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olde Scholtenhuis, Léon L.; Dorée, André G.
doi: 10.1080/01446193.2014.913801pmid: N/A
The construction management (CM) domain regularly develops and explores new theories and perspectives. These new insights can shift the existing paradigm radically, they can be assimilated smoothly, or they can stall as they are debated at CM’s domain boundary. During our current research, we experience that the concepts from high reliability organizing (HRO) are caught in such a debate. We elaborate this debate from the viewpoint of two distinctive scientific traditions and evaluate the main premises that hold HRO at CM’s boundaries. It seems that reductionist scientific traditions underlie much of the critique which currently diverts debate off into an unproductive intellectual cul-de-sac. An alternative pragmatic approach would allow CM’s HRO researchers to avoid the confines of the reductionist arguments as it redirects minds and action on productive and practical research to achieving more reliable construction project performance, as well as dealing better with health and safety issues. Above all, the examination of the HRO boundary debate in CM may help other researchers experiencing impasses in their debates to explore whether these debates address the actual notions at stake or are restricted by deeply held views rooted in scientific traditions.
Bijleveld, Frank R.; Dorée, André G.
doi: 10.1080/01446193.2014.887211pmid: N/A
Traditional working practices in the construction industry rely heavily on the onsite experience and craftsmanship (the tacit knowledge) of operators and teams. This results in implicit learning and lengthy learning cycles. The aims of the research are to develop a deeper insight into construction processes and to instigate a change from current implicit learning to explicit method-based learning. To change to explicit method-based learning, Kolb’s experiential learning model was introduced into current practices and ‘explicating the process’ was added to this learning cycle. Further ‘reflective observation’ and ‘abstract conceptualization’ were incorporated explicitly during an actual road construction project using feedback sessions with an asphalting team. The adopted learning framework was found to be applicable and useful in the quest for enhanced learning capabilities and improved process control. Fusing Kolb’s learning model with onsite collected data was vital in explicating tacit knowledge and implicit processes. The approach enabled a meaningful discussion with operators to unravel their intentions and reasoning behind the chosen strategies. Explicit method-based learning, as here, leads to improved quality awareness, better understanding of the processes and their interdependencies, and improved communication with and within the asphalting team.
Ahiaga-Dagbui, Dominic D.; Smith, Simon D.
doi: 10.1080/01446193.2014.933854pmid: N/A
One of the main aims of any construction client is to procure a project within the limits of a predefined budget. However, most construction projects routinely overrun their cost estimates. Existing theories on construction cost overrun suggest a number of causes ranging from technical difficulties, optimism bias, managerial incompetence and strategic misrepresentation. However, much of the budgetary decision-making process in the early stages of a project is carried out in an environment of high uncertainty with little available information for accurate estimation. Using non-parametric bootstrapping and ensemble modelling in artificial neural networks, final project cost-forecasting models were developed with 1600 completed projects. This helped to extract information embedded in data on completed construction projects, in an attempt to address the problem of the dearth of information in the early stages of a project. It was found that 92% of the 100 validation predictions were within ±10% of the actual final cost of the project while 77% were within ±5% of actual final cost. This indicates the model’s ability to generalize satisfactorily when validated with new data. The models are being deployed within the operations of the industry partner involved in this research to help increase the reliability and accuracy of initial cost estimates.
Rutten, Maarten E.J.; Dorée, André G.; Halman, Johannes I.M.
doi: 10.1080/01446193.2014.933855pmid: N/A
Collaborative innovation projects are projects in which firms join forces to cooperate in the development and commercialization of a new building product, system, or service. They represent an example of the type of inter-firm relationships that are said to enhance construction innovation. Organizational behaviour research, however, suggests that firms participating in such innovation projects run the risk of escalating commitment and may continue to invest for irrational reasons. It is therefore relevant to examine whether Dutch firms that invest, in collaboration with other firms, in the development and commercialization of a new building product, system, or service are susceptible to this escalation. Two escalation effects were investigated: the effect of expected loss of sunk costs, and the effect of perceived project stage. A survey was undertaken of 154 firms participating in 25 collaborative innovation projects. The results suggest that firms in the population under study are unlikely to fall victim to either of the two escalation effects. Rather, the negative association found between the expected loss of sunk costs and likelihood of continuing investment raises the question as to whether firms become more cautious when they have spent a lot.
Tansey, Paul; Spillane, John P.; Meng, Xianhai
doi: 10.1080/01446193.2014.933856pmid: N/A
The time period bridging the years 2007 to 2012 will be remembered as one characterized by dramatic changes in the Irish and UK construction industries. Construction companies witnessed unprecedented changes in the environment, namely the coincidence of a sharp economic downturn, the significant decline of public works, a reduction in lending, increased competition, and structural changes in the marketplace. Nevertheless, little has been documented on what response strategies construction companies adopt as a result of an economic recession. Based on four exploratory case studies, a taxonomy framework of the response strategies adopted by Irish and UK construction companies during the 2007 economic recession was developed relative to Porter’s generic strategies of cost leadership, differentiation, and focus. Porter’s model is a well-known theoretical framework among business strategists and industrial economists worldwide. The analysis provides strong support for the adoption of cost leadership strategies as a means to surviving the 2007 economic recession. The case studies further suggest that cost control initiatives are one of the most important attributes in companies’ responses to the 2007 recession. The findings provide valuable assistance for construction contractors in developing effective strategies and thus reducing business failures during recessionary periods.
