Eisma, P and Volker, L (2014) Exploring the field of public construction clients by a graphical network analysis. In: Raiden, A and Aboagye-Nimo, E (eds.) Proceedings of 30th Annual ARCOM Conference, 1-3 September 2014, Portsmouth, UK.
Abstract
Because public construction clients form the majority of construction clients and procure over 40% of the construction output in most countries, they are important actors in the construction industry. Yet, the field of research on clients is still underdeveloped. In order to identify the research gaps in this field, a graphical network analysis of existing literature is performed. The analysis is based on a query executed in the scientific database Scopus resulting in around 3,300 publications. By connecting the papers and their references as nodes in a network, an overview is created of the most important topics as previously studies by academic scholars. Collaboration, innovation and sociology are the most studied subjects found. Research methods, public sector and project management are other issues that have attracted scholars to perform research on public clients. Most of the topics are, however, not limited to public clients and based on a relatively low number of specific contribution from the perspective of the public client itself, it can be concluded that especially the public aspect of the construction field is neglected. This opens up interesting opportunities for future research.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | graphical network analysis; public construction clients; research agenda; research theme identification |
| Index terms: | network analysis, research agenda, construction client, public sector, database, sociology, public construction, collaboration, construction output, project management, publication, construction industry, public client |
| Subjects: | practitioner, research dissemination and communication, data analysis and analytics, operations management, social theory, project management theory and practice, management, industry analysis, administrative law, data management, sociology, research management, building construction |
| Topics: | Information Management, Engineering Principles, Project Management, Research Practice, Roles and Professions, Stakeholder Management, Digital Applications, Legal Issues, Organizational Design |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
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