Design science research in lean construction: Process and outcomes

Design science (or constructive) research is a mode of producing scientific knowledge. It differs from explanatory research whose goal is to describe, understand and eventually predict phenomena of a particular field. Alternatively, the goal of design science research is to develop scientifically grounded solutions that are able to solve real-world problems. In this way, it establishes an appropriate link between theory and practice, strengthening the relevance of academic research. This paper discusses the design science research approach and illustrates through the analysis of two Ph.D investigations how it can be adopted in lean construction. In this paper, the outcomes and the research process adopted in these investigations are presented. At the end, some conclusions concerning the outcomes achieved and the activities involved in conducting design science in lean construction are discussed

Front End Projects Benefits Realisation from a Requirements Management Perspective—A Systematic Literature Review

The recent notable emergence of a body of research in requirements management on one hand and benefits realisation has contributed to addressing a growing need for improved performance in Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) projects. However, front end design (FED) as one of the vital processes in the project life cycle and delivery has attracted limited research to date within this understanding. This paper aims to map current evidence on requirements management in facilitating benefits realisation from an FED perspective. This is to bring about an updated and unified position on requirements management for its impact on design decision making. A systematic review of the literature covering the last ten years (2008–2018) aims first to build understanding and support identification of these emergent conceptual positions and secondly underscore essential requirements and their categorisations that impact on design discourse in FED. One hundred sixty-one peer-reviewed journal papers in the areas of benefits realisation and/or requirements management and/or FED based are identified on a pre-determined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Thirty-six requirements are identified as important in influencing use case changes important in design decision making broadly grouped into nine major categories. Following analysis, this research finds little evidence supporting an integrated requirements management practice and understanding to support design decision making. The research further finds bias in current research discourse towards four requirements categories (technical, economics, governance and environment); and 14 requirements, dominated by three strategic values, collaboration and project governance, with over 80% share of literature. The least 14 requirements such as “flow of spaces, social status/aspiration, mobility and integrated design” among others only account for less than 10% of literature. The authors argue for new research to bridge this gap, highlight the essential role of requirements management and broaden understanding to improve benefits realisation, particularly for FED processes

A Utilitarian Decision - Making Approach for Front End Design - A Systematic Literature Review

The complexity of construction processes often means interaction between various stakeholders, activities and tasks in order to deliver the expected outcomes. The intensity and dynamics of front-end design (FED) mean decision techniques and methods are important in supporting projects benefits delivery more importantly those based on utility of decision making. This paper explores a new utilitarian decision-making approach based on a systematic literature review of FED decision making. It presents the state of the art in design decision making concepts and analysis of tools over the last 10 years (2009-2019). From a total of 111 peer-reviewed journal papers, fifteen decision-making techniques are identified as dominant in design decision making, broadly grouped in four major categories as explanatory/rational, Multi Criteria Decision Making techniques (MCDM), Hybrid and Visual methods. The review finds that the most applied of the MCDM is Quality Function Deployment (QFD); while among the rational/explanatory techniques is set-based design (SBD). While there is limited application of Multi Attribute Utility Theory (MAUT) in decision making, the paper finds that the robust consistency and structured approach better captures the intricate dynamics of FED; including modelling of the subjectivity, interdependences and uncertainty in design discourse

A Framework for Emergent Needs Analysis During Front End Design In Social Housing

Social Housing is increasingly a focus of debate in many countries because of the escalating need for affordable housing that has become intertwined with the needs of society both emergent and traditional. The delivery of social housing, however, is often complex from the many stakeholders involved resulting in design challenges on account of conflicting needs. This paper presents a conceptual model for Design Decision Support in the face of emergent needs from multi-use scenarios defined by the multiple stakeholders. The Brazilian government’s Minha Casa Minha Vida social housing program is the basis for the framework’s conceptualization. The model allows for analysis of emergent user and design needs during design using probabilistic Hidden Markov Modeling of requirements changes. This paper’s novel contribution is to present a theoretical conception of HMM in the analysis of changes in social housing requirements and modeling their interdependencies in front-end design decision making. The paper, therefore, adds to knowledge of requirements forecasting in design of social housing in the face of emergent needs

Using Building Information Modelling to Manage Client Requirements in Social Housing Projects

This paper proposes a set of guidelines for using Building Information Modelling (BIM) to manage client requirements in the context of social housing projects. A process model representing main activities involved in requirements management has been devised, as well as nine constructs that can be used for assessing the effectiveness of using BIM for client requirements management. The process of managing and modelling clients’ requirements is important to improve value generation, considering the limited resources usually available for social housing projects, as well as the need to deal with the diversity of user profiles. The use of BIM-based tools to support this process can potentially improve the performance of those projects in terms of environmental and social sustainability. Design Science Research was the methodological approach adopted in this investigation. The main outcome of this study, the set of guidelines, emerged from an empirical study carried out in a social housing project from Brazil. This study explores the managerial perspective of client requirements modelling, proposing practical contributions, such as understanding the challenges of managing requirements in social housing projects, and theoretical contributions, such as descriptions of the activities involved in client requirements management and their interactions, and constructs for assessing BIM-based solutions for that problem