04 Determinants of The Success of Real Estate Projects
04 Determinants of The Success of Real Estate Projects
2012
Abstract : Real Estate sector has been growing at a rapid pace in India during the
last decade and a large number of construction projects have been
completed in India. Much of the commercial construction activity has
been driven by Information Technology (IT) sector, especially in a city
like Hyderabad, where the demand for residential house construction
has also been coming largely from its employees. This IT-led construction
boom has also been experienced in several cities of India. Given such
strong demand, it is important to know how the construction companies
are coping with the pace by successfully completing the projects. The
insight of factors that lead to successful completion of projects is useful
to Project managers in real estate sector. In general, many companies
consider Cost, Time, Quality and Performance as main elements for the
success of a project. There are many other factors, either primary or
secondary, that have a place to play an important role in achieving a
project success. This paper deals with exploring the factors that contribute
to achieving project success. It is confined to residential and commercial
housing sector in Hyderabad. A structured questionnaire is applied to
find the factors determining success in relation to Client, Consultant
and Contractor. This helps in understanding the major factors determining
project success which can be useful to the project managers as they can
be applied to new/ ongoing real estate development projects.
urbanization, rise in the number of white-collar Travel & Tourism Council, travel and tourism
professionals and rising incomes, etc. The (WTTC) in India is expected to grow at 12.7%
residential segment is again witnessing growth in till 2019. India is emerging as a major tourist
demand for luxury and super-premium homes destination for international tourists. Foreign
among the globe-trotting executives, new and Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India have increased
successful businessmen, non-resident Indians at a CAGR of 7.7% between 2000 and 2010 to
(NRIs), etc. However, this sub-segment is currently reach 5.5 million. During the same period, foreign
experiencing low volumes due to steep price rise exchange earnings from tourism increased by a
and hike in interest rates; this may be a short- CAGR of more than 15% to Rs 648.8 billion.
term lull and, with minor corrections, the segment
The Long-Term View for Indian Real Estate Sector
may continue to grow.
is Positive since its fundamental demand drivers
Commercial Real Estate Segment, which primarily - increasing urbanization, favorable demographics,
comprises office space, is growing in tandem with growth of services sector and rising incomes are
the country's booming economy. The demand for still intact. Due to the demand from foreign
office space is driven by the influx of multinational investors and the growing economy, Indian
companies and growth in services sector. Overall, construction industry experiences strong growth.
on pan-India basis, the demand for office space While some of the construction projects are
is expected to total 180 million sq ft by 2013, with successfully executed, others faced difficulties.
seven major cities (Bangalore, Chennai, Therefore, it is pertinent to examine the factors
Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, the NCR and Pune) that lead to successful completion of real estate
catering to 75% of total demand. Much of this development/ construction projects in India.
growth is attributed to the rise in IT and ITES
sector that has been witnessed by the above cities. INTRODUCTION
A construction project is completed as a result
Although the Retail Real Estate Segment has a
of a combination of many events and interactions,
smaller pie in the real estate industry, it is growing
planned or unplanned, over the project life cycle,
rapidly and the demand for good quality mall space
with changing participants and processes (Prasanna
is fuelled by the growth in organized retail and
Chandra 2005). Project managers face increasing
the entry of international retailers into India. Over
challenges today in their project management tasks.
the past few years, retail has become one of the
The environment has become more dynamic with
fastest growing industries in the country. Increasing
increasing uncertainties in technology, budgets,
disposable incomes, rising consumption and
and development processes. Thus project managers
shopping convenience have been driving the
increasingly need tools for monitoring and feedback
growth of organized retail. The retail industry is
that enable a proactive response to troubled areas.
expected to reach US$637billion by 2015, with
Additional progress is needed in the identification
organized retail accounting for 14 to 18% share.
and measurement of determining factors for
However, the rental market in Indian retail
segment is yet to stabilize, as supply continues to project success. There are few topics in the field
outstrip demand. of project management that are so frequently
discussed and yet so rarely agreed upon as that
The Hospitality Segment has also been witnessing of the notion of project success.
