It is a major challenge for project organizations to react sufficiently quickly to the identified early warning signs of project problems in order to avoid the occurrence of those problems. This article investigates project and project organization specifications that influence the effectiveness of responses to early warning signs in projects. Based on a survey of Norwegian project managers or leaders' approaches to responding to such signs, this study reveals that there are specific barriers to their ability to respond to identified early warning signs. Barriers may develop due to organizational factors, such as project managers' optimism bias, the normalization of deviance within an organization, and the lack of an outside view. They can also develop due to projects' complexity. The authors elaborate on Ansoff's management model by clarifying the mentality filter in order to better define the procedure whereby obstructions are created.
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About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. The construction industry is a labor-intensive industry, hence, the presence of labor with high productivity at each stage of the project plays a significant role in achieving project success. The main purpose for carrying out this study was to provide real-life empirical data about the current level of construction productivity, in this case electrical installation work, within construction projects in Norway. In addition, it was of interest to identify the areas which have the highest potential for improvement of labor productivity.
Design/methodology/approachThis study considers the construction labor productivity through an elaboration on productive vs. unproductive time within construction projects. It is based on a "frequency study" done on eight construction projects in Norway. The "work sampling" method has been used for collection of empirical data. For each project, four electricians were observed an entire working day and the amount of time they spent on performing each activity was recorded every 60 th seconds. The activities observed were based on a predefined set of activities.
FindingsThe results of the observations show that on average, 61.1 percent of the time was direct value-added work. This number is significantly better than what is normally discussed as being productive time. However, the findings also show that there is still potential for improvement. The activities that have the highest potential for improvement include "material transfer", "amendments to already executed installation", "personal needs" and "waiting times".
Practical implicationsThe study results will be of immense benefit to managers of construction projects as well as managers of construction organizations in enhancing their project performance and productivity.
Originality/valueThis paper contributes both theoretically and empirically to the current discussion and findings on labor productivity and its relation to project success. The results presented in this paper have important implications of labor productivity in construction projects and future studies in the area of project performance.
■In this paper, we attempt to provide an overview of the full extent of early warning detection approaches, which are directly or indirectly addressed in the literature. These approaches can aid project managers in taking corrective actions timely enough for preventing failures. The study is based on a review of the current literature within the field of early warning in project management and our own experiences gained from practice. An analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of each approach and their applications in different contexts are also performed. We conclude that the choice of the most effective approach is arguably dependent on the type of project, organizational culture, and the project environment.
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