Developing a framework for mental health management of project management practitioners in architecture, engineering and construction project organizations

Abstract

Complexity of Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) project designs that involve managing multiple projects concurrently, network of project management practitioners (PMPs) from different organisations, engagement of project stakeholders and multiple contractors spurred the proliferation of poor mental health. Considerable amount of mental health research focused on organisational supports and coping mechanisms as proximal strategies for promoting positive mental health. While acknowledging the significant contributions of the previous studies, scant attention has been placed on distant practices, which is organisational design practices responsible for the sources of mental health problems in AEC projects. Addressing poor mental health through the lens of organisational design would open a new scholarship on how different organisational dimensions in a project based organisation contributes to mental health management outcomes, which in turn improve mental health. It would further shift concentration on individual analysis to project organisational unit analysis by identifying mental health management indicators for assessing the performance of the AEC project organisation. Therefore, the key research problem identified is how to develop a mental health management framework that promotes positive mental health through organisational design concept in AEC project organisations. The aim of this study is to develop a holistic mental health management framework to monitor, measure, assess and improve the mental health of PMPs in AEC project organisations. To achieve the aim and objectives of this research, a theoretical model was developed to explain the mental health management in AEC project organisations through the integration of institutional theory, agency theory, resources based theory (RBT), contingency theory and complexity theory. The findings of this study made significant contributions to the body of literature in mental health management and AEC by innovatively applying organizational theories: institutional theory, agency theory, resources based theory (RBT), contingency theory and complexity theory to interpretation of organizational design concept in addressing mental health problems in AEC project organizations. The identified mental health management indicators provide comprehensive understanding of indicators for assessment of mental health management practices, which assist organization managers in detecting dysfunction in the implemented mental health management practices in AEC projects.

Date of Award	2022
Original language	English