Multidimensional analysis of the interaction between the organization, management pratices and performance in construction

There are several factors that determine the performance of construction companies, including those related to their management practices and organization. Nevertheless, the studies developed on these factors have been carried out in isolation, which means that the overall perspective of the company’s operations is lost. Applying a holistic analysis that considers at least these three factors inside companies and their projects is of paramount importance since the performance of construction companies is linked to the performance of their projects, as their financial success as well as the satisfaction of their clients depends on it. Then the actions taken in the company are related to a greater or lesser degree to the results obtained in the projects, as well as the actions applied in the projects can favor the corporate performance. In addition, the conditions of the organizations that actually carry out the work in the companies and the projects, need to be explored to identify their optimum conditions regarding firm performance. The objective of this research was to identify relevant relationships between the management practices of construction companies, their organizations and business performance. For this purpose, the main common management practices among the companies were identified, the organizations were characterized through their social networks and finally the existence of correlations between these practices, the social networks and the performance of construction companies was established. In this task, a key issue was determining the differences among management practices used by construction companies that provide them with a competitive advantage and the relation with performance they achieve in their projects. Also, this exploratory research examined the relationship between project performance and organizational characteristics of the construction companies. In addition, the research also focused in the relationships by which LPS management practices and organizational characteristics impact project performance. To achieve the objective, nine construction companies participated in a collaborative benchmarking exercise that allowed obtaining confident information about the three variables above indicated. The implementation of management practices in companies was evaluated through the application of surveys. Also, by the use of checklists was evaluated the implementation of Last Planner System (LPS) practices in the management of their projects. Through the use of the analysis of social networks (SNA) were characterized the organizations within companies and construction projects. Also, the performance of companies was measured by the performance of their projects through key performance indicators (KPIs). Finally, applying correlation analyzes significant relationships were found, depicting how these variables were related within the construction companies participating in the study, both at the company level and at the level of construction projects. The results highlight the relevance of information and communication management and the importance of Lean management practices as tools for analysis and planning or for the improvement of processes. It was also found that a high level of implementation of LPS practices is usually related to a better performance of the projects, although this is not always associated with the best metrics of social networks. Understanding these relationships is important to design strategies that allow the improvement of the performance of companies and their construction projects.