Collaboration Enables Innovative Timber Structure Adoption in Construction

Gosselin, Annie; Blanchet, Pierre; Lehoux, Nadia; Cimon, Yan

doi:10.3390/buildings8120183

Cited by 24 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Most of the time, respondents preferred talking about collaboration relationships shared with other stakeholders. Gosselin et al [86] identified collaboration relationships between stakeholders in structural timber building supply chains. In this study, collaboration relationships refer to informal exchanges of various sorts.…”

Section: Key Partnershipsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Main Features of the Timber Structure Building Industry Business Models

et al. 2021

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The use of timber as structural building material is growing and a greater number of firms are looking to enter this raising market. Erecting a complex timber building usually involves combining the work of architects, structural engineers, builders, suppliers and/or supplier–builders, all of them having their own business models. The purpose of this research was to uncover the specific nature of business models in the timber structure building industry. First, a thorough mapping of these business models was undertaken. Second, underlying patterns were uncovered within these models. A triangulation method of secondary data, semi-structured interviews and participant observation was used to allow for an in-depth study of 23 stakeholder business models. The analysis shows that knowledge sharing appears as crucial and may be achieved through sustained collaboration. As a result, collaborative contract procurement modes seem to be the most appropriate for timber construction. Tight relationships with suppliers and supplier–builders also appear as prerequisites. Furthermore, stakeholder partnerships with universities appear common in the field, while prefabrication is increasing in popularity. These findings can be useful to grasp the prevailing business models in this industry given the sustained growth of the timber structure building market.

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Section: Key Partnershipsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Main Features of the Timber Structure Building Industry Business Models

et al. 2021

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“…Similarly to the innovative cases studied by Pulkka et al (2016), WMC projects involve innovativeness and working with novel aspects in a collaborative manner (see e.g. Gosselin et al 2018), creating an interesting setting for the business ecosystem concept to be applied, as presented below. (Clough, 2015;Klee, 2015).…”

Section: A Business Ecosystem Approach To Wmc Projectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Business ecosystem and end-user lenses in wooden multistorey construction

Viholainen¹

2021

Diss. For.

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This dissertation examines current collaborative practices in wooden multistorey construction (WMC) projects through a business ecosystem approach to detect effective and ineffective practices when working with novel wooden materials and gaining knowledge of them. Furthermore, it deepens our understanding of citizen perceptions and homeowner experiences towards WMC, to ensure that professionals are able to construct buildings that are not only profitable, but also appreciated by end-users and functional in daily use. Qualitative means are used to provide an in-depth view of the matters.The findings reveal that while construction projects are essentially collaborative efforts, the novelty of WMC materials and methods requires increased communication and learning between the business ecosystem participants. The keystone of a business ecosystem has a fundamental role in enabling deeper, long-term commitment between participants through procurement practices and meetings. These allow participants to work towards a common goal and to accumulate knowledge of wooden construction also between projects. Feedback processes should be improved between the participants, but homeowner experiences should also be utilized more efficiently. The results imply that while the business ecosystem approach provides a usable lens to study collaboration in WMC projects, it should not be seen as a static system concentrating on the design and construction phases, but one that evolves throughout a building's life cycle, incorporating end-users as the ecosystem keystones when moving to the use phase of the building.Furthermore, the results support previous literature in that end-users appreciate soft aspects of wood material, such as aesthetics and ambiance, while durability and maintenance needs create concerns. However, the qualitative approach used in this study reveals that some aspects are multifaceted, carrying both positive and negative meanings for the end-users. Homeowner experiences indicate the importance of the everyday usability of home materials. Furthermore, the 'liveliness' of the wooden material seemed to surprise some of the homeowners, indicating that they are more familiar with other urban construction materials. Communication with end-users should therefore be improved to decrease concerns, but also to inform about the material's practical benefits such as pleasant soundscapes.

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“…Relational contracts are necessary because multilayer chain subcontracting systems lead to the poor coordination of information flows due to the long communication chains among stakeholders (Tam et al, 2011;Loosemore, 2014). Gosselin et al (2018) find that too much owner contract controlcommon in traditional contracting practices but not relational contractsleads to a perceived lack of trust and hinders contractor cooperation (Hartmann and Caerteling, 2010). To overcome the problem, some researchers encouraged that conflicts or disputes could be settled by renegotiations and mediations rather than penalties or litigations (Akintoye and Main, 2007).…”

Section: Contractual Enablers 421 Relational Contractsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identifying enablers for coordination across construction supply chain processes: a systematic literature review

Chen

Hall

Adey

et al. 2020

ECAM

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PurposeManaging stakeholders' reciprocal interdependencies is always a challenging issue. Stakeholders need to find out different ways to communicate information and coordinate material flows during the supply chain processes. Many recent studies have advanced construction supply chain coordination from multiple perspectives. However, the field still lacks a comprehensive analysis to summarize existing research, to explicitly identify all the possible enablers for coordination and to investigate how the enablers can be carried out at the supply chain interfaces. To fill the gap, this study aims to conduct a systematic review in order to examine the relevant literature.Design/methodology/approachA systematic literature review process was conducted to identify and synthesize relevant publications (published in the past 20 years) concerning the coordination of construction supply chain functions. These publications were coded to link main research findings with specific enabler categories. In addition, how these enablers can be used at the interfaces across supply chain processes was reviewed with an in-depth analysis of reciprocal communications between stakeholders at design-to-production, production-to-logistics and production-to-site-assembly phases.FindingsThe coordination enablers were classified into three categories: (1) contractual enablers (including subtopics on relational contracts and incentive models), (2) procedural enablers (including subtopics on multiagent knowledge sharing systems and the last planner system) and (3) technological enablers (including subtopics on linked databases for design coordination, design for manufacturing software platforms and automated monitoring technologies). It was found that interfacing different functions requires a certain level of integration of stakeholders for quick response and feedback processes. The integration of novel contractual forms with digital technologies, such as smart contracts, however, was not adequately addressed in the state of the art.Research limitations/implicationsThe scope of the systematic review is limited to the static analysis of selected publications. Longitudinal studies should be further included to sharpen the inductions of enablers considering organizational changes and process dynamics in construction projects.Practical implicationsDifferent enablers for coordination were summarized in a concise manner, which provides researchers and project stakeholders with a reinforced understanding of various ways to manage reciprocal interdependencies at different supply chain interfaces.Originality/valueThis study constitutes an important input for research on the construction supply chain by illuminating the thematic topic of coordination from inductively developed review processes, which included a holistic framing of the emerging coordination enablers and their use across supply chain functions. Consequently, it closes some identified knowledge gaps and offers additional insights to improve the supply chain performance of construction projects.

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Collaboration Enables Innovative Timber Structure Adoption in Construction

Cited by 24 publications

References 39 publications

Main Features of the Timber Structure Building Industry Business Models

Main Features of the Timber Structure Building Industry Business Models

Business ecosystem and end-user lenses in wooden multistorey construction

Identifying enablers for coordination across construction supply chain processes: a systematic literature review

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