Pardis Pishdad-Bozorgi

Symbiotic Relationships between Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) and Trust

ABSTRACT As an emerging trend, Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) aims to address the issue of mistrust by using a relational contracting approach. Given that trust demonstrates a perceived reliability of an individual through time, one may question the role that a project delivery or contract could possibly play in building trust. The objective of this research is to analyze the relationship between trust and IPD. The research findings indicate that IPD and trust have a symbiotic relationship. While committing to an IPD arrangement requires an established trust, the IPD arrangement also further promotes trust. Committing to an IPD arrangement requires trust due to the existence of shared risks and rewards model and waivers of liabilities provision. On the other hand, IPD organizational and contractual principles further promote system-based trust, and IPD communication and behavioral principles further promote cognition-based trust. This manuscript contributes to the body of knowledge by providing insights into the symbiotic relationship between IPD and trust and identifying the trust-building attributes in construction contracting and more specifically IPD.

Trends of Assessing BIM Implementation in Construction Research

Building Information Modeling (BIM) is one of the most significant current discussions in AEC industry. Number of research on different aspects of BIM has been increased to show how this groundbreaking approach has impacted the industry. One widely used method to research on BIM is developing and measuring metrics to assess BIM implementation. This research investigates metrics developed in peer-reviewed papers to find trends of BIM assessment, and find gaps within the research. By reviewing ASCE database, this paper demonstrates that most research has focused on BIM outcomes, and research on BIM inputs and BIM processing is underrated. As a result, there is an extensive gap in research on BIM Input and BIM Process Assessment (e.g. evaluating human-technology interactions, collaboration, modeling performance, etc.). This paper also presents a method for developing a comprehensive framework of metrics to be used throughout the industry and academia to measure BIM implementation aspects and goals. A Part of the literature-based framework is also developed and presented in this paper.

Readiness Assessment for Flash Tracking

AbstractThe pursuit of Faster Fast Track or Flash Track is deemed necessary in today’s industry for reasons such as emergency rebuilds, competitive market advantage, and regulatory compliance. Flash Tracking has been defined as a time-driven project, which by necessity requires a heightened degree of concurrency between engineering, procurement, and construction. This paper reports on Flash Track readiness assessment algorithms that were developed to enable an organization to assess its readiness to execute time-critical or Flash Track projects. The readiness assessment algorithms were developed by defining the relative importance of 47 essential Flash Track practices, grouped into 6 categories using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). The weights of the practices and categories were determined by a 15-member industry expert panel, comprised of 15 Construction Industry Institute (CII) member companies representing owners, contractors, and engineering organizations. The algorithms were ultimately integra...

A Schema of Trust Building Attributes and Their Corresponding Integrated Project Delivery Traits

ABSTRACT Trust-based relationship is critical in building an integrated and collaborative team. Relational contracting like Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) is centered on the notion of trust and aims to further foster trust and collaboration. This research offers an in-depth analysis on how trust-building attributes are supported and leveraged by IPD traits. All the distinguishing traits of IPD are found effective in building trust. A few examples of these trust-building traits are: establishment of a core IPD team, jointly developed goals, collaborative decision-making, shared risks and rewards, and open communication. Additionally, IPD utilizes relational clauses and behavioral principles to influence an individual’s values and culture of trust. The research demonstrates that while IPD is effective in promoting trust, it does not warrant trust-based relationships, as the contract and team members’ characteristics also play critical roles in building trust. The key to success of IPD is establishing a clearly defined contact which equitably aligns efforts and rewards, and selecting the collaborative partners who have an established trust-based relationships and are committed to the IPD principles. The manuscript contributes to the body of knowledge by developing a schema of trust-building attributes and their corresponding IPD traits.

Case Studies on the Role of Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) Approach on the Establishment and Promotion of Trust

abstract This article uses case studies to explore the IPD contractual approach from the standpoint of trust. It comprises two case studies of comparable IPD healthcare projects: Project A utilizes a single multi-party contract and lean construction; while Project B is transitional IPD-like by nature, incorporating a joining IPD agreement in addition to several two-party contracts. On Project B, team players are co-located and benefit from having past business relationships with one another. Project A, however, lacks these two attributes. These case studies identified attributes that establish and promote trust in IPD projects. These findings validate a theoretical IPD-Trust schema already established in the current published research; furthermore, the findings introduce seven new trust-building attributes leveraged by IPD. Additionally, the study compared trust across the two projects, and found that having pre-existing trust resulting from past business relationships, forming the best team, and co-locating project parties could be even more effective in creating trust than having a single multi-party contract with lean implementation without these attributes. This research also found that a single multi-party contract is more effective at building trust than multiple two-party contracts, since the latter pose the risk of inconsistently defined roles and responsibilities, and variable risk allocation across different agreements.

Identifying and Prioritizing Best Practices to Achieve Flash Track Projects

AbstractThis paper presents the initial findings of an ongoing research effort focused on identifying, quantifying, and ranking essential industry practices for the successful delivery of faster fast-track, or Flash Track, projects. The research data collection involves literature search, engineering, procurement, construction industry interviews, and discussions with an industry expert panel. This research has extensively explored and analyzed U.S. and international practices and has deeply explored project execution practices in industries other than construction, including manufacturing, shipbuilding, and software engineering/development. The methodology employed in this research entails deployment of a three-round Delphi process and an Analytic Hierarchy Process to produce a comprehensive list of prioritized recommendations on essential Flash Track practices. This paper contributes to the body of knowledge by identifying and ranking 18 industry best practices essential to successfully manage the uniqu...