Changes and change management in construction and IT projects

Modelling for change management in construction might benefit from experiences from other industries. This study compares reasons for change as well as change practices in interorganizational relationships in construction and information technology. Sixteen contractual relationships have been studied through a questionnaire and interview survey conducted among both clients and providers. Project-type relations are contrasted with more continuous service support contracts. More than their providers, clients tend to ascribe high change frequencies to an increase in technical understanding during projects. Early provider participation is associated with lower change frequencies, while the strength of incentives is less influential. The ease of transforming changes into new projects varies between technologies. Irreversibility is important, as well as relations between pre-investigations and the successive revealing of initial conditions, together with the life-cycle of formal and informal communication. Findings can be used for transfer of agile practices.

Research Highlights
► Questionnaire and interview survey of 16 contractual relationships.
► Early provider participation is associated with lower frequencies of change.
► Clients more often think that change is due to increased technical understanding.
► Project life cycle of formal/informal information affects agile practices transfer.