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An Analysis of the use of Information Technology for Project Management in the New Zealand 
Construction Industry by Dr Suzanne Wilkinson 

 

The Australian Journal of Construction Economics & Building Page 47 

AN ANALYSIS OF THE USE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY 
FOR PROJECT MANAGEMENT IN THE NEW ZEALAND CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY 

Dr Suzanne Wilkinson, Senior Lecturer, Department of Civil and Resource Engineering 
The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand 

 
 

Introduction 
 
Information technology usage for project 
management planning and control is 
becoming increasingly sophisticated. 
However, within the construction project 
management environment in New Zealand 
there seems to be a lack of appreciation of 
the tools and techniques available to 
assist project managers with the effective 
running of their projects. This paper 
discusses some of the deficiencies in the 
use of project management software in 
the New Zealand construction industry. It 
draws on original research in the form of a 
questionnaire that was designed to assess 
the level of information technology use, 
the effectiveness of this use and the 
overall willingness to change.  
 
Project Management in New Zealand 
 
Project management as a means of 
achieving completion of projects is now in 
common use in New Zealand. Whereas 
the traditional organisational management 
of residential and commercial construction 
projects was primarily used in New 
Zealand, a recent trend has seen a move 
towards other types of procurement 
methods. In other countries this trend has 
also been happening. Chappell (1991) 
from his work in the UK, stated that 
“…until comparatively recently, virtually all 
building contracts were constructed using 
traditional procurement methods, which 
means that the employer commissions an 
architect to design a building…The work 
then proceeds on site with the architect 
inspecting and carrying out certain 
functions under the contract…”. This was 
certainly the case in New Zealand and the 
traditional way of procuring projects is still 
in popular use. However, there has been a 
gradual erosion of this tradition and now 
projects are managed in New Zealand by 
any number of methods, such as Design 
and Build, Management Contracting and 
Project Management. Wilkinson (1998) 

suggested that with this change of 
tradition, there has been, within New 
Zealand, an expansion of project 
management companies or project 
management divisions within companies 
offering project management services. 
Again, this is not a New Zealand specific 
phenomenon. In the United States, work 
by Meredith and Mantel (1995) 
commented that “The use of projects and 
project management continues to grow in 
our society…The past several decades 
have been marked by a rapid growth in 
the use of project management as a 
means by which organisations achieve 
their goals…” . 
 
In New Zealand, the quantity surveying 
profession has been quick to adopt project 
management as one of its key services. 
Lamb (1994) suggested 67% of quantity 
surveying companies in New Zealand 
offered project management to their 
clients as one of their key services. The 
study suggested that project management 
is becoming a large part of the business of 
quantity surveying companies. One 
quantity surveyor commented that  “10% 
of business at the moment [is] in project 
management and we are forecasting that 
…in 5 years time…it will be 20%”. This 
was backed up by another quantity 
surveyor from another company in New 
Zealand who suggested that project 
management was a main service. He said 
that as a percentage of business “project 
management…[is] about 10%, it’s quite 
big”. In addition to the growth of project 
management in quantity surveyors' 
business, there has been a rise in the 
number of project management 
companies starting in business. These 
companies focus solely on providing 
project management services and many of 
them provide it to the construction 
industry. 
 
Having seen that project management is 
in common use in New Zealand as a 



An Analysis of the use of Information Technology for Project Management in the New Zealand 
Construction Industry by Dr Suzanne Wilkinson 
 

The Australian Journal of Construction Economics & Building Page 48 
 

means of procuring construction projects, 
the next section examines the use of 
information technology for project 
management planning and control, in both 
New Zealand and internationally. 
 
Information Technology for Project 
Management 
 
Doherty (1997) researched the use of 
information technology in the New 
Zealand construction industry. Doherty's 
survey considered the use of software 
packages generally and also briefly for 
project management. He reported that 
32% of construction companies nationally 
were using project management software. 
The results suggested that the most 
common software system was Microsoft 
project (39%) but that many users used 
spreadsheets for project management 
rather than a customised project 
management package. He suggested that 
the most common barriers to increasing 
the use of computers, including those for 
project management use, in the New 
Zealand construction industry were 
satisfaction with existing methods and lack 
of finance to update systems. 
 
