COORDINATION ISSUES IN CHINESE LARGE BUILDING PROJECTS

PEER-REVIEWED PAPER: SPECIAL ISSUE ON GLOBALIZATION COORDINATION ISSUES IN CHINESE LARGE BUILDING PROJECTS By Yuhong Wang 1 ABSTRACT: After the year of 1990, many large-scale building projects mushroomed in China due to the increase of construction investments. From that time, many designers from the Western countries stepped into this new market to find new opportunities. Their appearance stimulated some positive changes of the local community, but also raised many concerns. The writer made a survey of seven projects in China designed by foreign design firms. Using the information from the survey, this paper evaluates the positive and negative effects of the foreign design on the Chinese construction market and the local community. According to the survey, one of the most conspicuous negative effects is the coordination issue between the foreign designers and the local project participants. This paper analyzes the different backgrounds of the Chinese and the Western construction industries as well as other factors that contribute to the coordination issue. It also evaluates and proposes some measures trying to solve this problem. INTRODUCTION In the 1990s, a high economic growth rate in China coupled with a more favorable political environment promoted the prosperity of the construction market. For some time, construction sites became common in many Chinese cities. In several investment hot spots, such as Pudong New Area in Shanghai, many large-scale buildings mushroomed almost simultaneously, a phenomenon that had never happened before in the history of China. No other precise statistical data were found, but the number of high-rise buildings can reflect this process to some extent. Fig. 1, based on the official statistical data, shows the increase in the number of high-rises (above 17 stories) after 1995 in Pudong New Area. Because it often took 3 years or more to implement such projects, most of the buildings that were finished after 1995, as shown in the figure, actually began around 1991. Many of these buildings, especially important ones for attracting new investors, were designed by foreign design firms primarily from the Western countries. Here the term Western refers to North America, Europe, and other developed countries. The following parts of this paper will continue to use this term without differentiating further. By 1994, there were already over 100 foreign architectural design offices registered in Shanghai. These Western designers introduced diversified architectural styles as well as new engineering design concepts to the Chinese construction market, both of which were beneficial to the Chinese urbanization and the upgrade of the local construction industry. However, this practice also raised many concerns to the local community. For example, modern buildings designed by foreign firms sometimes were harshly criticized for less consideration of the traditional building styles around the new buildings. In the implementation of the projects, the foreign designers sometimes did not work well with their local project partners, which led to negative effects on projects time, cost, and even quality targets. Aesthetic issues are beyond the discussion of this paper. Through a comparison and analysis of the different backgrounds of the Chinese and the Western construction industries, this paper discusses the major factors hindering the cooperation between the Western designers and the Chinese engineering participants. Some other factors, such 1 PhD Student, Dept. of Civ. Engrg., Univ. of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0281. Note. Discussion open until May 1, 2001. To extend the closing date one month, a written request must be filed with the ASCE Manager of Journals. The manuscript for this paper was submitted for review and possible publication on February 9, 2000. This paper is part of the Journal of Management in Engineering, Vol. 16, No. 6, November/December, 2000. ASCE, ISSN 0742-597X/00/0006-0054 0061/$8.00 $.50 per page. Paper No. 22182. FIG. 1. Area Increase of High-Rises in Shanghai Pudong New 54 / JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT IN ENGINEERING / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2000

TABLE 1. General Information of Surveyed Projects Project number (1) Floor area (10,000 m 2 ) (2) Budget (billion RMB) (3) Starting time (4) Completion time (5) Service completion phase (foreign designers) (6) 1 9.2 1.32 August 1993 July 1997 Construction documents 2 5.1 0.53 December 1993 October 1997 Design development 3 30 4.75 January 1993 December 1998 Construction documents 4 7.1 1.05 February 1994 April 1999 Construction documents 5 23 2.4 January 1994 June 2000 Construction documents 6 10 1.4 April 1997 May 2000 Schematic design 7 14 0.9 July 1998 June 2000 Design development Note: For projects not finished at the time of the survey, the completion time is the estimated time. as communication technique and languages, are also identified herein. This paper was based on a survey of seven large-scale construction projects in China (Table 1). In these projects, some different measures were taken to accommodate the foreign designers. Some of them were effective in practice, and others were not. This paper investigates the effectiveness of these measures and proposes more with the consideration of possible changes in the Chinese and global construction markets in the future. RESEARCH APPROACH The writer identified seven large-scale building construction projects in China designed by the Western designers and made a thorough investigation. Project information was obtained by sending questionnaires to the owners project managers or main contractors, by interviewing them directly and by accessing to the vast amount of project documents. Those documents consisted of project-planning documents, correspondences between the designers and the owners, reports by foreign designers, memorandums of conversations and meetings, construction reports, and comments by related government authorities. The subjective appraisals of the interviewers and the objective records during the project implementation were considered equally in this paper to reach an overall