Kerry London

An industrial organization economic supply chain approach for the construction industry: a review

Understanding industries in terms of the concepts of chains, clusters and networks is becoming increasingly important in economies around the world. Supply chain management for an individual organization is an emerging field of research in the construction management discipline, but less attention has been devoted to investigating the nature of the construction supply chains and their industrial organizational economic environment. This selected review of construction and mainstream management supply chain literature is organized around four themes; distribution, production, strategic procurement management and industrial organization economics, and highlights the need to develop an industrial organization economic supply chain framework for construction. The merging of the supply chain concept with the industrial organization model as a methodology for understanding firm conduct and industry structure and performance is an important contribution to both construction supply chain and construction economic theory. Much of the industrial organization supply chain literature has tended to focus upon manufacturing industries, where typically firms are permanent organizations. This raises issues as to the differences between industries founded upon temporary compared with permanent organizations. There is potential for the development of an industrial organization methodology applicable to the project based industry. Ultimately industrial organization research seeks to have direct implications for industry performance and government policies.

Towards an internationalized sustainable industrial competitiveness model

Purpose – Within the context of globalization, industrial competitiveness has played a decisive role in determining a countrys status in the world. Porters Diamond Model is the most popular competitiveness theory currently available for explaining the achievement of a countrys industrial and firms competitive advantage. There has been considerable discourse in relation to Porters Model and the purpose of this paper is to critique and refine Porters Diamond Model and consider the theme of sustainable development towards the development of a new conceptual model, merging theories and concepts from internationalization, sustainable development and industry competitiveness.Design/methodology/approach – Critical analysis of industrial competitiveness literature to explore the discourse on Porters Model and identify challenges which are then informed by a consideration of internationalization and sustainable development literature.Findings – The Porters Diamond Model is re‐formed as the Internationalize...

Integrated construction supply chain design and delivery solutions

This study describes the development of a decision framework to support multi-disciplinary information and knowledge management model which focuses on integrated design and delivery solutions for all construction supply chain actors. The framework was developed within the context of two national information technology research projects in Australia. The first study used diffusion theory to explain the barriers and enablers to future adoption of advanced information technology solutions such as building information modelling (BIM). A grounded theory methodology was deployed and a pathways model for innovative information technology diffusion accommodating diverse patterns of adoption and different levels of expertize was developed. The second study built on the findings of the first study but specifically focussed on innovators, early and late adopters of BIM and the development of a decision framework towards advanced collaborative platform solutions. This study summarizes the empirical results of the previous studies. The core of the decision framework is the creation, use and ownership of building information sub-models and integrated models. The decision framework relies on holistic collaborative design management. Design expertise is diffused and can be found in various locations along the construction supply chain within project teams. A wide definition of design is considered from conceptual to developed to detailed design. The recent development to the decision model offers much potential as the early upstream decisions are often made in a creative, collaborative and uncertain environment. However, decision making needs to balance both a reductionist and exploratory creative empowerment approach. Shared team expertise and competency and team mental models are explored as a fundamental requirement to collaborative BIM. New skills in interdisciplinarity are discussed as an implication of future construction industry collaborative platforms.

Adopting reflexive capability in international briefing

Purpose – The aim of the paper is to investigate the architectural firms role in the briefing process on international projects and to identify the strategies of successful firms to overcome barriers.Design/methodology/approach – A model is developed based on a critique of briefing models and international design management theory. The development of a reflexive capability model borrows cultural theory concepts of capital and reflexivity. The model is based on maximizing reflexive capability through the management of social, cultural and intellectual capital. Two case studies of architectural firms identify barriers during the briefing process and strategies to overcome these barriers. Data collection involved 16 interviews with senior management and design team staff.Findings – There are various barriers and strategies used to achieve success in the briefing process. However, the management of a firms capital is key to successful briefing on international projects and is a characteristic of reflexive p...

Modelling housing supply and monetary policy within the context of global economic turbulence

Housing supply is an essential component of the property sector. Compared with an increasingly strong housing demand, the growth rates of total housing stock in Australia have exhibited a downward trend since the end of the 1990s. Over the same period, the significant adjustments in the Australian monetary policy were being implemented under a turbulent global economic climate. This research aims to identify the relationship between housing supply and monetary policy within the context of global economic turbulence by a vector error correction model with a dummy variable. The empirical evidence indicates that the monetary policy changes and global economic turmoil can significantly affect the supply side of the housing sector in Australia. The models developed in this study assist policy makers in estimating the political impacts in the global context.

