Kululanga, G K; Edum-Fotwe, F T; McCaffer, R and Price, A D F (1998) Learning mechanisms for addressing improvement in construction companies. In: Hughes, W (ed.) Proceedings of 14th Annual ARCOM Conference, 9-11 September 1998, Reading, UK.
Abstract
This paper presents on-going research within the department of Civil and Building Engineering at Loughborough University on learning of a company as a corporate entity, which is becoming an important feature for corporate improvement. The study focuses on learning media or tools that companies employ to imbibe knowledge and other stimuli from their internal and external business environments for purposes of learning new ways of working. Therefore, the paper presents the results of a survey on the application of various learning mechanisms for addressing improvement to UK construction contractors. Organizational learning concepts and the mechanisms for learning are introduced and the research approach for the initial stage of the study is discussed. The results of the survey show that the use of most learning mechanisms was low.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction contractors; continuous improvement; learning |
| Index terms: | becoming, survey, building engineering, organizational learning, construction company, media, continuous improvement, construction contractor |
| Subjects: | organization, mechanical systems, practitioner, sociology, data collection methods, philosophical process, professional development, performance measurement |
| Topics: | Business Strategy, Roles and Professions, Quality Management, Engineering Principles, Research Practice, Information Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCE |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here