scholarly journals A concept design stages protocol to support collaborative processes in architecture, engineering and construction projects

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marianthi Leon ◽  
Richard Laing
Keyword(s):  
Collaborative Design ◽  
Construction Projects ◽  
Project Teams ◽  
Concept Design ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Collaborative Processes ◽  
Design Activities ◽  
Solid Foundation ◽  
Communication Paths ◽  
Team Engagement

Purpose This paper proposes and tests, through a series of structured multi-disciplinary design activities, a “Concept Design Stages Protocol” (CDS Protocol) to structure project initiation, to attain smoother collaboration and greater consensus among multi-disciplinary project teams. Design/methodology/approach A collaborative approach from the outset is imperative for project success, especially when considering multi-disciplinary teams in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry. However, involving different disciplines hinders communication paths and affects informed decision-making. Findings Based on these findings, the research demonstrates that the CDS Protocol provides a solid foundation to aid in the optimal implementation of collaborative design, and with particular regard to multi-disciplinary working. Originality/value The research demonstrates the potential for significant improvement in the optimisation of the conceptual design stages, with positive implications for time, communication and whole-team engagement.

The evolution of stakeholder management practices in Australian mega construction projects

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 690-706 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Jing Yang ◽  
Sajani Jayasuriya ◽  
Chathuri Gunarathna ◽  
Mehrdad Arashpour ◽  
Xiaolong Xue ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stakeholder Engagement ◽  
Construction Projects ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Stakeholder Management ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Stakeholder Analysis ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Project Teams ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Project Objectives

Purpose The complicated nature of megaprojects requires appropriate analysis of multiple stakeholders to achieve project objectives and to accommodate stakeholder interests. During the last two decades, many stakeholder theories and empirical studies have sprouted. Although previous studies have contributed to the development of stakeholder theory, it seems that these theoretical advances have not been fully adopted and acknowledged in practices, especially in megaprojects. The purpose of this paper is to explore the evolution of stakeholder analysis and engagement practices adopted in the Australian megaprojects over the last two decades. Design/methodology/approach Four mega construction projects are described and analysed in this study. Secondary data were first assembled in order to get general knowledge of each case. Interviews were conducted with the project directors. Project documents were collected from the project teams and reviewed. Wherever the project information was unclear, e-mails were sent to the directors and the team members to confirm the details. Findings Project teams have started to apply snowball rolling and stakeholder attribute assessment methods to analyse stakeholders. However, there is still a way to adopt the “network” analysis perspective because the project teams are reluctant to use complicated tools which need specialists’ assistance. The stakeholder engagement practices have evolved to an extent where the project teams monitor the dynamics of stakeholders’ requirements. Projects teams have identified the importance of continuity to manage stakeholders in these massive projects. However, a structured method selection mechanism for stakeholder engagement has not been developed. Originality/value This study will help academics to understand the adoption progress and status of stakeholder management methods.

The influence of project team relationships on cost growth

2014 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Oloruntobi Dada
Keyword(s):  
Construction Projects ◽  
Sampling Method ◽  
Project Team ◽  
Project Teams ◽  
Cost Overrun ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cost Growth ◽  
Project Participants ◽  
Procurement Method ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – Using projects executed with both traditional and integrated procurement methods, the study sought to investigate relationships that exist among project participants and the influence of those relationships on cost growth. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Questionnaires were administered among 274 construction projects located in 12 states including the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria. Responses were obtained from 96 projects. Data were subjected to both descriptive and inferential analyses. Findings – In terms of cordiality, relationships between client and contractors ranked highest, while those among in-house project teams ranked lowest. Cost growth or cost overrun is significantly correlated with client-contractor relationship, consultant-contractor relationship, client-consultant-contractor relationship and in-house team relationships. No association between procurement method and cost growth was found. Research limitations/implications – The limitation of generalizability of results due to the sampling method used is acknowledged. One implication of the findings is that in the context of this research, any explanation for cost growth has to be found outside procurement methods. Practical implications – Findings may assist project participants on variables to consider in anticipating, preventing or managing cost growth in building construction projects, beyond formularization of contracts and structures. Originality/value – The research has uniquely investigated the association between intangible project team relationships and tangible variable of cost growth.

