Developing construction project management skills: lessons from Zhuge Liang’s Art of Management

A review of existing management literature reveals that most of the literature is written entirely from a Western perspective without any references to practices in the East. In the fast‐growing construction market of China, managers from the West need to pay special attention to Eastern beliefs, cultures and management practices, including those passed down by prominent ancient Chinese sages. Zhuge Liang was an outstanding statesman and military scientist who lived around the period of the Three Kingdoms (ad 220‐289). He studied the Chinese classics and became talented and knowledgeable, rich in his thoughts and subtle in analysing critical political situations. The objectives of this paper are to explain Zhuge Liang′s Art of Management and by implications, provide some insights as to how effective construction project management can be developed through a better understanding of Zhuge Liang′s Art of Management.