Derek H.T. Walker

RMIT University | RMIT · School of Property, Construction and Project Management

The popularity of projects being undertaken using Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) forms continues. Delivery platforms include the Integrated Form of Agreement (IFOA) in North America, Alliancing in Australia and New Zealand, Finland, and the Netherlands, and the New Engineering Contract (NEC3/4) in the United Kingdom. Findings from numerous surve...

Purpose Price reliability for complex and highly complicated infrastructure projects is problematic. Traditional project delivery approaches generally fail in achieving targeted end cost reliability. However, integrated project delivery (and particularly Alliancing), develop a far more reliable and robust project delivery plan and outturn time-cost...

Collaboration between academics, and between academics and industry partners, is fraught with dangers of parties not understanding what they value and what their value proposition may be. Successful engagement between research parties requires sensitivity in crafting the research questions, approach and outputs/outcomes to meet each party’s value p...

This study is focussed on how some complex Australian engineering infrastructure projects are delivered through an alliancing process. It draws upon a body of research into alliancing projects and integrated project delivery approaches, undertaken over the past 20 plus years, and insights gained from interviews with five practitioner experts in thi...

This paper reflects on four studies of integrated project delivery in which 80 expert IPD practitioners were interviewed. Taking an institutional theory perspective with a focus on the cultural-cognitive pillar, this paper discusses how people make sense of complex situations and how they interpret what is the right course of action to take. The pa...

This chapter provides an overview of the content and context of integrated project delivery (IPD) through the medium of a framework that identifies and explains the basic components of IPD. This chapter therefore delivers foundational understanding to support this handbook. Chapter 1 presented the concept of integrated project delivery (IPD) and Ta...

This is the introductory chapter to The Routledge Handbook of Integrated Project Delivery,it explains the book's structure and other 27 Chapters. It Identified motivations to collaborate in an IPD form of contractual arrangement and explains what Alliancing is

It is increasingly expected that public sector clients embed work health and safety (WHS) into procurement and project management practices for infrastructure/engineering construction projects. Client practices in relation to the management of WHS were examined in a longitudinal case study conducted in a public infrastructure programme of work in A...

In this chapter, we present the SyLLK model as a tool to assist organizations in identifying the key components necessary for successful participation in integrated project delivery (IPD). By examining systems and systems thinking, we provide a foundation for understanding the SyLLK model and its role in IPD. The model views an organization as a se...

This chapter sought to answer the questions: Why is there a reluctance to share a common data environment and to collaborate in bringing together data that can be analysed and used for the efficient operation of the facility? What are the inhibitors to the wide-ranging collection of data and its use as information in the construction industry? What...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore recent literature on the impact of changes in the workplace environment and projected trends through to the year 2030. This allows the authors to identify and discuss what key trends are changing the nature of project organising work. The authors aim to identify what knowledge and which skills, attri...

The purpose of this pilot case study report is to explore, report upon, and analyse the project Alliance Package 1 delivery process to highlight a number of interesting and important innovations that the LXRP has delivered both from a process and product perspective. With 11 separate alliance packages awarded to complete the LXRP, it made sense to...

Public infrastructure projects must comply with the divergent and even conflicting demands of multiple institutional logics causing institutional complexity. Despite the increasing interest in different forms of complexities in projects, we lack empirical illustrations and rigorous theorizing of mechanisms for responding to institutional complexity...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore innovation in alliance contracting in the New Zealand construction industry in terms of features (i.e. development process, risk/reward framework and leadership structure) that could influence successful project outcomes. Design/methodology/approach This study employed a qualitative research methodol...

Managing risks and uncertainty are terms that are used interchangeably by project teams. Research on project procurement shows unexpected events in project delivery are often distinguished by these terms. This raises questions concerning how collaboration and coping ability help deal with inherent uncertainty and ambiguity. Using Weick's sense-maki...

Purpose Many literature reviews on project management (PM) research are limited to studies published only in PM journals but some reviews do expand their analysis on PM research published also in journals belonging to the management studies field. However, the authors found no previous literature reviews comparing the PM content in different sector...

When citing this report, please cite it as: Walker, D. H. T. (2016), ‘Understanding the Alliance Target Outturn Cost Process and its Implications’, Centre for Integrated Project Solutions, School of Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT University, Melbourne Australia. 77pp. This report draws upon a significant body of data gathered...

The project world is plagued with the interest and influence of diverse stakeholders shaping major project policy strategies. From deception, strategic manipulation to illusions of control, stakeholders using power and any other means to influence project strategies to achieve their desired ends: the tribalism and Machiavellianism of the project wo...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the extent of the continuing influence on project management (PM) research directions of rethinking project management over the last ten years. Design/methodology/approach The authors chose a qualitative research approach that involved reading all papers published in the International Journal of Mana...

