Pub Date : 2023-06-05DOI: 10.1080/01446193.2023.2210695
Erwin Biersteker, A. V. Marrewijk
Abstract This study focuses upon knowledge governance mechanisms of integrating specialised knowledge on underground utilities in large infrastructure projects. The integration of knowledge is essential for the realisation of such projects. The study explores the formal and informal knowledge governance mechanisms in three large infrastructure projects and compares these mechanisms to reveal their effects on knowledge integration. The findings show that combining reward systems, project culture and trust are targeting the motivation of underground experts to share their knowledge and allocation of authority and project network are mechanisms aimed at the coordination between managers and underground experts to integrate knowledge. We contribute to studies on knowledge governance by enabling further empirical insight in the relationships between formal and informal mechanisms.
{"title":"Integrating knowledge in infrastructure projects: the interplay between formal and informal knowledge governance mechanisms","authors":"Erwin Biersteker, A. V. Marrewijk","doi":"10.1080/01446193.2023.2210695","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01446193.2023.2210695","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This study focuses upon knowledge governance mechanisms of integrating specialised knowledge on underground utilities in large infrastructure projects. The integration of knowledge is essential for the realisation of such projects. The study explores the formal and informal knowledge governance mechanisms in three large infrastructure projects and compares these mechanisms to reveal their effects on knowledge integration. The findings show that combining reward systems, project culture and trust are targeting the motivation of underground experts to share their knowledge and allocation of authority and project network are mechanisms aimed at the coordination between managers and underground experts to integrate knowledge. We contribute to studies on knowledge governance by enabling further empirical insight in the relationships between formal and informal mechanisms.","PeriodicalId":51389,"journal":{"name":"Construction Management and Economics","volume":"41 1","pages":"859 - 874"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2023-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49415293","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-06-05DOI: 10.1080/01446193.2023.2218498
Réka Andersson, Maria Eidenskog
Abstract Building information modelling (BIM) is a digital tool that offers the possibility to collect and share a multitude of data about a building and increase collaboration across professional borders. However, the uptake of BIM in the construction industry has been relatively slow, and previous research has shown how BIM creates tensions in the workplace. In this article, we explore the impact of BIM on socio-technical knowledge practices, to understand how these are enabled or restricted by the use of BIM. Through a qualitative case study in Sweden, this article analyses BIM through a knowledge infrastructure framework to explain the relatively slow uptake of BIM in a new light. The results show that BIM lacks embeddedness in governmental and corporate practices and regulations and that it sometimes leads to the marginalization of some professions through changed organizations and the slow process of changing complex knowledge infrastructures. This suggests that a critical discussion of the role of BIM in relation to professional flexibility, construction project process organization and power over technological development is vital for the future development of the construction sector.
{"title":"Beyond barriers – exploring resistance towards BIM through a knowledge infrastructure framework","authors":"Réka Andersson, Maria Eidenskog","doi":"10.1080/01446193.2023.2218498","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01446193.2023.2218498","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Building information modelling (BIM) is a digital tool that offers the possibility to collect and share a multitude of data about a building and increase collaboration across professional borders. However, the uptake of BIM in the construction industry has been relatively slow, and previous research has shown how BIM creates tensions in the workplace. In this article, we explore the impact of BIM on socio-technical knowledge practices, to understand how these are enabled or restricted by the use of BIM. Through a qualitative case study in Sweden, this article analyses BIM through a knowledge infrastructure framework to explain the relatively slow uptake of BIM in a new light. The results show that BIM lacks embeddedness in governmental and corporate practices and regulations and that it sometimes leads to the marginalization of some professions through changed organizations and the slow process of changing complex knowledge infrastructures. This suggests that a critical discussion of the role of BIM in relation to professional flexibility, construction project process organization and power over technological development is vital for the future development of the construction sector.","PeriodicalId":51389,"journal":{"name":"Construction Management and Economics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2023-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44258498","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-05-29DOI: 10.1080/01446193.2023.2216319
Xiuqin Wang, Shu-Fan Wang, Ying Gao
Abstract More often than not, in typical public-private partnership (PPP) projects, the construction contractor (CC) and operating contractor (OC) serve as shareholders simultaneously. CC and OC shareholders have different payback periods and paths, which may result in opportunistic risk. Therefore, an optimal equity structure is required to lower this risk. Based on cooperative game theory, a game model was developed to determine the optimal equity structure between CC and OC. The findings indicate that when the relative complexity of PPP project construction is higher than that of operation, CC should be given a higher equity ratio. Conversely, when the relative complexity of PPP project operation is higher, OC should be given a higher equity ratio. When the construction and operation of the project are equally complex, allocating equity ratios according to market value can reduce transaction costs, based on transaction cost theory. The findings also suggest that increasing CC’s equity ratio can effectively motivate them to better complete the construction work in the long run when the benefits of construction quality are significant. As for OC, increasing bonuses is also an effective incentive method. These findings provide insights into the design of the equity structure of PPP projects to enhance their success.
