Open research questions in Construction Project Management and Performance

What the literature leaves open

• Research, 10(2), and pp. Nabila, A.F., Oktaviani, C.Z. and Bulba, A.T., 2024. Analysis of the relationship between project manager’s leadership style and construction project success in Aceh. Construction Technologies and Architecture, 14, pp. 33–39. https://doi.org/10.4028/P-COJN4M. Nguyen, L.H., 2025. The impact of leadership behaviour on management effectiveness in public construction project organizations. Public Works Management and Policy, 30(1), pp. 58–79. https://doi.org/10.1177/1087724X241237985. Nurtjahjani, F., Alotaibi, H.S., Batubulan, K.S. and Puspita, A.F., 2023. Does transformational and transactional leadership in Indonesia’s construction sector affect organizational citizenship behavior through job satisfaction? Problems and Perspectives in Management, 21(4), pp. 638–649. https://doi.org/10.21511/PPM.21(4).2023.48. Olasunkanmi, F.-F.O., Ikediashi, D.I., Atser, J. and Ibrahim, E.C., 2025. Modeling the impact of transformational leadership style on construction project performance. Journal of Comprehensive Business Administration Research, pp. 1–14. https://doi.org/10.47852/BONVIEWJCBAR52024878. Olasunkanmi, F.F.O., Ikediashi, D.I. and Ajiero, I.R., 2024. Assessing the factors of transactional leadership style for construction projects: A case of Nigerian construction industry. Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology, 22(5), pp. 1637–1654. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEDT-01-2022- 0012. Opoku, A. and Fortune, C., 2011. The implementation of sustainable practices through leadership in construction organizations. pp. 1145–1154. Perrenoud, A. and Patterson, M., 2022. Situational impact on leadership styles with emerging construction managers. EasyChair. Available at: https://easychair.org/publications/paper/wqXj [Accessed 13 April 2026]. Fajri, R.I. and Sujana, C.M., 2025. The impact of sustainable leadership style on construction project team performance. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 1564(1), P. 012038. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1564/1/012038. Setiawan, T.H., Firdaus, A. and Putra, A.D., 2019.

  Linking Leadership Styles and Relationship Quality to Construction Project Performance: A Systematic Review · 2026 · DOI

• STRATEGIC Start with the data asset, not the model. This is the least exciting recommendation in the chapter and the one that determines whether the rest of it is achievable. Before any modelling work begins, an organisation should be able to answer three questions from its own records: what did we order, when did we say we needed it, and when did it actually arrive. If those questions cannot be answered consistently for the last two years, the first phase of work is records discipline, meaning standardising goods receipt recording, deduplicating the supplier master, capturing partial deliveries with a defined convention, and timestamping the submittal approval workflow. Firms that skip this stage in favour of a proof of concept on whatever data is convenient usually produce an encouraging pilot result that cannot be reproduced at scale. Define the target around float, not around the quotation. A model that predicts lateness relative to the supplier's quoted date answers a question nobody needs answered. What the site needs to know is whether an order will consume the protection allocated to it, which is why the schedule-impact target used in Section 4 is defined relative to planned float. This is a small definitional choice with a large effect on usefulness, and it also forces the planning team to state its buffers explicitly, which is a beneficial discipline in itself. Set the decision threshold from cost, not from convention. As Section 4.3 showed, moving the classification threshold from 0.5 to 0.35 raised recall from 0.71 to 0.86 at the price of more false alarms. Whether that trade is correct depends on the local ratio between the cost of a buyer checking an order unnecessarily and the cost of a crew standing idle. That ratio should be estimated, however roughly, and the threshold set accordingly. It should also be revisited, since a site in a labour-scarce period has a different ratio from the same site six months later. Deploy explanations to the buyer, not to the analyst. SHAP output belongs in the procurement interface, next to the order, expressed in procurement language: this order is flagged because the supplier missed committed dates on four of its last ten deliveries, because the shipment travels 2,400 kilometres, and because the approval cycle ran to nineteen days. A summary plot in a monthly report has analytical value and no operational value. The test of a good © 2026, JOIREM |www.joirem.com| Page 10 ISSN (O) 3107-6696 Journal Publication of International Research for Engineering and Management (JOIREM) Volume: 04 Issue: 07 | July-2026 ISSN (O) 3107-6696 is whether a buyer can state, without deployment assistance, why a particular order is flagged.

