What is the Owners Role in

Project Success?

Debra Nauta-Rodriguez
Smithsonian Institution

Leadership for Today

WorleyParsons

Leadership Bridging the

Gap
Andrew Bates

Brian Kong

Dan Christian

Fred Lyu

Curtis Fisher

David McKinney

John Friedrich

Peter Murphy

Bud Griffis

Debra NautaRodriguez

Dale Griffith
Scott Hill
Tony Palma

Joel Sauer
Jim Vicknair
Paul Walls

Project
Success

Team
Work

Project
Failures

Leadership of Tomorrow
Bridging the Gap
RT 204 created to answer the question

What is the RIGHT level of

owner involvement that leads
to project SUCCESS?

Statement of Project Success

The RIGHT level of owner
involvement is the key to
project SUCCESS

Who is the Owner?

The ultimate decision making authority
In many projects, the owner
may change throughout the
life of the project
Upon completion:
owns & operates facility

Project Success
Project Success =

Achieving the
stated goals &
objectives

Success Factor
Safety
Duration (Schedule)
Budget
Quality

*Respondents
provided the
success criteria
used on their
project

Business
Expectations
Future work
Profit / Return on
Investment
Other:

Project Success

SAFETY*
DURATION

COST
QUALITY
BUSINESS
* CII Owners Role in Construction Safety Report

Research Effort
1.Developed a survey for CII members
Literature review, CII Benchmarking,
PDRI questionnaire

2.Collected 73 projects (45 companies)

3.Conducted quantitative & qualitative
analysis

What Can the Owner Do to

Affect the Outcomes?
PreProject
Planning

Owners
Involvement

Leadership
Project
Management

Drivers of System Performance

Inputs

Outcomes of System Performance

Duratio
Safety*
n

Cost

Busines
Quality
s

Cost Performance Results

35

32
32

Number of Projects

30

25

73 Total Projects
= 3.66
18
18

20

15

10

13
13

10
10

0
1<X=2
1<
x2

X=3
2 2<< x
3

X=4
3 3<< x
4

X=5
4 4<< x
5

Owner Actions Drive Success

Improved input = Improved outcome
Increase the value of the owner input
Pre-Project Planning
Owner Involvement

IMPROVED

Leadership

OUTCOME

Project Management

Leadership Principles
Team
Leadership
Business
Leadershi
p

Owner
Leadership

Leadership
Performance

Leadership Principles
Business Leadership
Communicate the business plan
Foster an innovative environment
Evaluate available resources
Train employees in core competencies
Emphasize scope definition &
management

Drivers of System
Performance
Pre-Project Planning
Owners Involvement
Leadership Performance
Project Management

System Performance Results

Safety
Duration
Cost
Business
Quality

Owners Role Implementation

Tool

Come to Our Implementation

Session
What makes a project successful
How to measure what you are doing
during the project to ensure you are on
track
Make your project successful

Austin 1-3
3:15 - 4:15 pm and 4:30 - 5:30 pm