A Systems and Contingency Analysis Applied to Construction Projects of Exceptional Architectural Design

Chapter 8 - Applied Management Strategies

Goal and Value System / Technological Systems / Organizational Goals / Individual and Group Dynamics / Organizational Structure / External Environment / Closing Comments / Return to Index Page

This chapter will utilize the hypotheses made in chapters two through seven to form a series of guidelines for a project manager on a project of exceptional design. These guidelines will tend to be somewhat general in nature, often encompassing in a summarizing fashion, several of the hypotheses made in the individual chapters. These guidelines will be segregated by the chapter from which they originate.

Goal and Value System

At the beginning of the project, the project manager should spend additional time and effort to understand, and attempt to clarify, the client's aspirations. This is due to the greater tendency for clients to seek intangible returns on this type of project. These intangible aspirations will contribute to the level of uncertainty in the project generally.

The project manager should allow for more time and other resources to bring the design of the project to a schematic level. This is due to the greater effort that is required to assimilate the "unmeasureable" and to transform it to the "measurable".

The project manager should clearly define the client's value system and communicate these values to the project organization. Preferably these values should be known prior to the selection of the project team and should be an important criteria in project team selection. The client's values will in large part shape the value system of the project, therefore the project manager should ensure that the goals and values of the groups within the project are compatible with the client's values. Compatible does not in this sense imply a congruence of values, requiring an internalization of them, but rather an acceptance of them to the extent that these groups can comply with the client's values.

On this type of project, the project manager should select the lead designer with great care, as this designer will be responsible for the interpretation of the client's aspirations, and translating them into a concrete form that others in the project organization can understand. Because of this, the designer will have more influence over the project organization than normal. The values of the client and lead designer will need to be more in congruence, as opposed to a coalition of values based on compliance.

For this type of project to succeed, the project manager should ensure that there exists strong client support, preferably in the form of an individual that has a high desire for the project to succeed, and who has the requisite authority to speak for, and guide the client organization.

Technological Systems

A project of exceptional design will more likely utilize innovative construction methods, materials, or applications than a project of standard design. In addition to other contributing factors, this innovation will raise the level of uncertainty in the project.

The more complex the technology utilized, the greater will be the tendency for the project organization to operate in a matrix fashion. Influence derived from expert power will be more prevalent than normal, and this also will tend to influence the project to a decentralized structure.

Coordination by mutual adjustment will become more important, and coordination by direct supervision and standardization will become less important.

The project manager should allow for the additional managerial resources that will be required to administer this type of a project. The proportion of managerial costs as a proportion of total costs will be higher on a project of exceptional design.

The project manager should allow for a greater degree of uncertainty with regards cost, time, and project control in general. Standardized methods of project control will prove less effective.

The larger the project is, even with all else remaining equal, the more complex and uncertain it becomes. Therefore, the larger the project, the more important that the project manager devise and implement a system of internal project coordination.

Organizational Goals

The project manager should be aware that dissimilar goals will exist between the different organizations in the project organization, and that the project organization is essentially a coalition. Attention will need to be given to the way in which coalition objectives are determined so that the objectives are consistent with the underlying goals and values of the project.

There will exist a higher degree of goal divergence than on a standard project. The goal divergence will generally tend to be higher between the lead designer and the contractor. On this type of project, the client and designer will exhibit more harmony in their goals than would be normal.

The lead designer will require the support of the client organization in order to survive the higher degree of goal dissimilarity between themselves and the organizations responsible for the physical execution of the project.

The lead designer will need to have a larger say in determining the overall goals of the project organization, as it is the lead designer that forms the basic design concept, which is a crucial variable in a project of exceptional design. Towards this end, the designer will need a degree of control, if only through client sanction, over the other groups in the project organization.

Individual and Group Dynamics

The project will be more effective if the work can be divided up in to smaller groups. These smaller groups have better cohesion, and will tend to be more creative. Smaller groups, however, put a greater pressure on their members to conform to that particular group's value system. The project manager should take care to ensure that these smaller groups do not suffer from "group think", and that adequate consideration is given to dissenting ideas.

Projects of exceptional design will produce a greater amount of information that needs to be processed. The ability of a group to process information will affect its most efficient size. In order that the group size does not get too small to be effective, the project manager should seek ways to make the processing of information more efficient, thereby allowing a larger effective team size. Much of this work by the project manager can be done by having an overall control of the flow of information, and in directing the various groups on the general content and format of information released to the project organization.