Other than reporting how many 
companies were using project 
management software, Doherty did not 
assess the technology specific to project 
management use. However, Doherty did 
report that there are a large number of 
people working in the construction 
industry who maintain their existing 
system because they are unaware that 
other systems exist. Another research 
project by Igbaria et al (1998) specifically 
directed at small firms in New Zealand 
found that mainly customised software 
packages were being used. They also 
found that, amongst other things, system 
usage and user satisfaction were 
positively correlated with perceived ease 
of use and perceived usefulness. 
 
Internationally, Cox and Hampson (1998) 
have examined, among other things, the 
use of project management software. 
They found that the highest level of 
importance of application for the 
successful management of their project 

was given to Excel. Of the packages 
available specifically for project 
management, they found that Primavera 
was marginally preferred to MS Project.  
Similar work, analysing project 
management software, can be found in an 
article by Colin and Retik (1997). They 
analysed the role of project management 
software and advanced information 
technology techniques in reducing 
construction delays. 
 
Their research analysed the 
characteristics, technical features and 
specialist features for sixteen project 
management software packages. They 
divided the packages into base level, 
mass market level, advanced and 
sophisticated packages. They found that, 
when analysing these packages for their 
ability to assist with delays and claims, 
base level packages (databases 
presumably something like MS Excel) 
were not suitable for the construction 
environment, while mass market 
packages were suitable but had limited 
application for delays and claims. 
 
They suggested that advanced packages 
(such as Primavera) were best suited to 
the purpose of claims and delays and that 
sophisticated packages offer an integrated 
system and were the most expensive. The 
research did not provide details of how 
many companies in the UK were relying 
on which software system. From the work 
of Doherty (1997) and confirmed in this 
research, it is possible to show that mass 
market packages are the packages most 
likely to be used for project management 
by New Zealand construction companies 
(eg Microsoft project and timeline). 
Advanced packages, such as Primavera, 
are not being used by a large number of 
companies in New Zealand and 
sophisticated packages are, at the 
moment, not being used at all.  
 
Other reports tend to confirm the under-
use of computer technology in the 
construction industries in various 
countries. Dawood (1999) reports that the 
construction industry in the United 
Kingdom is behind other industries in 
terms of the utilisation of information 



An Analysis of the use of Information Technology for Project Management in the New Zealand 
Construction Industry by Dr Suzanne Wilkinson 

 

The Australian Journal of Construction Economics & Building Page 49 

technology for production planning and 
scheduling and other technical and 
managerial operations. Similarly, the 
results of a questionnaire by Stewart et al. 
(1998) to Australian firms to evaluate the 
use of information technology in the 
Australian construction industry found that 
new technology was largely being ignored. 
The research found that the current use of 
information technology within the 
Australian construction industry and the 
quantity of resources devoted to research 
and development of information 
technology were both low.   
 
This is also the case in Hong Kong 
construction industry where another study 
found that Hong Kong construction 
companies are quite conservative in their 
adoption and use of information 
technology (1999). 
 
There has been much literature that 
focuses on the benefits, such as 
increased productivity and 
competitiveness, that information 
technology use can bring to the 
construction industries in various 
countries. For instance, Sarshar et al 
(1994) commented on a method for 
improving the information technology use 
in the construction industry to increase 
productivity. Froese et al (1997) discussed 
the integrated computer system for 
supporting construction management. Cox 
and Hampson (1998) believe that 
improving computer skills of project 
managers can provide construction firm 
with a competitive advantage in an 
increasingly competitive international 
market. A similar discussion was 
presented by Mitropoulos and Tatum 
(2000) who found that, along with 
technological opportunity, one of the key 
forces driving construction firms to adopt 
new information technologies was 
competitive advantage. 
 
Meredith and Mantel (1995) argue that 
there are many problems with the current 
trend in Project Management Information 
Systems (PMIS) towards the integration of 
software. Most commonly there are errors 
in managing the PMIS rather than the 
project itself, excessive computer 

involvement with computer activity 
replacing project management, PMIS 
reports which mask real project problems, 
too much information overwhelming 
managers and thus hiding problems, 
PMIS reports which replace direct 
communication, a dependence of project 
managers on computer reports before 
reacting to problems, and the 
management of symptoms of problems 
rather than the problems themselves.  
 
