An Empirical Study on Flexibility: A Critical Success Factor of Construction Projects

Abstract

There are several factors that have been identified as the critical success factors for the performance of construction projects. A lot of research work is available identifying the critical success factors for construction projects. Most of the research findings show similar grouping of the critical success factors. However the research papers showing the role of flexibility in the construction process are very few. This paper is an attempt to identify the role of flexibility for reducing risk and increasing probability of project success. The paper deals with the traditional critical success factors and makes an attempt to find out the role of flexibility for managing construction projects. Flexibility as an alternative approach is emerging in the business world. In a flexible process, project managers and their team work together to evolve, and prioritize functionality. The paper attempts a definition of flexibility for construction process and to identify whether flexibility can be added into the list of critical success factors in managing construction projects. The authors interviewed 60 project managers from construction industries in Nagpur region, India, for indentifying the scope of flexibility as one of the critical success factors of construction projects. The result showed that there exist a high correlation between the project success and flexibility as one of the parameter of project success.