Title: Selection of the most competent project designer based on multi-criteria and cluster analysis

Authors: Georgios N. Aretoulis; Christophoros H. Triantafyllidis; Jason Papathanasiou; Ioannis K. Anagnostopoulos

Addresses: Laboratory of Construction Equipment and Management, Faculty of Engineering, School of Civil Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Campus, Egnatia Street, 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece ' Project Management Unit, Intermediate Management Authority, Region of Central Macedonia, Leoforos Georgikis Scholis 65, 57001, Pylea, Thessaloniki, Greece ' Department of Business Administration, University of Macedonia, Egnatias 156, 54006, Thessaloniki, Greece ' Laboratory of Construction Equipment and Management, Faculty of Engineering, School of Civil Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Campus, Egnatia Street, 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece

Abstract: Construction project designers (CPDs) are essential human resources for the construction enterprises. This paper focuses on creating a novel approach for selecting the most efficient CPD. Thirty-four required attributes of a designer were identified and prioritised through a structured questionnaire survey. The survey led to 199 responses from engineers throughout the Greek Construction Industry. SPSS PASW was used to implement cluster analysis and three distinct clusters of participants' profiles were identified based on their responses. Secondly, an approach is proposed for ranking available project designers and identifying the most competent one. The criteria were selected among the most dominant attributes of the survey. The Simos method asserted the weighs of the selected criteria in order to implement the PROMETHEE multi-criteria methodology. The approach was implemented for all the identified samples of participants. A case study was conducted, which highlighted the most eligible designer based on the proposed methodology.

Keywords: construction projects; project design; project designers; designer selection; designer competencies; cluster analysis; perceptions; Simos method; PROMETHEE; multicriteria decision making; MCDM; construction industry; Greece.

DOI: 10.1504/IJDATS.2015.068749

International Journal of Data Analysis Techniques and Strategies, 2015 Vol.7 No.2, pp.172 - 186

Published online: 12 Apr 2015 *

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