Procurement routes and the selection of appropriate organisational structure

The construction industry has a number of commonly used routes to procure new buildings, each of which has varying levels of success dependent upon project objectives and organisational structure. Generally these procurement routes can be classified as separated, integrated and management types (Masterman, 1992). In line with manufacturing industry, current trends in construction procurement are moving towards the concept of a more integrated approach utilising such concepts as strategic partnering and concurrent engineering.

The research being conducted seeks to identify the most appropriate organisational structure for the underpinning of the design and construction process. This research also examines the decision and communication patterns between project inception and completion. The research is based around a sample of 20 case study projects, consisting of a range of project types and sizes. The primary research method was the use of structured interviews conducted by research staff based at the two universities taking part. Ultimately this paper seeks to identify the linkages between project organisational design and procurement routes, and thereby present a series of criteria upon which a choice of an appropriate organisational design can be made.