Managing the tensions between exploration and exploitation in large construction projects

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 492-510 ◽  
Author(s):  
Per Erik Eriksson ◽  
Henrik Szentes
Keyword(s):  
Collaborative Design ◽  
Construction Projects ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Practical Importance ◽  
Fine Tuning ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Exploration And Exploitation ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Content Type

Purpose Prior studies highlight the importance of building ambidextrous capabilities to achieve both exploitation of current knowledge and technologies to make profits today, and exploration of new knowledge and technologies to adapt to and prepare for tomorrow’s demands. In spite of its theoretical and practical importance, research on organizational ambidexterity in project-based organizations is scarce. Thus, the purpose of the paper is to study how ambidexterity may be managed and how exploration and exploitation may be achieved in construction projects. The research identifies some drivers and barriers to exploration and exploitation and also sheds light on how various management approaches interact and affect exploration and exploitation activities. Design/methodology/approach The empirical material is drawn from 40 semi-structured interviews with managers representing the client, the contractor and the designer involved in each of the seven large construction projects in the sample. Findings In contrast to prior literature in high-tech industries where exploitation focuses on continuous development, exploitation in construction projects often involves adopting conventional methods and solutions based on existing knowledge without any development efforts at all. This may enhance short-term efficiency and lower risk at the project level but increase risk at the firm level. Tight time schedules hinder both radical innovations and incremental developments, and the findings also reveal that to invest in efforts on explorative solutions, it must be possible to exploit the solutions in the same project. Research limitations/implications In this empirical context, the traditional structural and sequential ambidexterity solutions are not sufficient. In construction projects, contextual ambidexterity solutions in which key project actors collaborate in developing systemic innovations and fine-tuning solutions across projects are more effective. Practical implications Sufficient project size and/or long-term contracts over a series of projects enhance both investments in explorative activities and exploitation through continuous developments from project to project. In design–bid–build contracts, the client and consultant often miss opportunities to explore new technical solutions that rely on contractor competencies. Early procurement of contractors (e.g. in collaborative design–build contracts) thereby enables the achievement of both exploration and exploitation. Originality/value This study provides important input to the authors’ understanding of how exploration and exploitation may be managed in project-based industries, which has been scarcely studied in previous ambidexterity literature.

Investigating the relationships among team emotional intelligence, trust, conflict and team performance

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 120-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Azadeh Rezvani ◽  
Rowena Barrett ◽  
Pouria Khosravi
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Intelligence ◽  
Team Performance ◽  
Construction Projects ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Scale Construction ◽  
Project Teams ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Team Conflict ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeThe purpose of the study is to enhance understanding of the relationships among team emotional intelligence (EI), trust in team, conflict in team and team performance.Design/methodology/approachA sample of 389 team members from 84 project teams in large-scale construction projects was surveyed.FindingsFindings showed that team EI is positively associated with team performance. In addition, trust and conflict in the team mediate the association between team EI and team performance.Practical implicationsThe ability to perceive one’s own and others’ emotions significantly increases the likelihood of team performance by increasing trust in a team and reducing conflict. Therefore, managers can use these findings to boost team performance and reduce conflict in their teams.Originality/valueThis research contributes to the better understanding of the relationship between team EI and team performance in large-scale construction projects. In addition, this research is an empirical investigation into the mediation variables linking EI to team performance.

