Fair allocation of risks in conditions of contract is pivotal for coordination, unhindered execut... more Fair allocation of risks in conditions of contract is pivotal for coordination, unhindered execution, dispute resolution and maintenance of positive relationship among the parties executing the contract. Pakistani construction industry despite subcontracting a large percentage of construction projects lacks standard conditions of subcontract and they are primarily based on the will of the prime contractor that is onerous for the subcontractor.
Repair & maintenance (R&M) activities of buildings and structures are inescapable: aging, constan... more Repair & maintenance (R&M) activities of buildings and structures are inescapable: aging, constant use (causing wear and tear), likely defects of design and construction, and the consequences of environmental agents and vulnerabilities cause the deterioration of building components over a period of time. R&M decisions are partly dictated by policies and regulations in the developed world, however the situation exacerbates in developing countries where large number of externalities dictates these decisions: lack of budget, enforcing regulation and building standards to name a few. These and other inherent uncertainties grow to be considerable risks of strange and inimitable nature which demand an active and customized management. There is a strong incentive if effective risk management is launched and established in R&M projects: better cost control, higher serviceability, lower facility down time and improved reputation along with the enhanced satisfaction on part of occupants and u...
Project Risk Management has been gaining acceptance amongst the practitioners due to an untiring ... more Project Risk Management has been gaining acceptance amongst the practitioners due to an untiring stress on its importance, and the availability of a number of risk analysis techniques for facilitating this task in construction project management. In this arena, the selection of a suitable risk analysis technique is critical to the entire project risk management process and thus critical to the success of a construction project. However, the availability of an appropriate selection methodology, which may help the project managers choose a suitable methodology for their projects, seems missing. In this paper a selection framework methodology is presented, which looks at the realization of a practical tool that may help project managers and construction practitioners in choosing a suitable risk analysis technique that satisfies select project drivers. Also, the presented work extends the traditional time, cost and quality drivers of a project by enhancing the focus to the level of comp...
Project Risk Management (PRM) is gaining attention from researchers and practitioners in the form... more Project Risk Management (PRM) is gaining attention from researchers and practitioners in the form of sophisticated tools and techniques to help construction managers perform risk management. However, the large variety of techniques has made selecting an appropriate solution a complex and risky task in itself. Accordingly, this study proposes a practical framework methodology to assist construction project managers and practitioners in choosing a suitable risk analysis technique based on select project drivers. Additionally, the methodology transforms the traditional triple constraints by broadening the focus from the project to a combination of the project and PM organization. Scale harmonization is achieved by dividing the selected project drivers and risk analysis categories into four levels. The applicability and efficiency of the methodology is demonstrated in two actual construction projects by creating a radar chart and performing their ex-post risk analysis with the help of the developed technique. The study contributes to the existing body of knowledge on PRM as a practical tool that helps project managers select suitable risk analysis techniques under given project characteristics.
Successful project management (PM) aims at achieving the triple-constraint (time, cost and qualit... more Successful project management (PM) aims at achieving the triple-constraint (time, cost and quality), respecting the elasticity between the three main drivers. To facilitate this, PM activities are supported by project risk management (PRM) in foresight and earned value management (EVM) in hindsight. Both PRM and EVM, being industry standards, facilitate to plan, and afterwards monitor and control the project cost. However, the two fields do not necessarily interact with each other which, in turn, hinders critical managerial decision making of releasing contingency reserves if demanded by the client since the money can be used as capital for other projects. Also, when inquired at any given point in time (corresponding to partial project completion), the project managers (PMs) find it tricky and challenging to confidently declare the adequacy of existing reserves till the project completion This provides research impetus for potential EVM-PRM integration and managing the contingency adjusted due to risk in the project. There is hardly any literature on this integration, resulting in lack of any viable framework to facilitate critical decision making. With objective to formulate a framework -coupled with necessary tools and techniques -this paper proposes the incorporation of EVM and PRM which aims at not only expanding the body of knowledge in the field of 'project control' 1 but also assist the PMs in securely and successfully steering the project to close out. The research is still in progress and no conclusive details are furnished as yet.
