Abridged Bibliography Review, Annotated Bibliography Example

This abridged literature review addresses construction manager at risk and its role in the construction of buildings in the private and public sector.  The references included in this abridged literature review are classified in the following categories: a) Comparative aspects of construction management; 2) Methodological issues related to quantitative and qualitative aspects of the study; 3) .

Comparative Aspects of Construction Management

Knocher, M. & Sanvido, V. (1998). Comparison of U.S. project delivery systems. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, (124) 6, 435-444.

This article provides a broad-based analysis of the current types of project delivery systems used in the United States. The article provides important insight and evidence in two aspects.  First, the article points out how the evolution of construction manager at risk in the 1980s fundamentally solved a problem in the construction management market.  Up to the 1980s, the design to build and methods separated the design and construction functions.  Builders who took on the task of construction needed significant time and resources in order to understand what the plans for the building were and to prepare for construction.  Construction at risk solved a key problem in the market: The construction firm would help in designing the building as a consultant; after the plans were approved, the construction firm would switch from a consultant to the builder.

Sari, A. & El-Sayegh, S.M. (2007). Factors affection the selection of the appropriate construction management at risk contractor.  Fifth LACCEI International Latin American and Caribbean Conference for Engineering and Technology.

In trying to understand more regarding how the construction management at risk procurement process functions, this conference article focuses on understanding different models of how construction bids are accepted.   This conference paper provides evidence that will help in answering a number of questions- most notably, the construction of how construction management at risk firms should be selected. The author introduces three different variable categories for selecting a provider: a) general factors; b) construction management factors; c) general construction factors.

Methodological Issues Related To Qualitative and Quantitative Methods

Creswell, J. W. (2003). Research design: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method approaches. Thousand Oaks, Calif., Sage Publications.

While up to this point the literature review has focused on resources directly related to project management, there will also need to be general resources focusing on methodology.  The current thesis study proposes a mixed methodological approach: A qualitative study that will focus on gathering data that will then be analyzed using quantitative methods- most likely either linear or logistic regression.  This book, a mainstay in the field of qualitative research, will serve as a main resource for a number of research questions involved in the thesis.  For example, the main qualitative piece of research will (tentatively) focus on a survey of project construction managers and experts in the field. Questions related to survey design, validity of the survey results, and initial analysis of the data will depend on this book.  The book will also serve as a reference regarding the use of qualitative methods.

G. (1998). Modern methods for business research. New York: Psychology Press.

Neumann, W.L. (2010). Social research methods: qualitative and quantitative. Boston Allyn & Bacon.

These two books will serve as the main books for the understanding and documentation of quantitative methods used in analyzing data. The first book by Marcoulides focuses more on methods that are related to businesses in analyzing data.  Because the thesis study will involve the calculation of analyzing of different costs structures involved in construction projects, this book will provide the basis for analyzing that data.

Neumann’s book is important in understanding how to use quantitative methods to analyze survey data and secondary data.  This includes linear regression, as well as the use of F-Tests and other quantitative methods.

Methodological Issues Related to Comparison

Alarcon, L.F. & Mourgues, C. (2002). Performance modeling for contractor selection. Journal of Management in Engineering, 18(2), 52-60.

This article provides one of the most innovative methodological sections on how to assess the work of construction project managers.  A predominant amount of attention is spent on in the literature on how to assess the prequalification bid stage for contractors.  However, models to assess the actual construction performance are few and far between.  The paper describes a number of different “strategies” for predicting how two different contractors that is relevant to the evaluation criteria in the thesis study.  First, the “conditions of interrelation” refer to how the characteristics of the owner-contractor relationship can affect project performance- the variables identified in this category include: a) contractor’s knowledge of the contract and general bases; b) contractor –technical inspection relationship; c) contractor-technical inspection relationship; d) designers’ participation.

Miller, J.B., Ibbs, C. William, & Mahoney, S.E. (2000). Toward a new paradigm: simultaneous use of multiple project delivery methods.. Journal of Management in Engineering, 16(3), 58-67.

This article, written by three professors in the field, challenges a common assumption found in the industry of construction management: Only one project management method can be used on a single project.  This paradigm of thought infuses thinking in the project sector where bidders must state upfront the project management method and how it will be used in a specific case.  The authors argue in this essay that the single delivery method is inefficient in project management, particularly in the public sector where savings could be gleaned in using different methods for procurement and building strategies. Instead, the project managers advocate an “open system” that would support multiple methods at the same time.  This point is an extremely important one for the thesis: Up to this point, the study had assumed that better outcomes may be achieved by using one project management method rather than another- the idea of a multiple method has not been examined.