Martin Betts

Strategic planning for competitive advantage in construction

This paper outlines the developments in strategic planning exemplified by the works of Porter (1979, 1985, 1990) and others. After describing the emerging concepts and techniques, it is observed that these have been applied by enterprises in other sectors of the economy in pursuit of competitive advantage. Such applications are taking place at the level of parts of an enterprises operations and at the overall corporate level. This is contrasted with the situation in construction where strategic planning at any level is less widespread, although it is becoming more common. Several reasons are identified as hindrances to strategic planning in construction. The current and historical situation with regard to planning in construction is described. The ways in which strategic planning can be applied by construction enterprises are outlined. In conclusion, it is observed that Porters new concepts of strategic planning have relevance to, and considerable scope for application in, construction enterprises. It i...

Construction Management and Economics: A review of the first ten years

Construction management and construction economics are internationally recognized research fields which enjoy support from a strong and growing community of researchers, scholars and practitioners. Specialist academic and professional journals which serve the fields are relatively new. One of the prime journalsConstruction Management and Economics, celebrated ten years of continuous publication in 1992. In the ten years since its inceptionConstruction Management and Economicshas grown and has become more international. Whilst it has sharpened its focus on project-level production-oriented issues it has reflected the varied activities and interests of those involved with construction management and economics research and scholarship. Analysis of the pattern of publications in the journal and of their citations suggests a strengthening of the academic base of papers although there is little evidence that this is achieved by approaches to research that are clearly driven by, or contribute to, theory. In addi...

Strategies for the construction sector in the information technology era

The construction industries in many countries are starting to consider seriously the strategic use of information technology (IT). The use of information technology in construction is extending beyond the stage of piecemeal application for improving the efficiency of discrete operations by individual organizations to the advanced stage where IT is applied strategically in commercial enterprises, government agencies and professional institutions. Progress in construction in this regard appears to lag behind that in most other sectors of the economy. This paper considers the nature and the background of this progression in construction by examining proposals by Earl (1989) of nine basic prerequisites to the IT era which make a strategic approach timely. Each prerequisite is outlined and how it has been met in other sectors of the economy considered. The extent to which these prerequisites apply in construction and the scope for their application in the near future are examined. It is argued that all organiz...

Strategic planning for competitive advantage in construction: The institutions

There have been developments in strategic planning techniques that various sectors of the economy have applied in pursuit of competitive advantage. In most sectors strategic planning applications are taking place at the level of parts of an enterprises operations, at the general corporate level and at the level of the nation. In construction, strategic planning at any level appears to lag behind other sectors: it seems to be applied mainly by large enterprises keen on expansion, diversification and penetration of overseas markets. A previous paper by the authors has shown the implications of the developments in strategic planning concepts for the construction enterprise. This paper shows how strategic planning can be applied by professional institutions and trade associations in the construction sector. After defining a five-level framework to which strategic planning can be applied, the paper outlines the factors underlying change in the construction industry and the nature of that change. It then discu...

Technology planning frameworks to guide national IT policy in construction

Abstract The effective application of IT in construction requires a combination of strategic and tactical developments. Much of the work of the research community has focused on tactical concerns relating to technology. One of the strategic considerations relates to the planning frameworks by which effective IT application is enabled or encouraged. Reflecting the concerns of global enterprises in a competitive economy, Earl (1989) describes the planning frameworks as those relating to: awareness, opportunity and positioning. These planning frameworks are commonly used in sectoral and business planning to guide IT developments. There is scant evidence of them being applied in construction practice or research. This paper discusses the results of an initial analysis of how these planning frameworks can be used in construction. It does so at five levels of the construction sector: the national construction industry, the professional institution, the construction enterprise , the project and the constructed product . This discussion is illustrated throughout the paper with a number of examples of conceptual planning frameworks developed at these levels. These are drawn as much as possible from the authors experiences and contributions in Singapore at the national level. The result of this analysis is an indication of how the important strategic component of planning frameworks may contribute to the overall objective of effective IT application.

Course design in higher education: A study of teaching methods and educational objectives

ABSTRACT When designing and implementing courses in higher education, we make decisions regarding the match between the educational objectives to be set and the teaching methods to adopt. These decisions appear to be based on implicit assumptions about the relationship between teaching methods and educational objectives. In this study we explored these assumptions with a two-part survey of the staff and students involved in three different undergraduate disciplines at the National University of Singapore. First, we asked both the staff and the students to rank order a set of educational objectives in terms of importance. Then we asked staff how effective they thought different teaching methods were in meeting these objectives, and asked students how effective they thought the teaching methods actually were for particular courses. The results indicate discrepancies between staff assumptions and student perceptions of the relationship between educational objectives and different teaching methods. The implic...

Methods and data used by large building contractors in preparing tenders

The process of submitting lump sum competitive tenders continues to be commonly practised by UK building contractors. Most tenders are based on a detailed analysis of project details and a detailed costing of parts of the work to be done. Considerable resources are being devoted to the preparation offenders in this way. Any means of improving the efficiency of this process would be very welcome to contractors and to the construction industry as a whole. This paper presents a documentation of methods offender preparation in the form of a model of the tasks executed. This model is a description of the process in its most complex possible form as currently executed and does not attempt to portray the tendering process as it is typically performed. Variations within the model have beenfound to occur between individual contractors and for alternative means of procurement as well as for differences in project complexity. However, the model is generally representative of the means by which tenders are prepared b...

Achieving and measuring flexibility in project information retrieval

Because of the diversity of people, organizations and activities involved in the management of construction, there is a need for great flexibility in the way in which project information can he presented. This paper describes how relational database technology can be used with integrated database design methodology to develop a flexible means of information retrieval. An implementation of a database of this type, for the purposes of research, has used project data from a real life project. The testing of the database has been of its ability to enable flexible information retrieval. The results show a significant improvement inflexibility measured on an ordinal scale. The paper thus shows how to gain greater flexibility in information retrieval for basic retrieval forms. It also presents a methodology by which flexibility can be measured and compared. It concludes by speculating on the consequences of extrapolating the results of the study to more complex forms of information retrieval.