  AI-Driven Predictive Material Planning in Construction Projects: A Framework for Reducing Project Delays · 2026 · DOI

• The study makes the following recommendations; ▪ Policy reform: Establish QWL indices as part of project approval processes to ensure mechanization does not erode worker welfare. ▪ Training and certification: Mandate structured training programs for machine operators to align mechanization with human capital development. ▪ Safety protocols: Strengthen site safety standards and monitoring to mitigate mechanization-related hazards. ▪ Equitable compensation: Develop frameworks for sharing mechanization gains with workers through fair wages and benefits. ▪ Sociotechnical integration: Promote holistic approaches that align human skills with technological systems, ensuring mechanization complements rather than replaces labour. ▪ Future research: Expand studies to include qualitative insights and comparative analyses across different regions and project types.

  Effect of Construction Mechanization on the Quality of Work Life of Construction Workers in Kenya · 2026 · DOI

• These pressures are especially acute in developing and PPP contexts, where financial structuring and risk allocation mechanisms vary widely.

  BEYOND TECHNICAL FACTORS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF CONTEXTUAL DETERMINANTS IN CONSTRUCTION PROJECT PERFORMANCE · 2026 · DOI

• The main limitation of this study is the extremely small sample size of 21 public projects, which reduces statistical power and increases the sensitivity of the results to individual observations.

  A governance-calibrated machine learning pipeline for predicting change order ratio under extreme data scarcity in public construction · 2026 · DOI

• While this study is limited by the small sample size of four projects, these projects were selected for their complete- ness and representativeness of typical work conducted by the SHA. The findings, though not broadly general- isable, offer valuable insights into how industry stand- ards can be applied to transportation projects. Future research with a larger sample size is recommended to validate and expand upon these findings. A hypothesis to be tested is high-quality baseline schedules are not associated with adhering to the GAO BPs and IRM. A baseline schedule can adhere to most of the GAO prac- tices and IRM, but is still poor in terms of realistically sequencing the activities. Another future research area is developing a set of comprehensive metrics and prac- tices to evaluate the quality of baseline schedules. These metrics should be easy to measure and included in SHA’s scheduling specifications.

  Assessment of construction baseline schedule quality in transportation projects · 2026 · DOI

• from competitiveness analysis [19], additional technical and economic criteria were introduced. Some of these new criteria were developed by comparing them to those presented on the Gartner Peer Insights portal [20], while others emerged from transforming the risk categories outlined criteria, into as structured in [14]. Furthermore, the authors of this study proposed several additional criteria. evaluation [6] in A previous study [12] introduced a specification for evaluating criteria (excluding risks) using a unified value scale. It is essential to weigh the benefits of using a library against the potential risks that may arise during or after its integration into a project.

  Third-party library selection in IT projects under imperfect data using Dempster–Shafer theory · 2026 · DOI

• Future research may focus Journal of Social Research Development, Volume 7, Issue 1, MARCH, 2026 134 Noman, Iqbal & Nawaz … Do Stakeholder Influence on contextual factors along with influence strategies to provide holistic overview about external stakeholder management.

  DO STAKEHOLDER INFLUENCE STRATEGIES IMPROVES PROJECT SUCCESS: EVIDENCE FROM CONSTRUCTION SECTOR OF PAKISTAN · 2026 · DOI

• Proposed by Saaty (1980), it rests on pairwise comparisons between criteria and alternatives on a scale from 1 to 9, structuring complex decisions hierarchically. High operational complexity; cognitive load arising from multiple comparisons; static nature of the assessments. GUT Matrix RICE Matrix Considers three dimensions: Gravity (impact), Urgency (time available), and Tendency (evolution of the problem). Each dimension is scored on a scale from 1 to 5. Evaluates four dimensions: Reach, Impact, Confidence, and Effort. Score = (R × I × C) / E. BASICO Matrix A Brazilian model that evaluates Benefits, Scope, Satisfaction, Investment, Client, and Operability. Subjectivity in scoring; does not account for interdependencies among projects.

  Maximizing the strategic value of the project portfolio: a prioritization model based on dynamic taxonomy and knowledge management · 2026 · DOI

• Third, triangular parameters were based on expert and practitioner estimates, which are appropriate under limited data but still depend on the experience and judgment of respondents. This approach is useful in project contexts where historical data are limited, as it provides more practical information for mitigation planning than a static list of risk priorities.

  Probabilistic Risk Modeling for Performance Deviation in Multinational Construction Projects in Bali · 2026 · DOI

• In India, ROBs are warranted when the Train Vehicle Unit (TVU) exceeds 100,000, particularly on National and State Highways where traffic density and train frequency are high.

