A Maturity Model for Measuring the Capability of Project Teams in Managing Changes

Changes and variations during the lifetime of a construction project are one of the major sources of risk in construction. They often lead to cost overruns, time delays, disputes and rework. The success of a project depends directly on the ability of the project team in managing changes. At present, there is a lack of appropriate methods to measure project teams’ ability in this regard or help to improve their ability. This study adopts the concept of Capability Maturity Model, originated from software engineering, in order to develop a framework for the assessment and improvement of change management capability of construction project. A Change Management Maturity Model (CM3) is developed, which defines five levels of maturity – ad hoc, informal, systematic, integrated and continuous improving. Measurement is carried out on six key process areas – management process, risk management, communication, management information, collaboration, and leadership/objectives. The model is evaluated through three case studies to assess its applicability in practice.