Anagnostou, G (2008) Quality in the apartment building industry a case study in Greece. PhD thesis, University College London, UK.
Abstract
The construction industry has often been accused of providing low quality structures, mainly to increase financial profits. While in most European countries the picture has changed, and quality control and management systems are in place, in Greece, construction suffers from the lack of quality systems, especially in the apartment building industry. In the first part of the thesis, approaches of quality are reviewed, and their applicability to the construction industry is analysed. Furthermore, quality systems and total quality management in the construction industry are widely examined. The aim is to investigate the main reasons laying behind the poor quality structures in the Greek apartment building industry, and if the available quality control systems are applied, to monitor their contribution in quality of construction. In the second part, an outline of the Greek apartment building industry is described through a research on quality aspects, from the customers and construction firms' perspective. In addition, new construction techniques, building materials and quality standards are introduced, in order to improve the industry's picture. Finally, the future prospects of management systems and quality processes are recommended to customers and construction firms.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Index terms: | total quality management, management system, apartment building, construction firm, Greece, profit, quality standard, case study, building material, quality control, construction industry |
| Subjects: | building materials, project delivery, evaluation methods, data collection methods, industry analysis, management, economic analysis, construction type, organization, quality assurance, Geography |
| Topics: | Geographical Context, Quality Management, Construction Technology, Business Strategy, Research Practice, Organizational Design, Design Practice |
| 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