Managing Change in Construction Projects A Knowledge-Based Approach

by Senaratne, Sepani; Sexton, Martin

• ISBN13: 9781444335156
• ISBN10: 1444335154
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-02-28
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

Managing Change in Construction Projectsoffers a new perspective on construction project change by viewing the process of change management as a knowledge-intensive activity, where team members bring their tacit and explicit knowledge into the situation; share, create and capture this collective knowledge for future re-use in similar situations.Through this knowledge-based approach, construction teams can successfully resolve and learn from change events, leading to an overall improved performance of the industry.The authors make a significant contribution to our understanding of construction project change by offering new theoretical and practical insights and models grounded in results of case studies conducted within two collaborative construction project team settings.By demonstrating how the social construction of knowledge works in construction settings, the authors challenge the prevailing change management solutions based on 'hard' IT approaches. The book offers guidance towards a balanced view that incorporates both IT-based and socially constructed approaches towards effective management of construction project change. helps construction managers improve the process of construction project change presents new theoretical models and offers practical guidelines first research-based book to directly address project change from a knowledge-based perspective draws on detailed studies with construction firms, including WS Atkins and Kier International encourages a move from the information driven, process integrated approach to a knowledge-based viewEssential reading for researchers in Construction Management and Knowledge Management, it will also be highly useful for senior managers, construction industry professionals and policy makers engaged in the management of project change events.

Author Biography

Sepani Senaratne, Senior Lecturer, Department of Building Economics, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka. Professor Martin Sexton, Director of Research, School of Construction Management and Engineering, University of Reading, UK.

Table of Contents

About the Authors	p. xi
Introduction	p. 1
Background	p. 1
Need for the Investigation	p. 3
Questions to Research	p. 5
Summary and Link	p. 5
Key Issues from the Literature	p. 7
Introduction	p. 7
Construction Project Environment	p. 8
Nature of construction	p. 8
Construction project team	p. 9
Movement towards collaborative team approaches	p. 10
Construction teamwork issues	p. 11
Construction Project Change Management	p. 13
Change management in general	p. 13
Nature of construction project change	p. 14
Managing project change as a problem-solving process	p. 15
Causes of construction project change	p. 17
Effects of construction project change	p. 18
Context of construction project change	p. 19
Construction project change management approaches	p. 20
Knowledge Management Perspective	p. 22
Evolution of knowledge-based theories	p. 22
Knowledge-based views in the construction literature	p. 24
Role of Knowledge During Reactive Change Process	p. 28
Properties of knowledge during reactive change process	p. 29
Intra-project knowledge creation via reactive change processes	p. 31
Inter-project knowledge transfer via reactive change process	p. 37
Towards a knowledge-Based Reactive Change Process	p. 41
Summary and Link	p. 44
Research Methodology	p. 47
Introduction	p. 47
Case Study Research Design	p. 47
Unit of analysis	p. 47
Case screening and selection	p. 48
Data Collection Process	p. 49
Selection of data collection techniques	p. 49
Interview structure	p. 50
Interview process	p. 52
Data Analysis Process	p. 52
Summary and Link	p. 52
Case Study Results	p. 53
Introduction	p. 53
Case Study: Project A	p. 53
Case study description	p. 53
Contextual factors of change	p. 54
Knowledge properties during change	p. 63
Knowledge identification and utilisation during change	p. 67
Intra-project knowledge creation during change	p. 69
Inter-project knowledge transfer via change	p. 78
Case Study: Project B	p. 83
Case study description	p. 83
Contextual factors of change	p. 84
Knowledge properties during change	p. 94
Knowledge identification and utilisation during change	p. 99
Intra-project knowledge creation during change	p. 100
Inter-project knowledge transfer via change	p. 109
Summary and Link	p. 114
Cross-Case Analysis	p. 117
Introduction	p. 117
Contextual Factors of Change: P1 Discussion	p. 117
Knowledge Properties During Change: P2 Discussion	p. 121
Knowledge Identification and Utilisation During Change: P3 Discussion	p. 123
Intra-Project Knowledge Creation During Change: P4 Discussion	p. 125
Inter-Project Knowledge Transfer During Change: P5 Discussion	p. 129
Summary and Link	p. 133
Conclusions	p. 135
Introduction	p. 135
Summary of Propositions	p. 135
Summary of Proposition P1	p. 136
Summary of Proposition P2	p. 137
Summary of Proposition P3	p. 138
Summary of Proposition P4	p. 138
Summary of Proposition P5	p. 139
Comment on the Conceptual Model	p. 139
Conclusions about the Overall Research Problem	p. 141
Implications for Theory	p. 144
Theory of knowledge-based reactive change process	p. 144
Implications for Practice	p. 148
Interview Guidelines	p. 151
Example of an Interview Transcript	p. 157
Comparison Between Propositions and Codes	p. 169
References	p. 173
Index	p. 183
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