Exploring complexity in construction projects

Complexity is not an under-researched concept within the construction industry. However, because of the nature and characteristics of this concept, most of the works have traditionally tended to approach it in a reductionist manner, concentrating on project complexity above all others. Therefore a more comprehensive understanding aimed at being able to make more informed decisions correspondent to the specification of new construction in the age of digital tectonics should be developed. As there is an undeniable need for new vantage points, the data should come directly from the immediate context in which complexity is to be scrutinised. A deductive approach based on in-depth study of live cases is deemed appropriate for this purpose. With reference to our previous theoretical framework, this paper deepens the quest for a more intelligent decision process by investigating construction case studies. This review of cases will be carried out using our alternative way of reading complex...

Interconnections and boundaries between the project parties have been identified as causing complexity which, if not managed, leads to reduction in performance. Understanding the characteristics of complexity of interconnections, and how these affect organising projects and the management style, will enable the development and implementation of innovative project actions and tools. The authors present results from a study of UK construction organisations on the influences of complexity generated by the interconnections. The results have significant implications on how project teams are put together and managed; they also enabled the development of a framework for managing complexity of interconnections in projects. Keywords Complexity, Projects, Organisation, Management Style

Dictionary simply defines complexity as having a large number of interacting parts. Construction projects are often referred to as being complex; however there seems to be no universally accepted definition of the term project complexity in the construction industry. As part of a global research project aimed at establishing the impact of project complexity on project risks at the pre-construction stage, research has been undertaken to establish the current understanding of the term complexity in relation to construction projects in order to produce a clearer definition of the term project complexity for the construction industry. The application of complexity science to the construction industry is not widely researched, however, evidence has been found that the process of construction can in itself be thought of as a complex system. Literature search in the fields of systems thinking and complexity science have been carried out. Structured interviews with practitioners were conduc...

Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction, 2022

The paper is conceptual, with the aim of raising a new debate on complexity and value creation within IGLC. The topic of complexity in construction projects was first raised in the Nineties before it in the early 2000s was introduced on the Lean Construction and IGLC agenda. When facing a complex problem, there are two possible strategies to pursue with reference to the Cynefin framework for complexity. The first is to transform and move the problem into the complicated or even simple domain, thereby making it manageable. The second is to handle the problem within the complex domain. The dominant approach within both Project Management and Lean is the first, namely, to emphasize efficiency, flow, standardization, best practice, planning, reliability, and control. The paper challenges this lop-sidedness by pointing out its potential reductionism and argues that we should also appreciate, exploit, and take advantage of complexity instead of just combatting it. Value creation is reliant upon both strategies and is therefore not a question of either or, but of balance and trade-offs based on an inherent dualism.

International Journal of Project Management, 2011

Technical complexity has always been considered a factor which affects project performance. Scheduling and other mechanisms have been proposed which allow for the management of these effects. However, the effect of the complexity of interconnections, and in particular those caused by social interfaces and boundaries between the various teams, have not been investigated. Socio-organo complexity is caused by interconnections which if not managed could lead to a reduction in performance. Understanding the characteristics of complexity of interconnections, how these affect project schedule performance and what deductions can be extracted, will enable the development and implementation of innovative actions and tools that will support the management of the effects of complexity through the respective processes. The authors present results of five case studies, with UK construction organisations, which demonstrate that the effects of socio-organo complexity of interconnections have similarities with the behaviour of underdamped control systems. The results from the study have significant implications for the way socio-organisational issues are managed but will also enable parallels to be drawn between the fields of project management and control systems.

Journal of Critical Reviews (JCR) , 2020

Complexity in projects and inadequate conventional project management has led to the development of new methods, from the study of complexity science, in managing project complexity. However, such methods still need to be validated. The study aims to analyze the methods that have emerged from the complexity theory, taking into account construction projects. Several new project management approaches have been discussed, including the Butterfly effect, Complex Responsive Process of Relating, Temporary Knowledge Organization, Stacey's Eight-Strategy, the Complexity Change Process, the Model of Balancing the Project's Forces and the Creative Reflective Model. This also analyzes the implication of chaos theory in project management. The study shows that complexity science played a vital role in the project complexity management process. It has helped in benchmarking project management strategies for effective management of project complexity, uncertainties, and chaos. This is an initial move to identify and appreciate the attempts in project management to improve complexity management in projects.

Buildings

Contractors are facing an increasing degree of complexity in their construction projects. Due to inadequately prepared project plans, they have been suffering significant losses during the execution of construction projects. One of the key disadvantages of such plans is that during the planning process, a construction project is mostly defined as a linear rather than a dynamic and complex process with a high degree of uncertainty. Therefore, a contractor who is in the planning phase of a construction project should consider the impact of the project characteristics on its implementation according to the elements of project complexity. In this research, we therefore first made an overview of the existing research related to the elements of project complexity. Based on the frequency of their occurrence in existing surveys, this paper singled out eight groups of complexity characteristics that contractors should be aware of during construction projects. After that, based on the frequen...