Research Methodology 
 
The research discussed in this paper aims 
to identify the use of information 
technology for project management in 
construction companies in New Zealand. 
In the first instance a literature review was 
undertaken which identified the current 
use of project management companies 
managing construction projects. From this 
a questionnaire on project management 
service use was sent to construction 
companies in Auckland. All companies 
surveyed offered project management as 
one of their main service. The types of 
companies chosen were engineering 
consultancies, quantity surveyors, 
contractors and project management 
companies. 
 
The companies were identified through 
Web sites, construction institutions (New 
Zealand Institute of Quantity Surveyors 
(NZIQS), Institution of Professional 
Engineers New Zealand (IPENZ), New 
Zealand Institute of Building (NZIOB)) and 
telephone listings. Auckland was chosen 
for the study since it contains one-third of 
New Zealand’s population (of 
approximately 3.8 million) and the majority 
of construction company headquarters. 
Currently, in Auckland, there are, in the 
telephone listings, 93 engineering 
consultants, 47 quantity surveying 
companies and 29 building project 
management companies.  
 
The engineering, quantity surveying and 
building contractors had to be contacted to 
see whether they offered project 
management as a service before sending 
the questionnaire. Finally, 80 
questionnaires were sent to those 



An Analysis of the use of Information Technology for Project Management in the New Zealand 
Construction Industry by Dr Suzanne Wilkinson 
 

The Australian Journal of Construction Economics & Building Page 50 
 

companies offering project management 
as a service. The questionnaire contained 
a mixture of open and closed questions. 
Of 80 questionnaires and follow-up letters 
sent to companies in Auckland, 35 
responses to the questionnaire were 
received, a response rate of 44%. 
Although the research was limited to 
Auckland, given that New Zealand has a 
small population, and many of the 
Auckland companies operate out of the 
other three major cities (Wellington, 
Christchurch and Dunedin), the results 
can be seen as representative of the 
whole country. In addition, the issues 
raised in the research can be compared to 
other countries and, as will be seen, many 
of these results are applicable 
internationally.  
 
This paper discusses the results relating 
to numbers of companies responding to 
various questions and an analysis of their 
comments. Statistics are provided for the 
profile questions relating to the companies 
surveyed. For information technology use, 
discussions relating to the various aspects 

of information technology use then 
presented.  
 
Results 
 
The results discussed here are in two 
sections. The first are the results from the 
questionnaire that discuss the general 
composition of the companies responding 
to the survey. The second section 
provides the detailed analysis of 
technology use for project management 
when managing construction projects in 
New Zealand. 
 
Company Profiles 
 
Table 1 shows the types of companies 
responding to the survey. A spread of 
companies is apparent which gives an 
indication of the placement of project 
management services within the New 
Zealand construction industry. As stated 
earlier, there has been a growth in the 
project management services offered and 
the range of companies offering these 
services are a reflection of this growth. 
(Table 1) 

 
Table 1  Company Type 

 
Type of company Number/24 Percentage 
 
Project Management 
Engineering consultant with project management 
division 
Quantity surveyors with project management 
division 
Contractors with a project management division 
Engineering consultants without separate project 
management division 
Contractors without separate project 
management division 
 

 
5 
4 
 
6 
 
4 
3 
 
2 

 
21 
17 
 
25 
 
16 
13 
 
8 

 
 
 
Companies in the survey had a range of 
experience in providing project 
management services (Table 2).  
 
However, the spread of results does tend 
to suggest that project management is 
relatively new as a service offered to the 
New Zealand construction industry, with 

71% of companies having less than 21 
years project management experience. 
 New Zealand has a small construction 
industry where few companies employ 
large numbers of staff. This means that 
the numbers of employees working in 
project management are likely to be small. 
Table 3 illustrates this point and shows 
that the majority of companies, 74%, 



An Analysis of the use of Information Technology for Project Management in the New Zealand 
Construction Industry by Dr Suzanne Wilkinson 

 

The Australian Journal of Construction Economics & Building Page 51 

responding to the survey said that they 
had 10 or fewer employees involved in 

project management or their project 
management division.  
(Table 3) 

