Ruan, X; Ochieng, E G; Price, A D and Egbu, C (2013) Time for a real shift to relations: Appraisal of social network analysis applications in the UK construction industry. Construction Economics and Building, 13(1), pp. 92-105. ISSN 2204-9029
Abstract
The Social Network Analysis (SNA) has been adopted in the UK construction management research and generated meaningful insights in analysing project management organisations from network perspectives. As an effective tool, social network analysis has been used to analyse information and knowledge flow between construction project teams which is considered as foundation for collaborative working and subsequently improving overall performance. Social network analysis is based on an assumption of the importance of relationships among interacting units. The social network perspective encompasses theories, models and applications that are expressed in terms of relational concepts or processes. Many believe, moreover, that the success or failure of organisations often depends on the patterning of their internal structure. This paper reviewed existing literatures on SNA applications in construction industry from three leading construction management journals. From the review, the research proposed some advance in the application of SNA in the construction industry.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction industry; integration; knowledge integration; project organisations; social network analysis |
| Index terms: | management research, construction project team, integration, project organization, journal, project management, knowledge flow, social network analysis, construction industry, knowledge integration, appraisal, social network |
| Subjects: | project delivery, knowledge management, industry analysis, sociology, organizational analysis, project management theory and practice, professional development, organizational theory, research design and methodology, research methods, factor and component analysis, research dissemination and communication |
| Topics: | Organizational Design, Information Management, Research Practice, Project Management |
| 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