Stuart D. Green

Knowledge sharing: context, confusion and controversy

Project managers in the construction industry increasingly seek to learn from other industrial sectors. Knowledge sharing between different contexts is thus viewed as an essential source of competitive advantage. It is important therefore for project managers from all sectors to address and develop appropriate methods of knowledge sharing. However, too often it is assumed that knowledge freely exists and can be captured and shared between contexts. Such assumptions belie complexities and problems awaiting the unsuspecting knowledge-sharing protagonist. Knowledge per se is a problematic esoteric concept that does not lend itself easily to codification. Specifically tacit knowledge possessed by individuals, presents particular methodological issues for those considering harnessing its utility in return for competitive advantage. The notion that knowledge is also embedded in specific social contexts compounds this complexity. It is argued that knowledge is highly individualistic and concomitant with the various surrounding contexts within which it is shaped and enacted. Indeed, these contexts are also shaped as a consequence of knowledge adding further complexity to the problem domain. Current methods of knowledge capture, transfer and, sharing fall short of addressing these problematic issues. Research is presented that addresses these problems and proposes an alternative method of knowledge sharing. Drawing on data and observations collected from its application, the findings clearly demonstrate the crucial role of re-contextualisation, social interaction and dialectic debate in understanding knowledge sharing.

Lean construction : arenas of enactment, models of diffusion and the meaning of 'leanness'

The existing literature on lean construction is overwhelmingly prescriptive with little recognition of the social and politicised nature of the diffusion process. The prevailing production-engineering perspective too often assumes that organizations are unitary entities where all parties strive for the common goal of ‘improved performance’. An alternative perspective is developed that considers the diffusion of lean construction across contested pluralistic arenas. Different actors mobilize different storylines to suit their own localized political agendas. Multiple storylines of lean construction continuously compete for attention with other management fashions. The conceptualization and enactment of lean construction therefore differs across contexts, often taking on different manifestations from those envisaged. However, such localized enactments of lean construction are patterned and conditioned by pre-existing social and economic structures over which individual managers have limited influence. Taking a broader view, ‘leanness’ can be conceptualized in terms of a quest for structural flexibility involving restructuring, downsizing and outsourcing. From this perspective, the UK construction industry can be seen to have embarked upon leaner ways of working in the mid-1970s, long before the terminology of lean thinking came into vogue. Semi-structured interviews with construction sector policy-makers provide empirical support for the view that lean construction is a multifaceted concept that defies universal definition.

Beyond value engineering: smart value management for building projects

Abstract The paper distinguishes between value management and value engineering on the basis of their underlying assumptions. The traditional approach to value engineering is analysed, and is found to reflect the optimizing paradigm of hard systems thinking. In contrast, the alternative approach offered by value management is based on the learning paradigm of soft systems thinking. While the objectives of value engineering are dominated by cost reduction, the purpose of value management is to develop a common understanding of the design problem and to identify explicitly an agreed statement of design objectives by the project stakeholders. smart value management is introduced as the means by which these ends can be achieved. It is further suggested that this approach enables project managers to exert an increased level of control over the early stages of building design. It also ensures that different interest groups within the client organization are actively involved in the design process, and that they thus ‘buy in’ to the decisions which are made.

Making sense of supply chain management: a comparative study of aerospace and construction

Current recipes for learning across business sectors too often fail to recognize the embedded and contextual nature of management practice. The existing literature gives little emphasis to the symbiotic relationship between supply chain management and the broader dynamics of context. The aerospace and construction sectors are selected for comparison on the basis that they are so different. The UK aerospace sector has undergone extensive consolidation as a result of the imperatives of global competitive pressures. In contrast, the construction industry has experienced decades of fragmentation and remains highly localized. An increasing proportion of output in the aerospace sector occurs within a small number of large, globally orientated firms. In contrast, construction output is dominated by a plethora of small firms with high levels of subcontracting and a widespread reliance on self‐employment. These differences have fundamental implications for the way that supply chain management is understood and implemented in the two sectors. Semi‐structured interviews with practitioners from both sectors support the contention that supply chain management is more established in aerospace than construction. The introduction of prime contracting and the increasing use of framework agreements within the construction sector potentially provide a much more supportive climate for supply chain management than has traditionally prevailed. However, progress depends upon an improved continuity of workload under such arrangements.

The missing arguments of lean construction

The emerging concept of lean construction is concerned with the application of lean thinking to the construction industry. The ideas of lean thinking seem set to dominate the UK construction industrys quest to improve quality and efficiency. However, the current debate is based on a highly selective interpretation of the available literature. The extent to which the Japanese model of lean production is applicable in Western contexts remains hotly debated. An extensive body of critical opinion equates the Japanese model of lean production with technocratic totalitarianism. Whilst the claims of productivity achievements in Japanese manufacturing transplants are impressive, the rhetoric of flexibility, quality and teamwork too often translates in practice to control, exploitation and surveillance. Furthermore, it cannot be taken for granted that any increases in productivity necessarily serve the interests of the end customer. The current agenda for the implementation of lean thinking in the UK construction industry notably ignores the extensive critical literature on lean production. In the absence of a more balanced research agenda, there is a danger that dogma rather than a balanced appraisal of the available evidence will drive construction policy.

