Paul Christian John & Svenja Oprach

Sajad Ansari

Prüfung durch Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dipl.-Kfm. Shervin Haghsheno (Institut für Technologie und Management im Baubetrieb (TMB))

Abstract
Construction projects are widely regarded as complex procedures. This is caused not only due to their unique technical challenges but also because of the inherent organizational complexity as a result of the numerous involved parties with contrasting goals and interests, and also because of the difficulties of multi-party communication. Complexity studies have contributed to a better understanding of the nature of the construction process and the term complexity itself. Many researchers insist on the non-linearity of the construction process and that its dynamic environment makes the traditional ‘’management as planning’’ method inadequate. The simplistic approach of the traditional project management in dealing with complexity could be a key factor in the frequent failures of construction projects in terms of cost and time overruns.
In recent years management paradigms such as Lean Management and Agile Project Management have been introduced to the construction sector to improve the efficiency of construction processes. Both paradigms introduce different methods and principles which could be helpful in handling different aspects of project complexity. The goal of this thesis is to bring together the contributions of complexity studies with the methods and principles of Lean Management and Agile Project Management to develop a guideline for the method selection to deal with complexity in construction projects.