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1.

Assessing how recovery interventions by public project managers in crises


construction projects in case of Berbera corridor, Somaliland.
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Crisis management process..........................................................................................................8
Figure 2: project recovery model (kerzner, 2014)......................................................................................10
Figure 3: Location of the study..................................................................................................................12
Figure 4: Research Design and Process......................................................................................................12
Figure 5: variable relationship...................................................................................................................15

Contents
LIST OF FIGURES..........................................................................................................................................2
Contents......................................................................................................................................................2
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................................3
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY............................................................................................................3
1.2 Statement of the Problem.................................................................................................................5
1.3 Research Questions...........................................................................................................................5
1.4 OBJECTIVES..................................................................................................................................5
1.4.1 General Objectives......................................................................................................................5
1.4.2 Specific Objectives......................................................................................................................5
1.5 JUSTIFICATION of the STUDY.......................................................................................................6
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW..........................................................................................................6
2.1. Crises in large construction projects.................................................................................................6
2.2. Crises Management in large construction projects..........................................................................7
2.3. Recovery of the large construction projects.....................................................................................8
2.4. Recovery Interventions being used by the project managers during project crises.........................9
2.4.1. Types of recovery intervention of a large construction project crises.........................................10
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY of the STUDY.......................................................................................10
3.1. Introduction....................................................................................................................................10
3.2. Study Area......................................................................................................................................11
3.3. Study Procedures............................................................................................................................12
3.4. Sample Size and Selection..............................................................................................................14
3.4.1 Sampling Techniques and Procedure........................................................................................14
3.5. Study variables...................................................................................................................................14
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The uniqueness of construction projects, the relatively uncontrollable construction environment,
the small-batch nature of the production process, the lack of mechanization and the
temporary multi-organizational nature of construction project organizations, make
construction an uncertain activity. This increasing uncertainty has to be dealt with, in an
ever more pressurized and lean environment, and the problems of doing so lie at the very
heart of the construction industry’ s problems.[1]
To define construction crisis management is to identify those characteristics which
distinguish it from crisis management in other contexts. In this sense, construction crisis
management is about dealing with problems that arise when what actually happens differs
seriously from what was anticipated during the process of construction. Construction crisis
management is distinguished by being about dealing with a major disturbance to a
multitude of condensed and intricately interdependent activities carried out by distinct
organizations with a diverse range of interests which often are opposing. This creates special
problems of social adjustment, behavioral instability, information management and conflict
management [1]
However, various unwelcome situations can occur during the implementation of a construction
project, which are based on natural phenomena (i.e., hurricane, flood, earthquake etc.), on socio-
political conditions (i.e., war, political crisis, financial recession etc.), on technical and
complexity reasons (i.e., inexperienced workers’ faults) or even due to site’s conditions (i.e.,
ground failures). Each of the unwanted situation can cause damages to the project, which vary
from delays, extended costs and changes, to complete cancellation (i.e., in cases of entire site’s
demolition). These unwelcome phenomena are called disasters (Blackhard, 2006), “crises”
(Loosemore, 1999) or “failures” (Kerzner, 2011). [2]
Disasters vary according to their sources, to their size and to their effects on a project, while a
project could recover from a disaster that does not affect its definition and feasibility. Project
managers and project management international standards suggest detecting dangers with
multiple available techniques, while they promote controlling uncertainty and avoid taking risks
that expose the project to hazards. This paper explores the context of disaster recovery in
construction, while it studies existing project recovery frameworks, methods and techniques,
which can be capitalized by project managers for recovering constructions from feasible
disasters. A recovery model is proposed that consists of appropriate perspectives that suggest the
proper reviving procedure. This model is based on the knowledge areas of the Project
Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) (PMI, 2007) and it could be considered generic for
construction projects. The effectiveness of this model is questioned by a group of expert
construction engineers, who provided this paper with their experiences for project recovery and
with the proper review directives of the proposed model. [2]
By the way, this research is related to the management of large construction project in
Somaliland. Ageing infrastructure, increasing global population and urbanization are trends that
drive the demand for large construction projects. When a crisis occurs in the context of large
construction projects, the cost overruns can quickly rise to millions if not billions of euros
(Hällgren & Wilson, 2008). In collaboration with the ministry of transport and a private
consultancy firm, where the project managers often encounter a large construction project which
they have to recover from a crisis, the researcher pursues his personal fascination for
investigating this phenomenon, referred to as project recovery.
The recovery of Berbera Corridor project that are carried out in Somaliland is the central theme
in this thesis. This project is mostly initiated and funded by Dubia government and monitored
and owned by public bodies such as the Somaliland Ministry of Transport and Road
Development, or other national government and it exist in the form of dry infrastructure and non-
residential projects. The aim of this project is to create public value and because they are funded
with international donor, terminating the construction at the moment of crisis often is not an
option. As a result, interventions are required and a project recovery manager can be appointed
to recover the project from the crisis.
Inspecting carefully Berbera Corridor project, this thesis focuses on the perspective and
interventions of the public project recovery manager: a public project manager who has received
the responsibility of recovering the project from a crisis. The manager can already be involved
in the project or may be newly assigned.

