Participative decision making and implementation in the construction industry

Abstract

In the construction industry, projects are normally completed with team work and collective decision making. Despite that, not all project participants agree on goals due to various perceptions, personal values, expectations and this is where conflicts arise. This study examines the significance of participation of construction professionals in decision making and implementation management processes for achieving higher final outcomes on the behavioral paradigm. A structured questionnaire was used for data collection from selected consultants of the Sri Lankan construction industry. A participative soft value management model introduced by Leung and Chu was used as the key concept of study. The research revealed that participation of project stakeholders of the construction industry in the decision making process significantly improves all elements of organizational behavioral outcomes; work, individual, team, and team relationships. However, in the implementation process the only significant improvement was on work and individual outcomes, but not in team and team relationships.