Public-Private Partnership Success Factors

This assignment delves into the critical success factors that contribute to successful Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects in the construction industry. It requires students to analyze a provided set of academic papers and research articles focusing on PPPs. The analysis should encompass identifying key themes, trends, and challenges related to PPP implementation and explore how these factors influence project outcomes.

Running head: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research methodology
Name of student
Name of University
Author note

1
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Table of Contents
Section 1..........................................................................................................................................3
Introduction..................................................................................................................................3
Research background...................................................................................................................3
Research rationale........................................................................................................................4
Research aim................................................................................................................................4
Research objectives......................................................................................................................4
Research questions.......................................................................................................................5
Research Hypothesis....................................................................................................................5
Section 2: Research plan..................................................................................................................5
Literature review..........................................................................................................................5
Research plan...............................................................................................................................8
Systems of inquiry.......................................................................................................................9
Approaches to empirical work.....................................................................................................9
Research design..........................................................................................................................10
Empirical design........................................................................................................................10
Sampling methods......................................................................................................................11
Sample size................................................................................................................................11
Data collection...........................................................................................................................11
Data analysis..............................................................................................................................12

2
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Values and ethics.......................................................................................................................12
Section 3........................................................................................................................................12
References......................................................................................................................................15

3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Section 1
Introduction
The research proposal is developed to focus on the various ways by which risks are
allocated during the management of public private partnership projects within the Australian
construction industry. The research is undertaken to find ways by which risks will be allocated
and managed in the PPP projects during the management of construction activities between the
public and private parties involved within the construction industry of Australia (Hwang, Zhao
and Gay 2013).
Research background
The background of the research illustrates the impact of issues on the public private
partnership projects and handles those with ease and effectiveness. The public private
partnership is an effective procurement strategy that has influenced the construction activities
within the Australian construction industry and due to this, certain risks are emerging as well
including the differentiating attributes of the projects and high costs involved to resolve those
issues properly. By allocating the risks in PPP projects, it has also become easy to obtain
knowledge and information and create opportunities for managing the risks with ease.
Inadequate information and data are also other risks that have been allocated while managing the
public private partnership projects within the construction industry of Australia (Cheung, Chan
and Kajewski 2012). Though the public private partnership involves a contractual agreement
between the public agency and private sector entity with skills, knowledge and assets being
shared along with the facilities and services, various issues have arisen that are needed to be
allocated properly for successful project functioning.

4
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research rationale
The rationale of the research demonstrates the research problems faced while managing
the public private partnerships and few of these risks are higher cost of development, bidding and
management of construction sites, high cost attached to debt, politically and socially challenging
projects, strict rules and regulations by law and Government. There could also be complexities
associated with the risk allocation during the public private partnership projects when the
documents and parties were not anticipated during the contractual agreements (Osei-Kyei and
Chan 2015). Gaps in knowledge and opportunities could arise due to lack of authenticated
articles and documents that would be needed for extracting the best quality data and information
properly. These problems should be overcome by developing new private sector technologies
and enabling innovation all throughout for delivering better public services and improving the
operational effectiveness too.
Research aim
The aim of the research is to determine the ways by which risks are allocated for the
public private partnership projects within the Australian construction industry.
Research objectives
 To conduct a critical study relating to the present situation of considering the public
private partnership within the construction industry in Australia
 To evaluate the most relevant public private partnership procurement strategies and case
studies within the Australian construction industry
 To conduct surveys and obtain data and information from the people about the allocation
of risks in PPP within the Australia construction industry

5
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
 To collect relevant data and information and find out how risks are allocated between the
public and private parties to manage the PPP projects within the construction industry,
Australia
 To conduct analysis of the information and data and develop a suitable framework for
allocating the risks in PPP between both public and private parties
Research questions
How can the critical study of the literature provide an overview of the entire situation related to
the allocation of risks for the PPPs in Australian construction industry?
What are the most effective public private partnership procurement strategies managed within
the construction industry of Australia?
How could the surveys, data and information collected could help in allocating the risks in PPP
for the construction industry?
How could be the analysis of data and information help in the management of a suitable
framework to allocate risks in PP for both the public and private parties?
Research Hypothesis
H0: The allocation of risks in public private partnership projects cannot create any positive
impact on the operational efficiency and promote innovation
H1: Risk allocation in PPPs within the construction industry of Australia could help in
implementing new technologies and deliver best quality pubic services along with betterment of
operational effectiveness.