Building repair & maintenance (R&M) are inevitable: building components deteriorate with time due... more Building repair & maintenance (R&M) are inevitable: building components deteriorate with time due to aging, constant use -causing wear and tear, possible design and construction defects, and the consequences of environmental agents and vulnerabilities. The situation worsens in developing countries where large number of externalities dictates the R&M decisions: lack of budget, enforcing regulation and building standards to name a few. These and other inherent uncertainties grow to be considerable risks of peculiar nature, which demand an active and customized management. The need to manage risk of R&M projects is paramount: starting from affective identification to seamless analysis, and suitable response planning to meticulous monitoring and control, a custom-structured project risk management (PRM) framework -a combination of specialized tools and techniques -will greatly help by considering how risky these undertakings are, dealing with apparent threats and converting them into opportunities. To this end, this paper, after reviewing the R&M state of affairs in developing countries, proposes a functional PRM framework to manage R&M risk.
Project Risk Management has been gaining acceptance amongst the practitioners due to an untiring ... more Project Risk Management has been gaining acceptance amongst the practitioners due to an untiring stress on its importance, and the availability of a number of risk analysis techniques for facilitating this task in construction project management. In this arena, the selection of a suitable risk analysis technique is critical to the entire project risk management process and thus critical to the success of a construction project. However, the availability of an appropriate selection methodology, which may help the project managers choose a suitable methodology for their projects, seems missing. the proposed chart. Applicability of the framework methodology is finally presented followed by conclusions and future research directions.
Construction industry is at the forefront of risk: it involves situations where uncertainty is a ... more Construction industry is at the forefront of risk: it involves situations where uncertainty is a norm. Based on the volatility built into the very nature of this industry, risk management has been an integral part of construction management. The variety of risks faced in construction industry is enormous and there are correspondingly various techniques available to respond to the critical situations. Quantitative analysis techniques, based on their sophisticated mathematical, statistical and scientific background, promise a detailed and thorough quantification and measurement of risk, which is very important for designing the response. A construction project manager may not be able to plan the response effectively without an exhaustive knowledge of the volume of risk. This paper presents a review of various quantitative risk analysis techniques. It tries to build an overall understanding of various existing quantitative techniques for construction project risk analysis. It initially uses results of a survey to find out the trends of construction industry, globally, in terms of utilization of quantitative risk analysis and relevant techniques. Further, it looks into the details of the techniques from the published material. Finally, it reports some critical findings from the survey and literature review, and their logical and scientific deduction by stressing both, researchers and practitioners, towards the need for simplifying the existing quantitative techniques. It also tries to identify some research gaps. In conclusion, it proposes areas of future research in quantitative techniques for construction project risk management by improving existing techniques or making new ones.
The area of Project Risk Management (PRM) has been extensively researched, and the utilization of... more The area of Project Risk Management (PRM) has been extensively researched, and the utilization of various tools and techniques for managing risk in several industries has been sufficiently reported. Formal and systematic PRM practices have been made available for the construction industry. Based on such body of knowledge, this paper tries to find out the global picture of PRM practices and approaches with the help of a survey to look into the usage of PRM techniques and diffusion of software tools, their level of maturity, and their usefulness in the construction sector. Results show that, despite existing techniques and tools, their usage is limited: software tools are used only by a minority of respondents and their cost is one of the largest hurdles in adoption. Finally, the paper provides some important guidelines for future research regarding quantitative risk analysis techniques and suggestions for PRM software tools development and improvement.
Risk management is a topic heavily researched and important for industry professionals. Both acad... more Risk management is a topic heavily researched and important for industry professionals. Both academic and industry perspectives are critical to advancing this field, especially in risk identification and taxonomy. A unique comparison and convergence of these perspectives is developed in order to understand the most relevant risks for projects and to ensure they are addressed in the risk management process. This comparison is created via a content analysis of the relevant literature and a survey to industry professionals. The differences and similarities among risks are analyzed, revealing that both perspectives emphasize financial/economic risks. The literature tends to focus on political; acts of God classified risks, whereas the industry places emphasis on regulatory risks. An elaboration of variations is performed aiming to improve the literature-based taxonomy taking into account the industry perspective to ensure its risk management process responds to these risks and provides a clearer focus towards future research.
