On a road to promises that work

This research into the applicability of ―Promise Based Management‖ in the UK
construction sector examines the business side of construction as to where and how
client and customer interact. A research opportunity to attend meetings and conduct
interviews with clients and contractors on a major construction project in the North
West of England gave first hand access to the various issues involved and enabled the
researchers to draw some conclusions as to how promises are both a key to success in
a construction project and indeed an enabling factor in how things get done in
construction.
Our focus is ―speech act theory‖ or the ―language action perspective‖ and its
analysis of the way social cohesion is produced. Meetings were attended which were
concerned with the planning and implementation of a contract and interviews were
conducted with members of the client, main contractor and subcontractor teams. The
initial findings point towards the necessary resilience of the sector and how successful
project managers deal with the contingencies that arise and even on occasion work
them to the advantage of the project and, of course, the company.