Reactive Crisis Management in Constructive Projects — Patterns of Communication and Behaviour

Abstract

Patterns of communication and behaviour emerge within a construction project in response to a construction crisis. This paper investigates, within a grounded theory framework, the nature of these patterns, the sociological and psychological forces which shape them and their relationship with crisis management efficiency. A grounded theory is presented in four parts. The first part conceives a construction crisis as a period of social instability, arising from conflicting interest groups, seeking to exercise power in the pursuit of social structures which suit their political and economic interests. The second part sees a construction crisis as a de‐sensitizing phenomenon which results in a period of behavioural instability and conflict which is self‐perpetuating. The third part cites social structure as an important influence upon construction crisis management efficiency, in determining the efficiency of information flow, and the level of uncertainty between those affected. The fourth part points to the in‐built defence mechanisms which construction crises have and to three managerial ironies which make construction crisis management difficult.