Petersen, S H (2024) What happens when we see collaboration from different perspectives? A multi-perspective on micro-processes in large construction project organisations. In: Thomson, C (ed.) Proceedings of 40th Annual ARCOM Conference, 2-4 September 2024, London South Bank University, UK.
Abstract
Construction management research lacks individual-level analyses of what happens in practice in large construction projects, especially when basing collaboration on Lean principles. Despite the interest in predicting and controlling project processes, knowledge about the social complexity of Lean-structured projects is missing, just as the practical implications of Lean thinking on project collaboration is unexplored. To fill this gap and learn more about the implications of a Lean approach to construction project collaboration, this single-case ethnographic study of a large EUR 200 million renovation project brings to light important aspects of the social complexity affecting construction project collaboration. The study shows that although Lean fosters a degree of stability in a dynamic environment to the collaboration practices, complete control is not possible as multiple social aspects of project collaboration easily collide, deterring project progress. The study contributes to the project management research field seeing the project as a temporary organisation with a multi-theoretical metaphor approach and shows how the combination of metaphors will provide novel insights into construction project collaboration.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | ethnography; metaphor analysis; project management; research methods; temporary organisation |
| Index terms: | social aspect, stability, project management, temporary organization, management research, ethnography, large construction project, construction project, complexity, renovation, collaboration |
| Subjects: | research design and methodology, qualitative and interpretive research, structural engineering, sociology, organizational theory, project management theory and practice, production management, renovation and retrofit, management, systems engineering |
| Topics: | Project Management, Research Practice, Engineering Principles, 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