Good practices in virtual leadership – the e-3cs rule (communication, trust and coordination)

Studies conducted under a doctorate programme, aiming at designing a Skills and Good Practices Model in e-leadership, clearly identified, from literature review, eDelphi study and further analysis of the results obtained from an interview Focus Group, a set of items linked to e-Leaders specific skills and good practices required in the process of collaborative learning within virtual teams ( e- Teams): “ 11 – Effective e-leader communication”, “ 5 - e-leader skills to building trust”, “12- Operating coordination of the Virtual Team”; and “4 – E-leader behaviours to promote effectiveness”. Since these items are considered of utmost importance in the e-Delphi study and in the Focus Group, they validate the areas of the Skill Model MOODO COMPETE E-LEADER, namely the Operational Coordination, Training and Education, Architecture and Technological Infrastructures. For each of these areas a set of guidelines is presented that provide the e-Leader a series of good practices that facilitate the making of a Global Environment, Virtual, to build High Levels of Trust within the e-Team and the spread of the Creation and Sharing of Knowledge. This environment must be supported by an appropriate structure of empowered leadership. The article show also a model for understanding the specific skills and characteristics of e-leadership in Learning Management Systems (LMS), used for implementation of virtual teams. A framework was done, to identify skills and characteristics of the e-leaders, based on the review of literature about the e-leadership paradigm and its relationship with the virtual teams

Competency-driven benefits realization model for minimization of post-contract transaction costs in design-build (d&b) delivery systems

The construction industry has been struggling with the issue of inconsistent performance with respect to cost of projects, completion time and the delivery of a quality product. In an attempt to address this issue the Design-Build (D&B) project delivery system was initiated primarily to overcome the shortcomings of the traditional procurement strategies. Although, traditionally D&B delivery system was aimed to greatly enhance client‘s benefits, this has not significantly been achieved. It lacks clear benefits realization management process to deliver the planned client‘s benefits. In particular, the Transaction Costs (TCs) incurred at the post-contract phase (PTCs) through D&B system has been the subject of criticism, wherein it has been unable to achieve the expected resounding success of a total shift away from the issues attributed to the traditional systems. This research aims to establish the importance of leveraging on D&B project team-competency and commitment structured within a strategic Benefits Realization Management framework to optimize client‘s benefits in terms of minimizing PTCs. The focus is on the aspect of competencies of key project participants and their project team commitment with respect to minimizing TCs that is structured within a Benefits Realization Management (BRM) practice. Questionnaire survey data was obtained from 231 respondents out of 357 administered questionnaires to G7 contractors registered under CIDB Malaysia that was based on a systematic sampling of the existing CIDB contractor database. The partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) technique was used to test the relationships being hypothesized and to validate and confirm the developed Competency Driven Benefits Realization Model (CD-BREM). Exploratory preliminary research findings reveal that post-contract TCs for D&B projects range from 3.5% to 13.5% of the project value. The primary research findings reveal that D&B team commitment has partial mediating effect between team competency and post-contract TCs. Whilst, BRM was found to have a partial mediating effect between team competency and post-contract TCs and no moderating effect as initially hypothesized. In general the research findings indicate that team competency, commitment and BRM have significant positive influences on post-contract TCs. This research provides a multi-dimensional perspective of the D&B project benefits realization concept and has the potential to address the issue of minimizing PTCs, which is seen as a social waste of wealth. Using CD-BREM it is possible to identify key human factors that can contribute to high project performance that also serves as an enabling mechanism for realizing the full potential of the D&B method for delivering successful projects. This research is timely to help reverse the trend of poor performance within the construction industry as a whole. Further work on the implementation of this CD-BREM model on construction projects and the consideration of including additional independent variables in the research theoretical framework can be explored to strengthen the credibility of the outcome of this research which is aimed at minimizing PTCs

Designing a novel virtual collaborative environment to support collaboration in design review meetings

Project review meetings are part of the project management process and are organised to assess progress and resolve any design conflicts to avoid delays in construction. One of the key challenges during a project review meeting is to bring the stakeholders together and use this time effectively to address design issues as quickly as possible. At present, current technology solutions based on BIM or CAD are information-centric and do not allow project teams to collectively explore the design from a range of perspectives and brainstorm ideas when design conflicts are encountered. This paper presents a system architecture that can be used to support multi-functional team collaboration more effectively during such design review meetings. The proposed architecture illustrates how information-centric BIM or CAD systems can be made human- and team-centric to enhance team communication and problem solving. An implementation of the proposed system architecture has been tested for its utility, likability and usefulness during design review meetings. The evaluation results suggest that the collaboration platform has the potential to enhance collaboration among multi-functional teams

Necessary skills and practices required for effective participation in high bandwidth design team activities

