Dzokoto, F K; Edum-Fotwe, F and Demian, P (2014) Conceptualising actors' information behaviour: An investigation into project information dynamics. In: Raiden, A and Aboagye-Nimo, E (eds.) Proceedings of 30th Annual ARCOM Conference, 1-3 September 2014, Portsmouth, UK.
Abstract
Research into information technology in construction has received considerable attention in recent years. However, information behaviour (IB) of actors' in the project environment can be undefined, unstructured and suboptimal. The way information is obtained and shared to support project design development, organisational management and site operational activities continue to change rapidly. Major problems that continue to affect actorsÕ performance are their exposure to different information sources and channels, unstructured Information Seeking Behaviour (ISB), and the large amount of time they spend sifting through these sources and channels to obtain context specific information just-in-time for use. Hence, this research uses comprehensive review of IB literature and interviews to investigate the information seeking activities of industry professionals in the project environment. It was found that project actors exhibited five distinct ISBs during the project delivery process which are presented and discussed with a conceptual framework to establish an agenda for future study into effective IB culture. The significance of this research is to investigate the current practices of actorsÕ ISBs in order to define strategies to help improve performance in information seeking, project design and delivery process.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | actors; information seeking behaviour; performance; project life cycle |
| Index terms: | dynamics, investigation, just-in-time, conceptual framework, exposure, project delivery, information technology, future study, interview, project design, life cycle, organizational management, strategy |
| Subjects: | systems engineering, lean logistics, public and environmental health, management, theoretical framing, project delivery, contractual arrangements, value management, computing systems, business, research design and methodology, data collection methods |
| Topics: | Supply Chain Management, Digital Applications, Organizational Design, Engineering Principles, Research Practice, Project Management, Health and Safety, Business Strategy, Procurement |
| 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