Ju, Chuanjing; Rowlinson, Steve
doi: 10.1080/01446193.2014.909048pmid: N/A
Workplace safety in the construction industry of Hong Kong is regulated by a mix of enforcement and performance-based approaches. The two approaches are underpinned by different institutional structures and lead to divergent safety practices. To examine how contractors strategically respond to the complex institutional demands for safety performance, contractors’ day-to-day site safety practices were investigated. Safety practice data were obtained from 62 open-ended interviews and project archives in a case study. Different supervision patterns, i.e. enforcement and localized approaches were found to coexist on site. Discrepancies were found between workers’ self-reported safety awareness and safety awareness assessed by their supervisors. The evidence suggests that contractors implemented compromise and avoidance strategies. The complex institutional environment, especially the incompatible progress and safety requirements, was found to be a key determinant of mixed site safety practices. Institutional theory is explored as a possible theoretical perspective to explain contractors’ safety management strategies. An institutional level change of safety management strategies is suggested.
doi: 10.1080/01446193.2014.894248pmid: N/A
Zero Target safety management programmes have become prominent on the UK sites of large construction contractors, who promote ‘Zero Harm’, ‘Mission Zero’ or ‘Target Zero’ on their hoardings and corporate websites. However, while Zero Target programmes may inspire increased commitment to safety from some, they may also cause detachment in others who feel it an unattainable goal for a high-risk industry. Examination of the practical realities of such Zero Target safety programmes has been undertaken, to illuminate and understand their position and potential impact on UK construction site health and safety management. A social constructionist methodology was employed, with discourse analysis of corporate websites, reports and promotional materials from five large contractors currently operating Zero Target safety programmes on their UK sites, supplemented by conversations with site management and operatives working on such sites. Zero was constructed as both a philosophy and a target, the corporate and site voices developing alternative visions of zero in practice. There is incoherence and inconsistency within the understandings of zero, which may affect the practical successes of Zero Target safety programmes, but zero was also found to have a very necessary place within industry safety management, in order to support future improvements in practice.
Buser, Martine; Koch, Christian
doi: 10.1080/01446193.2014.927898pmid: N/A
In Sweden many suburbs built at the end of the 1960s are in need of physical renovation to comply with new energy regulations. Some of these neighbourhoods face serious social challenges which also need to be tackled. The three largest Swedish contractors, usually very active in providing technical and environmentally friendly renovation, claim now they can provide social sustainability solutions on a commercial basis. For many years the problems of deprived suburbs have attracted the attention and the care of the public institutions, and though many initiatives have been carried out to address these issues, results have been sometimes quite limited. To discuss the social challenges linked to suburbs’ renovation, an alternative method is proposed: the analysis of literary accounts. The goal is to assess whether stories relating the lives of residents in deprived Swedish suburbs can inform and therefore contribute to the development of socially sustainable solutions. Referring to the literature on social sustainability, this qualitative and explorative study uses critical discourse analysis as the method. Results suggest that focusing on renovated housing, employment, social services and leisure activities is not enough to rehabilitate disadvantaged neighbourhoods. They also indicate some specific problems linked to the built environment that contractors could help to solve.
Collinge, William H.; Harty, Chris F.
doi: 10.1080/01446193.2014.894247pmid: N/A
Briefing phase interactions between clients and designers are recognized as social engagements, characterized by communicative sign use, where conceptual ideas are gradually transformed into potential design solutions. A semiotic analysis of briefing communications between client stakeholders and designers provides evidence of the significance and importance of stakeholder interpretation and understanding of design, empirical data being drawn from a qualitative study of NHS hospital construction projects in the UK. It is contended that stakeholders engage with a project through communicative signs and artefacts of design, referencing personal cognitive knowledge in acts of interpretation that may be different from those of designers and externally appointed client advisers. Such interpretations occur in addition to NHS client and design team efforts to ‘engage’ with and ‘understand’ stakeholders using a variety of methods. Social semiotic theorizations indicate how narrative strategies motivate the formulation of signs and artefacts in briefing work, the role of sign authors and sign readers being elucidated as a result. Findings are contextualized against current understandings of briefing communications and stakeholder management practices, a more socially attuned understanding of breifing countering some of the process-led improvement models that have characterized much of the post-Egan report literature. A stakeholder interpretation model is presented as one potential method to safeguard against unforeseen interpretations occurring, the model aligning with the proposal for a more measured recognition of how designs can trigger interpretations among client stakeholders.
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