David Seymour

The culture of the industry and the culture of research

Culture is increasingly cited as being in need of change if the UK construction industry is to improve its efficiency and productivity. The paper argues that the concept of culture is amenable to radically different treatments and that the research community must recognize the consequences of this choice if it is to make a useful contribution to bringing about the desired change. The dominant research paradigm in construction management is examined and compared to an alternative approach. The consequences attendant upon the choice between these two are explored with reference to four phenomena: a study of quality in the construction industry, Japanese innovation in management, Demings concept of total quality management and the situation of the site engineer. It is concluded that the dominant rationalist paradigm tacitly endorses existing attitudes and that if researchers are to have a role in changing the culture of the industry, then the culture of research must change also.

The role of theory in construction management: a call for debate

We raise a number of questions concerning the theoretical basis of construction management, and enquire into the nature of construction management theory. We highlight the dominant research paradigm in construction management, and call for attention to be paid to alternative research paradigms. We call for a scholarly debate to investigate these issues.

Planning for claims: an ethnography of industry culture

Claims by contractors for additional payments have been identified by commentators as a major source of difficulty in the industry. Ethnographic research with industry members reveals some key features of planning practices that underlie such events. Claims are sometimes planned at tender stage and sometimes during the course of a project. One practice at tender stage is a pricing technique that minimizes the tender price while maximizing the out‐turn cost of a contract by exploiting mistakes in the bill of quantities. Another is the programming of work to maximize its vulnerability to delay. More reactive techniques may be employed during the course of the project, often to make up for an unanticipated increase in costs. These and other similar practices may be reported as features of an integrated culture, defined in such a way as to encompass activity and reject Cartesian dualism. The unique adequacy requirements of methods are suitable criteria for the evaluation of such reports. The claims culture arises from economic conditions in the industry, which include low entry barriers and competitive tendering. However, removal of these conditions alone cannot guarantee that the practices will cease.

Obstacles to implementing total quality management in the UK construction industry

Since at least the Tavistock studies, the need to improve communication and coordination in the construction process has been stressed. This paper reports from a study of 25 construction projects where QA and a number of procedures were in use which might have been expected to bring such improvement. The finding was, however, that coordination was poor. The purpose of the paper is to consider how this finding is to be explained. With reference to the markets/hierarchy theoretical framework, it is proposed that the use of this and other similar frameworks in fact obscures the empirical reality which they are intended to explain. It is accepted that the meta-language which such frameworks supply may enable researchers and those practitioners who choose to use this language to share their interests and concerns. However, the relationship between the abstract and global concepts which feature in such talk and the reality to which they refer needs closer enquiry. This paper proposes that our knowledge of the impact of QA has been compromised by the lack of such attention. The paper then inspects the global proposition that QA has been a step in the right direction towards TQM. With the aim of giving this proposition a stronger empirical referent, six key principles of TQM are used as a benchmark against which to assess the significance of the empirical data drawn from the study. It is proposed that greater attention to such data is necessary to provide a sounder basis for establishing what needs to be done to stimulate change.

The quality debate

The paper argues that there are intrinsic difficulties in defining quality. This is particularly true of construction in view of the endemic uncertainty to which it is subject. However, an institutional framework comprising a balance between technical, occupational, contractual/legal and economic orders was developed making possible the equitable negotiation of quality. This balance has been disturbed and the current debate within the industry concerns the way a new balance can be achieved. Two major tendencies in the debate about what quality is and how it is to be achieved are identified. One argues the need for market forces to operate at all levels, for tighter specification and quantification of quality standards and for the development of formal control procedures. The other argues the intrinsic limits of specification, quantification and formalization of procedures and therefore the ineluctable need for occupational discretion to be exercised at the point of production.

The claims culture: a taxonomy of attitudes in the industry

This paper presents an analysis of a familiar aspect of construction industry culture that we have dubbed ‘the claims culture’. This is a culture of contract administration that lays a strong emphasis on the planning and management of claims. The principal elements of the analysis are two sets of distinctions. The first comprises economic and occupational orders, referring to two kinds of control that are exercised over the construct ion process; predicated respectively on economic ownership and occupational competence. The second refers to contrasting attitudes towards relationships and problem solving within these orders: respectively ‘distributive’ and ‘integrative’. The concepts of economic and occupational order entail further sub-categories. The various attitudes associated with these categories and sub-categories are described. They are assessed as to their consequences for change initiatives in the industry.

The effectiveness of formal quality management systems in achieving the required cover in reinforced concrete

Much attention has been given to ways of controlling quality through formalized management systems. A study has recently been completed at the University of Birmingham, funded by the Building Research Establishment, designed to establish the extent to which construction specifications are being achieved in reinforced concrete structures and correlations between the quality levels achieved and the site organization structure, and control procedures and supervisory and workmanship practices. The findings suggest that the existence of formal quality control systems do not have the intended, positive impact on quality. The implications of this are discussed in terms of the need to recognize the limitations of trying to remedy sporadic defects through checking and to institute procedures aimed at eliminating systemic or chronic defects. Such a strategy would involve developing greater coordination between participants and enabling a properly trained work-force to do the work ‘right first time’. It is recognize...

The role of theory in construction management: reply to Runeson

In his comment on Seymour, D.E., Crook, D.J. and Rooke, J.A. (1997). Construction Management and Economics, 15, 117-19 (Construction Management and Economics, 15, 299-302) argues that positivism provides the best insurance against bad research in construction management studies. He claims that positivist methods of theory building have been modified sufficiently to cope with the demands of management research. He accuses Seymour et al. of being anti-scientific in questioning the viability of these methods. In this short reply, we refute these assertions, pointing out some remaining obstacles to the application of positivist methods to management research.

Preserving methodological consistency: a reply to Raftery, McGeorge and Walters

Raftery, J., McGeorge, D. and Walters, M. (1977) Construction Management and Economics, 15(3), 291-297, criticise Seymour, D.E. and Rooke, J.A. (1995) Construction Management and Economics 13(6), 511-523 for setting out battle lines in their use of the terms rationalist and interpretive paradigms and argue that such dichotomies lead to a degeneration in research standards. Sharing their concern for research standards, in reply, we argue that Raftery et al.s plea for methodological liberalism will itself undermine standards. Different research methods are required for different research purposes and are to be evaluated according to different criteria. These criteria must be made explicit. We state our own research purposes and make an initial attempt to set out some criteria against which we would wish our own research to be judged.

Quality managers, authority and leadership

Some quality managers in the construction industry are attempting to institute total quality (TQ) management. Having established quality assurance (QA) systems, these managers have realized that the benefits to be gained from this bureaucratic approach are limited. They now aim to transform the culture of the industry, making it less adversarial and more customer centred. Using a sociological analysis based on the forms of legitimation of power identified by Max Weber, the institutional situation of quality managers is examined and their consequent ability to introduce innovation is assessed. Weber suggests that there are three forms of authority: traditional, charismatic and rational. These are considered in the light of some modern organization theory and with reference to the particular problem of cultural change. Managers have the best hope of successfully introducing TQ when they can establish a measure of charismatic authority. This is consis7 tent with the centrality given to the concept of leadership by writers on TQ. The practicalities of this are investigated through an account of the process of setting up a quality circle.