Jacqueline Glass

Ensuring the effectiveness of a knowledge management initiative

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify a set of critical success factors, which ensure the effectiveness of knowledge management initiatives, with particular focus on the effect of people‐oriented success factors.Design/methodology/approach – A comprehensive review of knowledge management literature, substantiated by ten qualitative interviews with leading academics and industrial representatives in the field of knowledge management in the construction industry.Findings – The research suggests that organisations need to consider several key areas, in particular, the processes and practices undertaken to understand and define knowledge management, the implementation of dedicated champions, the integration of the initiative into the business, and effective communication of its benefits to members of staff. Each of these factors will have a direct bearing on the level of effectiveness reached by an organisations knowledge management initiative.Research limitations/implications – The industry‐bas...

Built‐in resilience to disasters: a pre‐emptive approach

Purpose – Professions involved with the construction industry need to become more aware of disaster risk management (DRM) activities if lessons are to be learned from the past and a resilient built environment attained in the future. This study aims to focus on identifying which construction‐associated stakeholders should be involved with DRM initiatives in the UK, and when these stakeholders should be involved. This research is thereby unique and a key step in the longer‐term aim of identifying how stakeholders should be involved and what issues they need to address regarding the integration of DRM into construction decision making.Design/methodology/approach – This paper presents the findings of a UK‐wide questionnaire survey, semi‐structured interviews and a validation exercise involving a range of professionals from construction, planning, insurance, emergency management and local/national government agencies.Findings – This research identifies the key construction stakeholders that should be responsi...

Attaining improved resilience to floods: a proactive multi‐stakeholder approach

Purpose – There is a need to proactively address strategic weaknesses in protecting the built environment from a range of hazards. This paper seeks to focus on the mitigation for flood hazards in the UK; particularly in understanding the extent of the problem, collating key guidance and legislation related to flood hazard mitigation, identifying who the key construction decision makers are and the most opportune stages of the Design‐Construction‐Operation Process when they need to make their key decisions.Design/methodology/approach – A pluralistic research design was adopted for the study, which included a UK‐wide questionnaire survey and a set of semi‐structured interviews involving a range of professionals from construction, planning, insurance, emergency management and local/national government agencies was undertaken.Findings – Despite the publication of a range of guidance on flood hazard mitigation in the UK there is still insufficient evidence that key construction stakeholders are playing an acti...

“Considerate construction”: case studies of current practice

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report on the extent to which major contractors are delivering what can be termed “considerate construction”, using case studies of housing and education projects in the UK, identify areas for improvement, particularly in the area of community engagement practices used by contractors.Design/methodology/approach – A list of key themes relating to community engagement is developed and used as a framework for case studies of projects being built by a major, multi‐disciplinary contractor that routinely registers projects with the Considerate Constructors Scheme.Findings – This research found evidence of a range of effective practices, but there is still scope for improvement. Seemingly better examples were found in projects in which the contractor took a partnered approach with both client and community, retained community relation expertise on staff, and took appropriate, timely action.Research limitations/implications – The case studies are based in the Southeast of...

The state of sustainability reporting in the construction sector

Purpose – As a mechanism to make a companys strategies, actions and achievements more transparent, sustainability reporting (SR) enables companies to communicate performance, develop a reputation for responsible behaviour and gain competitive advantage, yet it remains largely voluntary. A scant evidence base suggests that the construction sector lags behind other industries on SR; the purpose of this paper is to clarify the current status and define a research framework for future development of SR in construction.Design/methodology/approach – This paper examines standards for disclosure, scope and content vehicles for disclosure, transparency and assurance, voluntary vs mandatory reporting, and integrated reporting, through a review of literature, reports and standards.Findings – SR can drive change, offer competitive advantage and reputational capital, but this is contested ground, academically. A critical examination of SR in construction contributes to the debate by identifying challenges around data...

