Time Duration of Decision-Making Process

Abstract

China is changing fast. Large infrastructure and construction projects turned China into the world’s largest importer of heavy construction equipment. Many projects are built in a very short period of time. Most observations outside of China are referred to fast prestigious projects such as Beijing Olympics subway, Beijing International Airport Terminal-3 and Shanghai Pu Dong International Airport with beautiful designs, grand structures and short construction time period are practically not the complete picture of building infrastructure in China. In fact, plenty of infrastructure projects took long time duration of decision making process on Chinese large infrastructure projects. Therefore, the main research is to answer the following research question: What are the critical factors that explain time duration of the decision making process on China’s large infrastructure projects? In order to answer this question, three major methods are used: desk research, interviews and case study. The desk research includes documentary studies of the related institutional reports, official white papers and academic research for general information. The interviews are conducted by face to face interview, telephone interview and online interview, which can provide detailed information and data which are difficult to be found from document study. The case study is focusing on one single case, Harbin subway project, which is explained from two decision making perspectives generated from theoretical research: project perspective and process perspective. Factors explaining long time decision making duration of the selected case will be explored based on both the analytical process by applying theoretical framework and the output that how much theoretical framework can apply on the decision-making process of the selected case. Based on the case study, certain of factors are identified as critical to explain time-duration of decision making process on large infrastructure projects in China. They are 1)insufficient power results in inefficient progress, 2)absence of entrepreneurs and absence of coupling, 3)closed national policy window, 4)strategic behaviors among interactions, 5)interminable application procedure on Chinese large infrastructure projects, 6)strategic choice to urban infrastructure services instead of new infrastructure construction project, 7)frequent personnel changes of mayor position, 8)tense economic interference and a tight link between national economic development and infrastructure investment and 9)the changing cognitions of Chinese residences. At last corresponding learning points drawn up as: 1) under Mao’s regime, decision making process presents the most significant characteristics from the project perspective; After Deng’s economic reform and power decentralization, certain characteristics from the process perspective emerged at the municipal government and central government still presents limited characteristics from the process perspective. 2) The characteristics of decision making process on economic infrastructure project as Harbin subway case are varied from that of the national mission project and image project. 3) Different municipal power status and regional deviation result in different speed of decision making process.