{"title":"Optimal equity structure of PPP projects when private-sector shareholders’ “investor-contractor” dual roles is considered","authors":"Xiuqin Wang, Shu-Fan Wang, Ying Gao","doi":"10.1080/01446193.2023.2216319","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01446193.2023.2216319","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract More often than not, in typical public-private partnership (PPP) projects, the construction contractor (CC) and operating contractor (OC) serve as shareholders simultaneously. CC and OC shareholders have different payback periods and paths, which may result in opportunistic risk. Therefore, an optimal equity structure is required to lower this risk. Based on cooperative game theory, a game model was developed to determine the optimal equity structure between CC and OC. The findings indicate that when the relative complexity of PPP project construction is higher than that of operation, CC should be given a higher equity ratio. Conversely, when the relative complexity of PPP project operation is higher, OC should be given a higher equity ratio. When the construction and operation of the project are equally complex, allocating equity ratios according to market value can reduce transaction costs, based on transaction cost theory. The findings also suggest that increasing CC’s equity ratio can effectively motivate them to better complete the construction work in the long run when the benefits of construction quality are significant. As for OC, increasing bonuses is also an effective incentive method. These findings provide insights into the design of the equity structure of PPP projects to enhance their success.","PeriodicalId":51389,"journal":{"name":"Construction Management and Economics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2023-05-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42428243","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-05-23DOI: 10.1080/01446193.2023.2214252
P. Gluch, Stina Hellsvik
Abstract Organizational aspects, rather than technological ones, often represent the greatest barrier in the transition toward sustainable construction. However, despite sustainability professionals’ recognized role in sustainable development, few studies have focused on such professionals’ work. To understand the intrinsic influence of multiple institutional logics on the work and agency of sustainability professionals, we conducted 31 semi-structured interviews with sustainability professionals in Sweden’s construction industry. Building on the theoretical framework of institutional logics, the findings show how sustainability professionals’ everyday work, depending on the work conditions, is a blend of thankless, rewarding collaborative, and visionary work. In the organizational context of sustainable construction, characterized by dynamism and ambiguity, different institutional logics are combined in different ways to respond to shifting demands and problems. To maintain agency, sustainability professionals need to shift and balance their work depending on which logics are temporarily central. Showcasing how professionals cope with institutional contexts defined by multiple logics, the paper highlights the complexity involved in managing the vastness and ambiguity of sustainability and how it requires individuals to be both flexible and sensitive to the existence of multiple logics in their immediate context.
