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The purpose of this paper is to show how effective project team communications is one of the major challenges to a construction project's success. The success of large‐scale construction projects is critical to Chinese economy. The purposes of the research are to grasp the current status of communications in large‐scale construction projects in China and lay a basis for further research on project communications.

A survey was conducted by postal questionnaire and telephone.

Through analyzing the data obtained from the survey, the communication problems in large‐scale construction projects in China are exposed. The roots of the problems are summarized as lack of good communication mechanism, weak organizational structures of construction teams, lack of uniform standards for construction information, and lack of support for advanced communication technologies.

The paper presents the directions for further research to improve communications in large‐scale construction projects in China.

The purpose of this article is to contribute to our stock of knowledge about who uses networks, how they are used, and what contribution the networks make to advancing the scientific enterprise. Between 1985 and 1990, the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) ACCESS data facility at the University of Wisconsin‐Madison provided social scientists in the United States and elsewhere with access through the electronic networks to complex and dynamic statistical data; the 1984 SIPP is a longitudinal panel survey designed to examine economic well‐being in the United States. This article describes the conceptual framework and design of SIPP ACCESS; examines how network users communicated with the SIPP ACCESS project staff about the SIPP data; and evaluates one outcome derived from the communications, the improvement of the quality of the SIPP data. The direct and indirect benefits to social scientists of electronic networks are discussed. The author concludes with a series of policy recommendations that link the assessment of our inadequate knowledge base for evaluating how electronic networks advance the scientific enterprise and the SIPP ACCESS research network experience to the policy initiatives of the High Performance Computing Act of 1991 (P.L. 102–194) and the related extensive recommendations embodied in Grand Challenges 1993 High Performance Computing and Communications (The FY 1993 U.S. Research and Development Program).

It is recognised that upgrading programmes are imperative components of public housing in Singapore. In order to keep pace with the ever‐continuing rise in affluence and hence expectations of the residents, these upgrading programmes need to be carried out with a complete understanding of residents’ needs and perceptions, which may change over time. Good communications between the residents and those managing upgrading projects is therefore important to ensure that what is provided is what the residents need and want. The purpose of this paper is to understand the project management issues involved in upgrading programmes in public housing in Singapore, with particular focus on communications management.

The study included a questionnaire survey of 30 residents of a public housing estate undergoing upgrading works in Singapore. The fieldwork evaluates how these residents perceived the importance of and their satisfaction with various communications issues identified from the literature review.

It was observed that much effort was invested to foster good relationships with the residents, and also to ensure that they are kept informed about the progress of the upgrading works. However, the survey findings revealed that the satisfaction levels of the residents generally still fall short of their expectations, which suggests that communications management of upgrading projects in public housing estates remains an area that needs to be improved and enhanced in the near future.

Upgrading programmes for Singapore's public housing estates was started in 1989 by the Housing and Development Board (HDB) to bridge the gap between the standards of the older estates and that of the newer towns. Today, some two decades later, the upgrading programmes are still in place, but now with increased focus on flexibility and resident consultation. The engagement of residents in decision‐making of matters affecting their immediate neighbourhood can be found in many of the upgrading programmes.

The paper assesses the management of communications during different stages of a typical upgrading project in the HDB estates, and also the various communications channels employed by the relevant authorities to disseminate information to the residents. It is important to note that communication is not simply concerned with the sending of messages, but also with whether the intended recipients receive them as intended.

Marketing organisations increasingly talk about the importance of integrating their communications, of aligning symbols, messages, procedures and behaviours across formal organisational boundaries. Often this implies tighter central control over communications and other organisational processes. This paper sets out to discuss potential negative consequences of such tight control in terms of organisational incapability to react to market changes in increasingly fluid environments due to a loss of sufficient corporate complexity and diversity.

In response, a flexible integration approach that draws attention to the handling of difference and variety within the context of an integrated communications project is articulated. The paper proposes a framework that balances centralisation and decentralisation through attention to dimensions of endogenous control, tight and loose couplings, networks, and common process rules.

The paper demonstrated that, in order to integrate its communications, an organisation needs to embrace diversity and variety and to balance the wisdom of its many voices with the effort to secure clarity and consistency in its overall expression.

The flexible integration approach advanced in this paper opens new avenues of research, practice and pedagogy, encouraging scholars, practitioners and teachers to explore the following dimensions of integrated communications: reception, variability, organisation, voice, couplings and transferability.

The paper contributes to the literature on integrated communications and corporate communications by addressing the organisational dimensions of integration and suggesting a new avenue of integrated communications research that is far more sensitive to the organisational context in which projects of integration exist and unfold.

The purpose of this review is to look at some of the common mistakes made related to communication within a project and how those mistakes can be avoided. Communication in projects is a critical factor in a project’s success. Many times, project teams forget some basic rules for communicating with their stakeholders.

The approach of this paper is to provide a general overview of common themes in the project management literature related to communication within projects.

While communication failures in projects are caused by many factors, the project team ultimately bears the burden for ensuring successful communication within a project. There are several common causes of communication failures. Thankfully, there are also some simple things that project teams can do to lessen the likelihood of miscommunication.

As this is a general overview, this article only explores the more commonly experienced issues related to project miscommunication.

By observing some relatively easy to remember questions and concerns related to communication, a project team can be more effective in communicating with their project stakeholders. Effective communication will generally lead to better outcomes and, therefore, a higher likelihood for overall project success.