a robust demand, primarily due to a strong growth
in tourism, including business and leisure travel. Attempts to predict construction duration and
According to research conducted by the World understand the successful implementation of
40 NICMAR-Journal of Construction Management, Vol. XXVII, No. 2&3, April-June & July-Sept. 2012
the analysis performed in identifying the important The Approach of Current Study
ones. The data collection methodology is explained Based on the literature and in consultation with
subsequently. The independent variables of each industry professionals, the factors and parameters
parameter assumed to be associated with the project affecting project success are identified. In the
success are listed. The key hypotheses tested are subsequent sections, these factors and parameters
also stated. The results and findings from the of project success are discussed under the following
analysis of sample data are finally presented broad groups:
alongwith the conclusions and implications of the (1) Client Objectives
study towards the end of paper. (2) Core competency
FACTORS AFFECTING PROJECT SUCCESS (3) The Project Team leadership
(4) The Managerial Actions
Literature Review
Construction project success is repeatable. Attempts (1) Client Objectives
to predict construction duration and understand Client objectives often have impact on the project
the successful implementation of construction performance and the following parameters have
projects represents a problem of continual concern been used to understand their role in success
and interest to both researchers and project (a) Low construction cost
managers. Predicting construction time and (b) Quick construction time
identifying the principal factors leading to project
(c) High Quality of construction
success is becoming vital to the success of
(d) Any Other Parameter
construction projects. The aspect of project success
determinants is given attention in the recent past (2) Core Competency
in the wake of declining demand for real estate (a) Client's Competency: Client's competency
construction projects worldwide (Bryde 2008, gives an idea of the knowledge of the project,
Cooke-Davies 2002). However, there are few studies in pre-contract design and documentation
based on the empirical data collected, especially process, where the client should be fully
when it comes to the Indian real estate and conversant with the requirements of the finished
construction sector except few like Pundir (2011) building, consequently reducing the level of
and Diwakar and Subrahmanyam (2009). errors and omissions leading to variations
and disputes.
Various attempts were made by different
researchers to determine critical success factors Client's competency is a critical factor affecting
project success, and the following attributes are
in construction (Belassi and Tukel 1996, Chan
used to measure it:
and Kumaraswamy 1997). The literature abounds
with lists of variables supposedly influencing the z Ability to effectively brief the design team
success of project implementation (Dimitros 2009, z Ability to quickly make authoritative decisions
Mensah 2007). There are some variables common z Ability to effectively define the roles of
to more than one list, but there is certainly no participating organizations
general agreement on the variables (Frese 2003, z Ability to contribute ideas to the design
Cooke-Davies 2002). Review of previous research process
reveals some common threads of variables as z Ability to contribute ideas to the construction
affecting the success of a project (Mubila et al 2000). process
42 NICMAR-Journal of Construction Management, Vol. XXVII, No. 2&3, April-June & July-Sept. 2012
(b) Consultant's Competency: Consultant transport infrastructure facilities may also influence
competency is also a critical factor affecting construction performance. The effect of these
project success, and the following attributes influences must be considered and appropriate
are used to measure it: managerial action taken with due consideration
z Ability to effectively brief the design team of the degree of risk involved.
z Ability to quickly make authoritative decisions Economic Environment: The economic
z Ability to effectively define the roles of environment directly affects individual projects
participating organizations through access to, and quality of, available resources.
z Ability to contribute ideas to the design
Public and private construction projects are
process
financed from capital reserves or loans, very largely
as a form of investment. The availability of funds
z Ability to contribute ideas to the construction
is regulated by dependable revenue. Thus, in
process
optimistic periods, clients may anticipate a need
(c) Contractor's Competency: Contractor for constructed facilities. Conversely, periods of
competency is also a critical factor affecting recession may adversely affect the need or ability
project success, and the following attributes to fund construction works. Inflation offers some
are used to measure it: incentive for capital investment in construction.
z Ability to effectively brief the design team Construction projects may be halted by company
z Ability to quickly make authoritative decisions insolvency affecting builders originally engaged
z Ability to effectively define the roles of in a project or builders taking over a project that
participating organizations has been affected by company insolvency. "Labour
shortages, and Low and erratic resourcing by
z Ability to contribute ideas to the design
subcontractor" have been highlighted as
process
characteristics of poorly performed projects.
z Ability to contribute ideas to the construction
process Socio-political Environment: Political instability
and popular unrest have a high potential for
(3) The Project Environment disruption of planned construction progress.
Environment has all external influences on the Legislation such as Occupational Health and Safety
construction process. Broadly they may be grouped Act can have a major impact upon construction
as physical, economic, socio-political and industrial methods and materials used. The sociopolitical
relations. They may act at national or local level, factors may influence the construction market in
and in different ways in the public and private several manners. Decisions on the priorities of
sector. the government expenditure will affect the
Physical Environment: The construction industry construction market, directly where expenditure
has for long been known for its heterogeneous cuts or changes in emphasis affect specific projects,
characteristics. There is no permanent set up for and indirectly by influencing the level of demand
its plant and equipment. The physical environment for materials and other resources. Changes in the
and the location where the project is taking place structure and the needs of community will create
will pose unique planning and organizational a demand for building. Demographic change can
problems to the project. Geographical factors, the alter the need for housing, schools and jobs.
influence of location, and specifically problems Alterations in the structure and tastes of society
associated with remote sites or distance from can influence the type of facilities needed.
