Modeling performance of integrated project delivery systems in design and construction

The popularity of Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) in the construction industry has grown significantly in recent years. While IPD systems are proposed as a response to poor project performance in the design and construction industry, there is a knowledge gap surrounding how and why IPD systems impact project performance in terms of their project organization, contractual relationship and operational system. This study addresses the following research question: How does the IPD system operate in terms of project organization, contractual relationship and operational system? To address this question, I explore the general behavior of the project delivery system and internal dynamics of the supply chain in IPD projects. I then create a series of simulation models that compare different project delivery systems. Two primary modeling methods support this modeling: General Performance Model (GPM) and Virtual Design Team (VDT). Lastly, I address a conceptual dilemma between IPD and Lean Project Delivery (LPD). This dissertation presents a GPM analysis of a complex hospital project that is based upon cross-impact assessments by experienced professionals from the building industry. A conceptual and qualitative analysis of the VDT model is applied to two IPD projects. Finally, a comparative analysis between IPD and LPD is made through a structured analysis of the organizational, contractual, and operational strategy. The GPM results showed that the performance of the supply chain relationship drives the project delivery performance and the most influential supply chain drivers in terms of project performance are communication, alignment of interest and objectives, team working, trust and gain/pain sharing. The VDT results showed that an IPD system can be structured in different ways. These differences can be from organizational and operational points of view and the manner in which key participants are organized influences the project integration at inter-organizational and project levels. The comparison between IPD and LPD systems showed that, while these approaches are based on relational contracting and require multi-party contracting, LPD has additional requirements. LPD system incorporates lean principles to design the legal framework. LPD system also fundamentally requires a lean operational system, whereas the IPD system does not require any specific operational system.