Carrie Sturts Dossick

Messy talk and clean technology: communication, problem-solving and collaboration using Building Information Modelling

We studied the organizational practices around Building Information Modelling, or BIM, in inter-organizational collaborations among architects, engineers and construction professionals in order to theorize how communication supports technology adoption. Using ethnographic observation and one-on-one interviews with project participants, we observed five teams on three different commercial and institutional building projects that each collaborated over periods of 8–10 months. In this paper, we argue that the dynamic complexity of design and construction processes requires what we call ‘messy talk’—conversations neither about topics on meeting agendas, nor on specified problems or specific queries for expertise. In messy talk interactions, AEC professionals contributed to innovation and project cohesion by raising and addressing issues not known by others. The communicative ‘affordances and constraints’ of BIM structured meeting conversations away from less structured, open-ending problem-solving and towards...

Meeting the Burden of Proof with Case-Study Research

The case-study research method is popular across various disciplines; however, critics of the method argue that results from this form of research are applicable only to the case studied and cannot be generalized further. In the field of construction engineering and management (CEM), the number of papers employing case-study research methods over the past decade has increased substantially. As the method proliferates, the question arises: are CEM case studies being performed with sufficient validity and reliability to meet the burden of proof to generalize from the case-study findings? Meeting the burden of proof is particularly critical in CEM because of the unique, site-based nature of the projects and industry. This paper presents a review of 156 papers employing case studies published in the Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, of which the writers identified 33 theory-building case-study-method papers. This subset of theory-building papers was examined to induce a set of requirements a...

A CASE STUDY OF THE FAILURE OF DIGITAL COMMUNICATION TO CROSS KNOWLEDGE BOUNDARIES IN VIRTUAL CONSTRUCTION

When can digital artefacts serve to bridge knowledge barriers across epistemic communities? There have been many studies of the roles new information and communication technologies play within organizations. In our study, we compare digital and non-digital methods of inter-organizational collaboration. Based on ethnographic fieldwork on three construction projects and interviews with 65 architects, engineers, and builders across the USA, we find that IT tools designed to increase collaboration in this setting instead solidify and make explicit organizational and cultural differences between project participants. Our study suggests that deeply embedded disciplinary thinking is not easily overcome by digital representations of knowledge and that collaboration may be hindered through the exposure of previously implicit distinctions among the team members’ skills and organizational status. The tool that we study, building information modelling, reflects and amplifies disciplinary representations of the building by architects, engineers, and builders instead of supporting increased collaboration among them. We argue that people sometimes have a difficult time overcoming the lack of interpretive flexibility in digital coordinating tools, even when those tools are built to encourage interdisciplinary collaboration.

Construction to Operations Exchange: Challenges of Implementing COBie and BIM in a Large Owner Organization

Despite the transition from paper to digital media, hand-off of data and documents from construction to operations and facilities management is still cumbersome and often requires manual entry and duplication of effort. This paper presents initial findings from an ongoing pilot project that began in spring 2011 on a digital information exchange standard called COBie (Construction Operations Building Information Exchange). Through interviews with key participants, we analyze existing practices as well as proposed changes to be made to these practices. Across a large organization, digital information is not trusted—nor is information neutral. Information is connected to particular jurisdictions who currently control the creation and management of their own datasets. We found that despite availability of digital information, people generally prefer to obtain information from colleagues with direct knowledge of the project or from paper documents. Digital information was considered to be either too difficult to access or not viewed as trustworthy since digital data was not consistently maintained. As more digital information is amassed, including information from COBie and building information models, organizational cultures and practices need to be developed around these new datasets.

Theoretical Categories of Successful Collaboration and BIM Implementation within the AEC Industry

Researchers have found successful collaboration that spans organizational boundaries enhances the productivity of the design and construction process. Researchers and practitioners alike argue using Building Information Modeling (BIM) should lead to tighter collaboration and closer communication among project participants working in cross-organizational environments. Using data from observations over fifteen months of the integrated design process of a laboratory building project, the authors build a typology of the strategies of successful collaboration within the AEC industry. Then, using interview data from 70 architects, engineers and general contractors from across the U.S., we test our proposed typology to suggest how the collaboration process is implicated in inter-organizational BIM integration. The authors find that inter-organizational BIM-enabled projects and successful inter-organizational collaboration have shared theoretical categories: fostering integrated teams; implementing tools and strategies to encourage clear communication across the team; and developing transparent technology use. The authors argue that attempts at either will not be successful without first establishing the right social and organizational foundation that supports both collaboration and successful technology implementation.

