From construction megaproject management to complex project management : a bibliographic analysis

Abstract

The rapid growth of construction megaprojects worldwide has triggered a growing number of papers published in this area in the past two decades, suggesting that construction megaproject management has become an emerging area in the field of Construction Engineering and Management (CEM). This study aims to investigate the status and the trends in megaproject research by conducting a structured literature review. Eighty-five relevant articles identified from eight peer-reviewed CEM journals between 2000 and 2010 were analyzed based on the number of articles published annually, institutional and regional contributions, citations, and categorization of research interests and methodologies. Analysis results indicated that developed countries, such as the UK, the US, and Australia, have enjoyed significant advantages in megaproject research because of their longer experience, meanwhile, megaproject research in developing countries, such as Russia, India, Turkey, and Vietnam, remains weak or lacking. These results also revealed that many theory-based findings have been reported in five sub-areas, namely, construction and site management, cost and schedule management, risks analysis and management, innovation and utilization of information technology, and leadership and professional development. The sub-areas of organization and stakeholder management, project planning and procurement, and project monitoring and control remain to be promising domains for future research, particularly in developing countries which have yet to develop a research tradition. Incorporating the complexity theory and institutional theory as the theoretical foundation in these sub-areas can further develop megaproject research through strengthened global collaboration in the future.