Defining Decisions Points to Avoid Escalation in Construction Projects
Author
Editor
- Bengt Hansson
- Anne Landin
Summary, in English
Conflicts between project stakeholders can stop or damage a construction project as well as
technical problems. It is not uncommon that projects are stopped or changed late in the process
with the effect that large amounts of already made investments becomes obsolete. One
explanation of this phenomena is the escalation of project decisions, where project managers
persist with a course of actions long beyond the point where it would be sensible to quit or
change the course. By defining decision points in the project process, time frames for evaluating
risks, social as well as technical, can be determined. Within in the different time frames, project
management need to determine how different stakeholders may affect project completion in
order to set the correct course of actions, at every single decision point, with the main purpose of
achieving an acceptance for the project from its stakeholders. Thus the main purpose of this
evaluation is to avoid escalation in project decision-making, due to the lack of knowledge of
stakeholder demands and conflicts. This paper discusses the phenomenon of escalation and
presents a hypothetical model how a project management could determine and define these
decision points, with consideration to risk and stakeholder management. Furthermore this paper
suggests how a project management team could use these decision points as a tool for
construction projects to set the right course of action in different stages of the project, due to the
perceived affect different stakeholders has on project completion.
technical problems. It is not uncommon that projects are stopped or changed late in the process
with the effect that large amounts of already made investments becomes obsolete. One
explanation of this phenomena is the escalation of project decisions, where project managers
persist with a course of actions long beyond the point where it would be sensible to quit or
change the course. By defining decision points in the project process, time frames for evaluating
risks, social as well as technical, can be determined. Within in the different time frames, project
management need to determine how different stakeholders may affect project completion in
order to set the correct course of actions, at every single decision point, with the main purpose of
achieving an acceptance for the project from its stakeholders. Thus the main purpose of this
evaluation is to avoid escalation in project decision-making, due to the lack of knowledge of
stakeholder demands and conflicts. This paper discusses the phenomenon of escalation and
presents a hypothetical model how a project management could determine and define these
decision points, with consideration to risk and stakeholder management. Furthermore this paper
suggests how a project management team could use these decision points as a tool for
construction projects to set the right course of action in different stages of the project, due to the
perceived affect different stakeholders has on project completion.
Department/s
- Construction Management
Publishing year
2003
Language
English
Pages
311-320
Publication/Series
[Host publication title missing]
Document type
Conference paper
Publisher
Department of Construction Management, Lund Institute of Technology
Topic
- Construction Management
Keywords
- Risk analysis
- Construction projects
- Escalation
- Stakeholder analysis
Conference name
3rd Nordic Conference, Construction Economics and Organization, Lund University, 2003
Conference date
2003-04-23
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISBN: 91-974618-0-6