Unified framework for construction project integration

Moving the construction industry towards a more-integrated approach to project delivery could improve its overall performance. The aim of this paper is to develop a unified framework for project integration by identifying the critical success attribute and different levels of attribute importance, and by determining if there are major differences among the perceptions of survey respondents depending on their industry role. The survey sample (N=264) was composed of industry practitioners in the United States. The framework was developed using the Thurstone Scaling Method of Successive Interval Procedure; In addition, this method was complemented and validated using correlation analysis, cluster analysis, and analysis of variance (ANOVA). According to the perceptions of respondents, 19 of the 45 attributes under study were identified as critical for successfully achieving project integration. Four other categories of importance were identified. There were minor differences found between the perceptions that different project participants had in regard to the importance of the different attributes for achieving project integration, leading to the conclusion that the perceptions of respondents in regard to this matter are very homogeneous within the context of the 45 Integration Attributes.