Organizing Construction

Much has been written on complex project organizations and especially matrix systems of management yet, these have tended to focus on one-off highly specialized projects. Such observations led Michael Bresnen to look for a less specific example, which might practically test these theories and would also provide material for a full comparative examination. The obvious choice was the construction industry. Construction creates distinctive organizational problems. External working relationships have an impact upon the decision-making of units invovled with individual building projects and can inhibit effective organization. Indeed in the worst cases, the book argues, the more the nature of an individual project requires a flexible or "organic" approach to its organization, the less likely it is to receive one. The book analyzes how the contractual mechanism binding the various parties engaged in construction projects imposes a rigid pattern of interaction on what is quite a fragmented industry.