Challenging the Earned Value Management Paradigm in Telecommunications Infrastructure: Quality Deficiencies as the Primary Driver of Value Leakage

Abstract

Contemporary project control theories, most notably the dominant Earned Value Management System (EVMS) prioritizes time and cost baselines as the primary indicators of performance. However, empirical evidence repeatedly shows that projects may achieve these targets while failing to realize their intended stakeholder value. Addressing this persistent theoretical paradox, the present study investigates value leakage, defined as the progressive erosion of intended project benefits during execution, to identify the main drivers of project underperformance. Using survey data from 187 practitioners engaged in telecommunications infrastructure delivery, including cell tower construction, civil works, and fiber deployment, and analyzing the data through structural equation modeling (SEM), the study presents compelling empirical evidence indicating that the conventional hierarchy underpinning the Iron Triangle is, in practice, fundamentally reversed. Specifically, whereas EVMS traditionally prioritizes schedule performance (time) as the principal indicator of overall project health, the findings reveal a markedly different reality. Time overruns were identified as the least significant contributor to value erosion, accounting for only 17% of observed losses. In stark contrast, quality deficiencies emerged as the predominant determinant, responsible for 31% of total value leakage. These findings contribute to project management theory by deconstructing the concept of value leakage and critically challenging the theoretical sufficiency of EVMS as a standalone control mechanism. The results demonstrate that prevailing control systems systematically misallocate managerial attention by prioritizing schedule adherence over quality preservation, thereby amplifying rework, latent defects, and long-term value erosion. By providing empirical evidence that quality preservation, not schedule conformance, is the primary driver of value realization in complex infrastructure delivery, this research advances the construction engineering and management body of knowledge. It offers a data-driven justification for incorporating explicit quality metrics into standard project control baselines, thereby enabling more effective prevention of value leakage and promoting more sustainable infrastructure outcomes across the global construction industry.