Reproduction of exchange relationships: Changing focus from organisations to individuals

That organisations collaborate on a firm to firm basis is an assumption which underpins much of the literature on inter-organisational relationships and supply chain integration, both in the generic literature as well as in the construction oriented. The exchange relationships on an organisational level, however, are constituted of one or several interactions on interpersonal level. With the interpersonal level as unit of analysis, this paper aims to answer how dyadic exchange relationships are produced and reproduced. Investigation of dyadic exchange relationships between contractors and subcontractors has been conducted through 15 interviews with site managers from the contractors and foremen from the subcontractors. Findings show that the individuals within both dyads of the exchange relationship play important roles in the outcome of the project and the specific relationship. Despite this, the organisational focus of procurement of subcontractors tends to be highly price-driven. Site managers and subcontractors’ foremen, however, tend to bypass the price-driven procurement approaches by offering their preferred counterparts possibilities to recalculate their quotations and adapting prices according to individuals. By narrowing the range of procured subcontractors and focusing on the use of core teams based on matching of individuals within the teams, a potential improvement in the construction supply chain can be seen. By changing the focus of the concurrent research within construction management from organisational level towards interpersonal level, new perspectives may also be elucidated and exchange relationships between contractors and subcontractors might be better understood and explained

Individual Learning in Construction Projects: Professions and their Approaches

New materials, use of sophisticatedtechnologies and increased customerdemands, in combination with growingcompetition among construction companies,have led to a high degree of specialization. Forsuccessful integration of the differentprofessional specialists, there is a need forshared learning between project co-workers.Based on twenty eight interviews in sixdifferent Swedish construction projects, thispaper illustrates strategies for individual andshared learning, among different actors andacross various organizational boundaries. Theresults indicate that personal networks are themost common source of learning for allprofessions. While clients, architects, anddesigners also engage in reading andattending courses, site managers and workersare less engaged in these activities.Experimenting and organizing for learningappear to be underutilized strategies by allprofessions. This leads to the conclusion thatattempts to increase learning have to addressthe differences in learning behaviors of thevarious groups. Further, focus onexperimenting and organizing for learning is apossibility to change the learning behaviorfrom learning as a consequence of problemsto learning for future improvement

Individual Learning in Construction Projects: Professions and their Approaches

New materials, use of sophisticated technologies and increased customer demands, in combination with growing competition among construction companies, have led to a high organizational boundaries. The results indicate that personal networks are the most common source of learning for all professions. While clients, architects, and designers also engage in reading and attending courses, site managers and workers are less engaged in these activities. Experimenting and organizing for learning appear to be underutilized strategies by all professions. This leads to the conclusion that attempts to increase learning have to address the differences in learning behaviours of the various groups. Further, focus on experimenting and organizing for learning is a possibility to change the learning behaviour from learning as a consequence of problems to learning for future improvement.degree of specialization. For successful integration of the different professional specialists, there is a need for shared learning between project co-workers. Based on twenty eight interviews in six different Swedish construction projects, this paper illustrates strategies for individual and shared learning, among different actors and across variou

Causes of defects in construction - a study of seven building projects in Sweden

This paper is based on a study of defects and defect costs in seven building projects in Sweden. Special observers collected information on 3000 defects found on site. The causes were primarily ascribed to the individuals’ actions, knowledge, information and motivation. Lack of motivation was found to be the most common cause. Almost 100 interviews were made with key persons in the projects to find the underlying causes of defects. The causes were mainly found in how the project organisation was structured. Unstable organisations were found to create uncertainty. Four types of organisational instability were identified; gaps in vertical relationships, gaps in horizontal relationships, organisation not created in time, and changes in the organisation.The current market situation caused large time and cost pressure. It influenced how the organisation was structured and how the individuals were acting. Individual causes, as well as organisational causes, are discussed