A knowledge‐capture report for multidisciplinary design environments

Purpose – Organisations must continually innovate to remain competitive. A by‐product of innovation is new knowledge. In a knowledge economy, an organisations ability to manage its knowledge can mean the difference between commercial success and failure. A key aspect of being able to manage knowledge is the ability to identify and capture it. This paper aims to present the development of the knowledge‐capture report (KCR) and the results of its use at the third TeamWork demonstration event for collaborative working.Design/methodology/approach – Quantifying the number of discrete pieces of knowledge captured in the KCR and categorising the type and quantity of knowledge captured demonstrate the practicality and effectiveness of the KCR in a dynamic multidisciplinary design team environment.Findings – The different approaches that were observed and adopted by the participants using the KCR highlight a number of key issues that need to be considered when attempting to capture knowledge in a constantly evolv...

The Construction Design Manager's Role in Delivering Sustainable Buildings

Abstract The emerging champion of the design process is arguably the design manager, increasingly playing a pivotal role in the delivery of sustainable buildings. This research aimed to assess the ability of construction design managers to integrate sustainability into building design, with particular emphasis on the importance of skills. Data were obtained from an extensive literature review, semi-structured interviews with experienced design managers and a survey of graduate design managers. The research identifies issues with construction design management generally, in addition to barriers to the delivery of sustainable buildings. Outcomes of the research contribute to the emergent dialogue on construction design management with regard to sustainable building design.

Identifying and Implementing Management Best Practice for Communities of Practice

Abstract Communities of practice (CoPs) have generated an increasing amount of interest in recent years, both within knowledge management (KM) literature and the construction industry. However, there is an ongoing debate as to the most appropriate way to provide organizational support for CoPs and whether they can be managed effectively for increased organizational benefit. The aim of the research presented in this paper was to identify CoP management best practice and to implement the findings within a sponsoring organization. A key objective was to examine actual CoP management practices rather than managerial intentions—an area of research that, at present, is lacking within KM literature. A review of KM and CoP literature was combined with semi-structured interviews with experts from seven case study organizations, both within the construction industry and external to it. A number of best practices were implemented within a sponsoring organization including providing ‘strategic guidance’ rather than direct management, establishing senior-level sponsors and/or steering groups, ensuring clarity and alignment of CoP objectives, ensuring effective selection of CoP leaders, securing dedicated CoP resources, integrating CoPs with existing business processes, supporting face-to-face collaboration, and non-obtrusive monitoring of CoP performance. Although a number of key conclusions were established, further research will be necessary to determine the long-term impact of CoP management practices.

Criteria for assessing the potential performance of hybrid concrete structural frames

When assessing the potential benefits of using any new technology, it is essential that appropriate performance criteria are used and comparisons are made with the alternatives available. This paper reports on the development of criteria to help inform the process of deciding whether or not to adopt hybrid concrete construction (HCC) technology rather than more traditional alternatives. Following a thorough review of literature to identify a range of HCC performance criteria, their perceived importance was investigated via an opinion survey of experienced UK‐based practitioners. The result of the analysis revealed that all criteria identified through literature were considered important, with “physical form and space” of a building, “meeting perceived needs” and “construction cost and safety” being the more important performance criteria influencing the selection of an appropriate structural frame. This paper describes the potential practical application of these criteria to assist the early structural frame decision‐making process.

Use of process maps to develop a management briefing sheet for a design consultancy

Purpose – Process mapping can lead to a more holistic understanding of how an organisation works. This paper seeks to discuss how an engineering design consultancy, which had developed a series of process maps on the design of steel frame buildings, developed a powerful management tool, the Management Briefing Sheet which has yielded numerous additional benefits enabling practice to be improved and quality procedures more easily accessed.Design/methodology/approach – To maximise the knowledge and expertise of its supply chain partners and to better understand how it designed steel‐framed buildings, the engineering design consultancy undertook a process‐mapping exercise. Various techniques for documenting the process were considered, but a modified IDEF notation was chosen for its ability to capture the iterative nature of the design process and its methodical approach for deconstructing complicated activities.Findings – Process‐mapping exercises can change the way organisations work and make them more eff...