Process standardization in the construction industry: An explorative study into the right balance between standardization and flexibility

Today’s rising project complexity in combination with the changing economic environment has led to an increased interest in improving organizational business processes. Large multinational companies were always affected by those two factors in a greater extent than other smaller more localized competitors, rendering process reengineering an indispensable need for their continuous thrive. Determining best-practice approaches and integrating scale and knowledge into business process management may improve business performance by reducing error potential. This could be achieved through process standardization according to best-practice approaches. However, the proclaimed uniqueness of construction projects in combination with the numerous uncertainties that the industry is facing is rendering process standardization in the construction industry more complex. This research aims to explore the implications, opportunities and barriers of standardization in the construction industry and the implementation of previously gained knowledge – marked as best practices.Civil Engineering | Construction Management and Engineerin