLUSION From this research finding it comes to a conclusion that the project complexity is the major issues that influence the construction project. In this the major factor which affect the project complexity are the operational and technological, planning and management, environmental and the uncertainty. These are factors which has a major impact on stimulating the complexity in the construction project. REFERENCES [1] David Baccarini The concept of project complexity a review, International journal of project management, vol 14, no 4, pp , [2] Khaled M.Nassar Developing a complexity measure for project schedule, ASCE Journal of construction engineering and management, vol 132, no 6, [3] Christian Brockman Complexity of mega project, the international council for research and innovation in building and construction, vol 31, [4] Dmitri s Antoniadis Exploring complexity in construction projects, Conference on project management advances, training &certification in the Mediterranean, [5] Saleem Gul, Revisiting project complexity: towards a comprehensive model of project complexity, 2nd International conference on construction and project management, vol 15, editor@iaeme.com

7 B. Priyadharsini and V. Rathinakumar [6] Edward Ochieng Managing project complexity in construction projects-the way forward, Journal of architectural engineering and technology, [7] Qinghua He, Measuring the complexity of mega projects, International journal of project management, [8] Bac Dao, Exploring and assessing project complexity, ASCE Journal of construction engineering and management, vol 143, [9] Sven Bertlesen, Complexity construction in a new perspective, International group for lean construction conference, [10] Seungjun Ahn, Exploratory study on effectiveness of interface-management practices in dealing with project complexity in large scale engineering project management, [11] Bac Dao, Identifying and measuring project complexity, International conference on sustainable design, engineering and construction, [12] Sharareh Kermanshachi An empirical study on identifying project complexity management strategies, International conference on sustainable design, engineering and construction, [13] Lan Luo Investigating the relationship between project complexity and success in complex construction projects, ASCE journal of construction engineering and management, vol 33, [14] Serghei Floricel Complexity, uncertainty-reduction strategies, and project performance, International journal of project management, vol 34, [15] J.R.San Cristobal Complexity in project management, International conference on project management, vol 121, [16] SS. Asadi and PV. Praneeth, A Comparative Study for Evaluation of Different form Work Systems utilization in Construction Projects, International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology 8(11), 2017, pp [17] Dinesh Kumar.B and Dr. Deiveegan. A, A Study on Influence of Risk Factors In Highway Construction Project. International Journal of Advanced Research in Engineering and Technology, 9(2), 2018, pp [18] Sumesh Sudheer Babu and Dr. B. Sudhakar, Construction Project Management During Economic Crisis. International Journal of Management, 7(7), 2016, pp [19] Nan Gao (2018) Addressing project complexity: The role of contractual functions, Journal of management in engineering, vol 34, editor@iaeme.com