Baldwin, A N and McCaffer, R (2000) Identifying research requirements for collaborative design. Journal of Construction Procurement, 6(1), pp. 56-66. ISSN 1358-9180
Abstract
Concurrent engineering places great emphasis on input to the design process from all those involved with the product. This requires traditional approaches to the design process to be replaced by a co-ordinated collaborative approach. The construction industry lags behind other industries in this approach to the design of their products. Other industries are more customer focused and more advanced in their practices for identifying client/customer requirements. They also require representatives from design production and maintenance functions to participate in the design process. Product design is carefully managed to ensure all relevant parties have the information they require to complete their work at the optimum time to minimise the 'time to market'. Construction industry experts, both academics and practitioners, attended a two day workshop together with experts from other industries to discuss a new approach to design for construction. Debate was generated through: the presentation of individual papers; an 'electric forum' whereby the attendees could comment anonymously on the issues raised; and by discussion in both an open forum and syndicate groups. Opportunities, issues and initiatives were discussed. The debate was managed by a professional facilitator. The focus of the discussion centred on three themes that emerged: briefing, quality and the management of change. The experts identified the application of focus group methods to construction and the study of client entry points to the briefing process as the priority areas for research into the briefing process. Strategies for introducing change into the design process and informed assessment of the design construction and operational process were considered the most important research areas for the management of change and improved quality of the construction product.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | design, collaborative working, client requirements, focus groups |
| Index terms: | construction product, briefing, collaborative design, practitioner, management of change, strategy, design process, product design, focus group, construction industry, client requirements, concurrent engineering, facilitator, workshop |
| Subjects: | engineering methods, management, professional development, industry analysis, data collection methods, design methods, construction type, practitioner, scope management, economic analysis, innovation and technology management |
| Topics: | Project Management, Engineering Principles, Design Practice, Organizational Design, Research Practice, Information Management, Business Strategy, Construction Technology, Roles and Professions |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTE |
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