Towards a More Flexible Project Management Approach in Complex Construction Projects from the Scheduling Perspective

The main objective in construction projects is to meet the expectations regarding the quality and safety, to ensure stakeholder satisfaction, and to complete the projects at the scheduled time, in the prescribed budget and within the pre-determined scope. This objective can only be achieved by completing numerous interrelated activities through using different resources such as labour, equipment and materials under various weather and land conditions in accordance with the work schedules prepared in advance. Project management, more specifically the Critical Path Method (CPM), needs to be applied in order to manage such a complex network of activities consisting of many interrelated activities. However, to what extent is CPM able to respond to the dynamics and complexity of current construction projects?

The aim of this research is to propose a hybrid approach with both traditional and flexible features that can be used in managing the work schedules prepared by the CPM under the complex, uncertain and dynamic conditions that today's complex construction projects are exposed to. In this context, an approach has been developed and evaluated based on an extensive literature study. Given the findings, the proposed approach is considered an important step towards the development of a more flexible project management methodology that can be used in managing the work schedules of complex construction projects.