Determinants of the Success of Real Estate Projects: A Study of Selected Firms in Hyderabad 43
Industrial Relations Environment: A hostile set up normally takes the form of the client's
industrial relations environment can pose a project manager. The project manager works on
significant threat to the management. This threat behalf of the client and would be involved with
can create real problems to the real estate the client right from inception, through feasibility
development/ construction industry. The way in stage, design stage, etc, to completion of the
which industrial disputes are settled form a project. Their roles and responsibilities are crucial
mechanism for dealing with conf lict. If this to the success of a construction project. The project
mechanism provides for a speedy resolution of manager goal commitment and project manager
conflict where all parties can settle their differences technical capabilities would bring about significantly
without duress, then the industrial relations different project outcomes.
environment can be seen as favorable. An
(a) Effectiveness of the Design Team Leader
unfavorable industrial relations environment exists
where all parties are not satisfied with the conflict Project success does get determined by the
resolution procedures. In these cases, grievances relationship between design team and its leader
will be redirected into a variety of behavior and and project success may result from:
attitudes. Amongst these disruptive forms of z A resourceful and knowledgeable professional
behavior some may include: strikes and lock-outs, team ensuring that the client's requirement
work to rules, boycotts, work bans, demarcation brief is thorough, properly implemented and
and other work limitations, political actions, sit- monitored.
ins, absenteeism, alcoholism, poor health, low z Highly experienced professionals keeping the
morale and productivity, material wastage, slackness client constantly informed of the well-being
and inefficiency, go-slows, sabotage and high labour. and progress of the project - such that any
(4) The Project Team Leadership deviation or problem can be dealt with quickly
and effectively to achieve higher level of
The project team in the real estate development/
client satisfaction and a smooth running
construction industry is that group of construction
project.
professionals and personnel from one or more
organizations who combine to fulfill necessary (b) Effectiveness of the Construction Team
design, detailing and construction functions Leader
comprising a construction project. The High construction team performance results in
management of construction projects involves high construction time performance and low
many diverse groups, client, designers, suppliers, construction team performance results in low
sub-contractors, the construction management construction time performance.
team and client consultants responsible for advising
(c) Measures of Project Team Performance
on progress in terms of time, cost and quality.
The performance of the team depends to a large The performance of the project team can be
extent on the skills and experience of several key assessed by the technical and managerial skills,
project team leaders: including the client working relationship and attitude, and support
representative, the design team leader, and the from their parent companies construction project.
construction team leader. The following attributes are used to measure the
same:
A strong tendency of clients is to employ some
form of internal project management set-up z Technical skills of the project team leaders
coupled with the extensive use of consultants. This z Planning skills of the project team leaders
44 NICMAR-Journal of Construction Management, Vol. XXVII, No. 2&3, April-June & July-Sept. 2012
z Organising skills of the project team leaders significantly related to all measures of success. Some
z Coordinating skills of the project team leaders other researchers found similar results for
managerial action and concluded that high level
z Motivating skills of the project team leaders
of administrative ability in the project team leads
z Project team leaders' commitment to meet
to reduced time overruns which in turn leads to
cost, time, and quality
increased satisfaction and that construction time
z Project team leaders' early and continued performance is directly affected by the construction
involvement in the project management team's managerial performance.
z Project team leaders' experience and capabilities
Project Management Action Variables Measured
z Project team leaders' adaptability to changes In This Study
in the project plan It is hypothesized that project management actions
z Support by project team leaders' parent company are crucial to the success of a construction project
z Provision of resources from project team and the following attributes are used to measure
leaders' parent company this factor:
z Project team leaders' working relationship z Communication system for the project
with others z Up-front planning efforts
(5) The Managerial Actions z Monitoring and updating plans
The managerial system is primarily concerned with z Developing an appropriate organisation structure
decision making for planning and controlling z Control of subcontractors' works
organizational endeavour. An integral element z Implementing an effective safety program
of the managerial task is organizational decision
z Development of a good reporting system.
making - choosing an overall strategy, setting
specific objectives, designing structures and z Implementing an effective quality assurance
program
processes, selecting people, delegating
responsibility, evaluating results and initiating z Holding of regular meetings
changes. z Development of standard procedures
The degree of project management actions is z Overall managerial actions
reflected in the range and type of control DATA COLLECTION, ANALYSIS AND
mechanisms set up for a particular problem. At HYPOTHESES
one end of the range will be a very low control
Data Collection
situation, where neither professional design team,
Data collection was planned to be through a
nor drawings, specifications and documentation
primary survey using Structured Questionnaire
nor standard form of contract exists. Minor works
to be sent through electronic mail first and then
may fall into this category. On other hand a high
follow-up personal visits to different project sites
control situation may exist if detailed
of target real estate development/ construction
documentation is administered through a system
firms. Only large firms with established repute
of regular monitoring and inspection.
and located in Hyderabad were targeted and,
Previous researches concluded that managerial therefore, the target sample size remained small
control (classified as project management actions) to about 10-15 firms. The questionnaire has the
is a key element in achieving project success, being following categories/ headings:
Determinants of the Success of Real Estate Projects: A Study of Selected Firms in Hyderabad 45
Null Hypothesis (H0): Client and Contractor The ability to contribute ideas to construction
rankings show strong positive association process (Parameter 5) has been consistently chosen
The acceptance of hypothesis is based on strength by project managers as indicated in Table 2, whereas
(in terms of coefficient greater than 0.5) and client and contractor may dissociate in their
direction (in terms of negative or positive sign) perspective on design and decision but consultant
of correlation. and contractor may not.
