Latham as half‐way house: a relational competence approach to better practice in construction procurement

Abstract

This paper is based on research being undertaken by the Centre for Strategic Procurement Management (funded by BAA) considering best practice in construction procurement. The primary aim of the study is to establish how supply chains in construction may be managed more efficiently and effectively. This involves the amalgamation of conventional views on industry problems and initiatives for improvement, the theoretical and empirical consideration of supply chain optimisation, the identification of best practices' in the procurement process, and the development of suitable change management strategies to allow organizations to move towards better practice.This paper discusses the limitations behind the current thinking for reforming the UK construction industry, and how Latham's`team' approach will not succeed where clients adopt a`traditional' approach to procuring their construction needs. There is a need to differentiate between`process' and`commodity' spend in construction. It is argued that the benefits of a collaborative approach can only be realized by those clients managing`fitfor-purpose' supply relationships to satisfy their regular process requirements. An approach known as relational competence analysis is suggested as a methodology for helping clients to determine what is`fit for their purpose.

Quantifying the Underlying Causes of a Discrepancy Between Predicted and Measured Energy Use

“…There is a need for design stage calculation methodologies to address all aspects of building energy consumption for whole building simulation, including regulated, and unregulated uses and predictions of actual operation (Norford et al, 1994;Diamond et al, 2006;Torcellini et al, 2006;Turner and Frankel, 2008). However, a fragmented construction industry (Cox and Townsend, 1997;Construction Task Force, 1998;House of Commons, 2008), has led the design community to rarely go back to see how buildings perform after they have been constructed (Torcellini et al, 2006), resulting in a lack of practical understanding of how modeling assumptions relate to operational building energy use. Post-occupancy evaluation of existing buildings is essential in understanding where and how energy is being used, how occupants behave, and the effectiveness of system strategies.…”

Outcome-based contracts as new business model: The role of partnership and value-driven relational assets

“…Hence, it is important to ensure that the skill sets presented in the relationship between the firm and the customer complement each other. According to Cox and Townsend (1997), where the firm competencies are not core or complementary to the customers' business processes, a weak relationship of no value exists. Yusuf et al (2004) proposes that the resource competencies required are often difficult to mobilise and retained by single companies.…”

Change in construction: a critical perspective

“…Wolfram Cox et al, 1997;Green, 2002;Barrett and Barrett, 2004). These papers tend to take a largely reflective and critical stance against such methods of change and convey concerns that these methods fall short of providing reliable explanations regarding the relationship between practice and performance.…”

“…However, almost paradoxically, the contemporary change agenda appears to be narrowly focused on the need to adopt alternative managerial practice and, hence, tends to underplay or ignore the importance of context in their analyses (cf. Cox and Townsend, 1997;Love et al, 2000, Cox andIreland, 2002).…”