How Communication Is Different in Three Types of Procurement Routes - Term Paper Example

Running Head: Case Study on Communication Student’s Name: Instructors’ Name: Course Code: Date of Submission: Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 1.1 Traditional type of procurement 3 1.2 ‘Design and build’ procurement 5 1.3 Project management procurement 6 2.1 Phase one: The pre-project stage 9 2.2 Phase two: The pre-construction stage 9 2.3 Phase three: The construction stage 10 2.4 Phase four: The post-construction stage 10 3.0 The role of communication in the procurement routes 11 3.1 Overcoming communication barriers 12 3.1.2 Communication Accountability 14 3.1.3 Communication Objective 14 3.1.4 Communication Recipients 15 3.1.5 Communication Frequency 15 3.2 An Example of an operational project communication table 15 4.0 Communication between the project manager and other stakeholders 16 5.0 Conclusion 17 References 18 Case study Communication in procurement routes Construction projects 1.0 Introduction Procurement as a process describes the procedures used by the project manager in constructing and obtaining buildings. In procurement a number of activities are taken which are aimed at ensuring that the end results are the desired ones. The commonly used procurement methods in construction the traditional method also known as design-bid-build, design and build method, and the project management method. The case study will compare the three types of procurement by looking at their individual characteristics as used in construction management, communication in the procurement route, the role of communication in the procurement route and finally discuss the communication between the project manage and other key stakeholders (Linnhoff, B 1992). 1.1 Traditional type of procurement Traditional type of procurement mainly involves the employer whose main responsibility is to work in separate relationships with the consultant who is expected to design and give specifications of the project. The design is then used by the contractor in performing the designed work under the supervision of the engineer. Traditional procurement as used in construction management is characterized by existence of the employer who is also referred as the owner, the project executor or the contractor, the subcontractors, and even the separation of the design elements from the construction ones. In this type of procurement, the contractor, the designer and even the project manager are employed by the owner although under separate terms. The architect in this case is the employer and he is expected to work fairly in certifying payment, adding more time for the project as well as deciding when the project is complete. The major responsibility for the project manager in traditional procurement is to act as a link between the employer and the design contractor (Murdoch & Hughes, 2007). He is also expected to act as a point of focus where information exchanges between the engineer and the design contractor. It is important to note that the project manager has got a very vital role in ensuring that there is no communication breakdown between the employer and design contractor. This is only possible if he is conversant with the functions of each party to ensure that communication is always effective and timely. This type of procurement has the advantage of offering independent professional consultation and develops variation thereby making the work more controllable. This method of procurement is mainly intended at becoming a linear technique to the construction process. The linear approach is attributable to time saving through parallel processing in design and building process however risk is higher given the level of overlapping. But it is easier to reduce this risk in traditional procurement than in other types of procurement. Given the fact that time can be easily saved, it is easier to reduce high costs associated to procurement. Even if the drawings and bills can be done through a parallel process by the quantity surveyor and the architect, it is not easy to make it a risk free endeavor because risk can be increased by higher level of inconsistencies. On the other the processing of bills of the likely quantities for negotiation purpose and also choosing the contractor while preparing detailed drawings, it is easy to save time and enhance the process of managing the construction project (Masterman, 2002). 1.2 ‘Design and build’ procurement Design and build type of procurement as used in the construction project, the contractor takes the front role as well as being responsible to the engineer for both activities related to design and the project construction works. In this case the nature of work can vary standard skill and care in executing design activities to a ‘turnkey’ process whereby the project is completely functional, the process referred to as ‘fitness for purpose’ liability or ‘ready to occupy, status. Under this type of procurement, before any ‘design-build’ is prepared, the engineer or the employer, must avail a statement showing all the requirements, which must always be accompanied by professional advise in order to ensure that the requirements are properly specified. The engineer is expected to ensure that there is no element of ambiguity by making sure that the standards of a given construction project are met. In many occasions, the risks that appear at the conceptual design are blamed on the employer or owner. In ‘design and build’ procurement, the employer or the engineer is likely to accept the responsibility of the elements of the project design conceptually prepared by the owner (Simon, 1991). In design and build procurement, cost