{"title":"The influence of multiple logics on the work of sustainability professionals","authors":"P. Gluch, Stina Hellsvik","doi":"10.1080/01446193.2023.2214252","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01446193.2023.2214252","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Organizational aspects, rather than technological ones, often represent the greatest barrier in the transition toward sustainable construction. However, despite sustainability professionals’ recognized role in sustainable development, few studies have focused on such professionals’ work. To understand the intrinsic influence of multiple institutional logics on the work and agency of sustainability professionals, we conducted 31 semi-structured interviews with sustainability professionals in Sweden’s construction industry. Building on the theoretical framework of institutional logics, the findings show how sustainability professionals’ everyday work, depending on the work conditions, is a blend of thankless, rewarding collaborative, and visionary work. In the organizational context of sustainable construction, characterized by dynamism and ambiguity, different institutional logics are combined in different ways to respond to shifting demands and problems. To maintain agency, sustainability professionals need to shift and balance their work depending on which logics are temporarily central. Showcasing how professionals cope with institutional contexts defined by multiple logics, the paper highlights the complexity involved in managing the vastness and ambiguity of sustainability and how it requires individuals to be both flexible and sensitive to the existence of multiple logics in their immediate context.","PeriodicalId":51389,"journal":{"name":"Construction Management and Economics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2023-05-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42636518","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-05-05DOI: 10.1080/01446193.2023.2205158
Rebecca Dickson
Abstract In Australia, rates of suicide and poor mental health among construction workers were high before the COVID-19 pandemic. “Lock downs”, “restrictions”, “social distancing” and legislative changes responding to the pandemic have likely exacerbated the working conditions that foster poor mental health. This study analyses the way in which workplace health and safety (WHS) is regulated in Australia against the backdrop of existing research relating to the development of Australia’s WHS laws, and the state of mental health of those working in Australia’s construction industry. This study was conducted using a doctrinal research methodology and utilising legal theory. This study assesses the capacity of the Australian WHS regulatory system to protect construction workers’ mental health by examining and interpreting key provisions in Australia’s WHS laws. It then uses a regulatory theory, responsive regulation, to explain the inconsistency between the capacity of those laws to safeguard mental health and the very poor state of mental health of Australia’s construction workers. The conclusion reached is that there is scope to improve current WHS laws to better protect construction workers’ mental health. A recommendation is made, that current WHS laws are changed to prescribe minimum standards of worker mental health, and mandate control measures to minimise and/or eliminate psychosocial risks. It is submitted that these changes in the law will contribute to a changed culture in Australia’s construction sector, which is supportive of mentally healthy workplaces and workers.
{"title":"What’s it going to take? Lessons learned from COVID-19 and worker mental health in the Australian construction industry","authors":"Rebecca Dickson","doi":"10.1080/01446193.2023.2205158","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01446193.2023.2205158","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In Australia, rates of suicide and poor mental health among construction workers were high before the COVID-19 pandemic. “Lock downs”, “restrictions”, “social distancing” and legislative changes responding to the pandemic have likely exacerbated the working conditions that foster poor mental health. This study analyses the way in which workplace health and safety (WHS) is regulated in Australia against the backdrop of existing research relating to the development of Australia’s WHS laws, and the state of mental health of those working in Australia’s construction industry. This study was conducted using a doctrinal research methodology and utilising legal theory. This study assesses the capacity of the Australian WHS regulatory system to protect construction workers’ mental health by examining and interpreting key provisions in Australia’s WHS laws. It then uses a regulatory theory, responsive regulation, to explain the inconsistency between the capacity of those laws to safeguard mental health and the very poor state of mental health of Australia’s construction workers. The conclusion reached is that there is scope to improve current WHS laws to better protect construction workers’ mental health. A recommendation is made, that current WHS laws are changed to prescribe minimum standards of worker mental health, and mandate control measures to minimise and/or eliminate psychosocial risks. It is submitted that these changes in the law will contribute to a changed culture in Australia’s construction sector, which is supportive of mentally healthy workplaces and workers.","PeriodicalId":51389,"journal":{"name":"Construction Management and Economics","volume":"41 1","pages":"758 - 780"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2023-05-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47417875","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-04-08DOI: 10.1080/01446193.2023.2189739
Thi Binh An Duong, T. Pham, Q. Truong, Kevin Nguyen, Cong Hiep Pham, T. Hoang, T. Pham
Abstract Although previous studies have focused on different aspects of green/sustainability risk in construction supply chains (SCs) such as identification of risks or the linkage between characteristics of stakeholders and risk assessment, research on this topic is still quite limited. One important reason for this limitation is the absence of valid and reliable measurement of risk, resulting in the impossibility to discriminate between risk constructs. Therefore, the current study is performed to develop and then validate a measurement scale of risk in sustainable construction SCs. The data are collected from a large-scale survey supported by the Japanese government to promote sustainable socioeconomic development for the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) region, with the participation of 283 firms in Vietnam. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) are used to test the reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity of the risk constructs. The results indicate that all tests strongly support the measurement scale, and seven reliable risk constructs are identified including supply, demand, internal processes, information, financial, time, and environmental risks. This study also presents opportunities for further developing research on risk management (especially the three phases: risk assessment, risk mitigation, and risk monitoring) in sustainable construction SCs.