conclusion. Table 1 describes the general information of the seven projects. EFFECTS OF INTRODUCING WESTERN DESIGNERS INTO THE CHINESE CONSTRUCTION MARKET Positive Effects Before the 1980s, construction design, which was called design task in China, was assigned to the limited number of design institutes according to city development plans. Due to the lack of profit stimulation, competition, and communication with the outside world, the creativity of the Chinese architects was seriously inhibited. The appearances of buildings designed and constructed at that time were quite dull and monotonous. Although this situation gradually changed after the 1980s, the quantity and competence of these design institutes could not satisfy the flood of construction projects immediately. Attempting to expand the scope of choice, many owners began to consider foreign design firms with the design competition method. The Western designers, as the public expected, indeed applied various and modern styles to the new building. With more communication and competition, local designers also paid increasingly more attention to the aesthetic value of a building. The Western designers also introduced new concepts in engineering design to the Chinese construction industry. Before the 1990s, structural forms in Chinese largescale buildings were mostly the same; for instance, steel structures were seldom used in building design. Although an appropriate structural form not only fits the requirements of architecture, it can also bring about costsaving or time-speeding benefit. In the design of several skyscraper buildings in China, such as the 88-story Jinmao Building in Shanghai, foreign structural engineers experiences in other similar buildings were even more valuable. In addition to the complex structures, many of the projects have comprehensive and complicated equipment systems to meet many functional requirements of modern commercial buildings. In China, the mechanical and electrical systems of a building, along with the architecture, are also designed by the comprehensive design institutes, whereas professional engineering designs in the Western countries may be more responsive to technology innovation and application. The foreign designers gave the local engineers a good opportunity to catch up with the worldwide technology development. Introducing the Western designers to the Chinese construction industry also brought about other favorable social effects: office buildings with good designs more easily attract occupants than bad ones. At present, although there are still many office buildings remaining empty due to overdevelopment and the financial crisis happening in Asia several years ago, high quality office buildings enjoy a high rent or sales rate. Because construction involves many parties, their cooperation with foreign companies promotes local contractors, suppliers, and manufacturers to obtain more information and understand international routines in this industry. Some contractors intentionally appoint more project managers in these projects to help them learn. After they have accumulated sufficient experiences, some of them were selected to undertake the companies oversea projects in the Middle East and Africa. Negative Effects In spite of these advantages, it should be pointed out JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT IN ENGINEERING / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2000 / 55

that introducing foreign design companies into the Chinese construction market is far from perfect. Conspicuous negative effects also emerged. It was widely admitted by the interviewers that hiring foreign design firms probably caused more coordination problems that would not have existed if local firms had been used. The following are several cases of the problems that arose in the projects surveyed: Typical problems were exposed in Project 1. It was commissioned to a Western design office in November 1993 and began construction at the beginning of 1995. But it did not finish in November 1998 (the date of this survey), and the cost estimated will be up to 15,000 RMB/m 2 (RMB is Chinese currency), much higher than the average of 10,000 RMB/m 2 in that district. Designers should assume more responsibilities for this failure. According to the complaints of the owner s project manager, most of his ordinary work was to act as a referee between the designer and contractor; however, both sides claimed that they were performing under the conventions of their countries. During the endless disputes, the owner, who had to hire a local design firm to rework the original blueprints to make it acceptable to the contractor, was the real final victim. In Project 5, the designers canceled fire shutters by adding the splinter capacity to make allowance for architectural requirements, which was said to be a common practice in Canada by the designer. But the Chinese owner encountered trouble while submitting the design documents to government authorities for approval, and this practice contradicted the local fire regulations. A lot of time was lost before a final agreement was reached among the authorities, owner, and designer. By not fully understanding the designers intentions, the contractor in Project 2 revised the specifications a little by changing some brick walls to concrete walls. This change incurred a high cost increase afterward. Even Project 6, which was generally regarded as a success, encountered similar incidents. Some work had to be done again for deviating from the original design intention. PROBLEM ANALYSIS The problems listed above were not accidental, but were, sometimes inevitably, caused by a series of coordination problems. The owners, designers, and contractors in the Western countries have settled patterns of doing things, as do the participants in the Chinese construction market. Even in different Western countries, such patterns are also sometimes inconsistent. If the owners cannot pay enough attention to this problem (unfortunately they did not in many cases), they will make a wrong selection beforehand and miss the solutions after problems appear. As far as the importance of design documents and the weight of design in the whole construction process are concerned, it