Evaluation of the outcome of construction projects

"The outcome of a project is derived from the goals, behaviour and performance of the project organization. The goals are adopted as a response to the stimuli initiated by various external factors which exert their forces in the environment in which the organization system exists. This research constructs a model for the evaluation of the outcome of construction projects in terms of the relationship of project success and participant satisfaction. The model is developed from the fundamental behaviour-to-performance-to-outcome (B-P-O) cycle in industrial /organizational psychology and incorporates motivation theories to describe the construction procurement process. It is postulated that: 1. There are two levels of outcome; the first level outcome (project success) will have a valence only if its instrumentality brings forth the second level outcome (participant satisfaction), ie. the success of a project will be meaningful and valued by the individual only if it can offer satisfaction to the individual; 2. Project complexity and project commitment are causal attributes of the second level outcome (participant satisfaction); 3. The effect of project success (attainment of project goals) on participant satisfaction is dependent on project complexity; 4. Participant satisfaction, subject to goal attainment, increases as the project complexity increases. The major hypothesis is that 'the effects of project success (attainment of project goals) on participant satisfaction is dependent on project complexity and the valence of project complexity'. This is tested against Hong Kong Housing Authority projects with common project team participants and their perceptions of project success and satisfaction are measured by conjoint analysis. The methodology involoves both single-subject design and group-design. The success-satisfaction relationship is found to be moderated by the complexity of the projects which are compared by the analytic hierarchy process. The hypothesis is subsequently found to be valid in the projects sample."