control is expected to be easier than in the traditional procurement since there are fewer cases of time extensions for the contract time and expense. However, it is always difficult to achieve value for money, control the specifications and quality since much of these activities are controlled by the contractor. Given the possibility of having liabilities such as the design liability, workmanship quality liability and building liabilities, materials are likely to increase the cost of the project which is translated increased tender prices. Unlike the traditional procurement, the contractor in this case is given the biggest responsibility in controlling the interface between the design and the construction works. From the employer point of view, theoretically it is easy to achieve greater efficiency. Under this method of procurement, even if the building fails or takes more time to complete, the employer is not obliged in any way to confirm if it is the architect, the engineer or the contract manager who is responsible (Jensen and Tonies, 1999). This method of procurement in any way does not assist the employer in eliminating all the risks. Firstly, because it is not easy to evaluate the tender prices since the tenderers are likely to produce different design solutions which are difficult to compare. Secondly, because it is not easy to ensure that under-design is not part of the specification and there is no likelihood of having low quality workmanship at the construction site. However, it is important to note that in ‘design and build’ method, the main reasons for delay are almost similar to those of the traditional method. The only notable difference is that the employer is unlikely to have access to the plan prepared by the contractor and the construction progress records which makes it very difficult to protect it from claims. Any conflict arising as a result of design defects lies on the contractor, the engineer and the architect unlike between the employer and the architect or the engineer as it is in the case of traditional procurement (Masterman, 2002). 1.3 Project management procurement In project management procurement the employer directly recruits the works contractor. The employer is also expected to offer coordination to the management by use of the consultant construction manager. This way of operation means that employer is expected to absorb any risk associated to coordination. The manager in charge of construction is likely to be a major contractor although some other project related activities may be performed by the architect, the engineer and the quantity surveyor. This major characteristic with this approach is that it raises the status of the works contractor thereby giving him a major role which enables him to get involved in design, construction as well as programming in their lines of specialization. In project management procurement, the owner of the project plays the role of employing the works contractors, determining their size and also determining the kind of specialization that would be appropriate for the subcontractors as provided for in the traditional main project. The employer is effectively the main contractor and is entitled with the responsibility of finding and procuring the contract works packages apart from playing the role of coordinating the project performance. It does not matter whether the employer has it is own expertise or not, it must ensure that it has employed the construction manager or get someone from the design team to do the job (Murdoch & Hughes, 2007). The major risk found in project management procurement is that values tend to be very low with regard to the total project value, liquidated damages which are always less than the traditional main contract. However, the advantages associated with this method of procurement include: the early involvement of designing specialists means that buildability is possible and can easily be integrated to the design process. The different processes of the project can be easily overlapped in order to reduce the amount of construction completion time substantially which means that it is easy to reduce the project cost, the level of flexibility is higher thus making any adjustment much possible, no one individual who is in control of the construction site and lastly the process of payment is almost prompt thus creating some sense of cooperation and support. Some of the disadvantages that have been identified with this method include the following: the employer is more involved than any other participant, lack of proper coordination, there is also a problem of getting the works contractors to understand the new elevated role of management he has since he fear the challenges that are likely to come on his way and lastly handling and managing overlapping functions (Hibberd & Djebarni, 2006). Under this method of procurement, it is important to note that the works contractor can only work in a system where there is contractual status in order for the process to work. For example if the works contractor is only given the date the job should be completed and left to work on its own, it will be very difficult for the construction manager to track the progress and therefore jeopardizing the performance of the project is very possible. Programming is the developer’s responsibility and the project manager has to sequence the works for the contractor. The works contractor has no authority to coordinate the work by himself without following the sequence provided for the construction project and therefore do not have command over every part of the project. In this method of procurement, increased flexibility, reduced cost as well as enhanced quality has made this method the best option for traditional procurement (O’Reilly, 1997). 