Hulett, D A (2001) The disintegration and reintegration of building contractors' management systems. PhD thesis, University of Salford, UK.
Abstract
This study examines the progress of building contractors towards documentation and integration of formal management systems for quality, health and safety and the environment. One main hypothesis and three sub-hypotheses are generated as a result of the literature review and are tested. The research methodology employed to test the hypotheses involves three stages: (1) Postal Survey. The sample selected is surveyed through a postal questionnaire. The results of the survey allow individual organisations to be placed on the Model of Route to IMS. (2) Interviews. Individual organisations are selected from the survey results and representatives are interviewed to determine how and why they had adopted their chosen approach to formal management systems. The experiences gained by the organisations are discussed. (3) Cross Case Analyses. Different approaches to formal management systems are compared. Common approaches and examples of apparent good practice are investigated. The study concludes that: The majority of building contractors disintegrate their informal management systems to create separate formal systems. They then integrate the separate formal systems into one formal integrated management system. Approximately half of the smaller building contractors have not yet started to create formal documented management systems at all. Size and financial status of building contractors influences the approach taken to formal management systems, but geographic location of the organisations does not influence the approach. Two theoretical models and practical advice for building contractors intending to document and/or integrate formal management systems are developed from the study.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | building contract; documentation; health and safety; integration; safety; contractor; interview |
| Index terms: | integration, questionnaire, literature review, documentation, survey, interview, management system, health and safety, disintegration, research methodology, good practice, building contract, building contractor |
| Subjects: | organizational analysis, management, performance measurement, health safety and environment, professional development, data analysis and analytics, material degradation and durability, data collection methods, contract type, research design and methodology, practitioner |
| Topics: | Quality Management, Health and Safety, Procurement, Organizational Design, Research Practice, Information Management, Construction Materials, Roles and Professions |
| 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