Comparing the effectiveness of face to face and computer mediated collaboration in design

Construction projects are complex and organisationally characterised by a high degree of fragmentation. This results in a need for clear communication and collaboration between the project participants in order to ensure the success of a project. Advances in communication technologies have enabled construction project members to supplement face to face (FTF) communication with methods based on computer mediated communication (CMC). The latter has reduced the need for travelling and hence results in savings in aspects, such as cost and time. One aspect of this CMC based communication is the emergence of modern design software which, together with other communication tools enables designers to undertake collaborative design while being geographically remote from one another. The research in this thesis compares the effectiveness of FTF and CMC based collaboration for teams of two people at the design stage of a construction project. The comparison deals with many points that have been not addressed in previous studies and the analysis leads to the conclusion that CMC results in a more effective process than FTF in many aspects. For productivity, the results of this research reveal that team productivity for CMC is higher than for FTF and intriguingly further results show that the productivity score of two people collaborating is higher than for a single designer. Better time management has been found to occur with CMC than FTF. This research found a method of measuring degree of collaboration between users in a team, as well as the results prove that the degree of collaboration in CMC better than FTF. In terms of design quality, the results show that the design quality for FTF is nearly equal to that for CMC. Other aspects of this research examine the relationship between non-verbal and verbal communication as well as between non-verbal communication and team productivity plus the impact of emotional factors on productivity and quality is also examined

Exploring the Designer-Constructor Teamwork Interface to improve Collaboration: A review of current literature

The construction industry has been criticised over several decades for functioning and producing output with low levels of productivity when compared to other manufacturing-based industries. One possible solution to improve productivity is the adoption of collaborative working practices by project teams, particularly designers and constructors during the design phase. Arguments in support of the need to manage the design process effectively during a construction project are well documented. Issues such as providing the client with a sustainable, affordable, quality design that adds value to their business needs, requires attention. Managing the interpersonal interface between designers and constructors during the design phase is a vital requirement of design management practice. Design management is a discipline that requires a thorough understanding of the nature and culture of the different professionals to improve the social behaviours and performance of teams, which in turn may improve project outcomes and thus industrial productivity. The current study, which is part of an ongoing project, presents the position of the design management literature focused on the interpersonal behaviour between designers and constructors. Following a strategically focused review of the extant literature, current themes relevant to Teamwork Quality (TWQ), specific to the designer-constructor interface, are presented. The findings confirm the presence of 14 articles that explore collaborative teamwork behaviour between designers and constructors and that survey methods dominate publications in this area. Few studies capture the power of space and place by observing ‘live' industry practice, particularly from a longitudinal perspective. Recommendations include the identification of research themes worthy of future exploration that may assist in teamwork performance concerning productivity. An increase in the use of alternative methodological approaches such as ethnographic and action research is also justified and discussed

An Empirical Analysis of BIM Implementation in the Nigerian Construction Industry: Preliminary Results

Building information modelling (BIM) is one of the most promising recent developments in architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry. The benefits that BIM offers to construction are limitless, but then, the adoption is not happening at the pace desired in some countries. In Nigeria, the BIM adoption has been much slower than anticipated in the AEC industry. The benefits and capabilities of BIM has not been fully explored due to some factors. This paper presents findings from an industry-wide questionnaire survey that was carried out in the in the spring of 2018. The study provides an insight into BIM adoption in the Nigerian AEC industry by exploring the factors that affect (barriers) its adoption, as seen by various participants in the AEC industry. The result revealed that all criteria were considered important, with “lack of awareness”, “Lack of trained professionals to manage BIM innovation”, and “Cost of BIM software” the three top criteria that affect BIM adoption. Factor analysis aggregated the criteria into six factors namely: “management”, “financial”, “psychological”, “performance”, “process”, and “governmental”.  The findings of the study is expected to provide useful information for the AEC community by advancing their understanding of the factors that affect the adoption of BIM technology and proffer solutions to its usage. Keywords: Adoption, AEC, Barriers, BIM, Factors, Nigeria DOI: 10.7176/CER/15-2-03 Publication date:June 30th 2023

Barriers of Adoption Building Information Modeling (BIM) in Construction Projects of Iraq

Building Information Modeling (BIM) is a unified and comprehensive system for all that associated with the construction project, which includes a set of effective policies, procedures, and computer applications that increase the level of performance in construction project during its life cycle. Through this study investigate about the potential barriers which facing the adoption of BIM was performed. The quantitative approach was adopted by conducting a questionnaire directed to professionals in the field of construction projects in the public and private sectors. Three hundred copies of the forms were distributed to the private companies and governmental institutions and departments. The data were subjected to the appropriate statistical analysis and the results showed that the three highest potential barriers of using BIM in Iraq are a weakness of the government's efforts, Poor knowledge about the benefits of BIM, and resistance to change

