Exploring the Potential Contributions of Benefits Realisation to the Management of Complex Construction Projects

Recent research has pointed out a need for better considering complexity issues in the development of construction projects, and a need to shift the traditional paradigm of project management. Within this context, it is argued that projects should be seen as value generating processes, linking business strategy to projects and managing the delivery of benefits to different groups of stakeholders rather than the simply delivery of physical assets. In other sectors, such as information systems and technology, an approach
named benefits realisation has emerged to focus the management of projects on the delivery of benefits. The approach intents to bring a greater awareness for stakeholders of what are the project benefits, who should be involved in their definition and what are the actions that need to be performed in order to achieve and maximise them. Thus, this research was motivated by a need to explore the contributions of the benefits realisation approach for understanding construction projects as value generation processes, while recognising projects as complex systems and the need to better deal with such characteristics. This was pursuit through a literature review on project complexity, complex systems thinking and main publications that introduce the benefits realisation approach. As a result, this paper summarises contributions of the benefits realisation approach for seeing projects as value generation processes and for better dealing with complexity in project management. Finally, further steps of this research are
highlighted.