Management-Driven Integration

The fragmentation of the architecture/engineering/construction (A/E/C) industry creates increased demand for coordination and integration of project participants. This paper provides practitioners with an increased understanding of the importance of integration for project and company performance, and the integration mechanisms and barriers. The paper first provides a review of the literature on organizational theory, construction, and manufacturing, and identifies integration mechanisms and potential benefits. Then, the paper presents empirical evidence regarding the integration benefits that managers in construction firms identify, the mechanisms they use, and the reasons that prevent them from utilizing integration mechanisms. Finally, the paper identifies four managerial barriers to integration: need for front-end investments, difficulty to measure and distribute the benefits, reduced ability to utilize integration mechanisms across projects, and lack of skills and organizational culture that promote integration.