1.2 Statement of the Problem


Project crises are very common in every large construction projects. As clarified in the
background, public project managers in the Somaliland frequently face large construction
projects which are in a crisis. Due to the often large financial consequences of a crisis, project
managers have the desire to gain understanding of recovering such projects. Previous researchs
has elucidated the opportunity for a project recovery manager in effectively managing a crisis
in a construction project; if the project recovery manager is able to manage behavioral
change, with a focus on effectively influencing – not controlling – the social and behavioral
instability. Apart from this recommendation, it is however noticed that there is a lack of a
research on applying actual recovery interventions. Moreover, claims specified on interventions
for the recovery of large construction projects from a public project manager’s perspective are
even more difficult to identify. This observation is used to define the problem statement of this
thesis: a knowledge gap exists in scientific research on recovery interventions by public project
managers in a crisis of Berbera Corridor project.
1.3 Research Questions
The research questions that this proposed research study will try to seek for an answer; are as
follows:
1. What is the definition of a standard intervention, of a crisis and a successful outcome, and
of a recovery intervention?
2. What crises are encountered by public project managers during the construction Berbera
Coridor project?
3. What recovery interventions are applied by public project managers in Berbera corridor
project?
4. How are recovery interventions applied by public project managers in Berbera corridor?
5.

1.4 OBJECTIVES

1.4.1 General Objectives


Investigating how recovery interventions by Public project managers in the Crisis of Berbera
Corridor Construction project contribute to Successful Recovery Outcome: The Case of
Somaliland.

1.4.2 Specific Objectives


 Generate insight and understanding in what makes certain recovery
interventions, applied by project managers in a crises of a large Berbera corridor
project in Somaliland
 Identifying which recovery interventions, applied by public project managers in
a crises of a Berbera corridor project.
 Understanding type of recovery intervention which is suitable for a Berbera
corridor project in Somaliland.
 Knowing how the recovery interventions being applied by the project managers
 Assessing and finding a successful recovery outcome of Berbera corridor.

1.5 JUSTIFICATION of the STUDY


The road that connects the port of Berbera in the Gulf of Aden to the Ethiopian border and which
continues to the Ethiopian highlands was at the heart of the process of formation and consolidation of
the neo-state of Somaliland. It is, indeed, no exaggeration to argue that this road ‘made’ the state. The
aim of this study is to qualify and investigate the recovery intervention being used when some crises
happen during the construction this project. By integrating the road – alongside the port and the border
zone – into a specific economic and political project, these dynamics gave rise both to a transit economy
as well as to a commercial state.
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Crises in large construction projects
The potential for crises during the life of a construction project is enormous. However, many
construction problems arise from unresolved conflicts in design; therefore, better design
management could contribute significantly to reducing the crisis of construction projects.
[loose]. However, crisis is a serious threat to basic structures or values and norms of social
systems, which must be dealt with under conditions of uncertainty (Boin, 2005).
Crises can be divided into five broad categories of crises that are differentiated by their causes
and consequences, namely: technical; natural; political; social; and organizational. Technical
crises are defined by their human origins and their potential to cause major damage to human
health and the environment. Natural crises have the same human consequences but differ
fundamentally in that they are not man-made. Examples include earthquakes. In contrast,
political crises have their origins in political systems, wars, and public sector reform. Social
crises relate to events such as the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles (Quarantelli 1993) and
environmental protests such as those which caused considerable damage and delays on UK
road projects in the early 1990s. Finally, there are organizational crises, which relate to high-
profile corporate crises. Also included in this category are labor relations crises like those which
plagued the Jubilee Line extension in London, the first phase of which was delivered fourteen
months late and more than 1.5 billion pounds over budget. [loose]
Crises are a common feature of construction projects because of the long-term nature of
projects. Crises manifest themselves in sudden outbreaks of a large number of otherwise minor
unmanaged risks, or in sudden harmful influence of a major risk. Resulting crisis of a
construction project endangers primary goals of the project (budget, deadline, quality) as well
as good-will and know-how of company that is in charge. [5]

