Oh, E H; Naderpajouh, N; Hastak, M and Gokhale, S (2016) Integration of the construction knowledge and expertise in front-end planning. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 142(2): 04015067, ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
Traditionally, construction input is integrated after the completion of the design stage of the projects. Inadequate construction input at the predesign stage and during the front-end planning (FEP) process results in fragility of plans in terms of constructability. This paper reports on a research to investigate construction input during the FEP process. The research is based on three questionnaire surveys as well as complementary case studies. Questionnaires1 and 2 were developed to assess the status of the FEP process and select areas that require construction input, respectively. Case studies were then selected from a pool of projects and collected data were analyzed to investigate barriers to construction input. Results of the surveys and case studies suggested that lack of well-established interorganizational frameworks within project organizations, as a loosely coupled network, hinders effective construction input. Based on the results, a user-friendly decision aid, a construction input assessment tool (CIAT), was developed as a framework to facilitate, frame, and benchmark required construction input in the FEP process. Questionnaire 3 was then sent to industry experts to test and validate the tool. The results of the research (1) highlight the importance of construction input in the FEP process; (2) identify an application of structured frameworks, effective boundary objects, and established knowledge sharing at the firm level as facilitating factors to integrate the construction input in the FEP process; and (3) include a proposed tool that can be tailored and used in the industry to systematically facilitate construction input during the FEP process.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | constructability; information management; organizations; owners; planning; project management; project planning and design |
| Index terms: | project planning, questionnaire, design stage, integration, knowledge sharing, boundary object, project organization, survey, project management, constructability, owner, interorganizational, case study |
| Subjects: | construction integration, project management theory and practice, organizational theory, sociology, organizational analysis, collaborative management, business, data collection methods, control systems, professional practice, knowledge management |
| Topics: | Organizational Design, Design Practice, Stakeholder Management, Business Strategy, Research Practice, Project Management, Information Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
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