A grounded theory of construction crisis management

Construction crisis management research is in an exploratory state where contemplated questions are of more value than hasty answers. For this reason, this paper is more concerned with theory formulation than theory testing. More specifically, it derives a grounded theory of construction crisis management which forms a useful basis for future research. It does so from an investigation of the complex patterns of communication and behaviour which emerge in response to construction crises. The conclusion is that construction crisis management is about the effective control of social and behavioural instability and the conflict which arises out of it. However, effective crisis management is made difficult by the in-built defence mechanisms which construction crises appear to have. The grounded theory also is contrasted with current crisis management theory and thereby, the uniqueness of crisis management in a construction context is identified.