Among the factors, it has been observed that Belassi, W. T. and Tukel, O. I., “A new framework
'Construction quality' is the most important for determining critical success factors in
objective attached to project success (of the iron projects” International Journal of Project Management
triangle - cost, time and quality), as reflected from Vol. 14, No. 3, pp. 141-151, 1996.
not only higher scores but stronger association Bryde, D., “Perceptions of the impact of project
between Consultant and Contractor. In core sponsorship practices on project success”,
competence measures, the scores are almost similar International Journal of Project Management,
across parameters but between Client, Consultant Vol. 26, pp. 800-809, 2008.
and Contractor there was a strong positive Chan, D. W. M. and Kumaraswamy, M. M., “A
correlation only for construction process and, Comparative Study of causes of time overruns
therefore, it has been rated the most important in Hong Kong construction projects”,
parameter in project performance. International Journal of Project Management,
Although the parameters of economic Vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 55-63, 1997.
environment and industrial relations received Coll, Boston, Multiple Determinants of Project Success
higher score under project environment, economic and Failure, Chestnut Hill, Massachussettes,
environment has got a strong positive correlation USA. 2002.
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on down turn and investors' confidence has been Management, Vol. 20, pp. 185-190, 2002.
low and thus the Contractor, Client and
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ANNEXURE
Client Objectives
Client Ratings (Rating by Consultant)
Objectives P1 P2 P3 P4 P5
Low Construction Cost 4 3 3 3 4
Quick Construction Time 4 2 4 4 4
High Construction Quality 5 4 3 4 4
Any Other (Pl. Specify)
Objectives P1 P2 P3 P4 P5
Low Construction Cost 5 3 3 4 3
Competency Measure P1 P2 P3 P4 P5
Competency Measure P1 P2 P3 P4 P5
Competency Measure P1 P2 P3 P4 P5
Particulars P1 P2 P3 P4 P5
Physical environment 5 4 3 5 4
Economic Environment 4 4 4 4 4
Socio-Political Environment 1 3 4 4 3
Consultant
Particulars P1 P2 P3 P4 P5
Physical environment 3 4 3 4 3
Economic Environment 4 5 2 4 4
Socio-Political Environment 5 4 5 3 3
Industrial Relations Environment 4 4 4 4 3
Overall Environment 3 3 3 4 3
Contractor
Particulars P1 P2 P3 P4 P5
Physical Environment 1 3 3 4 5
Economic Environment 3 4 3 4 4
Socio-Political Environment 3 3 3 3 4
Industrial Relations Environment 1 3 3 3 3
Overall Environment 2 3 3 4 4
S. No. Characteristics P1 P2 P3 P4 P5
1. Technical Skills 4 4 4 3 3
2. Planning Skills 4 3 3 4 4
3. Organizing Skills 4 4 4 5 3
4. Coordinating Skills 4 3 4 4 5
5. Controlling Skills 4 4 5 4 3
6. Motivating Skills 4 4 5 4 4
7. Commitment to meet Cost, time and quality 4 4 4 4 4
8. Early and continued involvement in project 4 4 4 3 4
9. Experience and capabilities 4 5 3 4 4
10. Adaptability to changes in the project plan 4 4 3 3 4
11. Support by parent company 4 4 4 4 4
12. Provision of resources from parent 4 4 5 3 4
13. Working relationship with others 4 4 3 3 3
52 NICMAR-Journal of Construction Management, Vol. XXVII, No. 2&3, April-June & July-Sept. 2012
Consultant
S. No. Characteristics P1 P2 P3 P4 P5
1. Technical Skills 3 4 3 4 5
2. Planning Skills 4 3 4 4 3
3. Organizing Skills 3 4 3 3 4
4. Coordinating Skills 5 4 5 4 4
5. Controlling Skills 3 5 3 3 5
6. Motivating Skills 4 5 4 4 5
7. Commitment to meet Cost, time and quality 4 4 4 5 4
8. Early and continued involvement in project 4 4 4 4 4
9. Experience and capabilities 4 3 4 4 3
10. Adaptability to changes in the project plan 4 3 4 4 3
11. Support by parent company 4 4 4 4 4
12. Provision of resources from parent 4 5 4 4 5
13. Working relationship with others 3 3 3 3 3