6
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Section 2: Research plan
Literature review
The public private partnerships are important aspects considered while managing
procurement of infrastructure development projects within the construction industry of Australia.
PPPs deliver greater value for money projects and it has been driven with the involvement of
Government of Australia too. Due to the public private partnership procurement strategy, the risk
allocation of resources in public private partnership projects is minimsed. Due to the emergence
of various issues and problems, the conventional delivery model has been replaced with public
private partnership model, which allows the public organisation to transfer the risks and allocate
those to the private party, thereby reducing the costs incurred during the construction
management largely (Chou and Pramudawardhani 2015). However, the allocation of risks could
be challenging and even might cost a lot of money along with issues related to transfer of risks.
Other than the lowering down of costs incurred during the construction project management, the
tax payers have also gained value for money, due to which, the risks related to the project have
also been reduced.
While allocating the risks, it is important not only to reduce the impact but also to
manage the risks properly by assigning those between both the Government and private sectors.
Allocation of risks in PPPs is quite straightforward, because of which, the party that can be able
to manage the risks are handed over the risks through allocation. Between the two parties, the
concerned party must be able to identify the risk in quick time, understand its likelihood as well
as reduce the impact by managing the risks allocation with ease and effectiveness. The party that
is responsible for managing the risks also must bear the financial costs, keep costs lower and
finally deliver the greatest value for money (Porwal and Hewage 2013). There are multiple

7
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
public private partnership projects undertaken in the past few years, though few of those have
been successful due to the allocation of risks in an appropriate way. To manage the risks, proper
approaches should be followed and this could be the distribution of risks and allocate those to
respective authorities. When multiple risks arise, few of those could be allocated to the
Government while the remaining risks should be allocated to the private sector. While
undertaking the public private partnership projects, investigations should be done for allocating
the risks accurately between the private and public sectors and ensure that a potential gap in
knowledge could be understood. By managing public private partnerships in the construction
industry, it has also become easy for transferring skills and knowledge and even export the
competencies through bidding procedures. This is how the long-term value of money could be
derived, furthermore should assist in managing the project with ease and efficiency through risk
allocation (Ismail 2013). According to various authors, it was also found that the external factors
like legal, political, social and economic factors contributed to the allocation of risks between the
private and public parties and ensured successful undertaking and implementation of the project.
With new issues arising, new scopes and opportunities were also created, which helped in
managing the public private partnership projects with much ease and effectiveness. Though there
are certain benefits, there are few disadvantages associated with the management of public
private partnership projects too including the increased costs of development, bidding and
business functioning. This can further create issues during the allocation of risks in PPPs during
the project management within the construction industry of Australia. As during the management
of construction project, both public and private parties are involved to form contracts and
agreements, so there can be emergence of contractual issues too (Cruz and Marques 2013). The
allocation of risks is one of the major aspects of the contract negotiations where two parties are

8
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
involved, both private and public. One of the parties must focus on reducing the chances of risks
and maximize the value for money. The risks are allocated through negotiations and drafting of
contractual provisions. Nearly every provision of a commercial contract could be used for
allocating the risks, few of the major tools that might be used for the purpose of risk allocation
had been indemnification, payment terms and conditions, warranties of products and services,
contractual remedies and limitations of liabilities (Liu and Wilkinson 2014).

9
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research plan
Main activities/ stages Month
January
Month
Feb
Month
April
Month
July
Month
October
Month
December
Selecting the topic of PPPs 
Framing layout of the
research

