The proposed thesis concerns the case study of the Ponte San Giorgio. The project took place within the Italian infrastructure industry between 2018 and 2020. In particular, the project refers to the demolition and reconstruction of the Ponte San Giorgio in Genoa, formerly Ponte Morandi before the infrastructure collapse. Given its historical cruciality, after the collapse of the 14th of August 2018, there was a need to rebuild the new bridge as soon as possible to ensure the commercial transactions that citizens and industries near the bridge were used to. The thesis concerns with the research area of project management, and the models and techniques that are relied upon by this academic discipline. Based on this initial consideration and the drama resulting from the tragedy of the collapse, the first objective of this thesis is to demonstrate whether the project was a successful case study. The evaluation of the project considers both the short-term and the long-term. Regarding the evaluation in the short-term, the analysis assesses success from a project management perspective by evaluating the iron triangle model. This model is characterized by evaluations of 3 simple criteria at the end of the project: time, cost, and scope. These are evaluated with what was initially allocated. In contrast, for the long-term evaluation, the analysis assesses whether and what kind of value has been created for the various stakeholders through this project. Moreover, as argued in the literature, it is not enough that the project creates value for the stakeholders involved, but mostly that this created value is also captured by the stakeholders. Once an assessment has been made as to whether or not the project was a success, if this first objective is met, the second purpose of this thesis is to list the critical factors that led to this success. To address this point, several academic articles were reviewed with the goal of defining a list of critical success factors from both global projects within the infrastructure sector and the evidence for this particular case study. Given the specificity of the project and the lack of literature at the Italian infrastructure level, in defining this list of drivers, it was necessary to take into account several global case studies. Since the case study was of particular importance for Italian and foreign stakeholders, in order to meet the research objectives, a deductive approach was adopted. Initially, reference models were established based on the literature review and information available online as mentioned in the previous paragraphs. Parallel to this review and presentation of management models, thanks to the material available online, it was possible to define the organization of the project then useful to define a list of potential actors to be interviewed. Thanks to this list and the construction of semi-structured interviews, it was possible to contact these people and interview them following 5 categories of interviews: these groups concern communication management, stakeholder management, risk management, project management (models, methods and tools) and management from the administrative point of view of the project. The evidence of information from those who actively participated in the project was then validated through the coding methodology. The coding process is a method of extracting keywords from information hidden in the interviews. This information was then consolidated by doing a cross-interview analysis and using information from secondary sources. Finally, the proposed models were evaluated. The conclusion of the thesis argues that the Ponte San Giorgio project was a partial success from a management perspective and in terms of the value created for both active and passive stakeholders. In terms of successful project management, this was partially achieved as the time constraint was not met: the project was delayed by approximately 3 months from the inauguration date allocated at the beginning of the project. Nevertheless, two factors in particular have impacted on this delay: the discovery of asbestos inside the old collapsed structure, and the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. On the other hand, as far as monetary constraints and purpose are concerned, these were fully achieved since the economic budget was met, and the final infrastructure reflects the initial purpose. According instead to the value created – value captured model, several benefits were created for the actors involved through the demolition and construction of the bridge, both public and private benefits that go beyond the economic dimension alone. Among others, this project brought to light that even in Italy such projects can be done respecting the 3 criteria, the fact that this project raised the point that a linearization of the Code of Tenders is necessary, and the benefits on a social level for the city and the private companies that were part of the project. Given the benefits created, the project can be considered a success from a long-term perspective. In regard to the second goal, however, on top of any other critical success factors, respondents listed urgency and tragedy as the top two for this project. Moreover, thanks to the information obtained, it has been possible to argue that the success was not only due to the administrative process followed, since, despite the possible derogations granted through the “Decreto Legge Genova”, the project organization has decided to comply with all the steps indicated by the Code of Tenders. Therefore, having followed the standard administrative process, the objective has been to understand which drivers have led to success. In the final part of the thesis, these management factors are listed according to the 5 groups previously mentioned. The definition of these successful practices could be exploited as evidence in future projects within the Italian infrastructure sector and to define a yardstick for future research in academia.
