Martinez, J G; Yeung, T; Sacks, R; Shahaf, Y and Sharoni, L O (2023) Situational awareness in construction using a serious game. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 149(3): 04022183, ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
Production planners in construction face several problems related to the lack of information regarding construction project status, changes to resource availability, instability in production rates, design changes, and limited situational awareness (SA). Poor SA leads to uninformed and suboptimal resource allocation decisions. As a result, the construction workflow is negatively affected, degrading project performance. This study focuses specifically on possible relationships between production planners' SA and the resulting workflow quality. Such understanding can lead to the development of measures to improve production management in construction. Interviews with diverse production planners highlighted the nature of the information needed, issues related to the lack of SA, and the effect on workflow. A serious roleplaying game was devised to measure the correlation between production planners' SA and workflow, and 14 live simulation experiments were conducted with two teams of nine players each. Finally, a qualitative analysis of the information flow configurations applied in the experiments evaluated the expected effects of information flows in the live experiment. The study found a positive correlation between the quality of information flow and workflow in construction, indicating causation in line with theoretical expectations. Specifically, free communication among planners together with management tools such as formal weekly work planning and a digital planning tool reduced the assembly time, working time, and non-value-added time of the subcontractors in the experiments. Good information flows among production planners and an up-to-date jobsite status diminish uncertainty and increase SA, which lead to improved workflow and productivity.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | building construction; information flow; lean construction; serious game; situational awareness |
| Index terms: | configuration, qualitative analysis, construction project, subcontractor, workflow, production management, lean construction, interview, experiment, information flow, building construction, face, design change, project performance, planner, resource allocation, productivity, simulation experiment |
| Subjects: | modelling and simulation, psychology, project delivery, resource management, contractual arrangements, research design and methodology, data collection methods, profession, practitioner, building construction, information systems, systems engineering, management, project management theory and practice, production management |
| Topics: | Procurement, Construction Technology, Roles and Professions, Research Practice, Project Management, Engineering Principles, Business Strategy, Site Management, Organizational Design, Digital Applications |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCEA |
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