An investigation on the complexity in construction projects

The construction industry is a long-established production field that has a significant share in global value generation. This important industry is often criticized for having a low ability to effectively transform its resources to production compared to other similar-sized industries and for being behind the era in terms of production techniques. In view of these criticisms, which have been supported by industry reports prepared since the 1990s, the construction industry has not made much progress in the course of time. The industry struggles in developing its own solutions, in adapting the production models of other developed industries and also in expanding the existing advanced technologies. The main reason for this situation is the fact that the production network within the industry has not been properly understood. Each project within this network has a unique complexity at product, process and industry levels. The way in which effective solutions can be introduced should be primarily based on dealing with these levels of complexity as a whole. In this context, within the scope of the thesis, complexity and complex project concepts are examined through the lense of complex systems approach which is the foremost paradigm for such a holistic approach. The project complexity relating to the construction industry is questioned in terms of its effects, causes and also how to overcome it. As last, a systematic literature review is carried out in order to investigate what kind of managerial and technical strategies were put forward to cope with the complexity in construction projects.