2.0 Communication in the procurement route In the construction project, the process of communication is very vital since it provides the platform under which the key players should use to exchange information throughout the project period. There are four main phases where communication is required, namely the pre-project phase, pre-construction, the construction stage and finally the post-construction phase. 2.1 Phase one: The pre-project stage At this stage, the strategic consideration is taken into account in order to address the client’s needs. At this phase communication is used to define and communicate the needs of the client in order to determine whether there is need to have a solution to the construction project. Communication is also used as a tool for securing an outline to seek finances to move to the pre-construction phase. The most important point to note at this level is that communication less considers the client unlike in the rest of the project phases. However, the model of communication always assumes that by approaching the industry they will the already established need by the client even though the evidence reveals that this is not true because it is more of speculative than reality. Problems related to translation can be tackled at this level by giving detailed information during the conventional briefing (Quatman & Dhar 2003). 2.2 Phase two: The pre-construction stage Once the financial outline is approved, the process moves to the pre-construction phase whereby the client’s need is supposed to be developed in such away to give the most effective solution. The communication process is used in this case to create a logical sequence which is used to deliver the already approved construction information. Formal coordination is important in ensuring that there is concurrent framework that could be used to solve any confusion related to design freeze even though it is a desirable aspect. Communication also assumes the role of ensuring that proper coordination is in place as one way of bringing all key construction participants throughout the phase together. Given the fact that the market condition is ever dynamic, there is always a possibility of having the clients decisions influenced thereby requiring a communication process that is consistent in informing the decisions made by the management team. From this level, full authority to acquire finances is communicated and consequently progression to the next phase. Through communication, the likely risks are outlined and possible ways to manage them are discussed (Quatman & Dhar 2003). 2.3 Phase three: The construction stage The main agenda for this stage is to offer a solution to the construction project. The full benefits of coordination and well planned communication are realized at this level. Incase there are some changes that need to be made, a detailed communication is done to assist all the stakeholders understand the need for those changes. The stage is characterized by a number of activities that are taking place at the same time and communication is expected to play a major role in streamlining all the undertakings (Quatman & Dhar 2003). 2.4 Phase four: The post-construction stage Once the construction phase is over, the construction process continues to the post-construction process whereby the maintenance needs are communicated for monitoring purpose to ensure that the constructed facility is safe and has met all the requirements. All management specialists are involved to make sure that all the previous stages were followed to make sure that the facility is not prone to many problems. The whole process is entirely full of communication whereby each player is expected to give the final report as the project is pertained. This is so because it will help the management team to draw the final conclusion about the construction. However, the post-construction phase can be made easier if all the records are kept in the project’s Legacy Archive for easy retrieval (Quatman & Dhar 2003). 3.0 The role of communication in the procurement routes In many occasions it is at the end of the projects that assessments are done to ascertain the level of compliance to the project specifications. However, many of the failures that are cited at this stage are mainly attributed to poor communication that existed among the project participants throughout the four phases. Those projects that have troubles at the end, management team always conclude that the results could have been better if communication was good. Apart from keeping every player to the project updated on how the project is progressing, it also plays a major part in buying and making major project decisions. Regular communication assists in achieving the project expectations, goals and objectives, needs, allocation of adequate resources, and budgets as well as status reports and purchase requisitions. To some level communication may prove to be very difficult depending on the nature of the project which may have its own uniqueness. For example planning for communication process is not possible in those projects that are short and only require temporal communication. This requires that communication channels be established very fast in order to beat the timeline. It is advisable to create a communication plan as the project progresses in order to meet the prevailing demands. Another area where communication has proven to be very difficult is where the project involves inter-organizational teams which are formed for short while to accomplish a given purpose who do not even know the geographical location which they are operating in. It is always advisable to develop certain devices that could be used to manage these challenges even if it is not always easy to implement the effective communication process within a short time (Simon, 1991). 