Koutsikouri, D (2010) Individual and collective success: the social dynamics of multidisciplinary design teamwork. EngD thesis, Loughborough University, UK.
Abstract
Effective team working across disciplines is essential to solve the technological and managerial problems associated with construction projects. However, while it is widely accepted that this method of working is critical to the achievement organisational goals, it is a poorly understood process. Generic best practice recipes on how to improve team work in collaborative projects appears to have had limited impact on performance. Unless the realities of implementing and managing such joint endeavours are conceptualised and articulated in a manner that reflects the actual processes and patterns of behaviour, multi-disciplinary team working will remain a poorly understood working model. The goal of this work was to develop a conceptual framework that visualises the real success factors of multi-disciplinary working so that practitioners can apply a new understanding of predictable processes and patterns of behaviours to improve collaborative project outcomes. To achieve this, the project started with an exploration of critical success factors in multi-disciplinary design projects, encompassing extensive interviewing, workshops and a survey followed by a grounded theory (GT) study of collaborative working in six multi-disciplinary design projects. The switch to GT methodology offered possibilities to further probe into the dynamics of multi-disciplinary team working from the perspective of the team members. The findings show that team working in multi-disciplinary design projects can be explained through the social process of informalising. Informalising refers to the strategies practitioners use to cope with the multiple pressures and unforeseen demands that pervade the collaborative design environments. It portrays the relevance of managing of expectations and value-judging to remain effective and efficient in the face of change and uncertainty. These are critical factors that influence the project trajectory and experience of those involved. Alongside these results the work also demonstrates the importance of so called super soft factors such as shared values, creativity and innovation and passion and enthusiasm to achieve positive project outcomes. Overall, recognising that the process of informalising forms an essential part of cultivating collaboration, and hence getting the work done, more attention should be given to understand such activity in today s turbulent and transient project organisations. Knowledge and understanding of this form of emergent and improvisational strategy may enable managers to predict and control patterns of behaviour inherent in the management of collaborative design projects, and positively influence project outcomes in terms of perceived value and profit.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | grounded theory; best practice; construction project; multi-disciplinary; performance; interview; workshops; critical success factor |
| Index terms: | collaborative project, dynamics, social process, best practice, workshop, creativity, teamwork, critical factor, project outcome, grounded theory, practitioner, collaboration, construction project, methodology, exploration, collaborative design, conceptual framework, critical success factor, shared value, interview, manager, profit, project organization, survey, success factor, strategy, face |
| Subjects: | communities and social development, innovation and creative processes, systems engineering, theoretical framing, management, research methods, production management, organizational theory, psychology, environmental resource management, contractual arrangements, economic analysis, health monitoring assessment and metrics, data collection methods, risk assessment, construction type, business, project completion, equitable outcomes, practitioner, design methods, control systems |
| Topics: | Value Management, Risk Management, Sustainability, Procurement, Health and Safety, Engineering Principles, Project Management, Organizational Design, Design Practice, Roles and Professions, Stakeholder Management, Construction Technology, 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