An Exploratory Study on Communication Complexity in Mega Construction Projects

Abstract

Complexity is the property of a project that makes it difficult to understand, foresee and control its behaviour due to interrelatedness between various project attributes such as tasks, parties, disciplines, and interfaces. Project complexity is an inherent part of mega construction projects due to their large scale, long period, the multiplicity of disciplines, the high number of stakeholders, multi-nationality, and high level of public attention, as well as political interest. This paper depicts findings of a research project that aims to identify characteristics of and factors that contribute to project complexity by referring to the experiences of professionals involved in mega construction projects. For this purpose, data has been collected by interviewing 18 participants from 11 mega construction projects. Communication complexity, which reflects the amount of distributed communication channels between various stakeholders, has been identified as one of the major drivers of project complexity in megaprojects. Based on literature and semi-structured interview findings, a causal structure to represent communication complexity comprising of three components, which are; project, stakeholders, and communication management, was developed. The causal map, which represents the opinions of a limited number of experts, cannot be generalised; however, it can provide useful insights about drivers of communication complexity that can be used to develop strategies to manage complexity.