A Standardized Approach to Identify and Define Owner Value Interests and Align the E&C Response

One of the largest challenges that we face today in project execution is defining and sharing the value set that will best communicate the needs of all of the stakeholders in a project. Resulting problems are often the result of this miscommunication. These problems may occur because not enough information is conveyed, because incorrect assumptions are made by one or both parties (Owner/E&C provider), or because conflicting values have not been properly identified. While some project requirements such as budget, schedule, and physical specifications can be clearly defined and communicated as they are dictated by organizational decisions, market demands, and other constraints, other value interests in a project are often difficult to define and even more difficult to measure and communicate. As a result, the project values are often only partially identified and communicated without fully understanding why they are selected, how to measure them, and in which situations the project team needs to depart from set levels.

For this reason, CII commissioned Research Team 266 to develop a new method and tool that would assist the owners with the identification and communication of their values (value interests) as well as identify the appropriate Engineering & Construction (E&C) responses (focus points). The team was made up of industry professionals from both Owner and Contractor companies and Principal Investigators from academia. Through an extensive review of literature and existing practices, the contribution of years of professional experience of the team members, and a survey of the industry, the CII ValueShare tool was developed.

The CII ValueShare tool provides an operating environment for identifying owners’ value interests for a particular project, a means to communicate the value interests within the owner’s organization and with the E&C and suppliers, as well as a decision-support process that can assist E&C in determining what should be their main focus in responding to a particular value interest. This tool was developed and validated based on industry survey data and research work process developed by Research Team 266.