Singhaputtangkul, N (2017) A decision support tool to mitigate decision-making problems faced by a building design team. Smart and Sustainable Built Environment, 6(1), pp. 2-18. ISSN 2046-6099
Abstract
Purpose There are a number of decision-making problems encountered by a building design team. This issue is apparent in assessment of building envelope materials and designs in the early design stage. The purpose of this paper is to develope a decision support tool based on a quality function deployment (QFD) approach integrated with a knowledge management system (KMS) and fuzzy theory to facilitate a building design team to simultaneously mitigate the decision-making problems when assessing the building envelope materials and designs for the first instance. Design/methodology/approach This study engaged a design team comprising three decision makers (DMs) to test the developed decision support tool through a case study of a representative building project. The study employed deductive qualitative data analysis with use of a framework analysis approach to analyze perspectives of the DMs after completing the case study through a semi-structured interview. Findings A mapping diagram derived qualitatively from the framework analysis suggested that the tool can help mitigate the identified decision-making problems as a whole. Originality/value Practical contributions of using the decision support tool include achievement of a more efficient design and construction management, and higher productivity of a project. In terms of academic contributions, this study expands capabilities of a conventional decision support system, KMS, and QFD tool to handle decision-making problems.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | knowledge management system; decision-making; quality function deployment; building design; building envelopes; framework analysis; design team |
| Index terms: | interview, decision support, data analysis, framework analysis, design team, mapping, methodology, decision-making, fuzzy theory, building design, knowledge management system, case study, productivity, design and construction, quality function deployment, building envelope, early design stage |
| Subjects: | data collection methods, data analysis and analytics, contractual arrangements, professional practice, architectural design, design process, architectural elements, management, research methods, spatial and geospatial analysis, decision-making and optimization, information systems, quality assurance, decision analysis |
| Topics: | Risk Management, Procurement, Business Strategy, Research Practice, Digital Applications, Design Practice, Quality 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