Harmonizing Construction Planning, Monitoring, and Control: An Information Integration Approach

Researchers have time and time again emphasized the importance of decision making, information management and the incorporation of information technology (IT) in the operations of an organization. This emphasis holds a special importance in the construction industry as value added project delivery is basically a consequence of the degree of proper incorporation of these factors during the planning, monitoring and control of construction processes. To facilitate the incorporation of all these factors, different approaches have been identified and related proposals presented. Success has however not been easy to come by as even in today’s software and hardware dominated world, decision making, information management and usage of IT in construction operations is not truly up to the challenge. This paper presents the preliminary findings of an ongoing study on the evaluation of different project control parameters and their appropriate integration for providing an integrated decision making environment facilitated by an efficient information management strategy and through the incorporation of IT. A review of the problems instigating the study is presented and a structured methodology for research conduction highlighted. Cross-functional integration of project control functions and associated parameters is illustrated and further steps towards the development of an integrated system proposed.