Edum-Fotwe, F T; Thorpe, A and McCaffer, R (2000) Assessing potential of on-line transaction for information as a resource in the construction process. Journal of Construction Procurement, 6(2), ISSN 1358-9180
Abstract
This paper presents a survey on the practices associated with the use information by a sample of professionals within the construction industry. From the early 1990s the role of information in the construction process has witnessed a shift from its passive supportive role in decision-making to a strategic resource that drives both the processes and competitiveness of organisations. This changing trend will continue into the future and present a situation whereby construction and engineering project companies will be required continually to increase their overall effectiveness, level of co-operation, flexibility and response time to the customer. At the same time there will be the need to meet increasing demands of competition and innovation for their processes and the industry's products. To attain such flexibility, this paper calls for construction to view information as a resource. The availability of on-line access to information as a resource required for the operation of such companies and the industry's processes should enable construction and engineering companies to better adapt to this pace of change. Adopting on-line options for managing construction as a resource will have to overcome current paper-based practices, attitudes and fears.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | information, resource, procurement, on-line |
| Index terms: | survey, competition, construction process, decision-making, strategic resource, option, access to information, construction industry, competitiveness, effectiveness |
| Subjects: | building construction, market analysis, social equity, decision analysis, industry analysis, economics, performance management, data collection methods |
| Topics: | Risk Management, Quality Management, Ethics, Research Practice, Site Management, Organizational Design |
| 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