The project manager can aid in the flow of information and communication if he helps to break down status barriers both between and within groups, as these status barriers hinder communication and the exchange of information.

The project manager should try to ensure the most democratic working groups as is practical, as this democratic process gives the largest amount of individual satisfaction, and a democratic group tends to have a higher output. However, the project manager should insulate certain core areas of the project from the democratic process if a project of exceptional design is to be achieved. These areas are the formation of the underlying goals and values of the project organization, and the basic design concept. The project manager should ensure that sufficient support, particularly political support, is given to these core areas throughout the duration of the project.

The project manager should try to avoid a too rapid turnover of individuals and groups in the project organization, as this turnover will tend to put a greater emphasis on formal rules and specificity of roles, both of which are generally detrimental to a project of exceptional design.

The project manager should make efforts to foster a strong culture and sense of mission and identity in the project organization, as a strong culture, when attuned to the underlying goals and values, is an aid towards the success of the project.

While not normally a problem on most projects, the project manager should note that groups start to lose their effectiveness after about five years together. If possible, it would be desirable not to exceed this time period. If this is unavoidable, the project manager will need to investigate ways of maintaining the project organization's effectiveness, perhaps by instituting a series of intentional changes in order to break established patters, and to invite new analysis upon the situation.

The project manager should realize that a project of exceptional design will most likely have a higher number of talented individuals. These individuals will resist imposed organizational control. To accommodate these necessary individuals, the project organization will need to become more decentralized into autonomous groups. The project manager must then ensure that these autonomous groups are sufficiently coordinated within the overall project organization.

Organizational Structure

With regards the qualifications of the project manager Cleland and King [801] have postulated that managers of complex systems should: 1) Understand the technology of their business. 2) Understand the basic concepts of management. 3) Have the ability to get work done through others. 4) Have the ability to conceptualize and operate using a systems approach.

On a project of exceptional design there will be a greater influence of expert power. This influence will be primarily in two forms. One is expert power combined with formal authority, and second, expert power resident with the individuals performing the work. The influence of expert power will shift during the course of the project to those groups that can best manage the particular requirements of the moment. When the project organization relies on expert power, the project manager should endeavor to minimize political interference from other groups within the project organization who seek to influence the outcome in line with their own sub-goals.

The project manager should determine the key individuals in the project, and should work to establish an informal (i.e. not necessarily contractual) core group to see the project through for most of the project's duration. The project manager should ensure that this core group has a clear understanding and acceptance of the overall project goals and values.

The project manager should not rely as heavily on the use of standardization of roles for this types of project. The standardization of roles, coupled with industry designated boundaries, are detrimental to a project of exceptional design. The more uncertainty that is inherent in the project, the more that standardization by roles will be of detriment.

The project manager should strive to minimize the barriers caused by role designations in order to allow a greater flow of information and more effective interaction among the project organization, both of which are beneficial to projects of exceptional design.

The larger the project becomes, the more intricate the organizational structure becomes and the more difficult it will be to achieve a project of exceptional design. The large scale organizational processes and the use of standardization for coordination on large projects, both of which are detrimental to a project of exceptional design, will have to be firmly addressed by the project manager. The project manager can help alleviate the organizational pressure towards conformity by keeping the organizational structure as simple as possible; eliminating as much unnecessary uncertainty as is possible, particularly in the interfaces between groups; and to encourage coordination by mutual adjustment as opposed to coordination by standardization.

The more complicated, uncertain, or larger the project becomes, the more the project manager should strive to break the project up into smaller decentralized groups, each with a certain amount of autonomy. To the largest extent possible, coordination between and among groups should be accomplished by a process of mutual adjustment. This means that additional resources will need to be expended in order to manage the project organization, and this should be budgeted for, both in terms of financial expenditure, and in project duration.

In establishing these semi-autonomous groups, the project manager will have to very clearly define what are the key values and overall goals of the project. The project manager will need sufficient authority to ensure that the groups do not deviate from the primary project goals and values and subvert their energies into the principal pursuit of their own sub-goals.