La tesi proposta riguarda il caso di studio del Ponte San Giorgio. Il progetto ha avuto luogo nell'ambito dell'industria infrastrutturale italiana tra il 2018 e il 2020. In particolare, il progetto si riferisce alla demolizione e ricostruzione del Ponte San Giorgio in Genova, precedentemente Ponte Morandi prima del collasso dell’infrastruttura. Data la sua crucialità storica, dopo il crollo del 14 agosto 2018, ci fu la necessità di ricostruire al più presto il nuovo ponte per garantire le transazioni commerciali a cui i cittadini e le industrie nei pressi del ponte erano abituati. La tesi sviluppata riguarda l’ambito di ricerca del project management, e i modelli e tecniche che fanno fede a questa disciplina accademica. Sulla base di questa considerazione iniziale e del dramma derivante dalla tragedia del crollo, il primo obiettivo di questa tesi è dimostrare se il progetto è stato un caso di studio di successo. La valutazione del progetto considera sia il breve che il lungo termine. Per quanto riguarda la valutazione nel breve periodo, l’analisi valuta il successo dal punto di vista della gestione del progetto valutando il modello dell’iron triangle. Questo modello è caratterizzato dalle valutazioni a fine progetto di 3 semplici criteri; tempo, costo e scopo. Questi sono valutati con quanto stanziato inizialmente. Invece, per quanto riguarda la valutazione nel lungo periodo, l’analisi valuta se e che tipo di valore è stato creato per i vari stakeholders attraverso questo progetto. Inoltre, come argomentato in letteratura, non basta solo che il progetto crei valore per gli attori coinvolti, ma per lo più che questo valore creato sia pure catturato da quest’ultimi. Una volta valutato se il progetto è stato un successo, in caso di riscontro positivo di questo primo obiettivo, il secondo scopo della tesi è quello di elencare i fattori critici che hanno portato a questo successo. Per affrontare questo punto, sono stati esaminati diversi articoli accademici con l'obiettivo di definire una lista di fattori critici di successo derivanti sia da progetti mondiali nell’ambito del settore infrastrutturale che dall’evidenza per questo particolare caso studio. Vista la specificità del progetto e la mancante letteratura a livello infrastrutturale italiano, nel definire questa lista di driver, è stato necessario tenere in considerazioni diversi casi studio a livello globale. Poiché il caso di studio era di particolare importanza per gli stakeholders italiani e stranieri, al fine di rispondere agli obiettivi di ricerca, è stato adottato un approccio deduttivo. Inizialmente sono stati stabiliti dei modelli di riferimento in base alla revisione della letteratura e alle informazioni disponibili on-line come detto nei paragrafi precedenti. Parallelamente a questa revisione e presentazione di modelli gestionali, grazie al materiale disponibile on-line, è stato possibile definire l’organizzazione del progetto poi utile per definire una lista di potenziali attori intervistabili. Grazie a questa lista e alla costruzione di interviste semi-strutturate, è stato possibile contattare queste persone e intervistarle seguendo 5 categorie di interviste; questi gruppi riguardano la gestione della comunicazione, la gestione degli stakeholders, la gestione del rischio, la gestione del progetto (modelli, metodi e strumenti) e la gestione dal punto di vista amministrativo del progetto. L’evidenza delle informazioni ricavate da parte di chi ha partecipato attivamente del progetto è stata poi validata tramite la metodologia di coding. Il processo di coding è un metodo che permette di estrapolare delle parole chiave da informazioni nascoste nelle interviste. Queste informazioni sono state poi consolidate facendo un analisi cross-intervista e con l’ausilio di informazioni provenienti da fonti secondarie. Infine, i modelli proposti sono stati valutati. La conclusione della tesi sostiene che il progetto Ponte San Giorgio è stato un parziale successo dal punto di vista gestionale e del valore creato per gli stakeholders, sia quelli attivi che quelli passivi. Per quanto riguarda il successo della gestione del progetto, questo è stato parzialmente raggiunto in quanto il vincolo temporale non è stato rispettato: il progetto ha ritardato di circa 3 mesi rispetto alla data di inaugurazione stanziata all’inizio del progetto. Ciò nonostante, due fattori in particolare hanno impattato su questo ritardo: il ritrovamento di amianto all’interno della vecchia struttura collassata, e lo scoppio della pandemia Covid-19. Per quanto riguarda invece i vincoli monetari e lo scopo, questi sono stati pienamente raggiunti visto che il budget economico è stato rispettato, e l’infrastruttura finale riflette lo scopo iniziale. Secondo invece il modello del valore creato-valore catturato dagli stakeholders, diversi benefici sono stati creati per gli attori coinvolti tramite la demolizione e costruzione del ponte, sia benefici pubblici che benefici privati che vanno oltre la sola dimensione economica. Tra le altre, questo progetto ha portato alla luce che anche in Italia progetti del genere possono essere fatti rispettando i 3 criteri; il fatto che questo progetto abbia alzato il punto che una linearizzazione del Codice degli Appalti sia necessaria, e i benefici a livello sociale per la città e le aziende private che hanno fatto parte del progetto. Visti i benefici creati, il progetto può essere considerato come un successo dal punto di vista del lungo periodo. Per quanto riguarda il secondo obiettivo, invece, on top a qualsiasi altro fattore critico di successo, gli intervistati hanno indicato l’urgenza e la tragedia come i due principali per questo progetto. Grazie alle informazioni ricavate, inoltre, è stato possibile argomentare che il successo non fu dovuto solamente al processo amministrativo seguito, in quanto, nonostante le possibili deroghe concesse tramite il “Decreto Legge Genova”, l’organizzazione di progetto ha deciso di rispettare tutti gli step indicati dal Codice degli Appalti. Perciò, avendo seguito l’iter amministrativo standard, l’obiettivo è stato quello di capire quali driver hanno portato al successo. Nella parte finale della tesi, questi fattori gestionali sono listati in base ai 5 gruppi precedentemente menzionati. La definizione di queste pratiche di successo potrebbe essere sfruttata come evidenza in progetti futuri all'interno del panorama infrastrutturale italiano e per definire un metro di paragone per future ricerche in ambito accademico.