Client learning for successful architect‐client relationships

Purpose – This paper seeks to explain how clients deal effectively with challenges on private single dwelling projects by achieving learning.Design/methodology/approach – Eight in‐depth interviews were conducted across five case studies of successful architect‐client relationships. The narrative inquiry approach was used to establish the extent to which clients achieved learning and to describe the ways clients effectively dealt with project challenges.Findings – The findings indicate that clients achieved learning on all five case studies, enabling them to function with increasing competency over the course of projects. Client learning is a characteristic of successful relationships and is demonstrated through the following indicators: learning about the nature of the design/construction process, learning to take enjoyment in the new environment, and learning about the architectural milieu.Research limitations/implications – This research is limited to the investigation of the simplified architect‐client...

Investigating the Role of Client Learning for Successful Architect–Client Relationships on Private Single Dwelling Projects

This research investigates the widening gap between architects and clients and the associated problems in the management of their relationship. Drawing theory from sociological and psychological perspectives, it demystifies the architect–client relationship by providing an account of how the professions endeavour to maintain social distinction by creating silent boundaries around itself has led to an increased distancing between the architectural community and those clients not trained as professional architects. It raises several questions: to what extent can the boundaries between the architect and client be blurred? What is it about some relationships that are an enabler for success? Are there characteristics that underpin successful relationships? Using the narrative enquiry approach, eight in-depth interviews were conducted across five case studies of successful architect–client relationships, revealing ways in which clients effectively dealt with uncertainties on projects. The findings demonstrate that successful architect–client relationships are characterized by client learning and that over the course of the relationships architects supported clients to learn new skills, helping them overcome difficulties faced on projects. One of the most significant outcomes is that it demonstrates the potential of facilitating client learning to contribute to the development of successful architect–client relationships.

Building information modelling for facility management: are we there yet?

Building information modelling (BIM) is increasingly being adopted during construction projects. Design and construction practices are adjusting to the new system. BIM is intended to support the entire project life-cycle: the design and construction phases, and also facility management (FM). However, BIM-enabled FM remains in its infancy and has not yet reached its full potential. The purpose of this paper is to identify major aspects of BIM in order to derive a fully BIM-enabled FM process.,In total, 207 papers were classified into main and subordinate research areas for quantitative analysis. These findings were then used to conceptualise a BIM-enabled FM framework grounded by innovation diffusion theory for adoption, and for determining the path of future research.,Through an extensive literature review, the paper summarises many benefits and challenges. Major aspects of BIM are identified in order to describe a BIM-enabled FM implementation process grounded by innovation diffusion theory. The major research areas of the proposed framework include: planning and guidelines; value realisation; internal leadership and knowledge; procurement; FM; specific application areas; data capture techniques; data integration; knowledge management; and legal and policy impact. Each element is detailed and is supported by literature. Finally, gaps are highlighted for investigation in future research.,This paper systematically classifies and evaluates the existing research, thus contributing to the achievement of the ultimate vision of BIM-enabled FM. The proposed framework informs facility managers, and the BIM-enabled FM implementation process. Further, the holistic survey identifies gaps in the body of knowledge, revealing avenues for future research.

An actor–network theory approach to developing an expanded conceptualization of collaboration in industrialized building housing construction

Abstract Our aim is to examine the value of selected actor–network theory (ANT) elements in contributing to the development of an expanded theoretical and empirical conceptualization of collaboration in industrialized building construction for the housing sector. A review of collaboration meta-analyses literature from different disciplines suggests that collaboration is still commonly portrayed in a limited way as a strategy of integration driven in a top-down manner by a “convenor” of human stakeholders in ways that privilege simplified notions of coherence. We use specific ANT concepts empirically grounded in five case studies of innovative housing construction projects to describe an expanded conceptualization of the infrastructure of actor-networks. We examined a range of issues with respect to collaboration in industrialized building particularly in relation to network formation and disintegration. As the collaboration networks formed they sought coherence but not conformity and aimed for the management of tensions between integration and separation as well as stabilization and destabilization. This expanded conceptualization of collaboration describes the material-semiotic characteristics arranged around industrialized building technologies that are simultaneously stabilizing yet disruptive and proposes new ways by which the ideal of integration can be pursued in a fundamentally fragmented industry.

Framework for construction industry sustainable development measurement

As a resource-intensive industry, the policy, processes and practices in relation to sustainable development of the construction industry is critical. An important theoretical and practical concern is the creation of indicator systems that assist with the measurement of sustainable urban development. Past research and practice has tended to focus on the measurement of sustainability of the construction projects in relation to the individual projects or at the organizational level. This paper introduces a new measurement of sustainable development for construction industry as a whole so that countries can make comparisons. The model is based on the previous research, the fundamental meaning of sustainable development and the characteristics of the construction industry.