International Journal of Property Sciences, 2017

The disagreement on project complexity is a crucial problem as project complexity is closely related to the project management process particularly for the construction industry. Due to its negative influence on project management process, project complexity therefore needs to be understood and managed efficiently particularly in construction projects. The literature review uncovered the disagreement on project complexity varied interpretation in which analysis of its essential concepts was provided. The intention of this paper is to provide an understanding on the project complexity and its implications on the construction projects and to stimulate debate on this controversial topic. This paper intends to determine and categorise factors for project complexity influencing the construction projects in Malaysia. The data were collected through a survey of 101 respondents. The results indicated that, there are three categories of project complexity factors that influence the construction project in Malaysia. It is concluded that the project complexity concept is worthy to be studied further.

The management of projects transpires in a complex environment. The application of complexity theory to the management of projects can, therefore, enable the systematic consideration of the conditions that give rise to such complexity. A number of authors have indicated that interfaces generate complexity (Baccarini, 1996; Gidado, 1996; Williams, 1999), however complexity can be associated more with the interconnection structures that link various objects and not the objects themselves (Lucas, 2000a). Projects, and in particular mega projects, often involve a large number of parties and subsequently interconnections. These interconnections can generate complexity which has defined characteristics (Lucas, 2000b). Understanding the characteristics of these interconnections, especially from a socio-organisational standpoint and how these affect the project performance, can contribute to the design of more efficient project delivery systems. In particular, it should enable project managers to respond with the necessary actions and improve the setting up of projects, the management style adopted and the decision-making process. The 16 characteristics directly relevant have been mapped onto project conditions (Antoniadis, 2006). In the last decade the effects of complexity on projects have been researched and a number of proposals have been made in terms of managing its effects. Although heuristic considerations exist, which suggest an exponentially decaying/inverse correlation between complexity and project schedule performance, very little has been done to identify the exact relationship. Furthermore, most of the studies have been carried out on the technical side and very little has been investigated in terms of the socio-organisational aspects of complexity of interconnections and its effects, especially when implementing processes such as selecting team members, structuring the project team, or the management style adopted. Research in the past also indicated that socio-organisational processes that contribute substantially to the project management outcome, such as selecting project team members, structuring the project team and consideration given to the management style to be adopted, has been minimal to non-existent. This paper presents the results from a survey, interviews and five case studies investigating the effect(s) of socio-organo complexity on project performance. The findings from this research, although carried out in the UK construction industry with major organisations - clients and contractors - reflect the wider problems faced by the project management profession and generally organisations that deal with projects. It is concluded that basic socio-organisational processes are not implemented, complexity is not considered when implementing these processes and that the relationship between project performance and complexity, although one of an inverse correlation, does not resemble a straight forward exponential decay curve but rather one of an underdamped transient motion. This relationship, not only confirms the non-linearity of project management, especially regarding socio-organisational issues, but it can also be proven very powerful considering the potential extrapolation and implementation of techniques already proven in the field of systems control. Considering the above and the basic principle that if we know the characteristics of complexity then it is feasible to establish the means to manage its effects, a framework was developed and validated by project management practitioners. The framework measures the level of implementation of the respective process against each complexity characteristic and by providing a set of actions enables Project Managers (PMs) and Team Leaders (TLs) to manage the effects of complexity of interconnections on the project through the respective project management processes.

Journal of Engineering Research and Sciences

Evaluating complexity, in order to manage it effectively, has been stressed by many researchers as one of the key areas of project management. This, as literature shows, has been done using different methodologies and assessing it from different perspectives resulting in measures that differ in their characteristics, their application, and their relevance with respect to location or typography. Since no such quantitative study with respect to Indian construction sector was found in literature, the aim of this research is, therefore, to develop a model for evaluating complexity in projects in Indian construction sector with aim of enabling informed interventions at the planning stage to manage the complexity better. A comprehensive literature study enabled identification of 23 such determinants initially which were grouped under 7 components of complexity, each component representing a different type of complexity. Using a two-stage Delphi process, the determinants were narrowed down to 21 and were weighed using mean rank weightages. The results of the survey were used to develop a framework for evaluating complexity which was further idealized into a model in the form of Project Complexity Index that could provide a single quantitative value of complexity at any stage of the project and highlight the areas of concern. Application of the developed model was demonstrated on two case studies of similar infrastructure projects. The framework made it possible to evaluate the complexity as well as highlight the areas needing attention on the basis of component complexity scores thereby indicating that the framework was robust.