Micelli, E (2000) Mobilizing the skills of specialist firms to reduce costs and enhance performance in the European construction industry: Two case studies. Construction Management and Economics, 18(6), pp. 651-656. ISSN 01446193
Abstract
Analyses are made of procurement strategies capable of leading to cost reduction and higher quality through the contribution of specialized firms. An exploration is made of the literature concerning the procurement of manufactured goods and progress by analysing two case studies: the East Bridge of the Storebælt link and the Grand Canal Maritime bridge. Both these projects adopted procurement systems that led to a learning process capable of enhancing performance and reducing overall costs. It is evident that the success of learning-oriented procurement strategies relies on two major conditions. First, the client’s tender must be issued with an open design demanding an active contribution from the firms involved in the construction process. Second, the firms bidding for the job must be able to manage two distinct sets of skills: the technical skills relating to a specific production process and the ability to connect these skills to the client’s needs through a co-design process, or what is known as the strategic intermediation function.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | bridge construction; Denmark; France; Italy; procurement strategies; small and medium enterprises; steel fabrication |
| Index terms: | technical skill, design process, France, canal, production process, Italy, construction process, exploration, cost reduction, bidding, Denmark, bridge construction, case study, procurement strategy, procurement system, fabrication, construction industry |
| Subjects: | data collection methods, design methods, environmental resource management, bidding, contractual arrangements, manufacturing engineering, economics, Geography, professional development, infrastructure engineering, building construction, industry analysis, infrastructure and transport systems |
| Topics: | Cost Management, Geographical Context, Research Practice, Information Management, Engineering Principles, Procurement, Sustainability, Design Practice, Site Management |
| 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