is risky for the owner to choose a foreign design firm. But once they make such a decision, certain measures must be taken to avoid serious coordination problems. To successfully coordinate the Western design firms into the local construction environments, both sides should realize and understand the totally different backgrounds in the Chinese and the Western construction industries. Different Backgrounds Difference between Design Firms At present, private-owned design offices are still very rare in China. As referred to before, the state-owned design firms in China are called design institutes. Although occasionally engaged in research and academic affairs (such as making tests and formulating standards), their major undertakings today are performing design tasks. These design institutes are very big as judged from their number of staffs. According to the China Statistical Yearbook (1998), the average number of staffs in design institutes is 66.7 persons, and, in the Western countries, for example, in the United States, some statistics show that average firms are made up of only 9 or 10 people. Many firms are even smaller (with as few as one or two architects). The design institutes in China usually consist of multiple disciplines such as urban planning, garden design, architecture design, and engineering design. Owners in China were used to commission all of these design tasks to one institute, whereas, in the Western countries, although there are a few comprehensive design firms, many firms specialize in one or more projects or facility types. Architects introduce other disciplines into their projects through appropriate engineering or other consultants. Difference between Contractors Since the economic reform movement in 1978, construction contractors in China are more diversified than design institutes. The contractor market comprises stateowned big companies and collectively owned, private, joint-owned medium or small size companies. The contractor market is also under development. In 1997, China had 95,956 construction contractors. If one considers the great demands on the construction market, this number was not large. For example, it is said that there are about 350,000 contractors in the United States alone. But the number of employees in Chinese construction firms is up to 28,046,000 in 1997. Because the employees in collectively owned companies are often temporary and prone to change their work, the writer can only consider the number of employees in the stateowned companies, which are 858.7 persons on the average. In the United States, employees in most construction companies are not as numerous as in China. Many contractors are, in fact, two- or three-person companies. Overall, contractors in China are also large and comprehensive, similar to the design institutes. The state-owned big companies often play the role as main contractors in these large-scale building projects. 56 / JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT IN ENGINEERING / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2000

Different Understanding of Design Process and Design Documents In China, the design process is divided into the preliminary design and the construction documents design phase. Only in large-scale or special-demanded building projects are the conceptual design phase and design development phase required. In these projects, government authorities will review the design documents after the completion of conceptual design and design development documents. There are also local regulations prescribing the scope, depth, and contents of design documents. According to the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Document B141 (AIA 1987), the design process consists of three phases: schematic design phase, design development phase, and construction documents phase. In practice, the schematic design corresponds to the conceptual design in China; design development has the same meaning. But the contents of the design documents in these phases are different, especially in construction drawings. In China, construction drawings submitted by design institutes are so detailed that the contractors can even use them directly to work without their own shop drawings. If there are some drawings similar to the existing shop drawings, they are made only to direct site workers and are not submitted to architects for approval. However, the construction drawings by foreign designers are often not that detailed; the shop drawings by contractors must obtain the architects approval according to the AIA s standard documents. Coordination Problems Caused by Different Backgrounds The different backgrounds illustrated above make it difficult for an owner to select a foreign design firm and to coordinate it into the project team in which local firms participate. The coordination problems focus on the following aspects. Selecting Architects The first step of successful coordination for these large-scale projects is selecting a qualified and reliable designer for a project in large scale. In China, each design institute has its own rank of competence recognized by the Chinese Ministry of Construction. Only those design firms above a certain grade in the rank can undertake corresponding design work for large-scale projects. Once a design institute is selected, the owner will simply assign the whole package of design tasks to it. However, when selecting foreign designers, an owner tends to employ the design competition method. In this way, they may only choose a desirable architectural shape coming from a certain architect s intuitive flair but pay little attention to the size, competence, and historic reputation of the architectural firms, not to mention the capacity of their partnering consultants. In some of the projects investigated, for example, Project 4, the limited staffs in the architectural office could not fulfill the hard design tasks. Communication Channels in Projects Although the comprehensiveness of the Chinese design institutes has many drawbacks, it also gives the owner some advantages. Because different design disciplines belong to the same firm, it is convenient for them to discuss and coordinate with each other. Furthermore, because the previous cooperation of