Construction Management and Economics

ter Huurne, Ramon B. A.; Olde Scholtenhuis, Léon L.; Dorée, André G.; van Oers, Bert

doi: 10.1080/01446193.2024.2362388pmid: N/A

Abstract The potential impact of emerging technologies is challenging for construction management researchers to study, as these technologies have yet to become embedded in current organisational practices. Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) offers a method called formative interventions that may assist in this challenge. However, existing formative intervention methods are not adequately tailored to the study of emerging technologies, necessitating a more immersive engagement of the researcher-interventionist. This article proposes a renewed participatory take on the role of the researcher-interventionist and outlines the actions that researchers can undertake to investigate the future impacts of emerging technology. Specifically, we describe the interventionist role through a study of utility detection activities in which we intervened with emerging Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) technology at twelve construction sites. We analysed our role through an inductive coding approach using interviews and field visit data. Our findings reveal five interventionist action types for intervention studies with emerging technology. These include shaping conditions, exposing tensions, supporting problem resolution, operating tools, and facilitating reflection. The action types prompted subjects to reevaluate elements of the activity system and helped describe three potential future activity systems that integrated GPR as a new tool. These findings demonstrate that a participatory take on formative interventions provides a potent means to unveil possible activity systems incorporating emerging technologies. We contribute five formal intervention action types to the literature that equip interventionist researchers with methodological tools to use CHAT in a practice-based study of emerging technologies on construction sites.

Fredriksson, Anna; Janné, Mats; Peltokorpi, Antti

doi: 10.1080/01446193.2024.2364217pmid: N/A

Abstract In complex projects, such as hospital constructions, there are large interdependencies between the actors involved, especially relating to the flow of materials and resources. As new hospital buildings are often built on existing blocks and campuses, ongoing hospital operations may hinder logistics and construction operations and vice versa. To handle these issues, it has become increasingly common to implement construction logistics setups (CLSs). The purpose of the paper is to analyse how the centrality of the CLS in the project organization affects the coordination and conflict level in complex construction project management using a power dependency lens. The study is based on case studies of six hospital projects in the Nordic countries. Based on a cross-case analysis it is identified that: 1) from a logistics management perspective we identify three different foci of the CLS; i) security for hospital patients and staff, ii) on-site material flow coordination, and iii) flow coordination to and from site, and 2) from a project management perspective the main findings point towards the importance of centrality of the CLS in the project management organisation in order to ensure enough power to mandate enforcement of coordination.

Suchowerska, Roksolana; Loosemore, Martin; Barraket, Jo

doi: 10.1080/01446193.2024.2364219pmid: N/A

Abstract With public and private clients in the construction industry increasingly using social procurement to achieve their social responsibility goals, it is important to develop theory-informed approaches for understanding how and to what extent social procurement creates social value. The research presented in this article uses social determinants of health (SDOH) theory to develop a case study of an employment-focused social procurement initiative in Australia’s construction industry. The case study shows how the employment-focused social procurement initiative used cross-sector intermediation to alleviate structural barriers to employment, including siloing in the employment services sector, unsupported pathways from training into employment in construction, and negative stereotypes of people who face structural barriers to employment. Using SDOH theory, the paper frames these barriers to employment as ‘upstream’ and ‘midstream’ structural determinants of health inequities. The research finds that the initiative’s impacts on determinants of health inequities are enabled and limited by commercial factors including project location and duration, status of the principal contractor, and insider knowledge of timing and requirements of new jobs.

Guo, Wenqian; Lu, Wenxue; Cao, Wenrui; Zhang, Lihan

doi: 10.1080/01446193.2024.2366321pmid: N/A

Abstract How the behavioral motivation of each organization is shaped or emerges during the interorganizational transaction deserves more investigation. Drawing on regulatory focus theory, this study delves into the impact of contractual complexity and organizational culture on regulatory focus as behavioral motivation in construction projects. This study dissects contractual complexity into control, coordination, and adaptation grounded in a functional perspective, decomposes regulatory focus into prevention focus and promotion focus, and splits organizational culture into group culture, developmental culture, hierarchical culture, and rational culture. Through validating the empirical data from 411 questionnaires within Chinese construction sector, this study uncovers that contractual control and contractual coordination positively affect prevention focus, while contractual adaptation positively affects promotion focus. Four different types of organizational culture play different moderating roles in the process of stimulating regulatory focus. Organizations with high group culture have a strong driving force for the formation of both regulatory focuses. In contrast, the average level of hierarchical culture, developmental culture, or rational culture is not conducive to the formation of prevention focus or promotion focus. These findings explain how behavioral motivation is impacted by transaction characteristics such as contracts from the perspective of social psychology, confirm the spillover effect of organizational culture of one party at the interorganizational level, and provide suggestions for practitioners on how to develop interorganizational relationships and allocate resources appropriately.

Lappalainen, Eelon; Uusitalo, Petri; Seppänen, Olli; Peltokorpi, Antti; Ainamo, Antti; Reinbold, Ana

doi: 10.1080/01446193.2024.2366339pmid: N/A

Abstract Infrastructure construction (IC) projects are dynamic, complex, and difficult to control and manage. Situational awareness (SA) systems have attracted growing interest in construction literature as an aid for human decision-making in order to forecast changes in project and operations situations. While technological advancements have been achieved in SA systems, very little empirical evidence exists on the actual experiences of IC professionals in relation to SA system usage. We interviewed 23 IC professionals to obtain data, which data we then analyzed by utilizing open coding. Based on our analysis, IC professionals adopt and integrate SA systems individually. On the other hand, often their SA exhibits a bias in favor of the subjective viewpoint of whoever is the dominant or responsible individual in their unit or team, and concealing facts by one or more people appears common. We thus conclude that SA systems can raise IC professionals’ awareness of a situation in ways that are objectively and easily visible and accessible to every individual. SA systems can also be used to conceal SA. This study contributes to earlier technology-focused research by revealing how the behavior of dominant individuals affects the user experience of SA systems.