conducting a critical study
of the literature
  
Formation of the research
Plan
 
Selection of the Appropriate
Research Techniques
 
Conducting surveys to
collect data
 
Analysis & Interpretation of
Data related to the
construction industry’s
PPPs
 
Conclusion of the Study 
Formation of Rough Draft 
Submission of Final Work 

10
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Systems of inquiry
The various systems required for inquiring about the project management could be the
induction, deduction and abduction. The inductive system can allow for making observations and
understand he occurrence and impacts of risk allocation, furthermore determine the actual pattern
to achieve the goals and objectives (Åsvoll 2014). A tentative hypothesis will be developed to
create justification of theory and ensure successful project management within the construction
industry. The research methods of construction also can include the deduction system for
inquiring about the risk allocation in PPPs through development of theories and hypothesis,
furthermore make observations and confirm the actual results or outcomes (Siemiatycki and
Farooqi 2012). The abduction system could allow for understanding the proposition of value,
develop an insight and propositions, and furthermore obtain critical insight of the best-fit
approaches. From the research, hypothesis was developed and observations were made based on
the literature review section and so the deduction system was the most suitable. By choosing
these systems of enquiry, it can be easy to understand the benefits of public private partnership
procurement strategies and how risks will be allocated within the construction industry. It will
also help in analyzing the collected data and information and furthermore ensure that the risks
are allocated in such a manner to prevent any issues related to the public private partnerships in
construction industry in the future.
Approaches to empirical work
The empirical work results could be obtained by obtaining knowledge gained through
various experiments and observations made. The knowledge and information gained from
various observations and experiments could be the empirical work. The knowledge could be
obtained based on the express and tacit knowledge (Hartmann et al. 2012). Experience is one the

11
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
approaches to empirical work, which focuses on understanding the various concepts of risk
allocation and its impact in public private partnerships within the construction industry. Here
express knowledge will be beneficial because various documents and articles can be searched to
analyse the impact of risk allocation on the PPPs within the construction industry (Liu et al.
2014). The results obtained from empirical study should depend upon the things known by the
researcher after studying the literature review section.
Research design
The designing of research should allow for finding out the accurate answers or solutions
for the various problems or questions that might arise during the research conduction. The
empirical design could help in understanding the kind of data and information to be collected,
ways of collecting those and evaluating the appropriateness of those. The designs should though
be created based on the approaches chosen including the positivistic and phenomenological
approaches during the various stages of the project management. The phenomenological
approach could be to develop new ideas and concepts by considering the induction approach to
gain an in-depth analysis whereas the positivism should allow to identify the issues and decrease
the chances of issues for the formulation of effective strategies (Zou et al. 2014). The positivistic
approach to deduction could be considered as effective because of the testing hypothesis and
enhanced scopes for formulation of strategies.
Empirical design
The approaches for managing the empirical design are case study analysis, providing
survey questionnaires, observing the behaviors of participants and conducting experiments at
laboratories. Among all these, the case study analysis and large scale surveys should be done by
distributing survey questionnaires because there could be considered as most effective. It could

12
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
create better scopes for remaining positivistic in approaches and interpret the data and
information obtained through large scale surveys accurately (Neuman 2013).
Sampling methods
The probability and non-probability sampling methods are effective for selecting the right
samples and obtain relevant data and information all throughout. The probability sampling
method could be used to select random samples from a huge population and obtain their
responses in the form of data whereas the non-probability sampling method could be done by
using both purposive and convenient sampling methods. The purposive sampling could be used
to gather quantitative data whereas the convenient sampling method should allow for fixing the
most suitable time for the managers of the organizations within the construction industry and
obtain their responses (Taylor, Bogdan and DeVault 2015).
Sample size
As the entire Australian construction industry was chosen here, so the sampling size
should be chosen as 100 employees 40 managers of the different construction management
businesses.
Data collection
The data collected must include both primary and secondary data. The quantitative data
could be collected through random sampling process and by providing survey questionnaires to
the respondents to obtain their responses and feedbacks. The qualitative data should be collected
by interviewing the managers of the construction businesses, which comprise the primary data.
The qualitative approaches should be descriptive though, which could provide a comprehensive
view of the research subject and develop theories based on the data collected (Flick 2015). The

13
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
secondary data should be collected by searching relevant articles, documents and websites to
obtain the best quality information and conduct the research successfully.
Data analysis
The analysis of data will be done by using SPSS tool and representing those on graphical
formats for understanding those with ease and effectiveness.
Values and ethics
The values and ethics will be maintained by managing confidentiality of information and
maintaining privacy of the respondents of the research. The research materials could be used for
academic purposes only and not for any commercial purposes. Most of the data and information
obtained during the research should be destroyed for making sure that those do not fall in wrong
hands (Yanow and Schwartz-Shea 2015).

