Gunning, J G (2008) Towards a more playful approach to construction management. In: Dainty, A (ed.) Proceedings of 24th Annual ARCOM Conference, 1-3 September 2008, Cardiff, UK.
Abstract
The author argues that applying some of the philosophy and practices of play to construction management would enhance creativity, humour and job satisfaction at work, leading to more successful projects. The paper promotes the concept of a play society, emphasising living creatively and rearranging economic and social aspects of life to support this. It sees a playful approach as bridging the gap between results-driven management and meaning-driven employees in the world of construction. Project development may be viewed as a game (with clearly defined rules) rather than as merely a set of procedures to be followed rigorously. The play analogy of the construction process is appropriate in that it has specific rules (i.e. conditions of contract and relevant regulations) and objectives to be achieved in terms of completion to time, cost and quality targets. The concept of a "Catholic" Play Ethic is proposed as a counterpoint to Weber's Protestant Work Ethic. The Work Ethic has been described as a tough adversary because it represents the spirit of capitalism. This is useful to the governing classes of early twenty-first century market democracies because it has the time-honoured effect of imposing social order. The current UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown is a foremost advocate of this approach to industrial activity, following in the footsteps of the likes of Thomas Carlyle, John Calvin and St Paul. The author presents his personal views on how the construction industry might benefit from a more playful approach to its core business whilst enhancing relationships with its clients. The broad thesis is that the ideal machine bureaucracy is ill-suited to the rather chaotic (in the true sense of the word) realm of a construction project. It is suggested that the application of a more playful ethos to the serious business of construction management should cope better than the present approach, given the inevitable challenges and obstacles encountered during the evolution of a project.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction; culture; ethic; play |
| Index terms: | construction project, evolution, construction process, regulation, project development, construction industry, social aspect, core busines, creativity, society, meaning, job satisfaction, philosophy |
| Subjects: | environmental science, project delivery, business, building construction, sociology, communities and social development, philosophical studies, industry analysis, political science, innovation and creative processes, management, production management |
| Topics: | Stakeholder Management, Sustainability, Governance, Research Practice, Project Management, Organizational Design, Site Management, Design Practice, Human Resources |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCT |
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