Effects of team diversity on project performance in construction projects

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 408-423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guangdong Wu ◽  
Xianbo Zhao ◽  
Jian Zuo ◽  
George Zillante
Keyword(s):  
Construction Projects ◽  
Project Performance ◽  
Project Teams ◽  
Mediating Effects ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Team Diversity ◽  
Different Types ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The purpose of this paper is fourfold: first, to investigate the effect of team diversity on different types of conflicts; second, to determine if team diversity is significantly correlated with project performance; third, to investigate the mediating effect of project conflicts on the relationship between team diversity and project performance and fourth, to examine the relationship between different types of conflicts and project performance in construction projects. Design/methodology/approach A theoretical model was developed and a questionnaire survey was conducted with 246 professionals. The structural equation modeling technique was applied to analyze the data. Findings The results showed that: team diversity was positively associated with project performance; the introduction of conflicts significantly weakened the effect of diversity on performance; conflicts have both constructive and destructive effects on project performance; and team diversity affected project performance through the mediating effects of task conflict and relationship conflict, thus adding both positive and negative effects on performance. Research limitations/implications There are other factors which may affect conflicts and project performance such as communication, trust and contract. Future research could be conducted to determine the role of these variables in determining the effects of team diversity on performance. Practical implications It is necessary to reduce the relationship conflict whereas maintaining a “healthy” level of task conflict. In light of this, the conclusions of this study highlight practical implications as follows: project teams should attach importance to diverse partner selection and select cooperative partners whose value orientations are similar; when implementing a construction project, the structure of diverse project teams should keep relatively stable, avoiding too many teams entering or exiting the project in a short period; project teams should make greater efforts to deal with destructive conflicts via relational governance such as trust and communication. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature in three areas. First, this study investigated the dynamic mechanism between team diversity, conflicts and performance in construction projects. Second, this study contributes to the body of knowledge on validating the mediating effects of conflicts on the relationship between team diversity and performance. Third, this study validated the positive and negative effects of team diversity on performance with different types of conflicts as mediation variables in construction projects.

Modeling the robotics implementation barriers for construction projects in developing countries

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayodeji Emmanuel Oke ◽  
Ahmed Farouk Kineber ◽  
Ibraheem Albukhari ◽  
Adeyemi James Dada
Keyword(s):  
Structural Equation ◽  
Construction Projects ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Partial Least Square ◽  
Least Square ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Implementation Barriers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Solid Foundation

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to evaluate the barriers militating against the adoption of robotics in the construction industry.Design/methodology/approachRobotics implementation barriers were obtained from the previous studies and then through questionnaire survey construction stakeholders in Nigeria evaluate these barriers. Consequently, these barriers were examined via the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) technique. Furthermore, a model of these barriers was implemented by means of a partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).FindingsThe EFA results showed that these barriers could be categorized into two: cost and technology. Results obtained from the proposed model showed that platform tools were crucial tools for implementing cloud computing.Originality/valueThe novelty of this research work will be provided a solid foundation for critically assessing and appreciating the different barriers affecting the adoption of robotics.

A model utilizing the artificial neural network in cost estimation of construction projects in Jordan

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dareen Ryied Al-Tawal ◽  
Mazen Arafah ◽  
Ghaleb Jalil Sweis
Keyword(s):  
Cost Estimation ◽  
Construction Projects ◽  
Building Design ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Design Stage ◽  
Concept Design ◽  
Ann Model ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Artificial Neural ◽  
Design Factors

PurposeCost estimation is one of the most significant steps in construction planning, which must be undertaken in the preliminary stages of any project; it is required for all projects to establish the project's budget. Confidence in these initial estimates is low, primarily due to the limited availability of suitable data, which leads the construction projects to frequently end up over budget. This paper investigated the efficacy of artificial neural networks (ANNs) methodologies in overcoming cost estimation problems in the early phases of the building design process.Design/methodology/approachCost and design data from 104 projects constructed over the past five years in Jordan were used to develop, train and test ANN models. At the detailed design stage, 53 design factors were utilized to develop the first ANN model; then the factors were reduced to 41 and were utilized to develop the second predictive model at the schematic design stage. Finally, 27 design factors available at the concept design stage were utilized for the third ANN model.FindingsThe models achieved average cost estimation accuracy of 98, 98 and 97% in the detailed, schematic and concept design stages, respectively.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper formulated the aims and objectives to be applicable only in Jordan using historical data of building projects.Originality/valueThe ANN approach introduced as a management tool is expected to provide the stakeholders in the engineering business with an indispensable tool for predicting the cost with limited data at the early stages of construction projects.