the limited number of large design institutes and contractors in other projects promotes their mutual understandings, the coordination between them in a new project would be relatively smooth. Many problems that emerged during construction can be resolved in time without the owner s involvement. Fig. 2 illustrates the information exchange in Chinese construction projects carried out by only local designers and contractors. In a project designed by a foreign design office, the Chinese owner also tends to commission all of the design tasks to one architectural office without paying enough attention to their engineering partners. The architect, who is the sole contact for the owners project manager, is also the leader and coordinator of the design team and will be responsible for the integration of different facilities into the base building (as illustrated in Fig. 3). There may be no problem in a small and local project; however, when projects become large and the locale is so distant, the local contractors feedback cannot reach the architect and the engineers in a timely manner. Thus, coordination problems within the design team and those with contractors will increase dramatically. The architect s organization competence will greatly impact the quality of design documents and their other services. Drawings and Estimation In China, design development drawings must be examined and approved by regulatory authorities before FIG. 2. Information Exchange in Projects by Local Designers JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT IN ENGINEERING / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2000 / 57

FIG. 3. Information Exchange in Projects by Foreign Designers construction drawings begin. Because applying appropriate local design codes and standards to the designs is difficult for these foreign designers, their drawings are more likely to be subject to change. On the other hand, because detail designs in the Western countries are not that detailed in the view of some local contractors, the contractors sometimes find it difficult to assimilate the designers intention before beginning their work, although these documents may comprise more detailed specifications than Chinese design documents. For the owner, cost estimation is another dilemma. If the cost estimation is carried out by the foreign designer, construction cost cannot be precisely estimated because of the very features in the local marketplace; if the cost estimation is worked out by the owner, the costs of purchasing and installing the great amount of foreign equipment recommended in the design drawings are also unfamiliar to them. Coordination Problems Caused by Other Communication Impediments Construction is not an individual endeavor as is the long-distance running, but rather a business of team building. Sound relationships between the designers and the other participants determine the quality of the projects implementation. These relationships are formed early on and are nourished by clear communication. However, the long distance, ineffective communication technique and language problems set other impediments to free communication. It is widely agreed in the architectural industry that architects need to visit the sites and attend site meetings frequently to familiarize themselves with the progress and problems in construction. However, because the locale is so distant, if the foreign designers cannot stay for a certain period of time in the city where the project is being carried out, a lot of time may be wasted on travel as well as considerable travel expenses. In the seven projects surveyed, face-to-face communication between the designers and the contractors was highly recommended by the project managers, but it was a pity that in some projects the designers seldom visited the sites. There is a great deal of information exchanged between the different participants in these large projects. According to the survey, the ordinary long-distance communication tools used in these projects were facsimile, telephone, and mailing (often by expedition carrier). In Projects 5 7, engineers occasionally employed electrical mail to exchange design information; in Project 7, the owner s, contractors, and consultants offices at the construction site were even connected by a local network. However, due to the lack of overall information planning, these techniques are seldom effectively used. Thus, the drawback of long distance still cannot be compensated for by modern communication techniques, and the ordinary communication costs are also quite considerable. Language is another problem in projects in which foreign designers participate. Most of the foreign architects in the seven projects spoke English except for Project 6, whose architects were from Germany. Although interpreters were sometimes employed in these projects, they often could not understand the specialized terms very well due to lack of engineering backgrounds. Misunderstanding often took place and the engineers sometimes found it hard to communicate efficiently. In addition to the negative impacts resulting from the different backgrounds, the factors of long distance, insufficient communication technique, and language also hindered the normal communication between the Chi- FIG. 4. Information Impediments in Projects by Foreign Designers 58 / JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT IN ENGINEERING / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2000

