Wang, Y; Goodrum, P M; Haas, C T and Glover, R W (2009) Analysis of observed skill affinity patterns and motivation for multiskilling among craft workers in the U.S. Industrial construction sector. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 135(10), pp. 999-1008. ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
Previous research has shown that multiskilling strategies can increase productivity, quality, and continuity of work and can also help mitigate craft shortages through better utilization of the existing workforce. Using extensive craft certification and skills data, the writers apply correlation and cluster analyses to identify actual patterns of multiskilling among craft workers using two separate data sources. The results of the cluster analysis indicate that current craft skills aggregate into four groups: civil, mechanical, electrical, and general support. It is also observed that acquiring mutually supporting skill set pairs significantly drives multiskilling strategies in practice, thus diminishing the relative impact that duration on project has on driving multiskilling practice, despite its importance in previous literature. Still, comparing the observed multiskilling patterns obtained from the skill affinity analyses with multiskilling strategies proposed by previous studies generally reinforces the potential efficacy of those strategies.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | labor; productivity; training |
| Index terms: | productivity, aggregate, duration, industrial construction, motivation, strategy, certification, craft skill, shortages, cluster analysis |
| Subjects: | management, administrative processes, building construction, project controls, materials science, economic analysis, data analysis and analytics, psychology |
| Topics: | Human Resources, Contract Administration, Time Control, Business Strategy, Engineering Principles, Research Practice |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCA |
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