Peter Lansley

International Journal of Project Management: A review of the first ten years

The management of projects within various industrial sectors is an internationally recognised professional discipline which enjoys support from a small but growing community of researchers, scholars and enquiring practitioners. Specialist academic and professional journals which serve the field are relatively new. One of the prime journals, the International Journal of Project Management, celebrated ten years of continuous publication in 1992. In the ten years since its inception, the International Journal of Project Management has reached a level of stability in terms of the numbers of papers it publishes. Its papers predominantly review practical experience and literature. Some case studies have been published, but relatively few published papers have been based on empirical data. Most of the papers contribute interesting insights and describe new techniques, but few have contributed to the more formal aspects of the development of the discipline of project management by building and testing models and theories. The papers address a broad range of aspects of project management in an increasingly wide variety of industrial sectors, although the construction industry remains predominant. The journal attracts papers from practitioners and academics from various types of department, in both cases from many parts of the world. The journal has achieved a great deal in providing a forum for scholarly insights and debate about project management. However, progress has been less dramatic in terms of the development of the underlying theoretical basis of project management. Given that no other journals appear to fulfil this role, the paper concludes by speculating on the future development of project management as a discipline.

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...

Introducing assistive technology into the existing homes of older people : feasibility, acceptability, costs and outcomes

We examined how far, and at what cost, the housing stock could be modified to accommodate the assistive technology (AT) necessary to enable older people to remain in their own homes. A multidisciplinary team devised seven hypothetical user profiles for 10 case study areas, with five local authorities and five housing associations in England and Wales. Each profile was considered at two times, five years apart, with the users’ functional abilities deteriorating in between. In addition, in-depth interviews were carried out with a sample of 67 older people in the case study areas about their use and experience of a wide range of AT. The interviews showed the need to listen to older people and that they welcomed AT when it addressed a perceived need. The results showed that the extent of adaptation required of buildings to accommodate a users needs varied greatly. It was also found that there was confusion about the terminology of AT, including the idea of the ‘smart house’. The study shows that the adaptability of the housing depends on a range of factors and costs.

Corporate strategy and survival in the UK construction industry

The UK construction industry has experienced three quite different business environments durin the last 30 years. These environments have demanded different corporate strategies which in turn have required firms to structure their operations in different ways, for their senior managers to adopt different styles and for management teams to draw on different problem-solving skills. A simple framework for linking the environment with structure, style and skills is developed through considering the differences in the nature of the demands on construction companies during the three periods.

Analysing construction organizations

When applied to construction organizations the extensive literature on organization theory can be confusing and conflicting. This paper provides a path through some of those theories of organization which have been found of value in understanding how construction organizations function. It suggests that although they may take quite different perspectives and be based on quite different assumptions there exists valuable linkages between some of the most well-known theories and their associated models of organization.

Adapting the homes of older people: a case study of costs and savings

Meeting the demand for independent living from the increasing number of older people presents a major challenge for society, government and the building industry. Older peoples experience of disabling conditions can be affected by the design and layout of their accommodation. Adaptations and assistive technology (AT) are a major way of addressing this gap between functional capacity and the built environment. The degree of adaptability and the differences in the average cost of adaptation of different types of property are large and there is major variation within property type. Based on a series of user profiles, it was found that a comprehensive package of adaptations and AT is likely to result in significant economies arising from a reduction in the need for formal care services. This finding is sensitive to assumptions about how long an individual would use the adaptations and AT, as well as to the input of informal care and the nature of their accommodation. The present study, which focused on social housing, has implications for how practitioners specify ways of meeting individual needs as well as providing a case to support the substantial increase in demand for specialist adaptation work.

Role of simulation in construction management

Key applications are identified by the authors which include decision support systems for managing real life construction firms and projects as well as tools and devices for teaching theoretical concepts in construction management, training and team building.

Enabling Older People to Stay at Home: The Costs of Substituting and Supplementing Care with Assistive Technology

A wide-ranging multiprofessional research project explored issues relating to the introduction of assistive technology into the existing homes of older people in order to provide them with the opportunity to remain at home. The financial relationship between assistive technology and packages of formal care was also explored. The costs of residential care and those of a number of packages containing differing quantities of assistive technology, formal care and informal care were compared. The analyses provide a strong financial case for substituting and/or supplementing formal care with assistive technology, even for individuals with quite disabling conditions. Although needs and hence the cost of provision rise with an increasing level of disability, the savings in care costs accrue quickly. The consideration of a variety of users with different needs and informal care provision, and occupying a very wide range of housing, leads to the conclusion that in comparison with traditional care packages, at worst, incorporating significant amounts of assistive technology into care packages is cost neutral, but that with careful specification of assistive technology major savings are feasible.

Putting organizational research into practice

The need for more effective approaches for turning the outcomes of research into effective information and tools for managers is widely accepted, but the problems of bridging the research-practice gap are quite considerable. This paper considers briefly, one example of where traditional dissemination methods have failed to provide managers with sufficient confidence to act, and where consultancy approaches have not reached a sufficiently wide number of potential users. The approach to bridging the gap presented in this paperdraws on a wide range of training and organizational development methodologies. The key ingredient is a highly flexible computer modelling system which recreates the world of the manager and allows him to manage his business into the medium term future. Some of the issues faced in developing this approach, the end product known as the AROUSAL system, and some of the surprises which have followed, are also reviewed.

Enabling older people to stay at home: How adaptable are existing properties?

A multiprofessional research project examined in detail the factors that affect the adaptability of existing housing and explored issues relating to the introduction of assistive technology into the existing homes of older people in order to provide them with the opportunity to ‘stay put’. The research reported here investigated the feasibility of adapting the existing stock of social housing and the resulting costs and outcomes of introducing assistive technology. This paper outlines that part of the project that examined in detail the adaptability of 82 properties representing a variety of property types to accommodate the needs of seven notional users, characterising the most common range of impairments of older people. The factors that affect a propertys adaptability include property type and specific design and construction features. The implications for housing providers, clients and occupational therapists are discussed. The research identified the unique expertise of occupational therapists, spanning the areas of housing, older people and assistive technology, and it introduced methods and tools that can help to determine best housing outcomes as well as cost implications. It is crucial that the profession is proactive in contributing to the development of housing policies that address the needs of an ageing population effectively.