Denowitz, R M (1982) Industries and environments: A comparative study of housebuilding in two suburban areas. PhD thesis, University of Chicago, USA.
Abstract
The production and marketing of housing, more so than most other major products of American industry, are subject to local influences. In essence, the nationwide housing industry is a conglomeration of hundreds, maybe thousands, of local housing industries, each of which is tied to its own relatively unique environment. Yet, despite numerous volumes on housing and the nationwide industry as a whole, we have very limited knowledge about housebuilding at local levels. This prevents us from discerning whether specific differences exist between the structural characteristics of local industries. Similarly, we are unable to discern differential patterns of long-term change or stability in the ways in which local housebuilding activities are performed and organized, and the possible relationships between such differences and local patterns of suburban development. The research presented in this dissertation is intended to partially fill this void. It primarily focuses on housebuilding in two local markets, Long Island and the suburbs surrounding Chicago (Chicagoland). These case studies are used to explain how and why, in an age of industrial standardization, there has been no significant movement toward isomorphism in nationwide housebuilding--why no shared "one best way" of organizing and performing housebuilding activities has developed. Inter-local differences, with respect to builder composition and operational characteristics, are explained in terms of differences and changes, as well as obstacles to change, in the environmental and socio-cultural complexes within which local builders function. Data were gathered through participant observation of the Long Island housebuilding industry between 1968 and 1971, and through extensive interviews conducted in 1975-76 and 1978-80 with members of the Long Island and Chicagoland industries. This is supplemented with information from newspapers, magazines, trade journals, and limited circulation publications, as well as from previous studies of housebuilding and related functions.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | builder; case studies; housebuilding; marketing; markets; participant observation; standardization |
| Index terms: | standardization, markets, newspaper, stability, journal, circulation, observation, builder, housebuilding, movement, publication, dissertation, case study, suburban area, marketing, housing, interview, comparative study |
| Subjects: | economic analysis, business, construction integration, data collection methods, performance measurement, structural engineering, health behaviours and lifestyles, construction type, practitioner, sociology, research design and methodology, research dissemination and communication, urban design |
| Topics: | Roles and Professions, Engineering Principles, Construction Technology, Research Practice, Information Management, Business Strategy, Quality Management, Urban Studies |
| 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