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Over the past three years there has been a sharp rise in the number of mega projects in boom markets such as the Middle East, and Asia. This has presented the opportunity for US firms to play a leading role in some of the most ambitious construction developments ever undertaken.
A seemingly endless number of these billion dollar developments are being commissioned in places like Dubai and Macau, driven by high oil revenues and economic opening. Construction of these projects, which tend to be commercial, hospitality or infrastructure developments, can involve hundreds of specialized organizations. In many cases, project participants are not even on same continent, let alone the same project site, as their fellow team members.
North American firms are playing a major role in providing skills and services to these projects. From casino resort developers such as Las Vegas Sands and Wynn, to hotel operators like Fairmont and Four Seasons, to contractors and consultants such as Parsons Brinckerhoff, AECOM and KBR, US firms have been quick to take the significant opportunities these thriving markets are offering. Whereas this has opened up exciting prospects for new business, it has also presented an array of new risks and challenges. One of the main ones being: how firms communicate when their project partners are based around the world.
This is a considerable task as, even if they are headquartered thousands of miles from the project site, companies are expected to deliver the same high standard of service to a project in Dubai as they would to one in Denver.
Collaboration between organizations is at the core of successful project delivery and depends largely upon the efficient and accurate exchange of drawings, documents and correspondence between team members. On a mega project, this is made more complex by the fact that hundreds of thousands of documents and project mails need to be managed between team members for the project to be completed on time and within budget.
To achieve this, US organizations are increasingly using web-based project collaboration tools to link themselves with their international partners. These systems allow project teams to store and manage their information online in one secure, central platform that is accessible to authorized team members. This enables participants, from wherever they are in the world, to view, distribute and track their files in real time.
This document will examine the growth of large-scale international projects, discuss the barriers to collaboration and illustrate how web-based systems can facilitate the involvement of US firms on these developments. Selecting a collaboration tool vendor that has the capabilities to service a mega project is crucial, so the key criteria around this process will be outlined.
More than ever, companies and governments are investing in ambitious and demanding large-scale construction projects. Often dubbed ‘mega projects’, these developments are typically valued in the hundreds-of-millions of dollars (often in the billions), with 5-10 year lifecycles, and attract a high level of public and political interest due to their size, visibility and economic and social impact. While occasionally undertaken in the established markets of Europe and the US, it is in fast growing economies such as in Asia, the Middle East and – increasingly – North Africa, that the mega project is most prevalent today.
As Greater China’s economy flourishes, so does the country’s appetite for mega projects. Announcements of massive infrastructure projects, such as the $60 billion South-to-North Water Diversion Project and the $24 billion Three Gorges Dam, are becoming commonplace. China’s spending on infrastructure for the 2008 Beijing Olympics is expected to top $23 billion – which will easily surpass spending for both the Sydney and Athens games combined.6 Hong Kong is experiencing renewed development, and billions of (primarily American hospitality) dollars are being invested in Macau, as the Special Administrative Region looks to establish itself as the ‘Vegas of the East’. Organizations such as Las Vegas Sands, Wynn, MGM Grand, Starwood and Four Seasons have all invested in developing gaming and hospitality assets. Macau’s Cotai Strip now exceeds the Las Vegas Strip in gambling revenue, with developments such as the $1.8 billion Venetian Macau and the $1.2 billion Wynn Macau as its cornerstones.
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