{"title":"Risk in sustainable construction supply chains: construct development and measurement validation","authors":"Thi Binh An Duong, T. Pham, Q. Truong, Kevin Nguyen, Cong Hiep Pham, T. Hoang, T. Pham","doi":"10.1080/01446193.2023.2189739","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01446193.2023.2189739","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Although previous studies have focused on different aspects of green/sustainability risk in construction supply chains (SCs) such as identification of risks or the linkage between characteristics of stakeholders and risk assessment, research on this topic is still quite limited. One important reason for this limitation is the absence of valid and reliable measurement of risk, resulting in the impossibility to discriminate between risk constructs. Therefore, the current study is performed to develop and then validate a measurement scale of risk in sustainable construction SCs. The data are collected from a large-scale survey supported by the Japanese government to promote sustainable socioeconomic development for the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) region, with the participation of 283 firms in Vietnam. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) are used to test the reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity of the risk constructs. The results indicate that all tests strongly support the measurement scale, and seven reliable risk constructs are identified including supply, demand, internal processes, information, financial, time, and environmental risks. This study also presents opportunities for further developing research on risk management (especially the three phases: risk assessment, risk mitigation, and risk monitoring) in sustainable construction SCs.","PeriodicalId":51389,"journal":{"name":"Construction Management and Economics","volume":"41 1","pages":"634 - 650"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2023-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42776130","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-04-06DOI: 10.1080/01446193.2023.2197651
Bowen Liu, Pengli Huang, Wenxue Lu
Abstract Boundary spanners of construction projects are representatives of the interaction between the client and the contractor, and their good interpersonal ties are a catalyst for the development of cooperation between the two organizations and play an important role in project success. However, in the existing research, the relationship between interpersonal ties and cooperative behavior is still controversial, and little attention is paid to the individual level of construction projects. Therefore, this study explores the influence mechanism of each dimension of boundary spanners’ interpersonal ties (obligatory ties, instrumental ties, and affective ties) on contractors’ cooperative behavior (in-role and extra-role behavior) and the moderating effect of dependence asymmetry. The data from 248 questionnaires completed by practitioners in the Chinese construction industry show that obligatory ties positively affect contractors’ in-role and extra-role behavior, and the correlation between obligatory ties and in-role and extra-role behavior is positively moderated by dependence asymmetry. Moreover, instrumental ties are positively related to contractors’ in-role and extra-role behavior. However, affective ties only positively affect contractors’ extra-role behavior, and this effect is negatively moderated by dependence asymmetry. These findings have implications for clients and contractors and can help them maintain their relationships, thus improving project performance.
