Tony Thorpe

KPIs: a critical appraisal of their use in construction

Traditionally businesses have measured their performance solely in financial terms. This limited approach has been challenged, with the introduction of the concept of key performance indicators (KPIs) for non‐financial results. In response to the Latham and Egan Reports, the UK construction industry has developed its own set of KPIs. However, their effective use has been limited. This paper reviews these and other construction KPIs and concludes that most of the KPIs used are post event, lagging measures that do not provide the opportunity to change. Their results are not validated and thus are open to interpretation. The result is that KPIs are being used within the industry as a marketing tool, and not as an integral part of business management. This paper distinguishes between three types of measure and suggests a framework for their effective use within an overall performance measurement system based on change action driven by results.

Development of a Viable Concrete Printing Process

A novel Concrete Printing process has been developed, inspired and informed by advances in 3D printing, which has the potential to produce highly customised building components. Whilst still in their infancy, these technologies could create a new era of architecture that is better adapted to the environment and integrated with engineering function. This paper describes the development of a viable concrete printing process with a practical example in designing and manufacturing a concrete component (called Wonder Bench) that includes service voids and reinforcement. The challenges met and those still to be overcome particularly in the evaluation of the manufacturing tolerances of prints are also discussed.

Opportunities and challenges for location aware computing in the construction industry

This paper describes the opportunities for location aware computing to enhance information capture and use within the construction industry. The construction industry is characterized as being slow to take up innovative mobile ICT, despite the highly mobile workforce who must collaborate with a range of on and off-site personnel, and make use of large volumes of information. Based on fieldwork and workshop activities within COMIT (a large-scale mobile IT project within the construction industry), the information used within two key business processes - health and safety audits, and site design problem resolution - is outlined, and the opportunities for support by location aware computing discussed. Some potential challenges are also identified, as is the need to understand how to provide real value (as opposed to just information) to the end user.

An integrated business improvement system (IBIS) for construction

Purpose – To review the key facets of a performance measurement system (PMS) and report on the development of a new model based on the European Foundation of Quality Management (EFQM) excellence model.Design/methodology/approach – The research involved detailed literature reviews and action research within the case study organisation. It involved the design of an integrated business improvement system (IBIS) that enables proactive performance measurement within an organisation.Findings – Key performance indicators (KPIs) are now widely used in the construction industry but there is little evidence that they are being used as an integral and systematic part of an overall PMS. The approach proposed here and encapsulated in IBIS is intended to improve current practice.Practical implications – The research found that the active engagement of both senior management and potential end‐users is vital for the successful design and implementation of a PMS.Originality/value – The novelty of the paper lies in the det...

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...

Improving project learning: a new approach to lessons learnt

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report on research which has developed a new approach to capturing project‐based learning.Design/methodology/approach – Action research was employed as part of a longitudinal single organization case study.Findings – Project learning processes can be improved by using an event‐based approach to project knowledge integration that propagates duetero‐learning. The approach developed generates outputs that codify lessons learnt and promotes measurement of benefits. The event and the outputs, in effect, take the form of “boundary objects” which act as a bridge or means of translation between the participants, as well as to those who will use the learning to improve their own project practice on other projects.Research limitations/implications – The approach has only been applied within a single support services organization, but could provide a way of overcoming the considerable difficulties inherent in capturing lessons learned within project‐based environments.Practi...

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...

Technology‐based learning and the project manager

Construction is a project‐oriented industry that benefits from both the technical and interpersonal skills that a project manager has to offer. Increasingly, project management is viewed as being an integrated process relevant throughout the project lifecycle, which necessarily draws upon a broad range of knowledge and abilities. It is imperative that project managers, therefore, have ready access to education and training programmes that enable them to update their skills. This paper compares a new distance learning project management educational software application with a traditional multiple‐media resource and a well‐established postgraduate module delivered in part‐time mode to establish the pedagogic effectiveness of distributed interactive multimedia. An analysis of quantitative data generated over a two‐year period finds that whilst learning and confidence gains occur in all delivery modes, there is no significant difference in the academic performance of students between the traditional control and distance learning experimental groups.

Visualization and information: a building design perspective

Virtual reality (VR) packages offer good visualization capabilities but inadequate facilities for either internal data management or data exchange with other packages. The potential usefulness of VR packages for industrial and business applications is limited by their lack of support for the manipulation of specialist information. Their generic nature cannot retain the complex semantics and syntax of industrial information. Within the iterative process of building design and visualization, support is required for construction industry data, which is ordered in a complex and domain specific manner. Improved transfer of data from specialist building design tools to virtual reality has been investigated in previous research, but in this paper it is argued that data transfer is not enough. Virtual reality techniques need to become available within the specialist buildings design tools and alter the interface to such applications.

Using mobility as a conceptual framework for informing the design of mobile ICT for construction professionals

This paper illustrates how the concept of mobility can be used to consider how contextual factors shape user requirements for mobile ICT. The spatial, temporal and contextual mobility of construction professionals is described based on fieldwork conducted within the UK. A distinction between the mobility of workers when they are operating remotely within a geographically distributed team and when they are working cooperatively with others co-located on site is reported. The implications of this finding are discussed in relation to the mobile ICT needs of construction professionals.