AbstractThe main objective of this research is to study the project management problems in the construction site environment, to recognize which problems are the most vital to the overall success of any construction project or vice versa and to offer recommendations for improving the performance of all parties involved in construction projects. The study mainly focuses on Pakistan, a developing country in South Asia and the research appears to focus on construction project management, but it may also be useful for other sectors of project management. The article results in valuable lessons for researchers and practitioners in the field of project management to improve their performance. The overall results of the study revealed that most of the problems can be considered management problems. Excessive change orders, cost escalation, severe overtime, inclement weather, material shortages, and slow government permitting were found to be very common. This can be explained by the poor management of large construction projects in Pakistan. Effective construction management at corporate, process, project and activity levels should be introduced to professionals in order to improve the performance of the construction industry in the country.IntroductionThe aim of this research was to 'to study project management issues in construction projects in Pakistan in order to recognize which issues are more critical to the overall success of any construction project and to suggest recommendations for improvement in the field. More and more organizations are moving towards project organizations in Pakistan, thereby creating a need to understand the factors that lead to effective project management or vice versa...... middle of article... ...pp. 553-561. Love, P., Gunasekaran, A. and Li, H. (1998) “Concurrent Engineering: A Strategy for Procurement Construction Projects”, International Journal of Project Management, Vol. 16, no. 6, pp. 375-383. Mlinga, RS and Wells, J. (2002) “Collaboration between formal and informal firms in the construction sector in Tanzaniz”, Habitat International, Vol. 26, p. 269-280.Newcombe, R. (1996) “Empowering the construction project team”, International Journal of Project Management, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 75-80.Zaghloul, R. and Hartman, F. (2003) “Construction contracts: the cost of distrust”, International Journal of Project Management, vol. 21, p. 419-424. Zeng, J., An, M. and Smith, NJ (2007) “Application of fuzzy decision-making methodology to construction project risk assessment”, International Journal of Project Management, no. 25, pages. 589-600.