{"title":"How to foster contractors’ in-role and extra-role behavior: the role of interpersonal ties and dependence asymmetry","authors":"Bowen Liu, Pengli Huang, Wenxue Lu","doi":"10.1080/01446193.2023.2197651","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01446193.2023.2197651","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Boundary spanners of construction projects are representatives of the interaction between the client and the contractor, and their good interpersonal ties are a catalyst for the development of cooperation between the two organizations and play an important role in project success. However, in the existing research, the relationship between interpersonal ties and cooperative behavior is still controversial, and little attention is paid to the individual level of construction projects. Therefore, this study explores the influence mechanism of each dimension of boundary spanners’ interpersonal ties (obligatory ties, instrumental ties, and affective ties) on contractors’ cooperative behavior (in-role and extra-role behavior) and the moderating effect of dependence asymmetry. The data from 248 questionnaires completed by practitioners in the Chinese construction industry show that obligatory ties positively affect contractors’ in-role and extra-role behavior, and the correlation between obligatory ties and in-role and extra-role behavior is positively moderated by dependence asymmetry. Moreover, instrumental ties are positively related to contractors’ in-role and extra-role behavior. However, affective ties only positively affect contractors’ extra-role behavior, and this effect is negatively moderated by dependence asymmetry. These findings have implications for clients and contractors and can help them maintain their relationships, thus improving project performance.","PeriodicalId":51389,"journal":{"name":"Construction Management and Economics","volume":"41 1","pages":"739 - 757"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2023-04-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44243491","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-04-06DOI: 10.1080/01446193.2023.2190993
Yu-Lin Huang, Tsen-Chin Lin
Abstract Multi-stage planning is common for expanding infrastructure complexes or networks. Previous real-option studies developed a sequential compound call option (SCCO) for evaluating multi-stage infrastructure investment projects, including evaluating abandonment options during individual pre-scheduled investment stages. In practice, however, investment schedules involve risk and uncertainties forcing investors to change plans, raising an important issue regarding investors having more options at each commencement date. This study introduces a new model, the sequential compound deferrable call option (SCDCO), incorporating deferment options for each fold in an n-fold setting and generalizing the exercise of each deferment option into mn periods. A closed-form solution to the valuation of SCDCO is derived accordingly. A real-world case demonstrates that introducing deferment options increases project value, but the marginal benefit of increasing deferment time diminishes. The presence of dedicated assets for the usage of future expansions can also increase project value, but this increase is restricted by deferment options. Furthermore, the investment cost growth with an increase of deferment time rapidly decreases project value and vice versa. Inflation or deflation is therefore important to consider in deferment decisions. Finally, although deferment options only produce limited project value, they have the flexibility to manage risks, changes, and budgetary constraints.
{"title":"Compound deferrable options for the valuation of multi-stage infrastructure investment projects","authors":"Yu-Lin Huang, Tsen-Chin Lin","doi":"10.1080/01446193.2023.2190993","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01446193.2023.2190993","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Multi-stage planning is common for expanding infrastructure complexes or networks. Previous real-option studies developed a sequential compound call option (SCCO) for evaluating multi-stage infrastructure investment projects, including evaluating abandonment options during individual pre-scheduled investment stages. In practice, however, investment schedules involve risk and uncertainties forcing investors to change plans, raising an important issue regarding investors having more options at each commencement date. This study introduces a new model, the sequential compound deferrable call option (SCDCO), incorporating deferment options for each fold in an n-fold setting and generalizing the exercise of each deferment option into mn periods. A closed-form solution to the valuation of SCDCO is derived accordingly. A real-world case demonstrates that introducing deferment options increases project value, but the marginal benefit of increasing deferment time diminishes. The presence of dedicated assets for the usage of future expansions can also increase project value, but this increase is restricted by deferment options. Furthermore, the investment cost growth with an increase of deferment time rapidly decreases project value and vice versa. Inflation or deflation is therefore important to consider in deferment decisions. Finally, although deferment options only produce limited project value, they have the flexibility to manage risks, changes, and budgetary constraints.","PeriodicalId":51389,"journal":{"name":"Construction Management and Economics","volume":"41 1","pages":"670 - 686"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2023-04-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41939957","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-04-05DOI: 10.1080/01446193.2023.2195195
J. Ajslev, J. L. Møller
Abstract The occupational safety and health (OSH) coordinator is an important figure for improving OSH in the construction industry. Working as an OSH coordinator is complicated, and coordinators must attend to many different roles to improve OSH. Recent research has even questioned the effectiveness of OSH professional practice. This points to a need to understand how OSH coordinators position themselves in relation to different roles when performing effective OSH coordination. This study aims to expand upon this question by analyzing how OSH coordinators position themselves in situations leading to the implementation of OSH measures. In the study, practices of OSH coordinators in the Danish construction industry are analyzed by “zooming in” on micro-sociological positioning practices observed during 107 days of ethnographic fieldwork, e.g. speech acts, and by “zooming out” on the links between these positioning practices and the implementation of OSH measures. The study contributes to OSH research and practice in several ways; firstly, the study conceptualizes a typology of practices connected to the relational roles of OSH professionals. Secondly, it expands upon how negotiating for the implementation of OSH measures is a relationally complex matter in which OSH coordinators switch between positioning themselves as alliance builders, authorities, challengers, experts, influencers, and champions. Improving attention and education to accommodate this knowledge may contribute to the creation of more tangible borders around the OSH professional practice, and more impactful OSH practice in terms of implementing measures.