nese and foreign project participants. As illustrated in Fig. 4, useful information is attenuated after crossing the information barriers before it finally reaches the receivers, if it reaches them at all. EXISTING COORDINATION MEASURES The government authorities and owners in China realized some of these problems and began to take certain measures to solve the coordination issues. These measures were helpful, but were not sufficient, even inappropriate on some occasions. Government Regulations In China it is now stipulated that all projects designed by foreign firms must also be aided by Chinese design institutes as their partners (Fig. 3), and the cooperation between them can span all of the design process or concentrate only on certain stages. Even without this stipulation, involvement of local design institutes is a wise decision from the owner s and the foreign designer s standpoints. Organizational Measures Taken by Owners In surveyed projects, owners tried to use certain organizational measures to solve the coordination problems. Some examples of the organizational forms employed in these projects are discussed next. Fig. 5 shows one type of the project organizations. In these projects, foreign design firms provided the owner full services from the conceptual design to the final inspection of finished projects. The owners only contracted with the foreign architectural design firms, although other designers were also involved. Local design institutes took the position as leading foreign design firms consultants. Foreign design firms could obtain advice from their consultants or directly subcontract some tasks to them. The degree of the local design firms involvement varied according to their agreements with the foreign designers. The advantage of this form lies in the fact that, because there is only one design firm having a contractual relationship with the owner, the foreign designer assumes sole responsibility for the design. The designer s intention can be better incorporated in the project, if a good contractor is selected. The disadvantage of this model lies in the fact that many Chinese contractors are not accustomed to working on the basis of construction drawings submitted by the foreign designers. The owner s freedom of choice may be limited to several experienced contractors, thus placing the owner at a disadvantage during negotiations with the contractors. If the owner selects an inexperienced contractor, the need to unite a local design institute to develop shop drawings may cause a time delay and cost increase. This form has another disadvantage. Although it will be the designers great pleasure to see their own creative imaginations finally become physical entities, the consulting design institutes lack this morale, which hinders them in playing a more active role in the project. Figs. 6 and 7 show two other types of organizational forms used in these projects: the foreign design firms that are only committed to themselves during certain phases, after which, such as at the end of conceptual design phase or design development phase, all of the tasks were handed over to their previous local consultants the Chinese design institutes. The advantages of these two forms lie in the fact that the final design documents provided by local designers are more likely to comply with the accustomed contents of construction drawings in China. Thus the conflicts between the designers and the contractors can be re- FIG. 6. Cooperation between Local and Foreign Designers Form 2 FIG. 5. Cooperation between Local and Foreign Designers Form 1 FIG. 7. Cooperation between Local and Foreign Designers Form 3 JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT IN ENGINEERING / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2000 / 59

solved, and, because the local designers assume full responsibility for their work in these phases, they can assist the owners during the bidding, negotiating, and construction phases. The disadvantages of these two forms lie in the fact that design documents handed over by foreign designers are still not developed enough; thus the local designers or contractors may deviate from the designers original intention. If the foreign designers services conclude at the end of the conceptual design phase, the beneficial effects of introducing foreign designers may be discounted, and the local design institute must take some time to assimilate the primary design documents, which will also prolong the design process. There are also differences between the two forms shown in Figs. 6 and 7. At the end of the conceptual design phase, only about 15% of the design work is achieved, whereas, at the end of the design development phase, about 80 90% of the design work is completed. The former method may facilitate the approval process of design documents by local authorities, but it may neglect functional requirements of the buildings when only the buildings sketches are decided on at that time. Owners adopting the form shown in Fig. 7 may benefit more from the foreign designers considerations such as facility designs, but design approval by government authorities and assimilation of design documents by local successors will be also time-consuming. Other Organizational Forms Some people proposed a joint-design method as the design team leader, the foreign firm takes the full responsibility for the design work. In the schematic design phase, the local design institute participates with the design team as a consulting partner. After that, they accomplish the design documents jointly, with the tasks gradually shifting to local design institutes as the work evolves. But this proposal can hardly be put into practice. One cannot expect two unfamiliar firms, each with different backgrounds and their own profits, to cooperate so harmoniously. PROPOSED COORDINATION MEASURES Organizational Measures At present, the designers and contractors in the Chinese construction market still follow the old ways to some extent; therefore, the involvements of local design institutes in these projects are still necessary. The organizational form shown in Fig. 7 seems more reasonable than others, yet some revisions should be made. The dashed line in Fig. 8 represents the designers additional involvements in addition to the phase in which they are fully responsible. During these periods, they act as the other side s consultants. The local designers early involvements will not only assist the design documents conformance to specific local codes or regulations, but also acquaint them earlier with the foreign designers intention. By retaining the foreign designers in the following two stages, one can assure that FIG. 8. Proposed Cooperation Form between Local and Foreign Designers the original design intention is rightly implemented. When some problems emerge later, the project can still obtain help from the former designers. This form can meet the present contractors special requirements for construction drawings and help the foreign design firms to