  TIME DELAY AND COST OVERRUN OF ROAD OVER BRIDGE (ROB) CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS IN INDIA · 2026 · DOI

• This lack of consensus is evident in a specific program: the management, treatment, and disposal of 212,000 cubic meters of mixed radioactive and hazardous chemical waste generated by plutonium production at the Hanford Nuclear Site.

  A Review of Management Reserves in U.S. Government Construction Cost Estimation · 2026 · DOI

• 1. Construction firms should ensure timely payment of workers’ wages and allowances. 2. Employers should introduce performance-based bonuses and recognition systems. 3. Construction companies should improve workplace safety and welfare support. 4. Training and promotion opportunities should be provided for skilled workers. 5. Government labour agencies should strengthen monitoring of workers’ welfare conditions within construction sites.

  Reward Systems and the Performance of Selected Skilled Workers in Building Construction Sites in Edo State, Nigeria: A Quantitative Study in Nigeria · 2026 · DOI

• Although the Strategic Integration Model (SIM) provides a theoretical basis for the integration of the commercial and delivery functions within projects in PBOs, there are some limitations that must be discussed. First, this paper follows a theory-building methodology, relying on an integrative literature review (Jaakkola, 2020). Thus, while useful in addressing fragmented theoretical domains, this research lacks the empirical testing of the suggested model. Further evaluation of the model is necessary to determine whether the SIM works in real life. Future research can use qualitative case studies, large sample surveys, or mixed research methodology to test the proposed relationships and assess their effects on project success. Second, the utility of the proposed model may be affected by specific organizational and/or industrial contexts. The integration model described in this paper is more useful for project and service-oriented companies where business value creation requires close collaboration of commercial and delivery functions (Davies et al., 2018). In comparison, the usefulness of the SIM may be questioned in the following contexts: • environments with highly standardized production processes; • contexts of organizations facing little project complexity; and • situations where the creation of custom value is unnecessary.

  Integrating Commercial and Delivery Functions in Project-Based Organizations: A Conceptual Model of the Revenue–Delivery Gap · 2026 · DOI

• (Drisko and Maschi, 2016) outline three approaches to content analysis: conventional, directed, and summative. This study adopted the conventional approach, a data-driven, open-ended method that allows categories to emerge organically without the constraints of predefined frameworks (Blomkvist, 2015). This approach, suitable for both qualitative and quantitative analysis, is particularly wellsuited for investigating the emerging integration of GenAI into risk management for SCPs, as it facilitates the extraction of detailed themes directly from the data (Kibiswa, 2019). Unlike directed analysis, it avoids imposed by existing theories, fostering a rich and context-specific understanding (Krippendorff, 2018). Using this method, the study systematically refined an initial pool of 471 papers to 55, identifying key risks and categories associated with integrating GenAI into risk management for SCPs. Accordingly, through the reviewed studies by conventional content analysis of grouping risks that shared a common source and mechanism of influence on GenAI-enabled risk management. Risks were clustered according to whether they primarily originated from data inputs, technological adaptation, governance and ethics, information integrity, or financial implementation conditions. This structure was considered appropriate because it reflects the main domains through which GenAI-related vulnerabilities materialise in SCPs. the five categories emerged 3.2 Stage two: development of a multicriteria risk analysis model Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) is a widely applied risk assessment technique that evaluates the significance of risks by analysing three key factors: the probability level (PL) of occurrence, the impact level (IL) on project objectives, and the detectability level (DL) of the risk (Kritsky et al., 2018). This approach is extensively used across various engineering and construction fields (Alvand et al., 2023; Zhang et al., 2024). To develop the proposed multicriteria risk analysis model incorporating IL, PL and DL, a structured Delphi technique was undertaken among the authors. In this study, the Delphi stage was designed as an internal expertbased Delphi process involving the author team. This approach was adopted to iteratively refine the model structure, variable grouping, and rule logic based on the authors’ combined expertise in risk is consistent with construction construction risk management and fuzzy-based modelling, rather than establishing broad external consensus. This methodological positioning research emphasising that the selection and application of risk techniques should reflect the context and purpose of the study (Kıral, 2025).

