Modeling and evaluating construction project competencies and their relationship to project performance

In contemporary construction environments, construction organizations measure their performance against a set of predefined performance measures. These performance measures are governed by the ability of the organization to maintain necessary sets of "competencies" that assist in the successful execution of its construction projects. Competencies are often difficult to define and measure due to the multidimensional and subjective nature of their assessment. This paper identifies 41 project competencies with a total of 248 criteria for evaluating the different project competencies. This paper also identifies seven performance categories with 46 project key performance indicators. A systematic framework and methodology are presented in this paper to measure project competencies and project key performance indicators. A new modeling approach considering prioritized fuzzy aggregation, factor analysis, and fuzzy neural networks is presented to identify the relationship between project competencies and project key performance indicators. Data collected from seven construction projects are first aggregated using prioritized fuzzy aggregation to measure the different construction project competencies. The different project competencies are then analyzed using factor analysis. The factor analysis results are used with the prioritized fuzzy aggregation results to calculate inputs for the fuzzy neural networks. The fuzzy neural networks are then trained and tested using the data collected from the seven construction projects to identify and quantify the relationship between the different project competencies and project key performance indicators. This paper contributes to the current body of knowledge in project competencies and performance by establishing a standardized framework and methodology for evaluating the impact of construction project competencies on project key performance indicators. Furthermore, this paper incorporates advanced modeling techniques through the application of fuzzy set theory and neural networks to identify the relationship between the different project competencies and project key performance indicators. Identifying the relationship between construction project competencies and project key performance indicators allows construction organizations to improve their overall construction project performance by enhancing their projects competencies. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.