Chapter
Nov 9, 2020
Construction Research Congress 2020

Selection of Best Practices for Mitigating Complexity in Construction Projects

Publication: Construction Research Congress 2020: Project Management and Controls, Materials, and Contracts

ABSTRACT

Practitioners involving in construction industry frequently encounter uncertainties during the management of complex projects. These uncertainties related to project complexity have considerable impacts on project success. To increase the success of project and reduce the undesirable outcomes of the stated challenges, Construction Industry Institute (CII) has suggested multiple construction best practices (BPs). Although adopting all BPs would be useful for construction projects, it might not be a cost-effective approach. Therefore, this study aimed at selecting the appropriate best practice strategies to reduce the complexity level in construction projects. To collect data, a structured questionnaire was developed and distributed among experts and professionals involved in complex projects. Thirty-nine professionals completed the survey. To analyze the collected data, various statistical analysis methods such as Kruskal-Wallis test were conducted. The results revealed that adoption of constructability, front end planning, partnering, alignment, change management, and team building are the most impactful approaches to reduce the complexity level of construction industry. It was concluded from the results that for the complexity issues due to bureaucracy in an organization, implementing front end planning would be the most beneficial solution. Additionally, adoption of partnering would be efficient to reduce the complexity level when multiple external agencies were involved in a project. The results also demonstrated that front end planning (31.43%) and change management (24.42%) covered the highest weights associated with complexity indicators (CIs) and complexity categories. The findings of this study are expected to contribute to facilitating the decision making process by project managers and to allocate resources effectively and efficiently in complex projects.

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REFERENCES

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Go to Construction Research Congress 2020
Construction Research Congress 2020: Project Management and Controls, Materials, and Contracts
Pages: 667 - 675
Editors: David Grau, Ph.D., Arizona State University, Pingbo Tang, Ph.D., Arizona State University, and Mounir El Asmar, Ph.D., Arizona State University
ISBN (Online): 978-0-7844-8288-9

History

Published online: Nov 9, 2020
Published in print: Nov 9, 2020

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Authors

Affiliations

Elnaz Safapour [email protected]
Ph.D. Student, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Univ. of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX. E-mail: [email protected]
Sharareh Kermanshachi [email protected]
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Univ. of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX (corresponding author). E-mail: [email protected]
Mohammadsoroush Tafazzoli [email protected]
School of Design and Construction, Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture, Washington State Univ., Pullman, WA. E-mail: [email protected]

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