Murray, M (2003) Building perceptions with metaphors: A study of the communication and decision making behaviour of construction professionals within projects. PhD thesis, University of Strathclyde, UK.
Abstract
This research project examines the communication and decision-making behaviour of six elite actors (Architect, Main Contractor, Project Quantity Surveyor, Project Manager, Structural Engineer & Mechanical & Electrical Engineer) on eleven projects as a means to uncover the actual roles and responsibilities undertaken by each professional. Thus, the communication and decision-making behaviour acts as a surrogate measure of each project organisational structure. The methodological assumptions adopted in the research are phenomenological in nature and as such the data collection has been qualitative with the intention of gaining an interpretative grasp of the elite actors actions. Such actions (roles & responsibilities) are defined using metaphors derived from the game of football. The conclusions from this research show that construction projects continue to be characterised by ill-defined responsibilities. The professionals in this study had significant differences of opinion as to the communication and decision-making behaviour that evolved. The actors were either overly enthusiastic of their involvement (selfish strikers) or considered to have had a low involvement (always the substitute). The research reveals only a small number of professional acting in a quasi-leadership role (team captain) and no actors were considered to have been underestimating their involvement (dour defender).
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | architect; communication; decision making; leadership; organisational structure; professional; project manager; project organisational structure; quantity surveyor; structural engineer |
| Index terms: | structural engineer, construction project, leadership role, decision-making, project organizational structure, organizational structure, construction professional, architect, quantity surveying, main contractor, electrical engineer, project manager |
| Subjects: | profession, professional development, organizational analysis, decision analysis, sociology, practitioner, production management, leadership |
| Topics: | Risk Management, Project Management, Roles and Professions, Information Management, Organizational Design, Human Resources |
| Descriptive scope: | 2 PC |
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