The client's complex decision-making environment on international mega projects

More than ever before, architectural, engineering and construction (AEC) firms are working on international mega projects. The mega project environment offers a range of opportunities for firms but is but is characterised by a high level of risk and uncertainty. International mega projects bring together networks of people with differing backgrounds and cultures to work in unfamiliar locations to integrate the social, economic, technical and political components of design and construction. Within such an intense environment there is a process of rapid relationship development at an unprecedented level. The interests and power relations on such projects are often very strong given the vast amount of money, jobs, environmental impacts, publicity and national prestige involved. Therefore in a field as costly or consequential as mega project design and construction there is an increased need to effectively manage these projects given the associated high risks of failure. Internationalisation is a relatively new field of research in the AEC sector and past research has tended to focus on explaining the attitudes and behaviour of the industry itself towards improving performance on such projects. To date there has been little research investigating the sophistication of the international client in terms of their regular business environment which is characterised by a set of social, economic and political responsibilities. The values that clients ascribe to their everyday practices and experiences inevitably condition how they act economically, which in turn impacts upon project decision-making. Clients establish the structural organisation of project teams through the procurement strategy and establish the context for effective decision-making. To a large extent they establish a unique culture that project team members need to work within and make decisions. Since clients establish the context within which firms operate the findings of past studies on the industry’s position and attitudes are more indicative than enlightening. Clients occupy a distinctly different position in the construction supply chain and therefore experience and respond to project matters based upon their environment and not the construction industry environment. Clients are confronted with uncertainties and need support to help them understand the critical role that they play in creating good decision-making environments. This theoretical paper seeks to develop a rationale for studying the client’s complex decision-making environment on international mega projects. Specifically it charts the quest for improved industry performance through client leadership as documented in various industry and government publications since the 1940s and highlights that there has been considerable attention to address industry problems through client leadership, however, with little evidence that the issues have been resolved. This paper is positioned within a PhD study, which seeks to move beyond the aspirations of policymakers and idealistic descriptions of how clients ought to behave to explain the reality of what really happens on mega project client decision-making based upon a critique of cultural political economy.

Client leadership capacity on international projects : exploring the client's complex decision-making environment through a critical cultural political economy lens

The global construction environment offers stakeholders a range of opportunities but is characterised by a high level of risks and uncertainty. Internationalisation is a relatively new field of research in the AEC sector and past research has largely focused on explaining the behaviour of the industry itself. To date there has been little research investigating the client's leadership role. Much effort has been placed on positioning clients towards overall industry performance improvement, however, with little emphasis on the client's capacity to undertake their role. Clients establish the decision-making environment through key early critical decisions including procurement strategy and team membership. To a large extent they establish a unique culture that project team members need to work within and make decisions, which is the social and cultural embedding of the economic activities on projects. This theoretical paper is positioned within a PhD study which undertakes a cultural political economy perspective to investigate the client's central role in setting the boundaries within which decisions affecting budgets, quality, design, project organisational structure and team membership throughout the project lifecycle come to be made. A conceptual model for client leadership on international projects is developed based upon two contextual indicators which seeks to describe and explain the economic decisions clients make, which are deeply embedded in social relationships, shared meanings and cultural norms and the associated power and influence clients have on the political economy of international design and construction practice. This paper also seeks to develop a research question for future empirical testing.

Morals, rights and practice in the human services : effective and fair decision-making in health, social care and criminal justice

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Common sense versus intuition in management decision-making

The increasingly complex organisational environment has made certainty in decision-making difficult. Sometimes careful consideration comes before decisions, but sometimes rushed decisions are made. Successful outcomes can often follow from either process, but exactly why each approach works needs to be examined. A return to the epistemological bases of common sense and intuition can help to clarify the decision process for managers in the current environment. The paper starts with perspectives on the similarities and differences between common sense and intuition, drills down to the rational and empirical foundations of each, and then introduces a decision-making matrix that portrays the conceptual basis of intuition and common sense in the actions and reactions of the decision-makers. Primarily, this is a theoretical paper incorporating literature review and authors’ analysis of the interaction of common sense and intuition when making decisions. We conclude that it is pertinent to accept intuition as a valuable complement to common sense, and it is anticipated that the different perspective can facilitate the merging of critical countervailing concepts in the management decision-making process.

Use of aggregation functions in decision making

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Consumer decision making in telecommunications

The data analyses consumers' decision making processes in the telecommunications market. The dataset includes both autoethnographic videographies and experimental quantitative data.

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