CONSTRUCTING RESEARCH WITH CASE STUDIES

A case study is an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context. The case study research method is popular across various disciplines, however, critics of the method argue that results from this form of research are applicable only to the case studied and cannot be generalized further. In the field of construction engineering and management, the number of papers employing case study research methods over the past decade has increased substantially. The question that arises as the method proliferates is whether case studies are being performed with sufficient validity and reliability to maximize the extent to which the findings can be generalized. Given the unique, project-based nature of the construction industry, in this manuscript, we discuss research design and data collection strategies construction engineering and management researchers can employ to improve validity, reliability and the extent to which they can generalize from their findings.

Developing Construction Management Events in Situational Simulations

Abstract: The challenge and promise of educational computer simulations are to provide user experiences that allow for immersion into a dynamic system in which participants discover the ramifications of their decisions in a complex environment. Researchers at the University of Washington, in collaboration with Michigan Technological University, are developing situational simulations to meet the needs of construction management education. This article explores the development of simulation events where simulation variables are changed due to an event, and then the player is challenged to interact with the simulation by making decisions that impact the project outcome. A simulation event includes the players experience, variables altered by the event, and variables changed by the player. This article defines the concept of simulation events within the context of situational simulations; explains how events are triggered, represented, and handled within the simulation and database; describes how players engage with the simulation; and identifies the challenges of incorporating the social dynamics of project management into the simulation environment.

THE REALITIES OF BUILDING INFORMATION MODELING FOR COLLABORATION IN THE AEC INDUSTRY

In this paper, we will report on how the introduction of a new technology, Building Information Models (BIM), is in the process of changing collaboration among architects, engineers, and builders. Using a multi-method study of comparative case studies and triangulation interviews, we have observed two building projects over an eight-month period, interviewed architects, engineers, general contractors and subcontractors, and we are able to create generalizable grounded theory about technology-supported collaboration. This rich ethnographic data enables the analysis of the ramifications of the existing frameworks of standards of practice and occupational boundaries for collaboration, and allowed us to identify the potential of new technology to change these frameworks. Technology is always embedded in a social context, and its successful adoption depends upon that context. Some in the building design and construction industry are pushing for new technological advancements along side collaborative delivery methods, but there remain a number of organizational questions that must be addressed, particularly in how to engage second and third tier consultants, suppliers and subcontractors who are not part of the primary architect-owner-contractor agreements. Where delivery methods alone will not address the inter-organizational challenges, strategies such as co-location support a stronger team orientation to the project through informal communication.

Messy Talk in Virtual Teams: Achieving Knowledge Synthesis through Shared Visualizations

Engineering teams collaborating in virtual environments face many technical, social and cultural challenges. In this paper we focus on distributed teams making joint unanticipated discoveries in virtual environments. We operationalize Dossick and Neff’s definition of “Messy Talk” as a process in which teams mutually discover issues, critically engage in clarifying and finding solutions to the discovered issues, exchange their knowledge, and resolve the issue. Can globally distributed teams use “Messy Talk” via virtual communication technology? We analyzed the interactions of four distributed student teams collaborating on a complex design and planning project using building information models (BIM) and the CyberGRID, a virtual world specifically developed for collaborative work. Their interactions exhibited all four elements of Messy Talk, even though resolution was the least common. Virtual worlds support real time joint problem solving by 1) providing affordances for talk mediated by shared visualizations, 2) supporting team perceptions of building information models that are mutable and 3) allowing transformations of those models while people were together in real time. Our findings suggest that distributed team collaboration requires technologies that support Messy Talk -- and iterative trial-and-error -- for complex multidimensional problems.

Quantifying the Impact of Facilitation on Transactive Memory System Formation in Global Virtual Project Networks

AbstractBuilding strong ties between geographically dispersed project participants is crucial to project success. In global project networks, many firms have adopted virtual collaboration tools to address the challenges imposed by temporal and geographical distance. Some researchers have examined the role of facilitators and found that process facilitation can improve collaboration. Research has also shown that facilitators can be drawn into content interactions, which may negatively impact collaboration effectiveness in virtual workspaces. Research to date has not quantified this negative impact. In this study, the formation and maintenance of transactive memory systems (TMS) in two facilitated and two nonfacilitated global virtual project networks were investigated, each executing a 2-month project. Using TMS formation and cohesive subgroup formation as a proxy for performance, quantitative evidence was found that demonstrates a negative impact on collaboration effectiveness when facilitators engage in ...