While significant importance is given to establishing formal organizational and contractual hierarchies, existing project management techniques neglect the management of self-organizing networks in large-infrastructure projects. We offer a case-specific illustration of self-organization using network theory as an investigative lens. The findings have shown that these networks exhibit a high degree of sparseness, short path lengths, and clustering in dense “functional” communities around highly connected actors, thus demonstrating the small-world topology observed in diverse real-world self-organized networks. The study underlines the need for these non-contractual functions and roles to be identified and sponsored, allowing the self-organizing network the space and capacity to evolve.
The construction industry is responsible for significant environmental impact. Mounting ecological and societal concerns are driving construction to 'go green'. Green supply chain management offers the potential of a systemic approach to facilitate transformation of the sector. Research on green supply chain management in construction has been growing in recent times but to date has not been systematically brought together. A systematic literature review (SLR) is presented, applying the high standards of rigour and transparency required by the methodology. From an initial search result of 207 papers, 44 were included in the detailed analysis. The papers are described in terms of publication outlet, date of publication, geographic setting, methods used, tools and techniques, conceptual definition, the role of stakeholders and practical implications. The findings are synthesized to propose a categorization of approach and a comprehensive definition of green supply chain management in construction. An agenda for future research is outlined which emphasizes the need for an end-to-end perspective, engagement with the unique characteristics of the industry, a focus on the ultimate goals of environmental sustainability, and on gaps in practical guidance, use of insights from relevant theoretical perspectives, and expansion to include critical stances.
Purpose Several studies have underlined the potential of Supply Chain Management (SCM) in meeting the formidable challenges associated with fragmentation, adversarial relationships and insufficient customer focus in the delivery of construction projects. However, properly documented examples of successfully implemented SCM initiatives, particularly at the lower tiers of the supply chain, are scarce. This paper aims to extend the existing debates by adopting an alternative approach focusing specifically on the internal SCM organisation of both main contractor and subcontractor organisations, and their direct inter-relationships. Design/methodology/approach This study sets out to explore the enablers and barriers to the implementation of SCM at the lower tiers of the construction supply chain, particularly the problematic collaboration between main contractors and subcontractors. SC Maturity levels are formulated according to relevant SCM concepts and based on Holti et al.’s (2000) seven principles of SCM organisation, and transformed into a conceptual model. An explorative study is conducted based on interviews from eight large main contractor and subcontractor organisations in the Dutch construction industry. Findings Discouragingly, across the organisations, more barriers than enablers to SCM are identified. Organisations are found to be particularly struggling to compete through superior value, manage costs collaboratively, and develop continuous improvement within their supply chains. The findings also underline the low SC Maturity of main contractors and their inability to play the essential role of supply chain managers. Practical implications The study underlines the need for a greater degree of contractor leadership and improved internal organisation of both types of firms in order to achieve greater collaboration at the lower tiers of the construction supply chain. Originality/value The study contributes to the subject of SCM in construction in two respects. First, the findings should prove valuable to both policymakers and industry practitioners interested in the delivery of performance improvement in construction. Second, the developed SC Maturity Model can form the conceptual basis for the development of an applicable improvement framework towards successful SCM implementation.
Building information modelling (BIM) is a technology promoted by governments as a solution to the problems of inefficient communication and limited collaboration in the construction industry. However, there remains a limited understanding of the changes that BIM introduces to the structure of inter-organizational communication and its impact on project participants' roles and relationships. In this study, these issues are addressed through a comparative study of two construction projects in Greece: one that utilized BIM, and one that did not. Social network analysis (SNA) was employed as an analytical method to examine the inter-organizational communication networks in relation to two types of information exchange-design development and cost management during the design stages of the two projects. Comparative SNA studies were conducted focusing on network density, tie strength, path length, and actor centrality. The research findings revealed the capacity for BIM to improve inter-organizational communication with the BIM-enabled project, exhibiting a higher density of communication, stronger ties, and shorter path lengths between project participants, indicating timely access to higher quality of information. The findings also identified the high centrality of the 'BIM manager' and 'BIM coordinator', demonstrating the effectiveness of these two new roles in managing the flow of communication in construction teams.
For some time, traditional conceptualisations, analyses, and design of project organisations have been criticised for being inappropriate to capture the complexity of current construction and engineering projects . These projects are increasingly complex, not only in a technical sense, but even more so in terms of the organisational systems needed to design and execute them. Previous project management models and existing ways of understanding, organising and managing projects seem to have reached their limit of application, showing diminishing results (Winter et al., 2006;Chinowsky et al., 2008). Accordingly, there have been calls for new models and analytical tools that capture the social dimensions of project organising, and the essence of the inter-firm relationships that comprise the construction project coalition (Pryke, 2012). It is argued that the relationships associated with the dynamic, transient and 'time-defined' temporary organisation require further research (Burger and Sydow, 2014).As a response to this call, recent perspectives within construction project literature have come to focus on the social, relational and 'self-organising' dimensions of projects to capture their technical and social complexities. For example, studies on megaprojects show a need for
Extending Nicolini's (2002) notion of project 'chemistry', this paper proposes the development of a 'leader-follower chemistry' model associated with the quality of dyadic interpersonal communication in construction projects. The paper focuses on the project manager as leader and attempts to deepen understanding of the effect of a project manager's Emotional Intelligence (EI) on the quality of interpersonal communication with their followers-being other members of the project team. While a project manager's EI, with its associated emotional competencies, is often seen as critical in achieving good relationships with members of the project team, it remains a largely understudied concept, particularly in construction projects. Primary data collected using a series of analytical surveys and live observations of site-based projects meetings were used to examine the relationship between a project manager's emotional competencies, particularly sensitivity and expressiveness, and leaderfollower chemistry. Overall, 68 construction professionals participated in the study. The findings suggest that a project manager's emotional sensitivity and expressiveness (particularly head gestures) may explain variance in the quality of leader-follower chemistry. Based on the empirical evidence in the context of team communication, a leader-follower chemistry model is introduced, which emphasises the importance of leaders' emotional sensitivity and expressiveness in a leader-follower communication dyad. The model may be particularly salient in complex project networks with a large number of prominent actors.
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