The impact of a design management training initiative on project performance

Over recent years there has been a significant drive away from traditional procurement routes where contractors find themselves with an increasing responsibility for the control of the design - a process they have had little experience in managing. Yet this is an area of significant opportunity for those contractors who can adapt quickly and effectively to the changing construction market. However, many current processes are insufficient to manage today’s demanding and fast moving projects. The paper reflects on the deployment of a design management training initiative to improve performance in a major UK civil and building design and construction company. It investigates the impact of the training initiative, critical practices and a suite of 25 tools on design management performance across the company. It highlights benefits delivered by the initiative as well as the practices and tools crucial to successful design management. The paper also explores the range, significance and hierarchy of implementation barriers that affect the success of design management practices and reports on strategies that have been used on a case study project to overcome such barriers. The paper is likely to be of interest to those involved in design management and the development of tools and practices to help the industry improve design management performance

Delivering learning and tools to improve design management in practice

Difficulties in managing the construction design process are preventing the UK construction industry from delivering projects on time, to budget and to the specified quality. The paper reports on a research project being undertaken at a major UK civil and building design and construction company to develop and deploy a training initiative capable of making significant improvements to its design management performance and deliver benefits to many project stakeholders. It describes the development, content and deployment of training material and a suite of twenty-five design management tools to drive change throughout the organisation. The paper is likely to be of interest to those involved in design management and the development of tools and practices to help the industry improve design management performance

Defining an improvement plan to address design management practices within a UK construction company

A UK based design and construction civil and building engineering company is trying to improve its design management practices. It has entered into a partnership with Loughborough University and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) to develop and deploy design management tools capable of making significant improvements to its design management performance. Before suitable tools could be identified it was necessary to understand current practices within the organisation. This paper describes the methodology, results and conclusions of this initial study. The results and conclusions discuss current design management practices within the company, identify areas where improvement is necessary and suggests a research scope capable of driving change throughout the company. This paper is likely to be of interest to those involved in design management and the development of tools and practices to help the industry improve design management performance