Fair allocation of risks in conditions of contract is pivotal for coordination, unhindered execut... more Fair allocation of risks in conditions of contract is pivotal for coordination, unhindered execution, dispute resolution and maintenance of positive relationship among the parties executing the contract. Pakistani construction industry despite subcontracting a large percentage of construction projects lacks standard conditions of subcontract and they are primarily based on the will of the prime contractor that is onerous for the subcontractor.
Repair & maintenance (R&M) activities of buildings and structures are inescapable: aging, constan... more Repair & maintenance (R&M) activities of buildings and structures are inescapable: aging, constant use (causing wear and tear), likely defects of design and construction, and the consequences of environmental agents and vulnerabilities cause the deterioration of building components over a period of time. R&M decisions are partly dictated by policies and regulations in the developed world, however the situation exacerbates in developing countries where large number of externalities dictates these decisions: lack of budget, enforcing regulation and building standards to name a few. These and other inherent uncertainties grow to be considerable risks of strange and inimitable nature which demand an active and customized management. There is a strong incentive if effective risk management is launched and established in R&M projects: better cost control, higher serviceability, lower facility down time and improved reputation along with the enhanced satisfaction on part of occupants and u...
Project Risk Management has been gaining acceptance amongst the practitioners due to an untiring ... more Project Risk Management has been gaining acceptance amongst the practitioners due to an untiring stress on its importance, and the availability of a number of risk analysis techniques for facilitating this task in construction project management. In this arena, the selection of a suitable risk analysis technique is critical to the entire project risk management process and thus critical to the success of a construction project. However, the availability of an appropriate selection methodology, which may help the project managers choose a suitable methodology for their projects, seems missing. In this paper a selection framework methodology is presented, which looks at the realization of a practical tool that may help project managers and construction practitioners in choosing a suitable risk analysis technique that satisfies select project drivers. Also, the presented work extends the traditional time, cost and quality drivers of a project by enhancing the focus to the level of comp...
Project Risk Management (PRM) is gaining attention from researchers and practitioners in the form... more Project Risk Management (PRM) is gaining attention from researchers and practitioners in the form of sophisticated tools and techniques to help construction managers perform risk management. However, the large variety of techniques has made selecting an appropriate solution a complex and risky task in itself. Accordingly, this study proposes a practical framework methodology to assist construction project managers and practitioners in choosing a suitable risk analysis technique based on select project drivers. Additionally, the methodology transforms the traditional triple constraints by broadening the focus from the project to a combination of the project and PM organization. Scale harmonization is achieved by dividing the selected project drivers and risk analysis categories into four levels. The applicability and efficiency of the methodology is demonstrated in two actual construction projects by creating a radar chart and performing their ex-post risk analysis with the help of the developed technique. The study contributes to the existing body of knowledge on PRM as a practical tool that helps project managers select suitable risk analysis techniques under given project characteristics.
Successful project management (PM) aims at achieving the triple-constraint (time, cost and qualit... more Successful project management (PM) aims at achieving the triple-constraint (time, cost and quality), respecting the elasticity between the three main drivers. To facilitate this, PM activities are supported by project risk management (PRM) in foresight and earned value management (EVM) in hindsight. Both PRM and EVM, being industry standards, facilitate to plan, and afterwards monitor and control the project cost. However, the two fields do not necessarily interact with each other which, in turn, hinders critical managerial decision making of releasing contingency reserves if demanded by the client since the money can be used as capital for other projects. Also, when inquired at any given point in time (corresponding to partial project completion), the project managers (PMs) find it tricky and challenging to confidently declare the adequacy of existing reserves till the project completion This provides research impetus for potential EVM-PRM integration and managing the contingency adjusted due to risk in the project. There is hardly any literature on this integration, resulting in lack of any viable framework to facilitate critical decision making. With objective to formulate a framework -coupled with necessary tools and techniques -this paper proposes the incorporation of EVM and PRM which aims at not only expanding the body of knowledge in the field of 'project control' 1 but also assist the PMs in securely and successfully steering the project to close out. The research is still in progress and no conclusive details are furnished as yet.
