The Problems of Project Management Companies in the Turkish Construction and the Real Estate Industries

Abstract

Effective project management has always been important for the success of different industries. From scope, time, and cost management to quality, risk, and procurement management, all aspects of project management need an integrated approach by using skilled staff and providing efficient communication among all stakeholders. While some companies establish in-house teams for managing their projects, some companies hire professional companies to act on their behalf. It is critical to measure the success of these companies, yet there are major obstacles that project management companies face while they are performing their responsibilities, which may cause failures. In that context, this study, as far as being the first research in the literature, investigates the main problems of project management (PM) companies in Turkey by focusing on the PM services in the construction and real estate industries. A survey was conducted among PM professionals working for PM companies, contractors, employers, designers, vendors, and sub-contractors to find out these problems. The need for PM standards, the balance between the responsibility and the authority of the PM companies, the existence of the PM companies providing very low prices, excessive employer intervention and delayed payments by employers were found to be the most important factors that cause problems. Developing PM standards, issuing legal regulations to be a PM company, right pricing policy, and on-time payments by the project owners were recommended by the participants as solutions.