Indicators of collaborative design management in construction projects

Abstract

Purpose Design management plays a significant role in value creation in a construction project. Within the last few decades, new design tools such as building information model have been introduced, which supposedly enhance design productivity and quality. However, no such revolution of design quality has emerged. Therefore, more research on how design management affects the quality of construction project is needed. The purpose of this paper is to better understand the connection between design management procedures and quality. Design/methodology/approach This is a case study with a mixed-method approach. The data collection strategies used are quantitative user satisfaction survey and qualitative analysis over the documentation of the case project. Findings A deductive analysis was conducted to four suggested indicators of beneficial collaboration. An explanation was found for how the quality of the project outcome can be forecasted from the management style and procedures. Research limitations/implications The research was conducted as single case study, and therefore, greater data would enable further development of the indicators. Practical implications The indicators have wide range of applicability: the clients can forecast the quality performance by evaluating the management procedures already during the project instead of waiting until the end of project. The indicator system also provides societal impact as it guides the clients to use the kind of managerial practices that improve the ability to create value in projects that are difficult to evaluate in money terms. Originality/value The research provides a novel way to gain a holistic view with analytical indicator tools. The research contributes to lean design management literature by providing insight to the underlying mechanism of beneficial collaboration.

Understanding Interactions between Design Team Members of Construction Projects Using Social Network Analysis

“…Identification of the design team members' roles All team members should have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities, and that of other team members (Savolainen et al 2018).…”

“…According to the experiences found regarding the use of SNA in the AEC industry, there is evidence of evaluations of dimensions of traditional interaction in this industry, for example, interaction, information flow, problem solving, planning, innovation, trust and learning. However, interactions such as knowledge of roles and collaboration are not explicitly included because these elements have been broadly studied as key elements in the effectiveness of a work team (Baiden et al 2006;Savolainen et al 2018;Svalestuen et al 2015). In addition, Kereri and Harper (2019) recently proposed to use SNA for the evaluation of collaboration in construction project teams.…”

An Assessment of Lean Design Management Practices in Construction Projects

“…[14,24,35,36,40,54,56,58,59] During the design phase, there are many iterations associated with both the creative process of design and the existence of problems of a different nature, such as incompatibilities between specialties, regulatory constraints, economic constraints, and ill-defined requirements, among others [34]. Therefore, these creative or problem iterations will generate instances of decision making and problem solving (category 3), which can be addressed individually and centralized, collaboratively and decentralized [60], or intuitively with defined and standardized action protocols [23,61]. The lean theory proposes collaborative, continuous, and standardized management as appropriate practices to solve problems, make decisions, and use the resulting information as lessons learned [35,43,57].…”

Impact of BIM/LEAN on the interaction of construction project design teams

“…Description % and that of other team members (Savolainen et al, 2018) From these dimensions, the following dimensions of interaction can be deduced:…”

“…According to the experiences found regarding the use of SNA in the AEC industry, there is evidence of evaluations of dimensions of traditional interaction in this industry, for example, global interaction, information flow, problem-solving, planning, innovation, trust, and learning (Alarcón et al, 2013;Castillo, Alarcón, & Salvatierra, 2018;Herrera et al, 2018;Segarra et al, 2017). However, interactions such as knowledge of roles and collaboration are not explicitly included because these elements have been broadly studied as key elements in the effectiveness of a work team (Baiden et al, 2006;Savolainen et al, 2018;Svalestuen et al, 2015). In addition, Kereri & Harper (2019) recently proposed to use SNA for the evaluation of collaboration in construction project teams.…”