Recently, major projects have been conducted using a strategic alliance set‐up, where participating organisations work together, collaboratively, within the same organisation structure consisting of personnel from each organisation. The ethos of the strategic alliance encourages an integrated, unified working environment. A study of the communication networks in a major strategic alliance project was undertaken in November 2000. This involved conducting a communication audit that included five unstructured interviews. Participants included a broad range of project team members, matched to some of Belbin’s team role profiles. The paper discusses the principal factors affecting internal communication, as revealed from the analysis of the interview data.

This paper describes research into use of Online Remote Construction Management (ORCM) on road construction projects, from the perspective of an industry representative in the research project. The aim of ORCM is to use advanced electronic communication technologies to enhance online real‐time communication between the parties to a construction project, and thus improve the project delivery process. It aims to maximize the use of time of personnel and reduce paperwork. A typical trial construction project in the Queensland Department of Main Roads, with which the author was employed at the time of writing this paper, is described. This site used a Web‐based system to manage communications. Observed benefits from using ORCM and issues in implementation are discussed. While the process is promising, there needs to be additional review into the attendant risks and cultural issues, and the ways in which these matters are addressed.

The authors explore several aspects of communications theory to identify their relevance to managing a project-based productivity improvement intervention. The literature on communication accommodation theory, groupthink and trust appear to have important implications for improvements. The purpose of this paper is to develop a research methodology used in conducting empirical data collection in the field to test the developed conceptual framework. The authors emphasize the importance of management theory to project-based interventions. The focus of this work is summarized by the research question: “what facets of communication impact on the success of a project-based improvement intervention?”.

Following a focused literature review, learnings from specific research were used to identify a series of propositions. The scope of the work was established to limit the range of issues under review. Next, a conceptual framework was designed that allowed a case study to be tested with regard to validity of the propositions. Further testing will be undertaken in a single company.

There is clear evidence showing the relevance of effective communication when executing an intervention to seek performance improvement. In particular, understanding the need of stakeholders’ is paramount that allows the design of a communications strategy. Each phase in a project-based intervention requires different styles of communication. There is also a need to have varying degrees of trust. Total unchallenged trust invariably leads to groupthink that hinders critical decision making.

The work contributes to the understanding of the application of communication theory to project-based interventions – that invariably aim at performance improvement initiatives. While currently the work is in the early stages of research, it does nevertheless show some useful early findings. Clearly further work is needed in international projects in the context of multi-cultural teams and external stakeholders.

With many interventions failing to meet their planned objectives there is a need to isolate possible reasons and to rectify or mitigate the causes. Project management and change management training should include a comprehensive understanding of management theories. This research will contribute to this knowledge base.

Project-based activities are used in most walks of life; the need for excellent management is therefore important. Invariably interventions involve considerable capital investment and their success advances productivity of nations. Understanding and integrating communication theories to their management, therefore, has significant social benefits.

The importance of communications is identified in the project management literature and adjunct disciplines. Professional associations and leading bodies in performance and project management, while emphasizing the need for excellent communication, have not adequately addressed underpinning theories. There is little research focusing on communication accommodation theory, groupthink and risk in the context of project management. The authors’ have not been able to identify any research on an integrated framework that combines these theories with managing a project-based performance improvement intervention.

The increasing “globalisation” and complexity of construction design implies that the project team may involve subcontractors in the construction supply chain from widely distributed geographic areas. Thus communication is a vital process for the design. The aim of the present work is to investigate how construction design under supply chain partnering can be improved through a study of communication issues and problems.

A questionnaire survey is initially conducted to investigate communication issues and problems in construction design. Based on the survey results, a case study is carried out to gain further insights into these issues and problems, exploring how the procurement like supply chain partnering influences the multi‐team communications in construction design.

The paper finds that partnering can eliminate many communication barriers and has a positive impact on social collaboration in the design process. It could have a negative impact on the team communications if proper procedures have not been put in place. In addition, co‐location can increase the degree of interaction, communication and technical collaboration in the partnership.

This paper may help construction project practitioners to focus their attention on the necessary respects of multi‐team communications between supply chain partners in construction design, leading to high cooperation and ultimately improving the quality of the design outcomes.

Legions of projects fail to attain their time and cost objectives due to ineffective coordination. This is often due to a lack of essential learning from projects because of insufficient communication and working experience. One of the key reasons why this occurs is that managers are unaware of what knowledge needs to be retained. In contrast with knowledge management research, which mostly focuses on the systems and processes for capturing, storing, and retrieval of knowledge, this paper investigates the nature of project communication and learning and their role on project time and cost control.

A stratified proportional purposive sampling approach was adopted in choosing the interview participants for the study. They are experienced industry practitioners working on building construction projects in Malaysia. Content analysis was then performed on the interview data. The identified variables were further validated by 11 industry experts from the three primary construction stakeholders.

The results of a series of 12 in-depth interviews with industry practitioners are provided to reveal the effective communication tools for sharing and learning in a project-based environment, the learning inducing situations involved, and the use of reusable project experiences to improve project time and cost control.

A possible limitation of the study is its focus on a small group of Malaysian practitioners delimits the generalizability of the findings.

A two-phase model with three-step project management process of input, tools, and output is developed from the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) Guide as an aid for more effective knowledge reuse in project time and cost control in the future.