{"title":"The art of role-switching–positioning practices and the relational roles of OSH coordinators in the Danish construction industry","authors":"J. Ajslev, J. L. Møller","doi":"10.1080/01446193.2023.2195195","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01446193.2023.2195195","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The occupational safety and health (OSH) coordinator is an important figure for improving OSH in the construction industry. Working as an OSH coordinator is complicated, and coordinators must attend to many different roles to improve OSH. Recent research has even questioned the effectiveness of OSH professional practice. This points to a need to understand how OSH coordinators position themselves in relation to different roles when performing effective OSH coordination. This study aims to expand upon this question by analyzing how OSH coordinators position themselves in situations leading to the implementation of OSH measures. In the study, practices of OSH coordinators in the Danish construction industry are analyzed by “zooming in” on micro-sociological positioning practices observed during 107 days of ethnographic fieldwork, e.g. speech acts, and by “zooming out” on the links between these positioning practices and the implementation of OSH measures. The study contributes to OSH research and practice in several ways; firstly, the study conceptualizes a typology of practices connected to the relational roles of OSH professionals. Secondly, it expands upon how negotiating for the implementation of OSH measures is a relationally complex matter in which OSH coordinators switch between positioning themselves as alliance builders, authorities, challengers, experts, influencers, and champions. Improving attention and education to accommodate this knowledge may contribute to the creation of more tangible borders around the OSH professional practice, and more impactful OSH practice in terms of implementing measures.","PeriodicalId":51389,"journal":{"name":"Construction Management and Economics","volume":"153 1","pages":"703 - 723"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2023-04-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41273673","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-04-02DOI: 10.1080/01446193.2023.2190992
Lilly Rosander, A. Kadefors
Abstract Relational contracting models are increasingly being used for large and complex public infrastructure construction projects, but both practices and outcomes still widely vary. When analyzing the causes of failures and successes, most studies have focused on practices at the project level. In this paper, we add to the current understanding of relational contracting in public construction by examining the influence of factors at the organizational and institutional levels. We develop a framework based on theories of policy implementation and analyze two projects piloting a new Early Contractor Involvement model in a large public infrastructure client organization. In this case, a previous marketization policy, prescribing low client involvement in project processes, interfered with the relational contracting policy. This policy clash was not openly acknowledged from the start, despite causing significant confusion and frustration at the project level, but became recognizable largely through its consequences for resource allocation and managerial attention. We conclude that policy ambiguities, combined with a project-based implementation context, produce local interpretations and variations in relational contracting models. When project autonomy is high, industry-level agreements, standards and resources are important to align practices also between projects within the same client organization.
{"title":"Implementing relational contracting in a public client organization: the influence of policy clashes, resources and project autonomy","authors":"Lilly Rosander, A. Kadefors","doi":"10.1080/01446193.2023.2190992","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01446193.2023.2190992","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Relational contracting models are increasingly being used for large and complex public infrastructure construction projects, but both practices and outcomes still widely vary. When analyzing the causes of failures and successes, most studies have focused on practices at the project level. In this paper, we add to the current understanding of relational contracting in public construction by examining the influence of factors at the organizational and institutional levels. We develop a framework based on theories of policy implementation and analyze two projects piloting a new Early Contractor Involvement model in a large public infrastructure client organization. In this case, a previous marketization policy, prescribing low client involvement in project processes, interfered with the relational contracting policy. This policy clash was not openly acknowledged from the start, despite causing significant confusion and frustration at the project level, but became recognizable largely through its consequences for resource allocation and managerial attention. We conclude that policy ambiguities, combined with a project-based implementation context, produce local interpretations and variations in relational contracting models. When project autonomy is high, industry-level agreements, standards and resources are important to align practices also between projects within the same client organization.","PeriodicalId":51389,"journal":{"name":"Construction Management and Economics","volume":"41 1","pages":"651 - 669"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2023-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46207885","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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