14
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Section 3
The research plan for 11 weeks research project should be created to focus on the various
tasks and time duration allotted to those for the proper completion. The research plan and
timeline should consist of various activities including the selection of research topic in the first
week. The research topic was selected as risk allocation in public private partnership projects
within the construction industry of Australia. The collection of data might be a daunting task
because of measuring the accuracy and authenticated results that could be obtained based on the
primary and secondary data collected. By collecting relevant data and information, a research
layout should be formed, which could take nearly 3 months (Flach and Hadjiantonis 2013).
Based on the various research data and information collected, it could be understood that it
would be important for conducting a critical study of the literature review and create assumptions
for understanding the empirical study and research designs.

15
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Methodology for 1 year thesis
Task Name Duration Start Finish
Thesis Plan 11.88 wks Tue 1/23/18 Mon 4/16/18
Development of proposal 4 wks Tue 1/23/18 Mon 2/19/18
finding appropriate literature on the field of
research-1 20 hrs Tue 1/23/18 Thu 1/25/18
identify a particular literature to find the gap-1 20 hrs Thu 1/25/18 Mon 1/29/18
framing research question/Aims/rationale and
objectives-1 20 hrs Tue 1/30/18 Thu 2/1/18
Preparing the outline proposal draft and acquiring
feedback from the supervisor-2 20 hrs Thu 2/1/18 Mon 2/5/18
develop research proposal -2 20 hrs Tue 2/6/18 Thu 2/8/18
submit research proposal- 2 20 hrs Thu 2/8/18 Mon 2/12/18
review feedback and complete the research
proposal by refining it-3 20 hrs Tue 2/13/18 Thu 2/15/18
prepare final research question-3 20 hrs Thu 2/15/18 Mon 2/19/18
Literature review 2 wks Tue 2/20/18 Mon 3/5/18
conduct extensive literature review on risk
allocation in construction industry-4 20 hrs Tue 2/20/18 Thu 2/22/18
conduct extensive literature review on Public
Private Partnership -5 20 hrs Thu 2/22/18 Mon 2/26/18
Conduct extensive review to identify the methods
of distribution risk allocation between public and
private parties-8
20 hrs Tue 2/27/18 Thu 3/1/18
developing in depth understanding of the topic-6 20 hrs Thu 3/1/18 Mon 3/5/18
Secondary data analysis 2.38 wks Tue 3/6/18 Wed 3/21/18
Data analysis to identify the risk allocation 25 hrs Tue 3/6/18 Fri 3/9/18

16
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
techniques in construction industry-7
Data analysis to identify the methods of
distribution risk allocation between publci and private
parties-8
35 hrs Fri 3/9/18 Thu 3/15/18
Data analysis to develop a framework for better
allocation of risk in PPP in construction industry-9 35 hrs Thu 3/15/18 Wed 3/21/18
Thesis submission 3.5 wks Wed
3/21/18 Mon 4/16/18
Prepare first draft of thesis-10 40 hrs Wed 3/21/18 Wed 3/28/18
Submit draft and get feedback-10 20 hrs Wed 3/28/18 Mon 4/2/18
prepare thesis-11 60 hrs Mon 4/2/18 Wed 4/11/18
submit thesis 20 hrs Wed 4/11/18 Mon 4/16/18

17
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

18
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The practitioners or individuals involved with the management of public private
partnership during the construction project management at Australia must know about the
occurrence of risk allocation along with its probable impacts created. The private sector does not
create much impact on the change in laws, rules and regulations and in such cases, the public
agency or party might incur the most amount of risks associated with the management of projects
within the construction industry of Australia (Åsvoll 2014). The allocation of risks should be
possible through gaining ultimate control over the costs of operations and furthermore provide
better incentives to the private parties. The Government of Australia is responsible for managing
the risk allocation occurrence while the private party manages the impacts. Based on this
literature, it could be understood that for conducting the research based on the public private
partnerships within the construction industry, a proper research plan was needed to be developed.
The research timeline showed above should not only assist in determining the time frame for
each of the tasks but also could allow for maintaining a proper structure and flow of information
and data all throughout the research conduction (Gregor, Müller and Seidel 2013).
For conducting the empirical study, the express knowledge should be useful because the
researcher could use the approaches, knowledge and information that could be known to him and
on the basis of his experiences. For the research design, the positivistic approach to deduction
should be considered as the most effective. To manage the empirical design and ensure
successful accomplishment of research goals and objectives, the case studies should be analysed
along with large scale surveys done with the use of survey questionnaires distributed to the
respondents involved in the research. For the collection of data, both qualitative and quantitative
data were needed to be considered. The qualitative data would be collected through social
construction, which could help in focusing on the languages used while the descriptive approach