familiarize themselves with local standards and codes. It should be pointed out that the proposed organizational model is only a makeshift solution considering the given environment in China at present. To guarantee quality, reduce cost, and save time, the first form is the right choice, but the premises are that the contents of the design documents are reasonably detailed, the contractors are able to develop qualified shop drawings on their own, and the work of the contractors can be supervised by the designers. By using this form, Projects 5 and 6 are successful. Measures to Select Right Architects Chinese authorities in charge of the construction industry plan to issue a regulation concerning how to review foreign design firms qualifications when they undertake design tasks in China. But, according to the plan of the regulation, it will only arouse people s attention to this problem without proposing any solutions. To select an appropriate designer, the owner can contact other owners who have developed similar facilities and ask them which firms they interviewed and finally chose. The owner can visit these facilities and get more information from the previous project participants. Some architect associations, for example, the AIA, can also help the owner to identify architects specializing in certain types of projects and to provide their background information. Finally, the owner should ask the design firms to show the competence of the members in the prospective project team, including architectures and engineers. Choosing the right designers is vital to a project s success; thus taking time and effort in choosing is well worth it. Adopting Other Professional Agencies Architectural firms can provide a wide spectrum of services for the owner. In fact, AIA lists a range of ar- 60 / JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT IN ENGINEERING / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2000

chitectural, interior, and construction management services from which the owner can choose. Although different organizational forms of cooperation between the foreign and the Chinese design firms are discussed above, some services, such as preliminary estimation, bidding, and negotiation, are inappropriate if being assumed by either of them. Some professional agencies, for example, Quantity Surveyor and professional project management firms, can provide such services at a high quality. The separate commission can make up for the shortcomings that would happen if the tasks are taken by either the foreign or local designers. Effective Communications According to the survey, at present, the best way of communication is face-to-face meetings. In these large projects, if the Western designers take full responsibility of design, it is necessary to delegate their representatives to the site. In Project 3, the foreign design firms delivered specialists from different disciplines to the sites corresponding to different construction processes; in Project 4, a group of engineers from different disciplines stayed at the construction site from the beginning to the end. Design firms in both of these projects earned a high credit in the survey. It is also an important factor for the success of these two projects, whereas, in other similar projects, the insufficient participation by designers during the process caused many problems. Among the numerous technologies being used in construction today, it seems that information and communication technologies will have the most profound impact on this industry in the future. For the project carried out by participants from different countries, digital and internet-enabled information and communication technology (e-mail, videoconferencing, group work tools, etc.) will be more promising the owner can select architects through Web sites; the architects can supply 3D drawings for the owners approval; and cameras or sensors on building sites would enable the designers who are not present to observe the progress of work. Through networks, consultants can be promptly called in to help with crossing geographical and time limits. Effects of Globalization on Project Participants Globalization is changing people s opinions, as well as their behaviors. When Chinese design institutes and construction companies step into the international market, they are required to share common understandings with their partners, and even competitors. At the same time, we often see the Western designers also transform gradually to fit the local conditions after carrying out several projects in China. As long as the Chinese market remains open to the world and the Chinese companies do not limit their operations in one place, foreign designers and local project participants will find more and more mutual understandings. CONCLUSIONS Introducing the Western designers to the Chinese construction market brings many advantages, but certain measures should be taken to avoid negative effects. The most important problem is how to coordinate the foreign designers into the local circumstances where the original participants already have their own ways of doing things. The possible coordination methods include better organization, careful selection of architects, adopting other professional agencies, and using appropriate communication methods. With the effort of opening market in China and the process of the globalization, the coordination issues may become easier in the future than at the present. APPENDIX. REFERENCES American Institute of Architects (AIA). (1987). Standard form of agreement between owner and architect (AIA document B141). Washington, D.C. Dai Tao. (1996). Discussion of organizational models and management of cooperation design by the Chinese and foreign design firms. Master s thesis, Tongji University, China. China statistical yearbook, 1998. (1998). The State Statistical Bureau of P.R.C., Beijing. Statistical yearbook of Shanghai, 1998. (1998a). The Statistical Bureau of Shanghai, Shanghai, China. Statistical yearbook of Pudong New Area, 1998. (1998b). The Statistical Bureau of Shanghai Pudong New Area, Shanghai, China. JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT IN ENGINEERING / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2000 / 61