The unmanageability of construction and the theoretical psycho‐social dynamics of projects

The article ‘researches’ construction fragmentation from the assumption that construction projects are ‘unmanageable’ (Mintzberg, 1982) in conventional terms, in an attempt to give thematic unity to this problem. Socio‐technical analysis which underlay the Building Industry Communications Research Project (BICRP) (Higgin & Jessop, 1963, 1965; TIHR, 1965; Chrichton, 1966) conducted by the Tavistock Institute for Human Relations (TIHR) from 1963 to 1965 is explored and developed, supplemented other relevant authors. The argument is conducted formally without reference to particular examples and develops the debate provoked by Connaughton (2000). Formal statement of the problem assists reinterpretation (Boyd & Wild, 1999; Wild, 2001 a) of existing material and new enquiry to clarify the conditions, if any, both necessary and sufficient, for the manageability of construction.