Hedley Smyth

Construction industry performance improvement programmes: the UK case of demonstration projects in the 'Continuous Improvement' programme

There has been a range of initiatives across many countries over the last 10 to 15 years to introduce reform to the construction process in order to improve performance. The so‐called UK ‘Continuous Improvement’ programme is evaluated as a case study through an analysis of demonstration projects. These projects symbolically represent best practice for others to follow directly in the UK and through influence indirectly in other countries. This raises methodological challenges, yet the scant empirical attention given to this field justifies such attention. The main conclusion is that there have been improvements, yet these seem not to have been continuous. Contractors are distant from direct value creation, increasingly relying upon others in the supply chain. Improvement measures have not penetrated most supply chains. This suggests that contractors need to develop learning and competency capacity; especially stakeholder management and/or clients need to identify new solution providers. There has been little direct evidence of this and the current environment is placing emphasis upon price rather than value. Capacity and capabilities for continuous improvement appear largely transient and insufficiently embedded to persist where present.

The credibility gap in stakeholder management: ethics and evidence of relationship management

The predominant utilitarian conceptualization of stakeholder management within construction is reviewed. Utilitarianism will be contrasted with an ethics of nurture and care perspective. A credibility gap is identified in the utilitarian approach whereby individual parties in positions of power are unable to maximize net well‐being. The relationship management concept will be outlined and located within the ethics of care, showing how aggregated behaviours can be linked to this approach. Behaviours that management can facilitate will be outlined and links made with the ethics of care concerning stakeholder management. The analysis will conceptually establish how the credibility gap in stakeholder management can be bridged. Research into relationships within PPP/PFI projects will be explored. The relationships between the SPV and the public sector will provide a particular focus. Recommendations for practice and future research will draw the analysis to a conclusion.

Application of relationship marketing and management: a large contractor case study

Marketing‐led enterprise change management initiated by a major UK contractor is explored in this paper as a contrast to procurement‐led changes to projects driven by clients. Procurement‐led initiatives try to induce changes to behaviour through market governance. Relationship marketing and management proactively change organizational behaviour, the enterprise taking responsibility for its own destiny. Investment and resource allocation, and organizational behaviour have posed constraints, particularly concerning service continuity in construction. Overcoming these constraints offers opportunities for delivering service improvements and adding value for clients and yielding further increases in repeat business and increasing profitability. Relationship marketing is the conceptual starting point, application developing into relationship management in line with theory. The main relationship marketing tenets are outlined. In the case explored key account management (KAM) principles are adopted as the conceptual point of departure for introducing relationship marketing processes. Adoption resulted in some minor restructuring and provided the basis for a series of process changes. Application is producing early results in terms of increased client satisfaction, consequential repeat business, inducing greater cross‐functional communication and collaboration within the firm resulting in cross‐selling opportunities between market segments. Some repeat business is producing higher margins in response to meeting demands of the clients.

Pursuing “relational integration” and “overall value” through “RIVANS”

Purpose – The paper seeks to consider relational integration across a network of organisational members. To this end, “relationally integrated value networks” (RIVANS) are conceptualised to engage and empower network members towards well‐focused collaboration that adds value. The aim is to identify the routes towards achieving the desirable integration together with the desired “overall value” that includes the hitherto often neglected “whole life” and end‐user priorities.Design/methodology/approach – Two case studies of enlightened team working are used to examine the power of RIVANS to add value. Deliberations at two subsequent workshops identified the potential for furthering the RIVANS approach and operationalising the value propositions.Findings – Relational integration in networks adds considerable value to projects. Cross‐fertilisation benefits accrue when RIVANS members also participate in other value networks that also include other facilities managers.Research limitations/implications – Relation...

Competencies for Improving Construction Performance: theories and practice for developing capacity

Abstract The focus on improving construction performance has been narrow in many nations using partnering, leanness and supply chain management. This paper asks three practical construction related questions concerning reinventing the wheel across projects, blame culture and continuity of service. In addressing these practical issues, three theories are engaged: organisational learning, emotional intelligence and relationship management. The solutions are enhanced through applying the concepts and, indeed, there is synergy between the concepts. The solutions require investment for the expected return, the theoretical synergy maximising the benefits from the investment. It is argued that such an approach has as much, if not more chance, to yield improvement in construction. The starting point are issues faced in construction and theory is induced through addressing the problems, rather than starting with concepts applied in other sectors and then trying to squeeze them into the construction context.

Trust in the Design Team

Abstract The aim of the paper is to establish the extent to which design teams are co-operative in practice. The objective is to explore the extent to which co-operation, measured through the competence trust, is present within the design team, and between the client and design team. Trust is explored through a framework of trust, a survey proving data based on the framework. The data are sourced from the design team, real estate consultants and from one of the leading UK property developers undertaking a large multi-use redevelopment in a prominent location in the heart of London. The main findings are that there is a high level of overall trust, the levels increasing as other parties—namely the agents and client—are involved, which has wider lessons for collaborative working between all those responsible for delivering projects. The quantity surveyor/cost consultant has a professional role that inherently creates tensions in the relationships, giving rise to a need for them to develop a broader set of competencies beyond immediate professional requirements. There is also an indication that the organizations involved appear to rely on individuals taking responsibilities for the presence of trust, rather than taking opportunities to develop strategies and actions to facilitate trust.

Bridging strategic and operational issues for project business through managing trust

Purpose – Organisational trust is analysed through observation of operations or strategic prescription. The management and project management literature is largely prescriptive. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role and potential of strategic trust development and management to improve operations in the project business and enhance client satisfaction, analysing trust as social capital.Design/methodology/approach – The analysis is supported by the method of and data gathered through CROL®: a process for managing business relationships and interfaces. The case in question focuses on over 30,000 customer relationships covering five years of global operations by companies in the project business.Findings – The analysis focuses on the connection between self‐awareness, performance, improvement and the impact upon both relationships and financial performance – social capital in the “balance sheet”. The objective is to identify the extent to which trust management can help bridge the gap between pres...

Architecture Firms and the Role of Brand Management

The core business of architects is design. Design supports brand strategy in most other types of firms. Where design is the core business, brand follows design. The brand originates from design quality and the service reputation of the firm. Brand and marketing are underdeveloped areas in architecture firms, and brand is underdeveloped in theory and practice. The dimensions of brand management are examined conceptually and through five architecture firms that have developed vertically integrated service strategies, design–construction–development, to realize high-quality design in the end-product. Design solicits an emotional response from clients, creating a sense of self. Thus, brand identification and management are instigated, reinforced through implicit relationship marketing, despite explicit professional disdain for marketing being prevalent, especially for strong ideas and strong ambition firms. Key account management functions are found to play an integrating role. A primary conclusion is that design firms would benefit from brand development through the explicit relationship marketing generally and key account management roles in particular to further enhance brand management and design through relationship marketing.

Reinventing the role of the project manager in mobilising knowledge in construction

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how the more tacit dimension of knowledge is shared in projects in a construction contracting organisation and whether explicit organisational knowledge management initiatives can help resolve and better manage project‐based challenges.Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on a single in‐depth case study and uses a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods.Findings – The findings demonstrate how the more tacit dimension of knowledge is fundamentally important to resolving project‐based challenges, such as adjusting the detail of or re‐sequencing tasks, that major contractors frequently face. Even though a number of organisational initiatives were in place, knowledge was most successfully mobilised due to project managers, who competently orchestrate a number of inter‐ and intra‐organisational relationships amongst a host of stakeholders who are relevant to the delivery of projects.Research limitations/implications – The resear...

Health and safety maturity in project business cultures

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between health and safety (HS greater ...