Towards the validation of a conceptual design management model for remote site projects

In the last decade or so there has been an increasing number of remotely located and often environmentally sensitive sites becoming the focus for development work involving potential investors / entrepreneurs / stakeholders or government and non-government agencies. Projects on remote sites are frequently government funded, making the approval processes, and timelines for example, subject to political influence(s), which means that the projects are potentially more difficult to manage, at all levels of involvement. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the research process undertaken so far, in order to validate a conceptual design management model for remote site projects. There were no previously documented empirical examples, nor theoretical models, for remote site design management. The research aimed to also demonstrate the potential portability of the model, in terms of offering a basis for a relevant management framework for built environment projects, international scientific drilling projects and international humanitarian aid projects. Multi case-study methodology was adopted as the primary method for developing and validating the design management model (Kestle and London 2002), as it involved empirical enquiry that afforded investigation of the remote site design management phenomenon within a real-life context. Two main case studies were conducted, one being an historical Antarctic Science Drilling Project, and the other a current UN Humanitarian Project in Sudan. Subsequently, the model has also been applied to a post-disaster reconstruction project in Aceh managed by the JRS. The findings to date support the conceptual design management model as being relevant for a non-profit and/or Humanitarian Aid projects in the post-disaster reconstruction context, and for a commercially based Antarctic Science project.