 
Table 2  Years Experience with Construction Project Management 

 
Years Number/24 Percentage 
 
1-10 
11-20 
21-30 
31-40 
41-50 
51-60 
61-70 
71+ 
 

 
9 
8 
2 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 

 
38 
33 
9 
4 
4 
4 
4 
4 

 
Table 3  Numbers Employed in Project Management Services 

 
Numbers Employed Number/23 Percentage 
 
1-10 
11-20 
21-30 
31-40 
41-50 
51+ 
 

 
17 
1 
3 
0 
0 
2 

 
74 
4 
13 
0 
0 
9 

 
 
Given the smallness of the New Zealand 
construction industry, it is hardly surprising 
that the usual size of projects in financial 
terms is small. Table 4 illustrates this point 
where only 29% of companies work on 
projects of a NZ dollar value greater than 

10 million. The most common dollar range 
for projects was the category 1 million to 
10 million with 52% of companies working 
on projects in this range.  
(Table 4) 

 
Table 4  Typical Costs of Projects 

 
Costs (NZ$ value) 
 

Number/23 Percentage 

 
<50,000 
50,000-250,000 
250,000-500,000 
500,000-1,000,000 
1,000,000- 10,000,000 
10,000,000+ 

 
1 
8 
5 
8 
12 
7 

 
4 
33 
21 
33 
52 
29 
 

 
 
 Collectively, these results provide a 

picture of the current New Zealand 



An Analysis of the use of Information Technology for Project Management in the New Zealand 
Construction Industry by Dr Suzanne Wilkinson 
 

The Australian Journal of Construction Economics & Building Page 52 
 

construction industry and its association 
with project management. They confirm 
the small nature of the construction 
industry and show that project 
management is relatively new as a means 
of managing construction projects. 
 
Results:  Information Technology Use 
 
Of the companies responding to the 
survey, 58% used project management 
software packages for project 
management planning and control. This 
means that 42% of companies are not 
using any current software, even though 
they are offering project management as 
one of their services.  
 
Of those 58% using project management 
software packages, by far the most 
popular package in use was Microsoft 
project (71%), with only 28% of the 
companies were using Primavera, 
Suretrack and/or Timeline. 21% of the 
companies had developed their own in 
house project management systems. 
Integration of Microsoft Excel and 
Microsoft Project was used by 28% of the 
companies as their main project 
management software.  
 
The companies who offered project 
management as one of their services but 
were not using project management 
software were usually relying on Microsoft 
Office as their main software, using 
spreadsheets and databases as their main 
source of project management 
documentation. 
 
The profiles of the companies using 
project management software and those 
not using project management software 
varied. The average number of years 
experience in providing project 
management services for those 
companies using the software was thirty 
years. The average number of years 
experience in providing project 
management services for those 
companies who were not using the 
software was significantly fewer at eleven 
years. This leads to the conclusion that 
companies with less experience are less 

likely to invest in the specialised project 
management software. 
 
Companies with fewer employees working 
on project management are also less 
likely to use the project management 
software. The average number of 
employees working in project 
management in a company which used 
project management software was 
nineteen, whereas the average number of 
employees working in project 
management for those companies who 
were not using the software was four.  
 
There was also a difference in the cost of 
the projects that the companies were 
undertaking. 75% of those companies not 
using the software had projects of usual 
size below one million dollars, compared 
with 53% of those companies using the 
software. Only 8% of companies not using 
the software did projects of a dollar value 
greater than 10 million, whereas 17% of 
companies using the software said that 
the usual dollar value of their projects was 
in this range. In summary, the smaller the 
usual dollar value of projects undertaken 
by the company, the less likely the 
company is to use the software. 
 
Those companies using project 
management software provided insights 
into the advantages and disadvantages of 
the software and allowed an assessment 
of whether the software packages were 
being effectively used. The survey found 
that the packages were not being used to 
their full potential. Packages were 
frequently being used for project planning 
and developing a schedule, but not being 
integrated to include budgeting and cost 
control which was often being carried out 
in parallel on other software. It appeared, 
from this research, that the project 
management software was primarily being 
used for time management. To this end, 
the software was used for time control, 
monitoring, updating, re-planning and as 
early warning of potential time related 
problems.  
 