  Development of a hierarchical fuzzy assessment model for quantifying GenAI risks in sustainable construction projects · 2026 · DOI

• Based on the study's empirical findings, twelve recommendations are advanced across legal risk management, contractual governance, sustainability integration, and institutional development. Regarding legal risk management: (1) clients should mandate a comprehensive Legal Risk Management Plan at project inception covering contractual risk allocation, regulatory compliance mapping, insurance strategy, and dispute resolution preparedness; (2) force majeure provisions in all large-scale contracts should be updated to address pandemic risk, climate-related events, cyberattacks, and geopolitical disruptions; and (3) legal risk identification should be institutionalised through structured legal risk registers updated at each project milestone. Regarding contractual governance: (4) standard form contracts, particularly FIDIC and NEC, should be the default for large-scale procurement, with bespoke departures requiring documented justification reviewed by independent legal counsel; (5) variation management procedures should mandate prospective cost assessment and pre-agreed valuation methodologies; and (6) dispute avoidance mechanisms, including Dispute Adjudication Boards, should be mandated in all projects exceeding $50 million. Regarding sustainability integration: (7) Sustainability Management Plans should be required as contract documents with specified KPIs, measurement methodologies, monitoring obligations, and contractual consequences of underperformance; (8) embodied carbon assessment should be mandated for all large-scale public projects and incentivised in private projects; and (9) ESG reporting obligations should be incorporated in contracts for projects above defined value thresholds.

  ASSESSING LEGAL RISK MANAGEMENT, CONTRACTUAL GOVERNANCE, AND SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION PRACTICES IN LARGE-SCALE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE BUILDING PROJECTS · 2026 · DOI

• Conclusion This study systematically investigates the empowerment pathways and empirical effects of AI technology on the competency of safety directors in EPC projects by constructing a dynamic capability framework of “perception–capture–reconfiguration”. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) AI technology drives a leap in competency level. The empirical results show that, under the AI-empowered mode, the overall CCI of safety directors increased from 0.61 in the control group to 0.89, representing an increase of 45.9%. In particular, for information-intensive tasks, both the accuracy and timeliness of regulatory and policy matching improved substantially. This indicates that AI technology is not merely an optimization of management tools, but also a reshaping of the competency structure through cognitive enhancement. (2) The management paradigm undergoes a profound transformation from “experience-driven” to “data-driven”. The study finds that AI technology effectively compensates for the limitations of individual cognitive bandwidth by digitally reconstructing the underlying management logic. Safety directors are thus able to capture weak-signal risks in highly complex environments in real time, enabling a qualitative shift in risk identification from post-event response to pre-event prediction, and significantly enhancing the scientific basis and precision of decision-making. (3) The evaluation model demonstrates a high degree of scientific rigor and logical consistency. The consistency ratio test (CR = 0.00086 0.1) verifies that the weight allocation of the competency evaluation indicators constructed in this study is rigorous and reasonable. This model not only objectively reflects the actual effects of AI empowerment, but also provides a replicable theoretical framework for the quantitative evaluation of safety management talent in the EPC industry. ≪ (4) Targeted hierarchical improvement strategies are proposed. First, a proactive risk prediction strategy centered on all-weather IoT-based perception is suggested. Second, a cross-domain collaborative governance strategy based on digital twin technology and collaborative platforms is proposed. Third, a personalized continuous empowerment strategy driven by AI similarity algorithms is advanced. Fourth, a human–AI trust governance strategy is recommended, emphasizing clear task boundaries between humans and machines while preserving human ethical leadership. These strategies provide practical guidance for enterprise talent development during digital and intelligent transformation. PLOS One | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0348868 May 18, 2026 22 / 25 5.2 Outlook Although this study has achieved phased progress in both theoretical construction and empirical analysis, several aspects still require further exploration due to objective constraints: (1) Limitations in sample size and generalizability.

  Research on strategies for enhancing the competency of safety directors in EPC projects empowered by AI · 2026 · DOI

• The study recommends strengthening front‑end shaping by explicitly integrating architectural decision‑making with project governance, recognizing that project controls cannot compensate for architectural misalignment. Infrastructure sponsors, regulators, and public agencies should adopt governance arrangements that extend beyond project completion into operations and asset management, and emphasize cross‑disciplinary integration to ensure long‑term system performance and value realization.

  A Conceptual Integration of Architecture, Project Management and Governance · 2026 · DOI

• practices the Recommendation: Based on these findings, the study proposes a unified conceptual that emphasizes alignment, framework interdependence, and structured governance across the project lifecycle. It recommends integrated governance the adoption of incorporation of systems structures, thinking into project and architectural practices, and the alignment of decision- to ensure coherence making processes between design, execution, and strategy.

  A Conceptual Integration of Architecture, Project Management and Governance · 2026 · DOI

• Lastly, the study’s cross-sectional design, which focused on data collection at a single point in time (2023), does not account for potential changes in project implementation practices, political shifts, or external factors over time, which could affect the longevity of the findings. The unique local context, such as regional governance practices, project types, and contractor profiles, may not be applicable across the entire DPWH network.