In recent years, alliance contracting has emerged as a popular procurement route for large complex infrastructure developments in many countries. As part of a wider study to understand the extent of alliance contracting in the New Zealand construction industry, the basic features of an alliance, the alliance development process, the risk/reward com...

Background: Cross-discipline team collaboration between the project ownership team, design team and project delivery team is central to effective management of risk, uncertainty and ambiguity. A recently-developed framework that was developed to provide a visualisation tool to enable various project procurement and delivery forms has been adapted t...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore an interesting complex infrastructure construction case study project in which the initiation/design and delivery phases were managed differently, with diverse assumptions and workplace culture. It uses a recently developed collaboration and relationship-based procurement taxonomy to analyse the decis...

Purpose – This paper provides a brief critical analysis of how the focus on innovation diffusion, organisational learning and knowledge management has developed with an emphasis on the 2005-2015 period. The purpose of this paper is to provide a recent historic perspective on these concepts and suggest an integrated future focus for this research....

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore and explain the circumstances in which a highly collaborative integrated project delivery form such an alliance is the most appropriate choice of delivering infrastructure projects. Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws upon two previously published studies on alliancing to enable gathering...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a summary report and reflect on a recently passed PhD thesis (Sharaborova, 2014b) related to project management topics. Design/methodology/approach – This paper focussed on narrative reflection upon the completed doctoral journey. Findings – This paper presents the thesis findings, the research mo...

Purpose – The purpose of this Thesis Research Note (TRN) paper is to provide a summary of key aspects of a recently completed and passed PhD thesis. It enables readers who may be interested in the thesis topic to gain an overview of that work and a link to the entire thesis through a URL link http://researchbank.rmit.edu.au/eserv/rmit:160896/Taylor...

Project and program alliances have been an accepted form of project procurement for public infrastructure engineering projects in Australia and New Zealand (Australasia). Alliancing often provides best value and superior value for money when compared to traditional approaches such as Design and Construct, however considerable debate continues about...

A no-blame culture is widely accepted as a collaboration driver yet we see surprisingly scant literature on the theoretical underpinnings for the construction and project management context. A no-blame culture in project alliances, as conducted in Australasia, promotes innovative thinking in action. Innovation is dependent upon collaboration and tr...

Purpose – This case study was chosen for its rare, if not unique, project procurement strategy. It is, to the authors’ knowledge, the only example of a project alliance (PA) being undertaken within a public-private partnership (PPP) project delivery approach. The purpose of this paper is to explore the case study from a strategic perspective to bet...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present results and analysis from a case study on ethical dilemmas faced by client-side project management employees of a large Australian University. Design/methodology/approach – A single case study approach was adopted using the property services division's experience of potential ethical dilemmas that...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to illustrate, through an example taken from a recent research project, how rich pictures could be used to more effectively evaluate the delivery of projects. It has as its focus a detailed account of the process of identifying, interviewing and co-developing rich pictures with research respondents. Design/me...

A no-blame culture is widely accepted as a collaboration driver yet we see surprisingly scant literature on the theoretical underpinnings for the construction and project management context. A no-blame culture in project alliances, as conducted in Australasia, promotes innovative thinking in action. Innovation is dependent upon collaboration and tr...

Innovation and new knowledge often comes from an insight into associated areas of research or industry; relationship marketing has its roots in business and many industries have adopted a relationship approach to solicit work. An insight into marketing and in particular relationship marketing explains how construction firms can benefit from this ap...

The challenge of delivering construction projects that serve their intended purpose while meeting value-for-money criteria has confronted the construction industry in many countries. The call for a change in culture in project delivery organizations and their clients has also been well documented. The response to these challenges has been a shift f...

Purpose – This paper aims to present a summary of findings of a doctoral thesis on the impacts of contingent employment on IT project management (PM) practices in three large representative Hong Kong organisations. It also presents the candidate's experience of the doctoral process in successfully completing the thesis as a mature and experience PM...

This study was undertaken with the cooperation of the Alliance Association of Australasia (AAA) through identifying project alliances (PAs) from their extensive data base of members that were completed during the early to mid 2012. A total of 48 projects were identified and subsequently contacted, resulting in 13 completions – a completion rate of...

The dynamic and complex nature of project management (PM) in Australia provides exciting opportunities for universities to that are willing to actively engage with their corporate partners and other key stakeholders to develop program and course offerings that simultaneously address the needs of students, employers, and other stakeholders and furth...

Relationship-focused procurement forms have lately attracted extensive attention. Here, a first of its kind attempt of Alliancing within a Public–Private Partnership (PPP) is examined through a case study of the largest Australian infrastructure project ever. The project was set up as a PPP between a consortium and the state government where the pr...

This study investigates the variety of ethical decisions of project managers and their impact from corporate governance and project governance structures. The roles of personal trust and system trust as a mechanism to steer ethical decision making in different governance settings is explored. Nine qualitative case studies in Europe, Asia, and Austr...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe and explain the use (at the situational analysis project phase) of an innovation to a sensemaking and problem‐solving tool for aid relief and disaster recovery projects, that improves programmes to project management practice. Design/methodology/approach There are tools that can assist in understand...