3.1 Overcoming communication barriers Table1. The table below shows how communication barriers can be overcome and even makes it more effective in managing the construction works. The table provides the key areas that must be taken into consideration when developing a communication plan which include: the item/delivery, accountability, project objectives, the recipients and the frequency. The table only acts as a tool that can be used to improve communication. Item/Delivery Accountability Objectives Recipients Frequency Source: Cornelius & Associates, U.K, 2009 As indicated in the table above using the concept is very simple and it is easy to construct the project through little planning. The table is hand tool that not only assists the project team to comprehend their communication responsibilities but also assist the team by providing them with a plan that they can use to do the necessary communication. Before any project manager thinks of coming up with this kind of table, it is important for him to sit down and find out who are the likely people to be affected in the communication process also known Stakeholder analysis process. The process of developing this tool requires that a comprehensive list of all the project participants and team members including the supervisors, customers, end users and senior managers, and any other person who may in one way or the other be affected especially the vendors and the general public be done to provide a good basis for developing a proper communication system. It is also important for the project manager to try to internalize how the whole life of the project will look like to ensure that all key players have been factored in and that those people who need not to be included have been excluded. Finally the project communication table is developed once the Stakeholder analysis is over (Hibberd & Djebarni, 2006). The project communication considers five major communication items. These items include: the item/delivery, the accountability, the objectives, the recipients and the frequency. This part will discuss each of these items individually however it is important to look at them line-by-line instead of one by one incase of the project management. 3.1.1 Communication Item/Delivery The kind of communication that is done here is the one that should provide information on the kind of vehicles, channels and methods that the team members need to use to do the necessary communication. The kinds of information that is necessary under this category include the one on software updates, project calendar, the meetings outputs which include the agendas, the action items and the handouts, the needs of external merchants, the resource requests and many others. However, this list is never constant since it varies with the scope and nature of the project. During delivery a number of things are considered especially when the project team spreads across inter-organizational and geographical boundaries. It is because of this reason that the project manager needs to think outside the box about the vehicles that will deliver appropriate communication. Use of internet and email communication may offer creative solutions to intranet postings, notices and message boards. For communication to work effectively it is important for the project manager to assess the likely obstacles that may pose some challenges to the stakeholders before settling on the kind of vehicle to use for communication (Masterman, 2002). 3.1.2 Communication Accountability This category identifies the team members who are responsible in ensuring that communication takes place. It does not matter if it is the responsibility of the team members who initiate the communication process or it is someone else does it, the major responsibility for this category is to ensure that atleast ownership to communication is established and that if communication fails or causes some delays some people are held responsible (O’Reilly, 1997). 3.1.3 Communication Objective Under this category, specific objectives that need to be accomplished by brining in appropriate communication device are determined. A good example is when someone is charged with the responsibility of ensuring that the project status report is availed to the supervisors. In this case the objective may be to ensure he always communicates progress about the project status. Another objective for this case may be to review the project successes that have been realized and probably future targets. The important thing to consider in this case by whoever is in charge is to ensure proper project analysis is done in order to come up with more specific objectives or else it may force one to re-evaluate the true need for communication (Gaylord and Gaylord, 1999). 3.1.4 Communication Recipients At this point those people or groups of persons who are expected to receive the information. This is actually intended at making sure that communication does not fall on the wrong hands thus causing delays in project performance due to improper coordination which comes as a result of lack of or misdirected information. In order to ensure that all the recipients have been recognized, it is indeed right to ensure that proper Stakeholders’ Analysis is done. This will go along in pinpointing those project stakeholders who should be privy to the communication (O’Reilly, 1997). 