Queensland

Teams and culture

Relational Contracting, Culture & Globalisation

Value in Project Delivery Systems Facilitating a Change in Culture

(2002-022-A)

Problem

Implementation of relational contracting:

• throughout a range of projects

• with a focus on client body staff

Context

• Empowerment, regional development and sustainable industry

• Queensland government have experience• Successful on large projects• Need to examine skill sets needed for successful

partnering/alliancing

Rationale

• RM, Partnering and alliancing require a change of mind set – a culture change

• Client side must change along with contracting side

• A fit is required between organisation structure and organisation culture

Objectives

• To move relational contracting down the value chain– Audit required of

current position– Skill sets need to be

identified– Change needs to be

implemented

• National culture• Organisational culture• Organisational assessment• Commitment• Competing values framework

• Pattern of interactions among collaborating individuals / organisations• Structure of the coalition formed by collaborating partners• Pattern and extent of information sharing among the partners

Methodology – Value in Project Delivery Systems: Facilitating a Change in Culture

Diagonal sliceIn Australia it has been

identified that there are four levels at which RM needs to operate and that each level has its own issues:

• Principal/Director• Superintendent/project

manager• Superintendent reps/engineers• Inspectors/foremen

Benefits of RM

• Less paperwork;• More enjoyable to go to work;• People are more helpful, less destructive and

more proactive;• Clients can potentially make savings in their

operations;• Contractors can potentially make savings in their

operations;• Training and education.

Workshops

There must be a commitment from both sides to send ALL personnel along to the RM workshops;

and

To maintain a stable project team throughout the project.

A common language

Why RM does not Work

• Not all participants believe in the efficacy of RM;• Problems arise in communication and adoption

of proactive approaches;• A high turnover of personnel from participating

organisations is a serious impediment to the RM project;

• Project Delivery Strategy (PDS) is a key element in ensuring RM works effectively;

• Client buy-in.

Issues Raised in the Study

Organisational Change

Organisational Culture

• Acceptance of the existence of a cultural mismatch;

• Rationalising the existence of different cultures throughout the organisation;

• Legitimising individuals expectations of the type of culture which is appropriate to the company;

• Empowering employees to address these mismatches.

MISMATCH

Systematized Impersonal Mode

Discretionary Personal Mode

Developmental Group Mode

Salient Dimensions of Managerial Subsystem

1. Organizational ReferentCentral information system? Hierarchy & staff?

2. Coordination and Control by:Rules, plans, schedules

3. Resource & Information Flows among Organizational Levels, Units & Positions:

a. Direction Diffuse

b. Amount Low

c. Standardization & Codification

High Medium

4. Perceived Interdependence among Components

Low High

5. Frequency of conflict among Components

Low

Organisational Structure

• Clearly define the mode within which the organisation wishes to operate;

• If a mismatch is accepted, prepare a plan of actions for organisational change;

• If a mismatch is not accepted, then a programme should be developed to explain the situation to employees.

(cont.)

• The consensus/conflict results suggest an issue that needs further investigation – if roles/relationships cannot be clearly stated or specifically laid down how should this be addressed by client departments.

• A social infrastructure already exists within many organisations which is in harmony with relational contracting approaches and this should be further nurtured and documented as a learning and skills issue.

(cont.)

• Organisations’ management of its own clients, the temporary multi intra-organisation that is imposed on it during projects, is a key issue in the whole project delivery process.

• The role of informal relationships in problem solving needs to be recognised and legitimised, within the context of ethical behaviour.

Traditional Adversarial Approach

Long Term Benefits

Culture

• Reinforce all of the issues already identified and instil people with a vision.

How can this be achieved?

Long Term Issues

A policy issue arises here – including relationship management skills as one of the recruitment criteria, not just possession of, say, an Engineering degree. This raises the following questions:

– Is there a need to include this into formal graduate curricula and other training courses?

– One cannot include relationship training if it is not taught. Who will provide the training material?

– Should contractors be expected to and how can contractors train their own staff?

Client Management

Stakeholder CircleBourne, L. and Walker, D.H.T. (2005) Visualising and Mapping Stakeholder Influence,

Management Decision, 43 (5), 649-660.

Researcher at work