The research shows that there is an 
awareness of the advantages of the 
software available but a reluctance to 



An Analysis of the use of Information Technology for Project Management in the New Zealand 
Construction Industry by Dr Suzanne Wilkinson 

 

The Australian Journal of Construction Economics & Building Page 53 

make full use of the software. Those 
companies that were users of the software 
for time management commented that the 
packages were essential for a range of 
things such as determining critical path, 
establishing milestones, repairing 
/highlighting progress and slippage, 
performing complex calculations quickly 
and recalculating scenarios quickly.  
 
Others commented on their use for 
assisting with communication, monitoring 
ability and reporting control and time 
management. Given the complexity of 
construction projects, comments about the 
volume of the data and the need to update 
the programmes frequently was a 
common reason for using the software. As 
an aid to communication in the capacity of 
report standardisation and production, the 
packages were seen to be invaluable. 
Companies commented on the usefulness 
of providing presentations to client and 
project teams.  
 
However, an acceptance of the limitations 
of project management software was 
evident from the survey. The main 
problems, as specified in the survey, were 
to do with the lack of information 
technology control, people's dependence 
on the system, and the lack of adequate 
monitoring.  
 
For information technology control, the 
main problems appear to be with 
interfacing with other software and 
hardware, understanding the software, 
and with finding the software inflexible. 
Configuration issues between software 
and hardware and incompatibility with in-
house control systems were mentioned as 
the main problems.  
 
Problems associated with people's 
dependence on the software were the 
second group of comments that showed 
an acceptance of the limitations of the 
software. Issues which need to be 
carefully managed related to people 
having a blind acceptance of the output to 
the extent that they thought that printing 
out the results was the solution. Similarly, 
comments about the general mistakes 
being made were common such as people 

not setting initial parameters/constraints 
correctly or failing to identify all logic 
connections, ‘forcing’ dates to ‘look right’. 
These comments tend to suggest a lack of 
experience with the software when 
developing the initial stages of projects. 
Another important problem highlighted 
was a suggestion that a reliance on the 
software could stop personnel from doing 
the real tasks such as keeping in contact 
with clients and others. Lack of experience 
with the software was a cause of concern, 
one respondent commented that often the 
people who knew the process logic best 
had no project management package 
skills or experience. As a summary of 
these concerns, the following quotation 
provides some insight into the people 
aspects of the use of project management 
software "The software is meaningless if 
you do not have the sound knowledge and 
experience of how projects are 
investigated, designed, built and 
commissioned. Project management is 
primarily a ‘people’ activity with 
technology, software etc a tool to assist.  
Personality and experience are assisted 
not replaced by technical skill." 
 
Finally, there were also problems relating 
to the software that suggested monitoring 
using the software was difficult and not 
being effectively carried out. It was 
thought that this lack of ongoing 
monitoring reduced the effectiveness of 
the software.   
 
As mentioned earlier, the project 
management software did not appear to 
be used for cost control during 
construction project management. Most 
companies (80%) were using other 
software, which was not project 
management specific, as their main cost 
control systems. The question arises as to 
why this was happening. Mostly, the 
answers relate to the use of the 
companies' own cost control package, 
either a customised Excel spreadsheet or 
a specific cost control packages. One of 
the reasons given for this was that these 
packages further limit the possibility of 
errors. One respondent replied "Cost 
control is achieved by being alert to the 
progress of the project and proactive to 



An Analysis of the use of Information Technology for Project Management in the New Zealand 
Construction Industry by Dr Suzanne Wilkinson 
 

The Australian Journal of Construction Economics & Building Page 54 
 

respond to problems. [project 
management] software packages do not 
provide this...". 
 
Of the 20% of the companies using 
integrated systems, including for cost 
control, on some of the projects there was 
recognition of some benefits. These were 
that the project management software was 
useful for comparing progress vs. time 
with payment claims vs. time and also 
could be useful in checking budgets and 
reporting on variances to cost plan. 
Similarly, another advantage to using an 
integrated system allowed for the 
production of time risk scenarios to assess 
time related cost overruns or savings. 
 