3.1.5 Communication Frequency This is the final item under consideration which determines the number of times that communication should take place. To decide how often communication should takes place it is important to first identify the need for that information how the project is likely to perform incase this information is lacking. By doing this it is easier to determine how often the information should be relayed to the project stakeholders (O’Reilly, 1997). 3.2 An Example of an operational project communication table The following table illustrates how complete line of project communication table should be used. This communication is developed provided the project manager has appointed the project steering team. The project communication will then look like the one below. Item/Delivery Accountability Objectives Recipients Frequency Detailed Project Status through the internet John David, Steering Team Sponsor  To review project successes, progress as well short-term future project goals. Steering Team Members Monthly By using this table that was once developed by Cornelius & Associates’ Project Communications Table it is possible to tell who is responsible for what, where, when and how. By doing this, every individual will be aware of what is expected of him/her thus reducing the element of confusion among the employees when performing their tasks. As indicated in the table above, it is important to start implementing communication plan from the commencement of the project. In the ideal situation project failures should not be attributed to communication failure since strategic thinking and planning as well as Project Communication Table can be used to avoid them (Gaylord and Gaylord, 1999). 4.0 Communication between the project manager and other stakeholders Communication as used in procurement for construction project plays an important role in ensuring that every activity is recognized and done as per the project plan. This is where communication is done in order to assist in availing information to various stakeholders in order to create proper coordination among them. Since construction projects involve multi-functional teams and specialists, communication is very vital in transferring information about project cost changes, the challenges faced by the stakeholders and the likelihood of achieving the project goals. In a real situation, construction projects entail several participants who come together to offer a solution to the project design (Gaylord and Gaylord, 1999). However, for all these functions to work together and work effectively to deliver the intended goals, communication should be part of the process. It is important to note that for the construction to succeed there must be right people who are the stakeholders and include the owner/employer, the engineer, the architecture and the works contractors who must be provided with the right information. This is because right information is essential in helping both the project manager and other key project stakeholders to be more proactive in adopting the project view in such a manner that there is constant consultation among them than it is in the current case of construction projects. In general terms, communication helps both the project manager and other key participants to get involved in throughout the project phases by creating a teamwork environment (Cushman & Loulakis, 2001). 5.0 Conclusion This paper has introduced and discussed the concept of communication as used in procuring for construction projects whereby three main types of procurement which include traditional, design and build, and project management have been looked into in detail. From the discussion it is evident that these types of procurement have both advantages and disadvantages. In order to explain the concept of communication and how it works in the procurement route, four phases of a construction project have been discussed which include: the pre-project stage, the pre-construction stage, the construction phase and finally the post-construction phase. This paper has also discussed the role of communication in the procurement route and how project failures that are related to inadequate communication can be reduced by the use of Project Communication table which illustrates how various items can be handled in order to ensure that communication breakdown among the project participants is reduced to the minimum. Finally the paper has discussed how communication occurs between the project manager and other key stakeholder and how it helps in creating an environment where everybody is involved by creating a teamwork environment. In general terms, communication as used in procurement routes under the construction projects plays a very important part in ensuring that there is harmonization of all the project activities including the participants (Cooper, 2004). References Cooper, R 2004, Perspective - Third Generation New Product Processes; Journal of Product Innovation Management, 11, 3-14. Cushman, F & Loulakis, C 2001, Design-Build Contracting Handbook, Aspen Law & Business, USA. Gaylord, E and Gaylord, C 1999, Structural Engineering Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York. Hibberd, P & Djebarni, R 2006, Criteria of Choice for Procurement Methods; Proceedings of COBRA’06, University of the West of England. Jensen, W and Tonies, Z 1999, Communication in Engineering works, Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1999, p. 22. Linnhoff, B 1992, The construction projects and procurement route, Institution of Construction Engineers, Warks, England. Masterman, J 2002, An Introduction to Building Procurement Systems.; E & F. N. Spon; London. Murdoch, J & Hughes, W 2007, Construction Contracts: Law and management. Taylor & Francis E-library, United Kingdom. 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