Building Information Modelling (BIM) Applications in the Construction Sector to Improve Project Planning Facilities

Project systems are essential to the success of a construction project since they provide models and techniques recommended for construction planning. Performance is the most important part of the planning process. Despite the fact that the construction industry has traditionally been afflicted by insufficient planning and overdependence on tradition integrated planning, building information modelling (BIM) technology has frequently in recent years been proposed to increase the effectiveness of project performance in construction planning facilities. The practical goal of this research is to apply of BIM to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of structural planning. A quantitative questionnaire was used to summarise the benefits and capabilities of these technological advances in the field of construction planning. As a result, the questionnaire was constructed based on prior research that dealt with positive benefits, and topics were generated in the research areas of cost, time, communications, conflicts, documentation, and other key indicators in the design phase and feasibility studies. The results were calculated from the relative means of the questionnaire filled for this purpose, and the average rate was 0.816 percent, reflecting the importance of this technique. Hence, the relative importance of structural planning will be relatively high due to its effectiveness in the built environment

Synchronous Communication And Its Effects On The Collaboration Of Professional Workplace Employees Engaged In A Problem Activity

ABSTRACT SYNCHRONOUS COMMUNICATION AND ITS EFFECTS ON THE COLLABORATION OF PROFESSIONAL WORKPLACE EMPLOYEES ENGAGED IN A PROBLEM ACTIVITY by MICHELE R. ROCHESTER December 2017 Advisor: Dr. Monica W. Tracey Major: Learning & Design Technology Degree: Doctor of Philosophy Asynchronous communication may have a profound impact on employee collaboration and productivity in the workplace due to the loss of face-to-face interaction and the relationships these opportunities may foster. However, as broadly defined within the literature, synchronous communication is a rich media that supports this type of collaboration and social interaction. Synchronous communication methods that encourage collaboration lead to deeper level learning, critical thinking, shared understanding, and long-term retention of the learned material (Krejins et al., 2003). Schroder et al. (2011) described the benefits of collaboration to professional organizations as they relate to the interprofessional collaborative practice on healthcare. The authors described collaboration as a key factor in better patient and provider outcomes: “This approach to healthcare has been found to reduce errors, improve quality of care and patient outcomes, reduce healthcare workloads and cost, and increase job satisfaction and retention” (Schroder et al., 2011, p. 189). The research for this study described the importance of collaboration and social interaction and the various benefits they provide, such as deeper-level learning, long-term retention of learned material, positive attitudes, group cohesion, interaction and inclusion, engagement, and learning that is actively created by the learners. In the business world, the need for effective collaboration exists as organizations seek to provide professionals with opportunities to engage in the practice of problem activities in an effort to improve efficiency and productivity in the workplace. This study, supportive of the literature, suggests that collaboration encourages interactions that make overall positive contributions to learning and the learner experience (Curtis and Lawson, 2007; Rovai, 2002; Rovai, 2007; Gunawerdena et al, 1995; Walther, 1996; Dawson, 2006; Krejins, 2002; Krejins, 2003). This literature employed for this study is synthesized into the following themes that describe actions and behaviors supportive of collaboration and social interaction: verbal communication; non-verbal communication; sense of community; contributing; planning; and participant perspective. These literature themes are then measured using a customer observation tool, Rovai’s Classroom Community Scale (2007) as a questionnaire, post-activity participant interviews, and a researcher’s journal

E-leadership in Practice: The Components of Transformational Leadership in Virtual Business Environments

Today more and more organizations increasingly conduct business using globally distributed teams, also called virtual teams, because of the availability and ubiquity of information and communication technology. E-leadership refers to leading through computer-mediated communication. In the field of e-leadership, transformational leadership has been studied for the past two decades and has been the most-often-cited leadership theory. The literature review discusses how transformational leadership behaviors affect team performance in the context of virtuality, in particular interpersonal trust and organizational commitment of the virtual team members. The researcher conducted a quantitative research study to examine (a) the relationships between transformational leadership and interpersonal trust and organizational commitment of virtual team members, (b) the impacts of the four constructs of transformational leadership via computer-mediated communication, and (c) the moderating effect of the degree of virtuality on such relationships. Study results indicate that transformational leadership behaviors positively affected interpersonal trust and organizational commitment of virtual team members. Among its four constructs, one particular construct—individualized consideration—had a more prominent role. Variety of practices moderated the relationship between transformational leadership and interpersonal trust. Practical implications and future research directions in the emerging field of transformational e-leadership are discussed. Future research directions are suggested