The results presented here provide an 
analysis of the current use of project 
management software in the New Zealand 
construction industry, suggesting that 
there are areas, e.g. for controlling costs, 
where the software is not generally not 
being used.  
 
Discussion 
 
Given that project management is now in 
common use as a means of achieving 
completion of projects in the New Zealand 
construction industry and internationally, it 
may be thought that companies ought to 
have the latest technological capabilities 
in order to be effective and competitive. 
From the literature discussed, this is the 
current mode of thinking. However, 
looking for a competitive edge was not 
raised as one of the reasons for using 
project management software in this 
research survey. In New Zealand, it 
appears that a lack of state of the art 
project management software does not 
prevent companies competing for project 
management contracts. Given New 
Zealand's unique size and position 
internationally, it seems that the 
companies undertaking project 
management for construction projects in 
New Zealand are not internationally up to 
date, in software terms, or particularly 
concerned about this situation. They seem 
to choose to stick to tried and tested 
methods of project management rather 
than invest time and money in new 

integrated systems. This is not to say that 
the best technological capabilities do not 
lead to a competitive advantage in 
countries without the peculiarities of the 
New Zealand market. But, most New 
Zealand companies offering project 
management as a service are small and 
do not tend to compete internationally. 
Little experience, companies with few 
employees and companies working on 
projects below one million dollars are 
those companies less likely to use the 
specialised project management software. 
However, the New Zealand construction 
industry is characterised by such 
companies so it is hardly surprising that 
the findings show a reluctance to invest in 
sophisticated software. The barriers to the 
use of the project management software 
raised by Doherty (1997) hold, although 
this more detailed research has 
uncovered other problems associated with 
project management software use. These 
problems fall into three distinct categories; 
lack of information technology control, 
people's dependence on the system, and 
the lack of adequate monitoring. 
 
Where software packages are in use, 
base level packages, as described by 
Colin and Retik (1997), are the packages 
most likely to be used by New Zealand 
construction companies (e.g. Microsoft 
Project and Timeline). Advanced 
packages, such as Primavera, are not 
being used by a large number of 
construction companies in New Zealand 
and sophisticated packages are, at the 
moment, not be used at all.  
 
Even when using project management 
software, most New Zealand construction 
companies choose not to use the 
packages to their full advantage. 
Packages being used for project planning 
and developing a schedule, but, despite 
their capabilities, were not being 
integrated to include budgeting and cost 
control which was often being carried out 
in parallel on other non integrated 
software. This may lead to inefficiencies, 
but it appears that, specifically within the 
New Zealand construction environment, 
companies have developed their own 
means of operating. Where software 



An Analysis of the use of Information Technology for Project Management in the New Zealand 
Construction Industry by Dr Suzanne Wilkinson 

 

The Australian Journal of Construction Economics & Building Page 55 

packages are being used is in larger 
companies and/or on higher cost projects 
and/or in companies that are likely to 
compete internationally.  
 
Conclusion 
 
The results of this research shed light on 
the use of project management software 
for the New Zealand construction industry. 
It seems that whilst some use of the 
software is apparent, the New Zealand 
construction industry is far from using 
integrated project management software 
to effectively manage construction 
projects. The results suggest that there 
are problems associated with using the 
current software. Many of the problems 
outlined tend to stem from the lack of 
confidence that New Zealand companies 
have with the software available and with 
the capabilities of the personnel using it. 
Relevant factors associated with the lack 
of software use in New Zealand have 
been discussed. The results of this 
research point to an internal industry that 
appears to be working without the need 
for sophisticated software, which, as some 
respondents point out tends to get in the 
way of the more important tasks, such as 
face to face reporting with the clients. 
Although of interest, future sophisticated 
project management software will only 
gain full use when the benefits of the 
software can be seen to outweigh the 
costs. Currently, in New Zealand, this 
does not seem to be the case.  
 
Acknowledgements 
 
The author wishes to acknowledge the 
work of two graduate students, Ousama 
Mutada and Gamal Hussain, in assisting 
with the collection of the data. 
 
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An Analysis of the use of Information Technology for Project Management in the New Zealand 
Construction Industry by Dr Suzanne Wilkinson 
 

The Australian Journal of Construction Economics & Building Page 56 
 

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management, Vol 126 (5), pp340-348