Editorial

The concept of ‘project management’ has been embedded in our system since time immemorial. The process of planning and coordinating was integral to the construction of all eminent and antique architectural structures like the age-old ‘Great Pyramids’. Be it the construction of the seven wonders back in 18th century, the first large-scale project management initiative ‘Transcontinental Railroads’ in the 19th century to the inclusion of Gantt Chart establishing planning and control techniques into project management or the inclusion of mathematical processes in 1980s to the current day integration of computer technology adding broad connectivity and communication in the world of project management, the very concept of which has proven its might across all spheres and eras witnessed.

Project management, then, is the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to meet the project requirements. Project managers are dynamic, assertive people who understand the combined art of tight deadlines and budgets. They know how to manage resources, maintain schedules and coordinate different activities and tasks, including optimization. The team is directed to achieve the goals within a stipulated time ensuring optimization. Attaining the goals against all odds, within the constraints and in time, calls for educated, assertive and influential leaders to drive the team towards success. Project management is a responsible phase consisting of different phases that connects all other project activities and brings in harmony to the process. Project management processes help to ensure a project’s efficiency. Project management encompasses organization, planning, control and monitoring of all tasks and resources required to achieve the defined goals.

This special issue received submissions covering different aspects of project management in emerging economies. The articles primarily covered the issues pertaining to construction industry; a study on the use of block chain technology to mitigate supply chain risks is also evinced. After a rigorous review process, we could accept only six articles for inclusion in the special issue. Out of the six, two articles relate to the use of block chain technology in modern day project management. While one talks about disruptions in the sphere of construction, the other gathers the supply chain risks that can be addressed by employing block chain technology in the said industry. The articles on construction industry address issues related to identifying dimensions of subcontractors, project buffer time, redrafting of contracts, social sustainability of projects and disruptive effect of block chain technology, which are imminent to big league projects in the sector.

Many of the architectural magnificence like statue of unity (Shri Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel) speak for the popularity and success of project management initiatives in the realm of construction and real estate. All major construction projects operate through cohesive contributions from subcontractors. Since delivering on time is a major constraint for the team involved in project management, the ability of the main contractor to deliver projects on time, within budget and with the expected level of quality are significantly dependent on the performance of subcontractors. The selection of efficient subcontractors with domain expertise is therefore important for the success of a project. With increasing numbers and complexity of project management, it is imperative to have an effective formal process for selecting the subcontractors that can stand the test of global projects, delivering the goals simultaneously handling the constraints in the project. Project management is entrusted today to maximize profits, influence productivity, mitigate risks and boost the economy. The project leader is expected to be exceptional when it comes to strategic management skills as well as leadership skills. Flexibility to respond to changing needs of the project along with updating technical skills is a standard prerequisite for the project leader. Apart from technical efficiencies, knowledge of the changing global scenario is an essential skill to make timely and appropriate decisions especially during times of disruptions. All big projects witness disruptions, however, there are promising methodologies in place to expedite the process. One such methodology is the critical chain project management (CCPM). Optimal use of resources while balancing the increasing buffer time of the project can be challenging and the decisiveness of the project manager to minimize the blatant consumption of the project buffer time by multiple critical chain activities comes into play in the situation. Literature emphasizes on both pre- and post-facto measures causing the delay and penetrating project buffer time in the process.

The article ‘Perceptions of Stakeholders on the ‘Redraftability’ of Construction Contracts’ brings interesting insights into the essence of drafting construction contracts. A semi-structured interview among experts in the field helps tabulate their perspective on essentials of drafting a construction contract. Further these opinions were classified under traditional/liberal school of thoughts. The discussion presses the need for a careful understanding of the perceptions and motivations of the contract drafters and the senior management of construction organizations in India, when it comes to drafting dispute-free equitable contract documents.

Profit maximization and optimization has been long established as the benefits of project management. However, the dimension of society cannot be neglected in the process. Social sustainability (SS) of project management benefits is addressed in the article ‘Benefits Formulation in Construction Projects: An Exploratory Study through a Social Sustainability Perspective’. A SS-centric analysis of PBM plans of 80 construction projects has been conducted using content analysis to identify the benefits targeted at the internal and external stakeholders, namely, workers and project-affected community. The analysis reveals much higher occurrences of benefits for the affected community compared to those relating to the workers. The study identifies ‘local employment’ and ‘local economic growth’ as the major benefits to the society from a project in the locality. Policymakers and project proponent organizations need to be sensitive towards the requirements and aspirations of the affected communities in the process.

Literature suggests that the construction industry is not relatively inactive when it comes to employing latest technology into its operations. Construction industry adopts a project-based approach and globally has been considered as a fragmented sector predominantly in unorganized space. The adoption of block chains in the industry is understood to be disruptive for the industry and our article on block chain aims to link the challenges and barriers in implementing block chain in the realm of construction. Various applications and software solutions are available to better manage this complexity arising from increasing competition and enhanced outsourcing in supply chain. Increasing complexities gives rise to increasing number of risks in the supply chain. Even though the use of block chain technology is identified to be disruptive in the construction industry, a semi-structured interview among top management of oil companies gives interesting insights into the value contribution of using block chain for improving management of SCM risks in the reference company. However, the study is limited to the reference company only.

Apart from six exhaustive research works addressed in the special issue, the regular issue brings in three interesting studies on health management, product knowledge in sports and women workers in rural India. The regular issue can be viewed as an initiative that contributes to literature on both rural and urban India. It tries to integrate individual research from various sectors, carried out on samples from different parts of the country. The key takeaway from this issue is that it characterizes the issues faced in project management in terms of vendor biding, contract drafting, use of technology and social sustainability. There is immense challenge in achieving higher levels of performance on dimensions ensuring optimization, meeting stakeholder needs, attending to disruptions and meeting time constraints. Future research must focus on identifying the different aspects of such characteristics and studying them. There is also a need for an analysis of constrained large-scale optimization problems and innovating models that deliver performance far superior to current benchmarks.

We thank the anonymous reviewers for their services and contributions in making this issue possible.