Kelly, S (2004) Making it work and making do: A study of best practice, computing and routine work in building firms. PhD thesis, Lancaster University, UK.
Abstract
Information technology (IT) has become synonymous with business success and organizational efficiency in advanced capitalist societies. This is also true in the UK construction industry where in recent years a government sponsored IT Construction Best Practice programme (ITCBP) has sought to promote an IT 'best practice' to small and medium sized building firms. This thesis is based on a qualitative study of how IT best practice guidance materials have been received and applied by twenty building firms in the North West of England. It questions the assumption that the introduction of computing (as one form of IT) will transform and improve organizational knowledge and practice, and argues for an alternative view that takes into account the embodied knowledge and skills of users who integrate computer hardware and software into everyday work routines. Unlike the rhetoric of the ITCBP programme that privileges managerial planning and strategy, the experience of computing in these firms is characterised by ad hoc decision making, situated practices and the limited involvement of management in the implementation and daily use of computing. 'Best practices' in this setting are local achievements in which computing plays a supporting role that allows other kinds of work to be done. The thesis explores the implications of this study for the future role of government sponsored 'best practice' programmes and the model of technological and organizational change that they promote.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | best practice; building firms; computing; decision making; government; information technology; skills; efficiency; organizational change; UK |
| Index terms: | organizational change, society, routine, strategy, programme, decision-making, computing, information technology, efficiency, England, qualitative study, best practice, privilege, hardware, building firm, implementation, construction industry |
| Subjects: | business, organization, research design and methodology, computing systems, computer hardware, contractual arrangements, management, performance management, Geography, project controls, sociology, decision analysis, communities and social development, industry analysis |
| Topics: | Stakeholder Management, Business Strategy, Research Practice, Organizational Design, Time Control, Digital Applications, Risk Management, Procurement, Geographical Context, Ethics, Quality Management |
| 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