Holley, P W (2016) Learning styles and preferences of field managers in U.S. non-residential construction. PhD thesis, Auburn University, USA.
Abstract
Construction is the largest U.S. industry, in which there are many current trends in the adoption of new project delivery strategies, management practices, and complex applications of information technology. As part of the management team on construction sites, superintendents are looked upon to provide leadership in the means and methods during construction, often taking responsibility for the coordination of labor, materials, equipment, and others resources. Many of these individuals are in the Baby Boomer generation and will soon retire, requiring construction firms to replace them with members of Generations X and Y. This shift will require consideration of properly training for and managing the dynamically changing advancements and technology in the industry.To accomplish this, construction firms could benefit from a better understanding of the learning styles and preferences of the managerial workforce, so that continuing education and training can be optimally developed and delivered. This study investigated those preferences, targeting current superintendents, assistant superintendents, foremen, and related field managers of commercial construction firms in the southeastern U.S., whose representative employers were of size. Voluntary anonymous responses provided data for analysis to determine by what learning styles they prefer, and also for analysis based on independent variables of age, frequency of training, and level of education.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Witte, J E; Witte, M M; DiRamio, D C and Cordie, L A |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | coordination; education; workforce; construction firms; equipment; information technology; leadership; learning; project delivery; training; construction site; employer |
| Index terms: | management practice, information technology, preference, manager, construction firm, strategy, learning style, construction site, continuing education, residential construction, project delivery, coordination, independent variable, commercial construction |
| Subjects: | organization, construction type, practitioner, decision-making and reasoning, computing systems, learning methods, work location, project delivery, construction integration, management, professional development, statistical analysis |
| Topics: | Procurement, Education, Roles and Professions, Construction Technology, Business Strategy, Research Practice, Site Management, Organizational Design, Digital Applications |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCA |
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