It was mentioned previously that the overall goal and value system should be clearly defined and communicated to the project organization. Furthermore, this goal and value system should be established prior to the selection of any groups or individuals, and it should be a prime component in evaluation of potential groups or individuals joining the project organization. The project manager must make clear that deviation from the overall goal and value system will not be tolerated, and that remedial action will be swift and strong.

The project manager should note that in a project of exceptional design, as opposed to a project of standard design, there will be a greater emphasis on administrative controls, and the organization structure will have more salience. Therefore, additional care and attention will need to be given in designing the organizational structure, and the system of administrative controls. With regards the administrative and organizational structure and a trend towards which it may be moving, Stinchcombe [802] postulates that by the year 2500, the social and organizational structure in the United States might be likened to a major university, where groups would be independent yet unified in a common milieu.

External Environment

The project manager should be aware that a project of exceptional design will more likely have an uncertain external environment due to the differences in the values and objectives between the project organization and various interest groups. This will tend to push the project towards a more decentralized organic structure. However, in the face of extreme hostility, the project manager should arrange that authority is temporarily centralized in order to surmount the external hostility.

The more that the pressure from the external environment is diffuse, the more the project manager should attempt to diffuse the decision making apparatus.

The project manager should have a clear understanding of the goals and values of the society within which the project operates. Hall [803] argues that managers should have a broad knowledge of social change, and should understand how some historical processes influence other processes. The values of society, and those that are operative on a project of exceptional design will tend to be more at odds than on a standard project. The more that the project interacts the with external environment, the less likely that a project of exceptional design will be produced, due to the differing value systems, and the greater uncertainty. Therefore, the project manager should carefully define the project boundary between internal and external, and should monitor the interaction with the external environment, particularly with respect to opposing special interest groups.

The project manager will need to take special precautions in dealing with opposing special interest groups. For these groups to block a particular component of a project, they need only block either the recognition/acceptance, decision, or implementation phase of that component, while the proponents must be successful on all three of these. These special interest groups can exert a great deal of pressure on the project organization. The project manager should endeavor to negotiate and manage these groups in order to shield the project organization from their potentially disruptive influence. However, if the project's orientation requires an unavoidable shift in emphasis due to the pressures of the external environment, the project manager should transmit this throughout the project organization, and ensure that the various groups give the required compliance to the modified situation.

The project manager will not be able to use the market as effectively to acquire goods and services for this type of project. The highly idiosyncratic nature of many of the transactions involved in a project of exceptional design make it virtually impossible to economically define in order to use the market. The project manager will therefore be required to work on a negotiated basis on many transactions in the project. The project manager in these negotiations will have to strive to build a relationship of high trust, as this is correlated to the high discretion that this type of work entails. For the project manager to use a market system for the above transactions would be counter productive to the project, as innovation is stifled, and an atmosphere of low trust is established.

Closing Comments

In this dissertation I have attempted to demonstrate how projects of exceptional architectural design are different from other types of projects, and how this difference affects the managerial and organizational requirements for exceptional projects.

I have endeavored to illustrate that a project of exceptional design tends to be highly goal and value driven, and that this characteristic is widely replicated within the successful project organization. As our society progresses and develops, I believe more and more human endeavors will be conceived and implemented within a system that is predominantly value driven.

For those whose interest is primarily in producing works of art, I am afraid that our liberal capitalist, pluralistic democratic society is a major impediment to realizing a work of art at any large scale. While I do not advocate a different social order, as I believe our society has, in a Pareto optimal sense, brought about the greatest degree of human satisfaction than any previous social order, I only point out that the artist has a more difficult time in our society. In a sense, I feel that truly exceptional works need to be somewhat isolated and protected from our society if they are to be realized. For this reason, it is far more common to see exceptional design realized in smaller projects rather than in larger projects. In the former, the means of the project's realization are within the control of a few individuals, and are less likely to be subject to the leveling force of the democratic process.

For those who are responsible for managing a project of exceptional design, there are maneuvers that can be made to better realize the underlying goals and values. Some of these maneuvers I have attempted to postulate in this dissertation, but there are no doubt additional maneuvers that can be made.

In closing, I believe it is vital for those involved in the project organization not to invert the means for the end. Managerial processes and technological systems are only means, and in themselves they are inert and lifeless, and will not make a project exceptional in an artistic sense. It is the spiritual or psychic elements, i.e. the "unmeasureable", which ultimately determines the significance of a work of art.

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