Three perspectives of public sector construction project culture : an exploratory case study in Sri Lanka

![CDATA[Among different cultural manifestations, basic assumptions better explain a cultural context. Further, more insight into the basic assumptions of cultural context could be reached through a single study including the three perspectives of culture such as; integration, differentiation and fragmentation, which is not popular in construction research arena. Thus, the aim of this study is to explore the project culture in public sector construction context using underlying basic assumptions of the project participants. The aim was approached through an exploratory single case study of a public sector building construction project, procured in traditional procurement method. Data was collected through nine semi-structured interviews, observations of two progress review meetings and a documentary survey. Findings include elaboration of the underlying basic assumptions of the construction project culture in three perspectives of culture. Integration perspective revealed the basic assumptions collectively held by project participants such as: client being the most powerful team member carrying uncertain decisions; rare appreciations among members; rewarding for conformance to the contract, and contractor lacking trust on client and contractor. Differentiation perspective revealed existence of strong sub-cultural groups as contractor, consultant and client. Sub-cultural basic assumptions included; contractor being profit motive, consultant favouring the client beyond the required impartial role and client assuming a dominant role within the team. Fragmentation perspective revealed several ambiguous situations going against the integrated and differentiated basic assumptions.]]