Managerial identity work in action: performative narratives and anecdotal stories of innovation

Innovation is invariably accepted as a central component of construction sector competitiveness. Yet there remains a paucity of empirical research which explores the gap between the way innovation is promoted in the policy discourse and how it is interpreted in practice. We follow the ‘narrative turn’ in organisation studies to explore the ways in which senior executives in the UK construction sector ascribe themselves with informal roles while advocating the cause of innovation. Empirical data is derived from narrative interviews with 32 senior executives who self-identify as ‘innovation champions’. When talking about innovation the respondents were found to oscillate between performative narratives of innovation and more personalised stories derived from their own experience. The narratives were invariably pre-rehearsed often to the point of being monotonous. In contrast, the personalised stories tended to be engaging and emotionally laden. The tendency for senior executives to oscillate between narratives and stories is seen as an important means through which they search for meaning while at the same time legitimising their self-identities as ‘innovation champions’. Of particular note is the way in which senior managers self-ascribe themselves with informal roles which are notably at odds with those described in more formalised narratives

Historical narratives as strategic resources: an analysis of the Turkish international contracting sector

The Turkish contracting sector has an enviable reputation for operating in high-risk international markets. The sector’s ability to respond to market instability could meaningfully be construed as sectoral-level capability. We aim to demonstrate how history can be mobilised in a formalised ‘strategy text’ to create a strategic narrative on the sectoral level. The Geography of Contractors as published by the Turkish Contractors Association (TCA) ostensively portrays the strategic development of Turkish international contractors over four decades. Such quasi-historical narratives are routinely mobilised for the purposes of creating a shared memory on the sectoral level. The chosen strategy text draws from multiple narrative fragments derived from past experience to generate a strategic agenda for the future. The representation given to multiple voices reflects the pluralistic nature of strategy making praxis. The overarching strategy narrative reflects a performative intent in legitimising some practices whilst discrediting others. Narrative analysis demonstrates the way in which actors, actions and events are positioned within a plot structure, with direct implications for the enactment of future strategic practices. The findings suggest that strategic actions can only ever be identified in retrospect, and that such arguments are always made with an eye on the future

Modern methods of construction: reflections on the current research agenda

Modern methods of construction (MMC) comprise a value-laden and highly flexible discourse. Nevertheless, the constituent narratives have long-lasting consequences for the material fabric of the built environment. Current policy sources can be seen to possess an embedded pro-innovation bias that offsets any appetite for evidence-based research, especially that which relates to the mistakes of the past. Many policy narratives in favour of MMC are further characterised by an exaggerated sense of hubris, with an in-built institutionalised preference for disruptive innovation. Liberalised economies are especially prone to technological optimism, with a tendency to cast regulation as a barrier to be overcome. The Grenfell Tower tragedy provides a stark reminder of the limitations of viewing regulation solely through the lens of innovation. Hence, it illustrates how the prevailing built environment research–policy consensus has failed the civil society which it purportedly serves. These failings should be of concern to those who privilege evidence based research as a means of negating the alarming onset of the post-truth society. Research is required that looks beyond the imperatives of narrowly defined productivity. It is essential that policy narratives such as MMC are fully explored in terms of their short-, medium- and long-term implications

A CRITICAL INTERPRETATION OF THE FORMULATION OF CONSTRUCTION BEST PRACTICE

Abstract The case is made for a critical research agenda in construction management. Construction best practice is too often limited to the domain of instrumental rationality with little attention to the underlying processes of social construction. The formulation of best practice is analysed from a critical perspective. Industry feedback is reported from previous papers and seminars that sought to deconstruct accepted notions of best practice. Many practitioners have been found to be highly appreciative of the development of an alternative perspective

Competitive strategy and the role of narrative infrastructure: the case of Turkish contractors

This paper is about competitive strategy in the international construction sector. Drawing on the ‘narrative turn’ in organisation studies, it emphasises the temporal and discursively constructed nature of competitive strategy. Competitive strategy narratives are seen to provide a means of understanding the formation and enactment of strategy. The empirical analysis focuses on the narrative infrastructure as produced by the Turkish Contractors Association (TCA). The findings highlight the multi-actor and multi-level processes of strategy making. They further illustrate the way in which narrative building blocks that are continuously mobilized as part of the on-going progress of strategizing on the sectorial level. The nuances of the identified narrative building blocks are seen to reflect the complexity and diversity across individual accounts of strategy making

The micro-practices of project organizing in the Chinese construction sector: a sensemaking perspective

The organisation of construction in the People’s Republic of China has over recent decades undergone radical restructuring. The announcement of Deng Xiaoping’s Open Door strategy in 1978 marked the beginning of the transition towards the espoused socialist market economy and the progressive introduction of market mechanisms. Existing research tends to focus on the derivation of ‘critical success factors’ rather than the lived realities of those directly involved. In contrast, the current paper adopts a sensemaking perspective which privileges the transient roles and identities of those involved in the micro-processes of project organizing. The empirical focus lies on the sensemaking narratives of middle managers within three state-owned construction enterprises in the Chongqing city region. The findings illustrate how market mechanisms such as bidding and tendering play out in complex ways involving hybrid arrangements between new and pre-existing ways of working. The terminology of project management is seen to have played a performative role in establishing the ‘project’ as the essential unit around which the socialist market is organized. Middle managers are further found to maintain multiple identities in response to the experienced paradoxes of the socialist market economy. The research provides new insights into the micro-processes of project organizing in China with broader implications for transitional economies elsewhere

Change and continuity in the Chinese construction sector: practitioner responses to bidding and tendering

Despite the phenomenal growth of the Chinese construction sector there is a notable absence of practice-based research relating to bidding and tendering. The broader context is provided by the introduction of marketization through a series of policy announcements dating back to the 1980s. A sensemaking perspective is adopted as a means of bridging between macro-level policy announcements and micro-processes of bidding and tendering. The selected case study is a large state-owned construction enterprise in the Chongqing city region in South West China. A mixed-methods approach includes semi-structured interviews with senior practitioners and documentary analysis. The findings illustrate how the introduction of bidding and tendering has resulted in a complex plethora of hybrid practices. The pace of change is such that the construction sector in the People's Republic of China is best understood in terms of continuous adjustment to an ever-changing landscape. Hence it requires research approaches which privilege change over stability