Dainty, A R J and Moore, D R (2000) The performance of integrated D&B project teams in unexpected change event management. In: Akintoye, A (ed.) Proceedings of 16th Annual ARCOM Conference, 6-8 September 2000, Glasgow, UK.
Abstract
Increasing emphasis on the meeting of client needs and improvement of project performance within the UK construction industry is a factor in the escalating use of integrated 'design and build' (D&B) construction project teams. Such an approach significantly departs from traditional approaches wherein design and construction functions are separated within distinct organisations. D&B system advocates argue that such integration of design and construction results in a seamless procurement process, along with improved team relationships, and a product delivered more efficiently. This paper presents research that explored the operational efficiency of integrated D&B project teams within the context of one UK national D&B contractor. The approach taken was to determine the perspectives of project team members on how effectively the team as a whole responded to unexpected change events occurring during a D&B project. Despite the benefits of integration, the research suggests that cultural and professional interfaces remained which both impair team performance and also undermine structural change management protocols. The result is a team operating in effect as work-groups in a similar way as would be expected under a traditionally procured contract. The construction team were largely excluded from the process of change management. A methodology for exploring these discontinuities further, and for addressing intra-work-group conflicts, is proposed.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction team efficiency; design and build; change management; work group conflict; communication flow |
| Index terms: | integration, methodology, design and construction, project performance, construction industry, design and build, team performance, project team, efficiency, procurement process, construction project team, change management, construction team |
| Subjects: | contractual arrangements, project delivery, organizational analysis, industry analysis, management, research methods, performance management, project management theory and practice |
| Topics: | Procurement, Project Management, Research Practice, Organizational Design, Quality Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCT |
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