Galbraith, P J (1995) The development of a classification system for construction industry clients. PhD thesis, University of Reading, UK.
Abstract
A literature review led to the hypothesis that there is a direct relationship between project factors and the procurement route chosen. Project factors are specific to an individual project, for example, speed, cost, quality. The initial review however hinted that 'other' factors seemed to influence procurement choice. A questionnaire supported by structured interviews provided a database of information relating to client procurement decisions. Further analysis led to a greater understanding of these 'other, factors', subsequently renamed 'organisational factors'. Organisational factors are those which are not project specific, but relate to the organisation's wider organisational objectives, for example, the organisation's attitudes towards procuring construction and the professional advisers used. The research concentrates on organisational factors since the literature gives no clear indication of the relationships which exist between them, and the procurement routes used. An exploratory statistical technique and classification tool called cluster analysis was used because it helps to explore relationships by generating hypotheses about the data. To validate the findings a series of 'check' measures were used in the analysis. The results of the analysis confirmed the importance of organisational factors in the procurement route decision making process and several new hypotheses were developed which in summary are: (i) The types of inhouse professionals employed by an organisation can have a considerable influence on the procurement route chosen. (ii) Attitude themes of involvement, trust/relationships and design/image are linked with specific procurement route choices. (iii) The type of procurement route chosen is not linked with either the level of customer expectation or construction programme. The findings also yielded a proposed classification system for construction industry clients which described six groups: 1. Public sector using traditional professions; 2. Developer investor using project managers and the traditional professions; 3. The 'average' client; 4. Developer/investor using newer professions; 5. Industrial customer constructing new build; and 6. Industrial customer working with their existing buildings.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | decision making; organisational factors; procurement decision; trust; interview; cluster analysis |
| Index terms: | decision-making process, public sector, new build, database, procurement choice, investor, organizational factor, project manager, construction industry, profession, procurement decision, literature review, programme, interview, cluster analysis, decision-making, questionnaire |
| Subjects: | data collection methods, profession, business, institututions, data analysis and analytics, contractual arrangements, construction integration, project controls, data management, decision analysis, sociology, administrative law, industry analysis, procurement strategy |
| Topics: | Time Control, Organizational Design, Legal Issues, Digital Applications, Risk Management, Roles and Professions, Stakeholder Management, Procurement, Business Strategy, Research Practice |
| 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