2.2. Crises Management in large construction projects


The ability to react swiftly to any crisis depends on its early detection and this is achieved by
monitoring potential risks to gather intelligence.
Unfortunately, traditional managerial values have diverted attention away from the need to
build resilience into organizations to deal with the unexpected. To prepare better for crises,
managers need to develop a mind - set that perceives them in a more positive way and that
ismore receptive to thoughtful, open, flexible, trusting and employee - centered
managementstyles. Not only will this reduce the chance of catastrophic failure, it will release
the untapped creative potential and energies that are yet to be exploited by traditional
managerial practices.[5]
Crisis communication is an important tool for crisis management in construction projects. It is
directly linked to strategic planning of a construction project, its policy and standards. It is
essential that a project´s communication plan reflects the organizational breakdown structure
by ensuring that responsibilities and reporting relationships are compatible with the way in
which information needs to be created, transmitted and received. [5]
The three ironies of construction crisis management are; at a time when effective
communication is important it is less likely Effective communication was found to be
essential in efficiently bringing about the significant social, monetary and technical change
demanded by a crisis. Communication was the mechanism by which the potentially
damaging uncertainty associated with such levels of change was reduced and an
equilibrium re-established. However, the case analyses highlighted the disturbing irony,
that at a time when effective communication was of particular importance, a crisis
created conditions which made it less likely. Two explanations emerged for this irony,
the first relating to information being a source of power in resolving conflicting interests
and the second relating to the volume of information generated during a crisis. At a time
when collective responsibility and teamwork are important they are less likely Each crisis
demanded an injection of extra resources into its host project, the responsibility for
supplying them, being determined by contractual agreements. These tended to allocate
responsibility distinctly to one party rather than to share it, a pattern of risk distribution
which had three problematical effects.[6]
1. There was little collective responsibility shown in crisis management, those who were
not responsible, becoming selfish in their attitude towards a crisis which they considered
to be another party's risk.
2. Distinct winners and losers emerged, resulting in resource redistributions between
project members. Problems arose as people sought to ensure that the resource
redistributions went in their favor.
3. Contractual documents became more important as a formal guide to responsibility
patterns and as people turned to them, differences in interpretation and understanding
often emerged. If not for the crisis, such misunderstandings would have remained hidden
and irrelevant. However, their effect was to create uncertainty and detract attention from
crisis management.[6]
At a time when mutual sensitivity between project members is important it is less likely;
The selfish tendencies which emerged because of the separated manner in which project
risks were distributed, were discussed earlier in this paper. While this selfishness was
attributable to contractual conditions, collective responsibility was also discouraged in
other ways. In particular, a crisis tended to generate conflicts of interests between
project participants with responsibility for the protection of different project goals. The
most common conflict to emerge was between those responsible for the protection of
costs and time and as a consequence they would often exclude each other from the crisis
management process in order to fulfil their own responsibilities. Since a crisis threatened
a whole range of project goals, the consequence was that some endangered goals went
unprotected.[6]

Figure 1: Crisis management process

2.3. Recovery of the large construction projects


Disaster recovery is the process of bringing the organization or the project that was affected by
the damage to the before-the-accident condition (Nigg, 1995). Disaster recovery is synonym to
business continuity, which is defined as a prevention and rehabilitation plan against
enterprise’s internal and external threats, which secures business integrity and
competitiveness. However, business continuity is mostly a preventive method, while disaster
recovery is a restrictive one. However, a two-stage model for the post-disaster recovery
process: the short-term stage where a reaction against the disaster is undertaken; and the long-
term stage that concerns the activities that recover the organization’s operations or the project.
These two stages overlap and their duration and the initiation are not determined. The plan
that controls the execution of a disaster recovery process is called disaster recovery plan or
emergency plan and has several attributes for hazard detection, risk minimization, safety
planning and resource capitalization. [2]
The recovery phase consists of the restart and the execute steps that focus on the project
management success triangle (time/cost/scope) and to a modified triple constraint system
(value/quality/image-reputation). An analyzed a number of case studies and concluded to the
following set of activities for project recovery: (a) effective risk management during project
planning; (b) the existence of a dual structure in the company’s organization for crisis
management and for catastrophe avoidance; (c) instantaneous communication of crises
between site team and project team; and (d) simultaneous operation of formally and informally
developed teams. [2]