A novel systematic method to evaluate computer supported collaborative design technologies

Selection of suitable computer-supported collaborative design (CSCD) technologies is crucial to facilitate successful projects. This paper presents the first systematic method for engineering design teams to evaluate and select the most suitable CSCD technologies comparing technology functionality and project requirements established in peer-reviewed literature. The paper first presents 220 factors that influence successful CSCD. These factors were then systematically mapped and categorised to create CSCD requirement statements. The novel evaluation and selection method incorporates these requirement statements within a matrix and develops a discourse analysis text processing algorithm with data from collaborative projects to automate the population of how technologies impact the success of CSCD in engineering design teams. This method was validated using data collected across 3 years of a student global design project. The impact of this method is the potential to change the way engineering design teams consider the technology they use and how the selection of appropriate tools impacts the success of their CSCD projects. The development of the CSCD evaluation matrix is the first of its kind enabling a systematic and justifiable comparison and technology selection, with the aim of best supporting the engineering designers collaborative design activity

Percepção háptica no design colaborativo síncrono mediado pelo computador

Orientador: Prof. dr. Adriano HeemannDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal do Parana, Setor de Artes, Comunicação e Design, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Design. Defesa: Curitiba, 20/02/2014Inclui referênciasÁrea de concentração : Design gráfico e de produtoResumo: Inserido no tema "Design Colaborativo", esta pesquisa investiga a importância da percepção háptica em sistemas colaborativos remotos síncronos. A pesquisa compreende a emergente necessidade de colaboração remota com times multidisciplinares para o alcance de resultados efetivos em projetos, na qual os ambientes virtuais colaborativos parecem uma aposta promissora ao design colaborativo. Neste cenário, o toque que é um componente essencial ao design de produto poderá ser quesito básico para a prática projetual virtual futura. Deste modo, delimitou-se o problema da presente pesquisa pelo seguinte questionamento: qual o papel da modalidade sensorial tato-pressão, estimulada por dispositivos hápticos, no design colaborativo síncrono mediado pelo computador? A investigação técnica desta pesquisa foi executada com o uso metodológico de duas referências: uma revisão teórica-empírica, na qual utilizou-se do modelo estruturado de revisão bibliográfica RBS que é composto por uma revisão bibliográfica de documentos relevantes aos temas pesquisados: Colaboração, Ambientes Virtuais, Informação e Percepção, e Háptica; e uma pesquisa com a aplicação do método Delphi adaptado com as analogias da Sinética. O discurso obtido através destes métodos foi o articulador das conclusões desta pesquisa. Como objetivo geral esta pesquisa buscou determinar o papel da modalidade sensorial tatopressão, estimulada por dispositivos hápticos, no design colaborativo síncrono mediado pelo computador. O produto final que estabelece tal determinação é composto por um mapeamento de características e propostas de pesquisa e aprimoramento do design colaborativo síncrono mediado pelo computador apoiado por dispositivos hápticos. Dentre as conclusões observou-se que a háptica no desenvolvimento colaborativo ainda é um estudo incipiente que demanda avanços em tecnologia e pesquisa. Embora, seja uma prática em estágio inicial de desenvolvimento existe uma grande prospectiva de seu uso em sistemas futuros de desenvolvimento remoto.Abstract: Inserted on the theme "Collaborative Design", this research investigates the importance of haptic perception in synchronous remote collaborative systems. The research comprises the emerging need for remote collaboration with multidisciplinary teams to achieve tangible results in projects in which the collaborative virtual environments seem to be a promising bet to collaborative design. In this scenario, the touch which is an essential component to the product design can be a basic need for the future virtual design practice. Thereby the problem of this research is delimited by the following question: what is the role of sensory modality touch-pressure, stimulated by haptic devices in synchronous computer-mediated collaborative design? The technical investigation of this research was performed with the methodological use of two references: a theoretical and empirical review, in which was used a structured literature review RBS model that consists of a literature review of relevant documents to the topics surveyed: Collaboration, Virtual Environments, Information and Awareness and Haptics, and a research with the application of the Delphi method adapted with the analogies of Sinetica. The discourse obtained by these methods was the articulator for the conclusions of this research. As the main objective this study sought to determine the role of sensory modality touchpressure, stimulated by haptic devices in synchronous computer-mediated collaborative design. The final product that establishes this determination is made by a mapping features and proposals for research and improvement of synchronous computer-mediated collaborative design supported by haptic devices. Among the findings it was observed that the haptic collaborative development is still in an incipient study that demand advances in technology and research. Although, it is a practice in early stage of development there is a great prospect of its use in future systems for remote development