A study of the bases upon which clients of the construction industry choose their building procurement systems

The study examines and analyses the decision-making processes used by clients of the construction industry when choosing building procurement systems in order to determine whether they adopt a disciplined, systematic and objective approach to this task and whether there is any significant difference in the behaviour in this respect amongst the six categories of client that are identified. Decision making is defined, the decision-making process examined, decision theory discussed and individual and group behaviour reviewed. These theories are then related to the theoretical selection of building procurement systems with emphasis being placed upon the clients' needs, project criteria, establishment of a comprehensive and accurate brief and a project strategy. The main procurement systems are identified together with the substantial number of aids to selection that are currently available. An examination of practical strategic decision making in industry and commerce is then carried out with the work of Nutt, Mintzberg et al and Hickson et al being reviewed in detail and contrasted with the theoretical process. This is followed by a detailed examination and discussion of the way clients actually select the procurement systems they use based upon the results of the author's surveys of clients' behaviour when choosing such methods. Conclusions are reached which confirm that a substantial proportion of clients do not adopt a disciplined, systematic and objective approach to the selection of building procurements systems and, in this respect, that there is no significant difference in the behaviour of the various categories of client. Finally, recommendations are made to overcome any deficiencies in the selection process, together with proposals for further research and investigation.