2.4. Recovery Interventions being used by the project managers during project crises
Based on the definitions of crises mentioned above, the concept of recovery interventions
refers to the activities for improving the situation in between the moments of collectively
acknowledging the crisis and collectively endorsing the successful outcomes. Because of the
normative nature of this concept, it will be specified along the line of crisis management and
resilience theory.
Crisis management can be divided into proactive and reactive management, see Figure 1. First,
proactive management deals with catching early warning signals and preparing for a potential
crisis. Next, reactive management deals with taking the crisis under control and recovering to
the former position (Pearson & Mitroff, 1993).
Recovery interventions match with the activities of reactive crisis management, except for the
claim that the aim is to recover to the former position. It is highly questionable whether this is
desired when the former position is what contributed to the crisis in the first place. This will be
explained from a resilience perspective. There are two ways to recover to the former position
after a crisis reveals itself: simply restoring to the prior order or emerge stronger from a crisis,
which requires the capacity to learn. Resilience literature introduces two models for handling a
crisis.
The first is precursor resilience, which relates to the capacity to absorb changes without
destructive consequences. The second is recovery resilience, which concerns the capacity to
respond to unique events, that is, a crisis (Boin & van Eeten, 2013).
Building on the idea of recovery resilience and emerging stronger from a crisis, recovery
interventions are seen as activities for taking the crisis under control after a triggering event
and recovering to a stronger position.

Figure 2: project recovery model (kerzner, 2014)

Figure 2 presents a one-size-fits-all model of recovery interventions, retrieved


from practitioners’ literature. Kerzner (2014) distinguishes the evaluation phase
and recovery phase. First an extensive evaluation is made of the viability of the
project and a recovery plan is assembled, after which the negotiated plan is
implemented.
In the light of linear problem solving, this sequential model might be applicable to
certain crises. However, considering the uncertain conditions of crises, the model
seems to oversimplify the concept of recovery interventions. Therefore, it will
not be used as a guideline for defining recovery interventions in this research.
2.4.1. Types of recovery intervention of a large construction project crises

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY of the STUDY


3.1. Introduction
This chapter presents and describes the approaches and techniques the researcher will use to
collect data and investigate the research problem. They include the research design, study
population, sample size and selection, sampling techniques and procedure, data collection
methods, data quality control (validity and reliability), procedure of data collection, data
analysis, Ethical consideration and Plan for dissemination.

For any research, the decision between qualitative versus quantitative, breadth versus depth,
empirical versus desk research (Verschuren & Doorewaard, 2010, pp. 160-161), and inductive
versus deductive (Bowen, 2006) is of great importance for determining the research
methodology.
Qualitative versus quantitative: qualitative research aims at understanding and discovering
why certain phenomena happen. This research focusses on understanding the recovery
interventions applied by public project managers. Hence, this research adopts a qualitative
approach.
Depth versus breath: depth research focusses on a small approach with an in-depth, detailed
and strong foundation of the results. This research explores the virgin area of recovery
interventions, which are bounded by the context they are applied in. For this reason, specific
founded recommendations are of more relevance than hasty generalized statements. Hence,
this research adopts an in-depth approach.
Empirical versus desk research: empirical research can be done in the case of unavailability of
literature. The literature review done for this research disclosed that a knowledge gap exists in
scientific research on recovery interventions of a public project manager. Hence, this research
adopts an empirical approach.
Inductive versus deductive: inductive research suits qualitative research and can be used for
exploring new phenomena or already researched phenomena from a different perspective. This
research aims at exploring the recovery interventions from the perspective of a public project
manager. Hence, this research adopts an inductive approach.
3.2. Study Area
This study will be conducted in Berbera – Hargeisa - Wechale, Somaliland. The road that
connects the port of Berbera in the Gulf of Aden to the Ethiopian border and which continues to
the Ethiopian highlands was at the heart of the process of formation and consolidation of the neo-
state of Somaliland. It is, indeed, no exaggeration to argue that this road ‘made’ the state.