  A Quantitative Study on the Delays of Government Project Construction in the Department of Public Works and Highways South Cotabato 1st District Engineering Office · 2026 · DOI

• In terms of construction quality management (CQM) applications, previous works mainly took a technical perspective, and little is known about the potential of blockchain-based governance for quality opportunism.

  Blockchain Impact on Construction Quality Management and Its Adoption Analysis: A Game Theory–Based Method · 2024 · DOI

• Thereafter, the authors implemented cluster analysis and social network analysis (SNA) to quantitatively analyze the level of inclusion, co-occurrence, and interconnectivity among the bidding factors and identify the gaps in the literature.

  Comprehensive Understanding of Factors Impacting Competitive Construction Bidding · 2024 · DOI

• SNA also revealed the need for further investigation of interactions among CEM stakeholders within PDS other than the traditional Design-Bid-Build and Public-Private-Partnerships.

  Current Applications of Game Theory in Construction Engineering and Management Research: A Social Network Analysis Approach · 2021 · DOI

• Though studies in the past have advanced some attributes for competitive advantage in certain national contexts, little is known of the empirical studies that identify the principal attributes for competitive advantage of indigenous construction firms in developing countries to adduce empirical findings toward firms’ competitive advantage policy.

  Rethinking the Attributes for Competitive Advantage of Indigenous Construction Firms in Developing Countries: A Ghana Study · 2020 · DOI

• On the other hand, shifting priorities due to the lack of a coherent business strategy as well as resistance to changes because of internal politics and/or insufficient information result in the delay and cost overrun in projects, thereby decelerating the improvement in the status of the projects within a portfolio.

  Application of system dynamics in project portfolio management · 2020 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Construction Project Management and Performance

• Factors Affecting the Success of a Construction Project · Journal of Construction Engineering and Management · 2004 · 488 citations
• Searching for the Good Plan · Journal of Planning Literature · 2008 · 318 citations
• Factors Affecting Construction Labor Productivity in Kuwait · Journal of Construction Engineering and Management · 2011 · 274 citations
• Cost Overruns and Failure in Project Management: Understanding the Roles of Key Stakeholders in Construction Projects · Journal of Construction Engineering and Management · 2012 · 226 citations
• Choosing Appropriate Construction Contracting Method · Journal of Construction Engineering and Management · 1994 · 151 citations
• Reducing Variability to Improve Performance as a Lean Construction Principle · Journal of Construction Engineering and Management · 2002 · 126 citations
• Risk Concession Model for Build/Operate/Transfer Contract Projects · Journal of Construction Engineering and Management · 2005 · 120 citations
• Cultural Considerations in International Construction Contracts · Journal of Construction Engineering and Management · 2003 · 116 citations
• Predicting Project Performance in the Construction Industry · Journal of Construction Engineering and Management · 2020 · 115 citations
• Two Decades of Performance Comparisons for Design-Build, Construction Manager at Risk, and Design-Bid-Build: Quantitative Analysis of the State of Knowledge on Project Cost, Schedule, and Quality · Journal of Construction Engineering and Management · 2017 · 112 citations

Most recent work

• Development of a hierarchical fuzzy assessment model for quantifying GenAI risks in sustainable construction projects · Frontiers in Built Environment · 2026
• Optimizing subcontractor selection: a dual-model AHP framework for aligning client and contractor priorities in construction · Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology · 2026
• Impact of integrity-based approach to ethics management on project performance · Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology · 2026
• User-side regime dynamics and design–use misalignments in circular construction transitions · Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management · 2026
• Collaborative valuation: harnessing collective expertise for enhanced practice · Journal of Property Investment & Finance · 2026
• A Review of Management Reserves in U.S. Government Construction Cost Estimation · Risks · 2026
• Smart combination of neural networks and metaheuristic algorithms: a novel approach to enhancing productivity prediction in construction projects · Journal of Engineering Design and Technology · 2026
• Risk-based construction inspection and quality management model for transportation and highway infrastructure projects · Global Journal of Engineering and Technology Advances · 2026
• EFFECTS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ON THE PERFORMANCE OF PUBLIC PROJECTS IN TANZANIA · BUSINESS EXCELLENCE AND MANAGEMENT · 2026
• Implementing crisis management in construction projects using structural equation modelling and analysis of variance · Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Civil Engineering · 2026

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