scholarly journals A qualitative investigation of perceived impacts of virtuality on effectiveness of hybrid construction project teams

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Reza Hosseini ◽  
Petra Bosch-Sijtsema ◽  
Mehrdad Arashpour ◽  
Nicholas Chileshe ◽  
Christoph Merschbrock
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Model ◽  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Construction Projects ◽  
Construction Project ◽  
Project Teams ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Effective Teams ◽  
Hybrid Construction

Purpose The “virtuality” of a team collaborative interaction is the extent to which it is accomplished in the same place, in fully distributed virtual teams, or in a hybrid combination of the two. However, existence, strength and process of potential association between virtuality and effectiveness in construction project teams have remained elusive. This paper aims to address this gap in the literature. Design/methodology/approach In this study, a conceptual model demonstrating the association between virtuality and effectiveness of teams was developed through integrating the input-process-output (IPO) model and the “Big Five” theory. This conceptual model was contextualised for the construction industry drawing upon conducting 17 semi-structured interviews with hybrid team experts. Findings The findings provide the first model mapping the associations between virtuality and dimensions of team effectiveness for the construction context. Practical implications The discovered patterns of associations between virtuality and dimensions of effectiveness for hybrid construction project teams (HCPTs) will assist managers in designing and running more effective teams. In addition, the findings help construction practitioners better understand how virtuality influence the performance and satisfaction of team members in HCPTs. The present study concludes with outlining a set of recommendations based on the findings of the study. Originality/value As the first study in its kind, the present study offers a new insight into the concept and impacts of virtuality for construction teams and provides instructions and guidelines for designing and maintaining the effectiveness of such teams on construction projects.

The Practice of Solving Product Quality Problems Obtained through the Use of Design Activities at Car Assembly Plants

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 52-61
Author(s):  
V.N. Kozlovsky ◽  
◽  
D.I. Blagoveshchensky ◽  
A.V. Kritsky ◽  
U.V. Brachunova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Product Quality ◽  
Project Teams ◽  
Design Approach ◽  
Design Activities ◽  
Assembly Plants

The paper presents the results of the development and implementation of design approach tools for solving quality problems of new cars in operation. The generalization of the experience of the project teams in solving problems in the field of the quality of new vehicles in operation.

scholarly journals Knowledge Transfer in a Project-Based Organization Through Microlearning on Cost-Efficiency

2021 ◽  
pp. 002188632110330
Author(s):  
Teresa Beste
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Cost Efficiency ◽  
Construction Projects ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Participation Rate ◽  
Project Teams ◽  
Organizational Practice ◽  
Public Sector Organization ◽  
Body Of Knowledge

This paper investigates the role of microlearning on cost-efficiency on knowledge transfer in a project-based organization. As part of an action research study in a Norwegian public sector organization working with construction projects, a microlearning series was initiated to increase knowledge transfer on cost-efficiency. Seven microlearning lessons were distributed to 334 employees, including short questionnaires after the first and last lesson. The study reflects on the design process of the lessons, on the participation rate, and on how it contributes to an increase of knowledge. Microlearning was perceived as relevant by the participants. It makes knowledge transfer less arbitrary by providing a common body of knowledge to all project teams. For the organizational practice, this implies that microlearning also has potential for knowledge sharing on other topics in the project-based organization. Updating the microlearning series with further examples and new lessons is expected to contribute to continuous learning on cost-efficiency.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document