Managing critical success factors in the Italian infrastructural context : evidence from the Ponte San Giorgio case study
IPPOLITO, MIRKO
2020/2021
Abstract
The proposed thesis concerns the case study of the Ponte San Giorgio. The project took place within the Italian infrastructure industry between 2018 and 2020. In particular, the project refers to the demolition and reconstruction of the Ponte San Giorgio in Genoa, formerly Ponte Morandi before the infrastructure collapse. Given its historical cruciality, after the collapse of the 14th of August 2018, there was a need to rebuild the new bridge as soon as possible to ensure the commercial transactions that citizens and industries near the bridge were used to. The thesis concerns with the research area of project management, and the models and techniques that are relied upon by this academic discipline. Based on this initial consideration and the drama resulting from the tragedy of the collapse, the first objective of this thesis is to demonstrate whether the project was a successful case study. The evaluation of the project considers both the short-term and the long-term. Regarding the evaluation in the short-term, the analysis assesses success from a project management perspective by evaluating the iron triangle model. This model is characterized by evaluations of 3 simple criteria at the end of the project: time, cost, and scope. These are evaluated with what was initially allocated. In contrast, for the long-term evaluation, the analysis assesses whether and what kind of value has been created for the various stakeholders through this project. Moreover, as argued in the literature, it is not enough that the project creates value for the stakeholders involved, but mostly that this created value is also captured by the stakeholders. Once an assessment has been made as to whether or not the project was a success, if this first objective is met, the second purpose of this thesis is to list the critical factors that led to this success. To address this point, several academic articles were reviewed with the goal of defining a list of critical success factors from both global projects within the infrastructure sector and the evidence for this particular case study. Given the specificity of the project and the lack of literature at the Italian infrastructure level, in defining this list of drivers, it was necessary to take into account several global case studies. Since the case study was of particular importance for Italian and foreign stakeholders, in order to meet the research objectives, a deductive approach was adopted. Initially, reference models were established based on the literature review and information available online as mentioned in the previous paragraphs. Parallel to this review and presentation of management models, thanks to the material available online, it was possible to define the organization of the project then useful to define a list of potential actors to be interviewed. Thanks to this list and the construction of semi-structured interviews, it was possible to contact these people and interview them following 5 categories of interviews: these groups concern communication management, stakeholder management, risk management, project management (models, methods and tools) and management from the administrative point of view of the project. The evidence of information from those who actively participated in the project was then validated through the coding methodology. The coding process is a method of extracting keywords from information hidden in the interviews. This information was then consolidated by doing a cross-interview analysis and using information from secondary sources. Finally, the proposed models were evaluated. The conclusion of the thesis argues that the Ponte San Giorgio project was a partial success from a management perspective and in terms of the value created for both active and passive stakeholders. In terms of successful project management, this was partially achieved as the time constraint was not met: the project was delayed by approximately 3 months from the inauguration date allocated at the beginning of the project. Nevertheless, two factors in particular have impacted on this delay: the discovery of asbestos inside the old collapsed structure, and the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. On the other hand, as far as monetary constraints and purpose are concerned, these were fully achieved since the economic budget was met, and the final infrastructure reflects the initial purpose. According instead to the value created – value captured model, several benefits were created for the actors involved through the demolition and construction of the bridge, both public and private benefits that go beyond the economic dimension alone. Among others, this project brought to light that even in Italy such projects can be done respecting the 3 criteria, the fact that this project raised the point that a linearization of the Code of Tenders is necessary, and the benefits on a social level for the city and the private companies that were part of the project. Given the benefits created, the project can be considered a success from a long-term perspective. In regard to the second goal, however, on top of any other critical success factors, respondents listed urgency and tragedy as the top two for this project. Moreover, thanks to the information obtained, it has been possible to argue that the success was not only due to the administrative process followed, since, despite the possible derogations granted through the “Decreto Legge Genova”, the project organization has decided to comply with all the steps indicated by the Code of Tenders. Therefore, having followed the standard administrative process, the objective has been to understand which drivers have led to success. In the final part of the thesis, these management factors are listed according to the 5 groups previously mentioned. The definition of these successful practices could be exploited as evidence in future projects within the Italian infrastructure sector and to define a yardstick for future research in academia.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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https://hdl.handle.net/10589/181707