Khadour, L; Ramsay-Dawber, P and Morledge, R (2009) Case studies on the implementation of TQEM in the UK building contractors. In: Dainty, A R J (ed.) Proceedings of 25th Annual ARCOM Conference, 7-9 September 2009, Nottingham, UK.
Abstract
To reduce the substantial contribution of the built environment, contractors have to comply with the increasing number of environmental regulations. Recent interest in the subject has resulted in global research initiatives that aspire to provide an understanding on Environmental Management (EM) and Total Quality Management (TQM). Total Quality Environmental Management (TQEM) has emerged, in the manufacturing sector, from integrating strategic EM into TQM holistic approach. This paper is part of a research that investigates TQEM impact on contractors management, design, performance, and procurement. This paper presents three case studies on the impact of TQEM for contractors. The case companies are all main contractors, selected by local accessibility based on the assumption of a design-and-build procurement method. All the interviews, documentations analysis and site visits were carried out between October 2006 and March 2007 and were coded for analysis. The companies were categorised as two stars TQEM and three stars TQEM companies based on companies experience with separate initiatives associated with TQEM. Results from the cross case examination indicated that contractors in the study had approached TQEM without the help of any specific management framework, but they had implemented numerous quality and environmental initiatives on a slice by slice approach. Build-and-design procurement is recommended for controlling TQEM implementation and responsibilities among the design team, the construction team, the main contractor and the specialist subcontractors. It is suggested that TQEM needs to be supported by an implementation framework that considers the corporate-level TQEM (business and cultural aspects) and project-level TQEM (construction performance and procurement).
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | case study; contractor; implementation; tqem |
| Index terms: | interview, procurement method, accessibility, total quality management, main contractor, building contractor, case study, design team, construction performance, construction team, global research, documentation, holistic approach, built environment, environmental regulation, implementation, subcontractor, environmental management |
| Subjects: | project delivery, evaluation methods, performance assessment, professional practice, contractual arrangements, practitioner, business, data collection methods, infrastructure and transport systems, professional development, health safety and environment, inclusive design, sustainability assessment |
| Topics: | Quality Management, Urban Studies, Design Practice, Site Management, Information Management, Project Management, Research Practice, Health and Safety, Business Strategy, Sustainability, Procurement, 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