19
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
could provide an in-depth view of the research subject based on the materials that were
researched (Creswell and Poth 2017). Hypothesis shall be developed, which can strengthen the
efficiency of developing project scopes and enhance the efficiency of the research conduction.

20
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
References
Åsvoll, H., 2014. Abduction, deduction and induction: can these concepts be used for an
understanding of methodological processes in interpretative case studies?. International Journal
of Qualitative Studies in Education, 27(3), pp.289-307.
Cheung, E., Chan, A.P. and Kajewski, S., 2012. Factors contributing to successful public private
partnership projects: Comparing Hong Kong with Australia and the United Kingdom. Journal of
Facilities Management, 10(1), pp.45-58.
Chou, J.S. and Pramudawardhani, D., 2015. Cross-country comparisons of key drivers, critical
success factors and risk allocation for public-private partnership projects. International Journal
of Project Management, 33(5), pp.1136-1150.
Creswell, J.W. and Poth, C.N., 2017. Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among
five approaches. Sage publications.
Cruz, C.O. and Marques, R.C., 2013. Flexible contracts to cope with uncertainty in public–
private partnerships. International Journal of Project Management, 31(3), pp.473-483.
Flach, P.A. and Hadjiantonis, A. eds., 2013. Abduction and Induction: Essays on their relation
and integration (Vol. 18). Springer Science & Business Media.
Flick, U., 2015. Introducing research methodology: A beginner's guide to doing a research
project. Sage.
Gregor, S., Müller, O. and Seidel, S., 2013. Reflection, Abstraction And Theorizing In Design
And Development Research. In ECIS (Vol. 13, p. 74).

21
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Hartmann, T., Van Meerveld, H., Vossebeld, N. and Adriaanse, A., 2012. Aligning building
information model tools and construction management methods. Automation in construction, 22,
pp.605-613.
Hwang, B.G., Zhao, X. and Gay, M.J.S., 2013. Public private partnership projects in Singapore:
Factors, critical risks and preferred risk allocation from the perspective of
contractors. International Journal of Project Management, 31(3), pp.424-433.
Ismail, S., 2013. Critical success factors of public private partnership (PPP) implementation in
Malaysia. Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Administration, 5(1), pp.6-19.
Liu, J., Love, P.E., Smith, J., Regan, M. and Davis, P.R., 2014. Life cycle critical success factors
for public-private partnership infrastructure projects. Journal of Management in
Engineering, 31(5), p.04014073.
Liu, T. and Wilkinson, S., 2014. Large-scale public venue development and the application of
Public–Private Partnerships (PPPs). International Journal of Project Management, 32(1), pp.88-
100.
Neuman, W.L., 2013. Social research methods: Qualitative and quantitative approaches.
Pearson education.
Osei-Kyei, R. and Chan, A.P., 2015. Review of studies on the Critical Success Factors for
Public–Private Partnership (PPP) projects from 1990 to 2013. International Journal of Project
Management, 33(6), pp.1335-1346.
Porwal, A. and Hewage, K.N., 2013. Building Information Modeling (BIM) partnering
framework for public construction projects. Automation in Construction, 31, pp.204-214.

22
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Siemiatycki, M. and Farooqi, N., 2012. Value for money and risk in public–private partnerships:
Evaluating the evidence. Journal of the American Planning Association, 78(3), pp.286-299.
Taylor, S.J., Bogdan, R. and DeVault, M., 2015. Introduction to qualitative research methods: A
guidebook and resource. John Wiley & Sons.
Yanow, D. and Schwartz-Shea, P., 2015. Interpretation and method: Empirical research
methods and the interpretive turn.
Zou, W., Kumaraswamy, M., Chung, J. and Wong, J., 2014. Identifying the critical success
factors for relationship management in PPP projects. International Journal of Project
Management, 32(2), pp.265-274.