A case study
By Alan Stretton, PhD (Hon)
Sydney, Australia
INTRODUCTION
The subject of this case study is an Australian company, Civil & Civic (C&C), which was formed as a construction company in 1951. Its initial operations were as a contractor in the traditional construction tendering sector of the building industry in NSW. However, the company’s CEO decided to extend its operations elsewhere, by providing design-and-construct services to external clients, and later extending these to client strategy-related services. These progressions also enhanced C&C’s autonomy, and its ability to influence final project outcomes (external effectiveness). The above will be discussed in two separate sections, under the headings of C&C contractor business [1] & [2].
In addition to, and broadly parallel with, the above, C&C began developing its own projects from around 1954, which I will discuss under the broad headings of C&C development projects [1] & [2]. The first of these developments was a substantial subdivision at Middle Cove, Sydney. Lessons learnt from that project, particularly regarding potential for improving design efficiency, were then applied to upgrade the management of later C&C development projects, particularly on the design side.
Importantly for this article, lessons from the latter also substantially influenced design-related decisions in the C&C contractor business. These facilitated substantial further developments in C&C’s autonomy, growth and external effectiveness, as will be discussed in more detail in section [2] of the contractor business sector.
Finally, section [2] of the C&C development project sector will discuss a major move to establish high levels of autonomy, and of growth potential, in this sector.
In summary, the above topics will be discussed under the following main headings.
C&C CONTRACTOR BUSINESS [1]
Traditional tendering: Early recognition of some issues for contractors
C&C DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS [1]
C&C Middle Cove & later developments: Managing design for better outcomes
C&C CONTRACTOR BUSINESS [2]
Adding integrated design-and-construct services for external clients
Adding strategic support services for external clients
C&C DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS [2]
Adding control of development finance to C&C’s operational control
C&C CONTRACTOR BUSINESS [1]
Traditional tendering: Early recognition of some issues for contractors
As noted in the Introduction, Civil & Civic (C&C) initially operated as a contractor in the traditional construction tendering mode in the building industry in NSW.
Clark 2002:11 records the following early recognitions of C&C’s CEO, G. J. Dusseldorp, about autonomy and control issues with the traditional tendering system.
Although construction contracting had given him an entrée into the Australian market, Dusseldorp was soon convinced that it was not the business to be in – the margins were too slim, for one thing; the factors outside his direct control (yet influencing project outcomes) were too numerous, for another.
This quotation reflects Dusseldorp’s personal perspective on being in business in the traditional tendering domain. He saw C&C’s potential prosperity as being constrained by traditionally low margins in the tendering system, and the organisation’s control of its own operations constrained by too many uncontrollable external factors. Dusseldorp evidently regarded these constraints as significant impediments to C&C’s autonomy – i.e. its ability to control its own destiny – on which he placed high value. This led to his looking beyond the traditional tendering domain to significantly expand C&C’s business.
There are, of course, countless contractors who choose to remain in the traditional tendering system and are comfortable to continue operating in that domain. At a personal level, I spent two years with a major Australian construction contractor. This was excellent practical experience, but it also convinced me that the somewhat chaotic traditional tendering domain did not provide the type of longer-term professional environment that I was looking for. It happened that my next employer was Civil & Civic, which did provide such an environment – as will be further discussed shortly.
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How to cite this work: Stretton, A. (2025). Strategies for developing the autonomy, growth and external effectiveness of a project-based organisation: A case study, PM World Journal, Vol. XIV, Issue VII, July. Available online at https://pmworldlibrary.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/pmwj154-Jul2025-Stretton-Strategies-for-developing-a-project-based-org.pdf
About the Author
Alan Stretton, PhD
Life Fellow, AIPM (Australia)
Sydney, Australia
Alan Stretton is one of the pioneers of modern project management. In 2006 he retired from a position as Adjunct Professor of Project Management in the Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), Australia, which he joined in 1988 to develop and deliver a Master of Project Management program. Prior to joining UTS, Mr. Stretton worked in the building and construction industries in Australia, New Zealand and the USA for some 38 years, which included the project management of construction, R&D, introduction of information and control systems, internal management education programs and organizational change projects. Alan has degrees in Civil Engineering (BE, Tasmania) and Mathematics (MA, Oxford), and an honorary PhD in strategy, programme and project management (ESC, Lille, France). Alan was Chairman of the Standards (PMBOK) Committee of the Project Management Institute (PMI®) from late 1989 to early 1992. He held a similar position with the Australian Institute of Project Management (AIPM), and was elected a Life Fellow of AIPM in 1996. He was a member of the Core Working Group in the development of the Australian National Competency Standards for Project Management. He has published 270+ professional articles and papers. Alan can be contacted at alanailene@bigpond.com.au.
To see more works by Alan Stretton, visit his author showcase in the PM World Library at http://pmworldlibrary.net/authors/alan-stretton/.
