Sullivan, K T; Kashiwagi, D; Savicky, J; Kashiwagi, M; Egbu, C and Chang, C K (2006) Increasing performance by minimizing the passing of information. In: Boyd, D (ed.) Proceedings of 22nd Annual ARCOM Conference, 4-6 September 2006, Birmingham, UK.
Abstract
Poor construction performance has resulted in researching procurement process efficiency and overall delivery environment. This paper identifies the maximization of the passing of information as one of the root causes of the poor performance. The hypothesis is validated using several approaches: using deductive logic and the analysis by the Kashiwagi Solution Model (KSM), by associating the relationship between the client's professionals and contractors with the process of outsourcing, quality control, measurement, and the construction industry structure, and ongoing research tests with the US Army Corps of Engineers and US Medical Command (MEDCOM). The hypothesis proposes that as communications between the client's professionals and the contractors increases, the level of accountability, transfer of risk, and the minimization of risk by the contractor decreases. The hypothesis proposes that the amount of information that is being passed, the client's documentation, and the management of the contractor by the client's professionals should be minimized. Furthermore, the hypothesis proposes that this will lead to an increase in the contractor's ability and interests to modify their behavior to perform, to preplan, and to measure their performance. The paper proposes that conventional "best practices" of increasing communications, meetings, extensive client representative documentation, and client construction management and inspection are inefficient, results in less accountability, and lead to an environment with a lack of performance information (measurement of value, customer satisfaction, on-time, on-budget, overall costs, and continuous improvement)
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction information; maximized information flow |
| Index terms: | customer satisfaction, best practice, quality control, construction industry, outsourcing, minimization, procurement process, efficiency, documentation, inspection, information flow, accountability, maximization, construction performance, engineer, continuous improvement |
| Subjects: | service delivery, professional development, performance measurement, performance management, algorithms, industry analysis, information systems, liability law, quality assurance, profession, business, contractual arrangements, performance assessment, project delivery |
| Topics: | Site Management, Digital Applications, Legal Issues, Quality Management, Roles and Professions, Stakeholder Management, Procurement, Business Strategy, Information Management, Research Practice |
| 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