Figure 3: Location of the study


3.3. Study Procedures
Based on the general characteristics, this research can be designed with a qualitative inductive
approach, concerning the generation of in-depth knowledge emerging from empirical data.
The procedures to be followed to conduct this research study, are as follows:
Reviewed relevant literatures on big construction project crises recovery interventions being
used by the public project managers which includes: Articles, reference books, research papers,
class lecture notes, project specifications, and standard specifications

Objectives of the Study

Filed Survey

Research Design

Review of Literature

Data Collection Process

Sample and sampling technique

Explorative interview and Case


Study

Data Analysis

Research Findings

Figure 4: Research Design and Process


The design is divided into two stages, suiting its qualitative inductive character. The first stage
contains a series of five explorative interviews that increases the researcher’s understanding
of the context and which provides a descriptive framework for further collecting in-depth data.
The second stage consists of three in-depth case studies. Case studies can create an in-depth
and integral picture of complex phenomena (Verschuren & Doorewaard, 2010, p. 161), which
suits the desire to understand recovery interventions applied in a certain crisis context. A
number of 19 semi-structured interviews have been conducted during the course of this
research.
Several techniques are applied to ensure the scientific quality of the outcomes of this research and to
meet the demands of internal and external validity (Verschuren & Doorewaard, 2010, p. 135).

Internal validity is achieved by applying sensitizing concepts, member checks, source


triangulation, and hierarchic comparative studies.
Sensitizing concepts are used in the exploration in the field of study and give a general sense of
guidance for approaching empirical data. These concepts are vaguely defined, remain open
whilst exploring the data and in the course of the research, a more precise meaning is gradually
given to the concepts (Bowen, 2006, p. 2). In this research the sensitizing concept is recovery
intervention; which will be defined in Paragraph 2.3.
Member checks are a technique to verify the collected data (Verschuren & Doorewaard, 2010,
p. 251). All transcripts of the interviews are sent for verification with each of the interviewees.
For the case studies, the case and crisis description have also been verified with the project
manager of the case.
Source triangulation refers to the consultation of multiple sources from the same research
object, during the course of a case study (Yin, 2008). In accordance to this principle, for each
case at least two interviews are combined with one document.
Hierarchic comparative studies are a way of conducting the case studies, in which initially the
cases are researched separately and only in the final stage of the research the results of the
separate cases are combined (Verschuren & Doorewaard, 2010, p. 184). The technique that is
used for this comparison is the cross-case synthesis, which is a technique that aggregates the
single studies by organizing the data according to uniform categories (Yin, 2008).

3.4. Sample Size and Selection


The sample size is to get different opinions related to the research topic from respondents. Therefore,
the researcher will select a sampling frame of fifty engineering experts working at Berbera Corridor.
Selection criteria are according to the experience and qualifications of professionals. The respondents
include; top and middle level managers.

Systematic random sampling will be used to get the final sample size and to avoid sampling bias. Large
sample size is not preferable for qualitative data because it may result in the repetitiveness of data.
Some researchers prefer to use medium-sized samples between 10- 15 respondents for interviews.
3.4.1 Sampling Techniques and Procedure
This type of research is a descriptive case study, which will focus on (Assess how recovery interventions
by public project managers in crisis construction projects). Based on systematic random sampling, the
researcher will collect qualitative data using structured interviews and Unstructured Questionnaires.

The reasons for selecting the data collection tool are:

First, the structured interview method can be advantageous when researchers have a complete list of
interview questions since it assists target the specific case study that the researcher is investigating. It
makes for resource interviewing, and will gather the correct information that you need, so there should
not be much need for you to do follow-up interviews for missed or forgotten questions.

Secondly, unstructured questionnaires consolidate qualitative data. The questions are more open-ended
to collect specific data and to get further information from participants.

3.5. Study variables


 Independent Variables : recovery interventions ( )
 Dependent Variables: construction projects.

RECOVARY
CONSTRUCTION PROJECT
INTERVENTIONS

Figure 5: variable relationship


3.6. Data Collection Process
In this research, different types of data will be used including primary and secondary data.
Firstly, existing literature, article journals, books, governmental reports, manuals, manuscripts,
libraries, will drive secondary data and reliable information published in newspapers and
magazines. Secondly, primary data will be utilized by using a unstructured questionnaire and
structured interview.
3.7. Data Processing and Analysis
Data will be processed starting from the collection of data using both primary and secondary
data. Moreover, the distribution of data will follow the process of data collection. In the third
step, manipulation of independent variables will be the base form of the study. Finally, the data
will be analyzed using SPSS 25.0 software.

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