Course content

The course is about the tensions between efficiency and effectiveness in construction projects. The society, project owners, users and project organisations give different priorities to efficiency versus effectiveness. The course considers the construction process, the project organisation and the project, the understanding of how decisions are made, bounded rationality and rule based decisions. Important aspects discussed in the course are origins and consequences of power and conflicts in project organisations.

Learning outcome

Knowledge: The candidate understands how rule based decision making, conflicts of interest, conflict solving and flexibility impact building projects.

Skills: The candidate recognizes preconditions for steering building projects, while the owner's measures for long term effectiveness are governing.

General competence: The student acquires competence in governing building projects.

Learning methods and activities

Seminar. Part of the course is based on self study. The individual assignment is on a topic approved by the professor in charge. The teaching will be in English when students who do not speak Norwegian take the course.

Specific conditions

Required previous knowledge

Basic knowledge of project organisations for construction projects, according to the subject TBA4155 Front-end of Projects. Other backgrounds has to be recognised by the lecturer.

The course will be run if at least 3 students with relevant background wish to attend. If you wish to attend, please contact the course coordinator. Students not admitted to the PhD programme in engineering may be approved by the course coordinator. If so, once you have the course coordinator's written approval to sign up, forward it to the PhD coordinator, maren.grimstad@ntnu.no, and she will sign you up.

Course materials

Literature in Norwegian and English, plus presentations.