Harty, C and Whyte, J (2010) Emerging hybrid practices in construction design work: Role of mixed media. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 136(4), pp. 468-476. ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
Information technologies are used across all stages of the construction process, and are crucial in the delivery of large projects. Drawing on detailed research on a construction megaproject, we take a practice-based approach to examining the practical and theoretical tensions between existing ways of working and the introduction of new coordination tools in this paper. We analyze the new hybrid practices that emerge, using insights from actor-network theory to articulate the delegation of actions to material and digital objects within ecologies of practice. The three vignettes that we discuss highlight this delegation of actions, the "plugging" and "patching" of ecologies occurring across media and the continual iterations of working practices between different types of media. By shifting the focus from tools to these wider ecologies of practice, the approach has important managerial implications for the stabilization of new technologies and practices and for managing technological change on large construction projects. We conclude with a discussion of new directions for research, oriented to further elaborating on the importance of the material in understanding change.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | actor-network theory; ecologies of practice; ecosystems; hybrid methods; hybrid practices; information technology; information technology; innovation; mixed media |
| Index terms: | actor-network theory, working practice, ecology, megaproject, stabilization, large construction project, vignette, information technology, drawing, new technology, media, coordination, technological change, construction process, hybrid practice |
| Subjects: | theoretical framing, management, innovation and technology management, business, environmental science, economic analysis, sociology, technical documentation, building construction, strategic project management, innovation studies, research dissemination and communication, organizational theory, computing systems |
| Topics: | Engineering Principles, Sustainability, Site Management, Research Practice, Project Management, Design Practice, Digital Applications, Organizational Design, Business Strategy |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
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