Competitive strategy revisited: contested concepts and dynamic capabilities

Strategy is a contested concept. The generic literature is characterized by a diverse range of competing theories and alternative perspectives. Traditional models of the competitive strategy of construction firms have tended to focus on exogenous factors. In contrast, the resource‐based view of strategic management emphasizes the importance of endogenous factors. The more recently espoused concept of dynamic capabilities extends consideration beyond static resources to focus on the ability of firms to reconfigure their operating routines to enable responses to changing environments. The relevance of the dynamics capabilities framework to the construction sector is investigated through an exploratory case study of a regional contractor. The focus on how firms continuously adapt to changing environments provides new insights into competitive strategy in the construction sector. Strong support is found for the importance of path dependency in shaping strategic choice. The case study further suggests that strategy is a collective endeavour enacted by a loosely defined group of individual actors. Dynamic capabilities are characterized by an empirical elusiveness and as such are best construed as situated practices embedded within a social and physical context.

A metaphorical analysis of client organizations and the briefing process

This paper reviews and critiques the current practice of classifying building clients according to their ‘type’. An alternative approach to understanding organizations is developed in accordance with the principles of naturalistic inquiry. It is contended that the complex pluralistic clients of the 1990s can only really be understood ‘from the inside’. The concept of organizational metaphors is introduced as the basis for a more sophisticated way of thinking about organizations. The various strands of organizational theory are also analysed in terms of their underlying metaphors. Different theories are seen to bring different insights. The implicit metaphors adopted by practitioners are held to be important in that they tend to dictate the adopted approach to client briefing. This contention is illustrated by analysing three different characterizations of the briefing process in terms of their underlying metaphors. Finally, the discussion is placed in a contemporary UK context by comparing the dominant pa...

Living up to the value agenda: the empirical realities of through‐life value creation in construction

Current research agendas are increasingly encouraging the construction industry to operate on the basis of ‘added value’. Such debates echo the established concept of ‘high value manufacturing’ and associated trends towards servitization. Within construction, the so‐called ‘value agenda’ draws heavily from the notion of integrated solutions. This is held to be especially appropriate in the context of PFI projects. Also relevant is the concept of service‐led projects whereby the project rationale is driven by the clients objectives for delivering an enhanced service to its own customers. Such ideas are contextualized by a consideration of broader trends of privatization and outsourcing within and across the construction industrys client base. The current emphasis on integrated solutions reflects long‐term trends within privatized client organizations towards the outsourcing of asset management capabilities. However, such trends are by no means uniform or consistent. An in‐depth case study of three operating divisions within a major construction company illustrates that firms are unlikely to reorientate their business in response to the ‘value agenda’. In the case of PFI, the tendency has been to establish specialist units for the purposes of winning work. Meanwhile, institutionally embedded operating routines within the rest of the business remain broadly unaffected.

THE HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS OF LEAN CONSTRUCTION: CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES AND CONCEPTUAL CHASMS

The Human Resource Management (HRM) implications of lean construction are considered from a critical perspective. Construction academics have strangely ignored an extensive literature that equates lean production to a HRM regime of control, exploitation and surveillance. The emphasis of lean thinking on eliminating waste and improving efficiency makes it easy to absorb into the best practice agenda because it conforms to the existing dominant way of thinking. In common with countless other improvement initiatives, the rhetoric of lean construction is heavy in the machine metaphor whilst exhorting others to be more efficient. In the absence of an explicit consideration of the HRM implications, lean construction is doomed to repeat the mistakes of previous instrumentalist improvement recipes. In the face of rapidly declining recruitment rates for built environment courses, this will do little to attract the intelligent and creative young people that the industry so badly needs. The tradition of Critical Management Studies (CMS) remains controversial within the construction management research community. Counter-criticisms offered by the proponents of lean construction are considered and the contribution to knowledge is defended. There is a tendency to suppress critical work on the basis that it lacks empirical evidence and is one-sided in its argument. If these criteria were applied to the existing lean construction literature, many of the seminal contributions would not have been published. Whilst it is valid and important to criticise the methodology of critical research, it must also be recognized that there are methodological limitations associated with all research paradigms. Different methodologies accentuate different aspects of reality.

Modelling client business processes as an aid to strategic briefing

The briefing process can be divided into two stages. The first is referred to as strategic briefing and is concerned with understanding the clients business processes. The second stage comprises the conceptualization of built solutions and issues of performance specification. It is the first of these two stages which often is the most problematic. Several authors have established a relationship between strategic briefing and business process re-engineering (BPR), but doubts remain regarding both the originality of BPR and the extent of its theoretical justification. A social constructivist interpretation of BPR is presented and the connection is made with soft systems methodology (SSM). It is argued that SSM offers a rigorous framework for modelling client business processes which subsumes the principles of BPR. A participative research seminar is described which evaluates the potential use of SSM using case study material. Feedback from the seminar participants provides strong support for the contention that SSM could indeed provide the basis for a significant enhancement of current briefing practice. However, there is a danger that practitioners may adopt the techniques of SSM without necessarily buying in at the methodology level. The terminology of SSM also is likely to present a barrier to those construction professionals who are unwilling to make the necessary intellectual investment.