Heuristics in Construction Project Management

Abstract

Modern construction projects are delivered in complex, fast pace environments. Stakeholders are required to participate in dynamic project settings with resource constraints, information constraints, and time constraints. To overcome gaps in knowledge, to deliver decisions quickly, and to overcome human limits in cognitive ability, decision makers typically employ heuristics, or rules of thumb to arrive at relatively quick answers. Heuristics are cognitive shortcuts that an individual employs to arrive at quick decisions (Goodwin et al., 2004). These heuristics are used in a variety of ways, ranging from using the process of elimination (elimination heuristic) to applying different cognitive weights to options based on recent experience, reputation, or familiarity (Shah and Oppenheimer, 2008). This research aims to identify heuristics present in the implementation phase of construction. By summarizing the results of two studies conducted with a Mid-Atlantic Contractor, this thesis prescribes seven heuristics commonly used by construction stakeholders.