Purpose This paper aims to present and describe a value for money framework that can be used on alliance projects to improve the consideration of, and reporting of, value for money. Design/methodology/approach Development of the framework used a combination of interviews with domain experts, reflection on practice and a Delphi panel to develop and...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between project delivery success factors, project management tools, software, and methods. Design/methodology/approach – A statistical analysis was undertaken using data from a survey from a purposive sample of 150 participants across three countries (Australia, Canada and the UK)...

We consider identification of early warning signs (EWS) in projects. Project professionals are not good at detecting or acting on EWS. Barriers that lead to this are identified. The nature of EWS and their detection change with the evolving situation. Project assessments, typically part of gateways, are useful in identifying EWS connected to the fo...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to report on findings from a doctoral thesis examining value for money in alliance projects. It provides a summary of the thesis findings, explains the thesis author's doctoral journey and the context of both the thesis and the university program. Design/methodology/approach The methodology of the thesis report...

IntroductionOrganisational ValueValue Generation and SCMEmerging Supply Chain Management IssuesCase Study of Supply Chain Management Triggering Total Business TransformationConclusion Acknowledgements

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between project delivery success factors, project management tools, software, and methods. Design/methodology/approach A statistical analysis was undertaken using data from a survey from a purposive sample of 150 participants across three countries (Australia, Canada and the UK). Th...

This research provides a deeper insight into the performance of alliances for the construction of road, rail and water projects. The principle objective of alliances is to align team member expectations so that they work together for the benefit of the project. To date, this has been a challenge, and as such this makes alliances an innovative appro...

It is what widely accepted that contractors have much potential valuable advice to offer at the front-end of project development. This concept is sometimes called early contractor involvement (ECI) and encompasses various relationship-based project procurement (RBP) forms. These are currently being globally adopted and adapted and at times this res...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report the findings of a survey designed to: capture the “real world” experiences of people active in project management (PM) in Australia, Canada and the UK; determine the extent to which those involved in the management of projects make use of the methods and techniques that are available; and discover ho...

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We compare selected project management practices undertaken almost 2,000 years ago with current literature on best project management practice. We take a case study approach focusing on a person who could be seen to have taken a project manager, project sponsor, and champion role. We suggest that some project management approaches used in Roman tim...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to emphasise projects as being part of a social process. It aims to move away from the traditional views that lay emphases on linear and predictable models of project practice to one that better highlights the complex nature of human interrelations. Design/methodology/approach The work reported upon involved a...

Project leadership has to adapt to meet changing needs of this 21st century if it is to remain relevant. The 21st century world has changed from that of the previous century with the global financial crisis (GFC) marking a point of inflection in this change. At the same time generational change and particularly in Australia, a move to project allia...

We reveal the ICT adoption strategic focus and implementation processes undertaken by six significant Australian construction companies and we also examine the nature of the supply chain relationships associated with their ICT adoption. We present a model to categorise and provide a profile of innovation diffusion adoption based upon an innovator t...

Purpose – This paper aims to summarise the scope, methodology and main findings of a doctoral thesis about business transformation in Latin America taken from a project management (PM) and communities of practice (CoP) perspective. Design/methodology/approach – The project adopted a case study approach in which the candidate was a consultant, embed...

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of a completed doctoral action research thesis that moved beyond focussing on the instrumentality of project actuality to explore project praxis as social process. Design/methodology/approach Soft systems methodology is selected as the process of enquiry for the thesis, to explore a perce...

Rework has been identified as a major contributor to cost and schedule overrun in construction projects. Previous studies that have examined rework are based on a limited data sets and thus eschew generalizations being made about the key determinants. Using data from 260 completed building (n=147) and civil engineering (n=113) projects, path analys...

Purpose The aim of this paper is to propose a way that the development of human social relationship capital can be identified and measured in a construction project environment. Design/methodology/approach Theory on the creation of social capital and consequent intellectual capital between parties to collaborative project procurement is explored....

Construction and engineering projects are typically complex in nature and are prone to cost and schedule overruns. A significant factor that often contributes to these overruns is rework. Omissions errors, in particular, have been found to account for as much as 38% of the total rework costs experienced. To date, there has been limited research tha...

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Purpose Development of staff learning enhances work productivity and sustains organizational development. In particular, design practitioners require both theoretical knowledge and mentoring with their practical experience. Without extensive knowledge, designers may produce design work errors that produce poor quality of work and this leads to proj...

b>Purpose – Competitive advantage can be gained in several ways including gaining a knowledge advantage (K-Adv). This paper sets out to report on the first stage of broad study to assess the effectiveness of implementing an enterprise resource planning system (ERP) from a knowledge management (KM) perspective. Design/methodology/approach – The stu...