Technology is continually changing, and evolving, throughout the entire construction industry; and particularly in the design process. One of the principal manifestations of this is a move away from team working in a shared work space to team working in a virtual space, using increasingly sophisticated electronic media. Due to the significant operating differences when working in shared and virtual spaces adjustments to generic skills utilised by members is a necessity when moving between the two conditions. This paper reports an aspect of a CRC-CI research project based on research of ‘generic skills’ used by individuals and teams when engaging with high bandwidth information and communication technologies (ICT). It aligns with the project’s other two aspects of collaboration in virtual environments: ‘processes’ and ‘models’. The entire project focuses on the early stages of a project (i.e. design) in which models for the project are being developed and revised. The paper summarises the first stage of the research project which reviews literature to identify factors of virtual teaming which may affect team member skills. It concludes that design team participants require ‘appropriate skills’ to function efficiently and effectively, and that the introduction of high band-width technologies reinforces the need for skills mapping and measurement

A requirements engineering framework for integrated systems development for the construction industry

Computer Integrated Construction (CIC) systems are computer environments through which collaborative working can be undertaken. Although many CIC systems have been developed to demonstrate the communication and collaboration within the construction projects, the uptake of CICs by the industry is still inadequate. This is mainly due to the fact that research methodologies of the CIC development projects are incomplete to bridge the technology transfer gap. Therefore, defining comprehensive methodologies for the development of these systems and their effective implementation on real construction projects is vital. Requirements Engineering (RE) can contribute to the effective uptake of these systems because it drives the systems development for the targeted audience. This paper proposes a requirements engineering approach for industry driven CIC systems development. While some CIC systems are investigated to build a broad and deep contextual knowledge in the area, the EU funded research project, DIVERCITY (Distributed Virtual Workspace for Enhancing Communication within the Construction Industry), is analysed as the main case study project because its requirements engineering approach has the potential to determine a framework for the adaptation of requirements engineering in order to contribute towards the uptake of CIC systems

Planning and implementation of effective collaboration in construction projects

The 21st century is now seen as the time for the construction industry to embrace new ways of working if it is to continue to be competitive and meet the needs of its ever demanding clients. Collaborative working is considered by many to be essential if design and construction teams are to consider the whole lifecycle of the construction product. Much of the recent work on collaborative working has focused on the delivery of technological solutions with a focus on web (extranets), CAD (visualisation), and knowledge management technologies. However, it is now recognised that good collaboration does not result from the implementation of information technology solutions alone. The organisational and people issues, which are not readily solved by pure technical systems, need to be resolved. However, approaches that exclusively focus on organisational and people issues will not reap the benefits derived from the use of technology, especially in the context of distributed teams which are the norm in construction. Work currently being undertaken at Loughborough University aims to bring together the benefits enabled by the technology, with the organisational, and its people issues to provide a framework enabling high level strategic decisions to be made to implement effective collaboration. This paper reports on the initial stages of the project: the background to the project, the methodology used, and findings from the literature survey and the requirements capture survey conducted as part of the project

Mobile support in CSCW applications and groupware development frameworks

Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) is an established subset of the field of Human Computer Interaction that deals with the how people use computing technology to enhance group interaction and collaboration. Mobile CSCW has emerged as a result of the progression from personal desktop computing to the mobile device platforms that are ubiquitous today. CSCW aims to not only connect people and facilitate communication through using computers; it aims to provide conceptual models coupled with technology to manage, mediate, and assist collaborative processes. Mobile CSCW research looks to fulfil these aims through the adoption of mobile technology and consideration for the mobile user. Facilitating collaboration using mobile devices brings new challenges. Some of these challenges are inherent to the nature of the device hardware, while others focus on the understanding of how to engineer software to maximize effectiveness for the end-users. This paper reviews seminal and state-of-the-art cooperative software applications and development frameworks, and their support for mobile devices

Digital communities: context for leading learning into the future?

In 2011, a robust, on-campus, three-element Community of Practice model consisting of growing community, sharing of practice and building domain knowledge was piloted in a digital learning environment. An interim evaluation of the pilot study revealed that the three-element framework, when used in a digital environment, required a fourth element. This element, which appears to happen incidentally in the face-to-face context, is that of reflecting, reporting and revising. This paper outlines the extension of the pilot study to the national tertiary education context in order to explore the implications for the design, leadership roles, and selection of appropriate technologies to support and sustain digital communities using the four-element model

Educating future product developers in collaborative product development : lessons learned from the european global product realization (EGPR) international course

Changes in the business environment, responses of companies to these changes and the available information and communication technologies (ICT) pose a number of challenges to present and future product developers, as well as to educational institutions. An appropriate response to these challenges is to create a solid basis for strategies to combat stronger competition, since existing educational programs have provided this only to a small extent. In our opinion, the E-GPR course carried out by 5 European universities reflects the tasks of professional product development teams and their work conditions as realistically as possible and will enable students attending the E-GPR course who will soon enter the professional world to later progress along a steeper learning curve. This paper focuses on the role of communication between members of virtual teams and presents experiences gathered during the organization, designing and performance of each year’s courses