Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Programme organisation - an Olympic case study
It is important to recognise at the outset that even large public-sector
clients may be headed by people newly appointed to positions of author-
ity. Often there is little qualifi ed and experienced staff to support them
and those that are available are not always to hand. This is partly the
result of the practice of outsourcing expertise in the public sector.
Moreover, there may be little build-up of relationships between the
public sector and contractors over a prolonged period of time. By the
nature of construction contracting, relationships tend to last only for
the duration of projects; there is little opportunity for working relations
to become established over a working life. This leads to problems of
communication that need to be carefully managed.
For example, even before embarking on a project, contractors need to
know what the client's requirements are. This goes beyond simply
describing the building in technical terms. Large projects involve
complex interactions, including social, environmental and economic
aspects. Clients may initiate procurement in the built environment
with an understanding of how they perceive success in a project, but
without a clear way of explaining this to the supply chain.
Without a clear value defi nition, supply chains cannot respond to
client requirements, as they do not necessarily understand their employ-
ers' expectations. Not being fully aware of these requirements, contrac-
tors cannot respond to these expectations clearly and coherently when
putting tenders together. Clients also fi nd it more diffi cult to evaluate
tenders beyond the objective requirements of price and technical speci-
fi cations, if they have not effectively communicated their value frame-
work. The client might well have to meet demands from a variety of
different stakeholders, with varying degrees of infl uence and power over
their project, programme or portfolio.
These demands can be numerous and can come from inside the client
organisation as well as from external stakeholders. The social and politi-
cal implications need to be taken into account, as the impact of the
addition of a new building on the built environment can affect third
parties, such as local businesses, residents and amenities. Whether this
impact is positive or negative, or is even considered, will depend on
the client's priorities and their need or desire to take various factors
into consideration. Publicly funded projects, for example, must demon-
strate 'best value', but very often what represents value is unclear and
