Sherratt, F; Ivory, C; Sherratt, S and Crawley, S (2022) Organizing construction work: A digital and cooperative way forwards for micro-projects. Building Research & Information, 50(5), pp. 559-573. ISSN 0961-3218
Abstract
The Digital Construction Cooperative, or DigiConCo-Op, is a digital 'virtual main contractor' platform, able to support the collaboration of local micro-SMEs and SMEs (MSMEs) in the delivery of micro-projects. The design of the platform reflects and is intended to instantiate the theory and practice of cooperativism. Cooperativism is an organizational, economic and contractual model which assumes that humans work best when working together collaboratively and in contexts were they share ownership of the enterprise at hand. In Cooperatives, management responsibilities, profits and risks are fully shared between those doing the work. Following the theoretical detailing of the DigiConCo-Op platform, its fit with practice is explored through interviews with n = 25 MSMEs as to the potential benefits and challenges these future users perceived within the platform, and cooperative working generally. Findings show that there is an appetite for construction cooperatives among construction MSMEs, and for supporting digital technology, but also a concern for how responsibility and risk are shared in practice, and whether membership can be open without some form of pre-existing personal relationship.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | cooperation; cooperatives; digitization; organization; SMEs |
| Index terms: | main contractor, platform, digital construction, construction work, ownership, interview, profit, collaboration, digital technology, cooperation |
| Subjects: | information systems, digital design, management, economics, economic analysis, psychology, operations management, practitioner, computing systems, data collection methods |
| Topics: | Digital Applications, Organizational Design, Business Strategy, Project Management, Research Practice, Roles and Professions |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCE |
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