Building repair & maintenance (R&M) are inevitable: building components deteriorate with time due... more Building repair & maintenance (R&M) are inevitable: building components deteriorate with time due to aging, constant use -causing wear and tear, possible design and construction defects, and the consequences of environmental agents and vulnerabilities. The situation worsens in developing countries where large number of externalities dictates the R&M decisions: lack of budget, enforcing regulation and building standards to name a few. These and other inherent uncertainties grow to be considerable risks of peculiar nature, which demand an active and customized management. The need to manage risk of R&M projects is paramount: starting from affective identification to seamless analysis, and suitable response planning to meticulous monitoring and control, a custom-structured project risk management (PRM) framework -a combination of specialized tools and techniques -will greatly help by considering how risky these undertakings are, dealing with apparent threats and converting them into opportunities. To this end, this paper, after reviewing the R&M state of affairs in developing countries, proposes a functional PRM framework to manage R&M risk.
Project Risk Management has been gaining acceptance amongst the practitioners due to an untiring ... more Project Risk Management has been gaining acceptance amongst the practitioners due to an untiring stress on its importance, and the availability of a number of risk analysis techniques for facilitating this task in construction project management. In this arena, the selection of a suitable risk analysis technique is critical to the entire project risk management process and thus critical to the success of a construction project. However, the availability of an appropriate selection methodology, which may help the project managers choose a suitable methodology for their projects, seems missing. the proposed chart. Applicability of the framework methodology is finally presented followed by conclusions and future research directions.
Construction industry is at the forefront of risk: it involves situations where uncertainty is a ... more Construction industry is at the forefront of risk: it involves situations where uncertainty is a norm. Based on the volatility built into the very nature of this industry, risk management has been an integral part of construction management. The variety of risks faced in construction industry is enormous and there are correspondingly various techniques available to respond to the critical situations. Quantitative analysis techniques, based on their sophisticated mathematical, statistical and scientific background, promise a detailed and thorough quantification and measurement of risk, which is very important for designing the response. A construction project manager may not be able to plan the response effectively without an exhaustive knowledge of the volume of risk. This paper presents a review of various quantitative risk analysis techniques. It tries to build an overall understanding of various existing quantitative techniques for construction project risk analysis. It initially uses results of a survey to find out the trends of construction industry, globally, in terms of utilization of quantitative risk analysis and relevant techniques. Further, it looks into the details of the techniques from the published material. Finally, it reports some critical findings from the survey and literature review, and their logical and scientific deduction by stressing both, researchers and practitioners, towards the need for simplifying the existing quantitative techniques. It also tries to identify some research gaps. In conclusion, it proposes areas of future research in quantitative techniques for construction project risk management by improving existing techniques or making new ones.
The area of Project Risk Management (PRM) has been extensively researched, and the utilization of... more The area of Project Risk Management (PRM) has been extensively researched, and the utilization of various tools and techniques for managing risk in several industries has been sufficiently reported. Formal and systematic PRM practices have been made available for the construction industry. Based on such body of knowledge, this paper tries to find out the global picture of PRM practices and approaches with the help of a survey to look into the usage of PRM techniques and diffusion of software tools, their level of maturity, and their usefulness in the construction sector. Results show that, despite existing techniques and tools, their usage is limited: software tools are used only by a minority of respondents and their cost is one of the largest hurdles in adoption. Finally, the paper provides some important guidelines for future research regarding quantitative risk analysis techniques and suggestions for PRM software tools development and improvement.
Risk management is a topic heavily researched and important for industry professionals. Both acad... more Risk management is a topic heavily researched and important for industry professionals. Both academic and industry perspectives are critical to advancing this field, especially in risk identification and taxonomy. A unique comparison and convergence of these perspectives is developed in order to understand the most relevant risks for projects and to ensure they are addressed in the risk management process. This comparison is created via a content analysis of the relevant literature and a survey to industry professionals. The differences and similarities among risks are analyzed, revealing that both perspectives emphasize financial/economic risks. The literature tends to focus on political; acts of God classified risks, whereas the industry places emphasis on regulatory risks. An elaboration of variations is performed aiming to improve the literature-based taxonomy taking into account the industry perspective to ensure its risk management process responds to these risks and provides a clearer focus towards future research.
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Papers by Jamal Thaheem