| 1. |
- Larsson, Bengt, 1943-
(author)
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Climate change : using robustness as a policy response
- 2004
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In: Building Research & Information. - London : Taylor & Francis Group. - 0961-3218 .- 1466-4321. ; 32:1, s. 71-74
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This commentary paper deals two issues: There is an insecurity of the predicted climate change and its impact on the built environment and there is a big time gap between the timescale for the climate change predictions and the timescale that is used for making decisions about the built environment. It is advocated that long term decisions for the built environment must be based on reliable predictions and if they are not the decisions will often make more damage than if no decisions were made at all. It is also stated that very few of the stakeholders in the building process have taken any actions to respond to the expected climate change. There is a total discrepancy between the climate change perspective and the stakeholders’ decision making perspective and it is therefore probably more efficient to cope to the current climate situation than to adapt to an uncertain very long-term climate change. For long term climate changes, robustness in the built environment probably is a more valid strategy.
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| 2. |
- Larsson, Bengt, 1943-, et al.
(author)
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Do the building material suppliers use Information Technology less often or less efficiently than other lines of business?
- 2004
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We know that companies handle their internal processes in different ways. But how do these different approaches affect the way they use information technology? In this paper we will focus the building supply companies and their use of IT. A major survey on manufacturing companies has been carried through in four regions of Sweden. The survey is about finding out to what extent Best Practice is used within the companies and 220 questions have been put to the CEOs of the firms. These questions were grouped into six categories. One of the processes that have been studied is the use of IT. In this survey all of the companies came from the county of Örebro and the region of outer Gothenburg. When this study was carried through it was noticed that the building material suppliers used the IT differently or less efficiently compared to other lines of business. For example, the employees of the building material suppliers seem to use the PC less often than most of other lines of businesses, even though they have the same IT resources. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the use of IT within the group of building material suppliers compared to other lines of business and also how an improved use of IT in the building supply company can increase the efficiency of construction projects.
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| 3. |
- Larsson, Bengt, 1943-, et al.
(author)
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How to Collect Ideas for the Development of Product and Process Innovations in the Building Process
- 2003
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Construction companies can be described as intermediate companies that use many production methods and building materials/components to produce a variety of products. Since construction companies are also very decentralised and project oriented, they are not adapted to developing new process or product technologies. Manufacturers of construction machinery, building materials, and building components must thus be responsible for this task. Construction companies must develop the ability to communicate their technology-development needs to manufacturers and to adopt new technology. There are, however, many indications that communication between manufacturers and construction companies as to what should be developed needs to be improved. This paper describes and analyses two case studies of building-material manufacturers and how they collect product-development ideas; we then present an innovation process model. We conclude that there is a need to improve communication pertaining to technology needs between intermediate and basic-technology companies.
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| 4. |
- Larsson, Bengt, 1943-, et al.
(author)
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Key Business Processes in Building Supply Companies : A Comparison with other Manufacturing Companies
- 2003
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In: Construction Economics and Organization. - Lund : Division of Construction Management, Lund Institute of Technology, Lund University. - 9197461806 ; , s. 257-263
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The province of Örebro approximately 260 000 inhabitants and 280 manufacturing companies with more than 10 employees. Eleven of these companies are suppliers to the building industry. A survey concerning key business processes in these 280 companies was carried out in the beginning of 2002. The purpose of the survey was to analyse key processes such as customer focus, information & benchmarking, quality & supplier focus and innovation processes. One basic finding is that the manufacturing companies score top levels in “Leadership and planning” but low in ”Information & Benchmarking”. Another finding is that “Innovation” also scores low. This combination of low information and low innovation might have negative effects on the Swedish construction contractors because of their dependence on active suppliers. In this paper we compare those companies which are suppliers to the building companies with the total group of companies in the survey. One result from this study is that the building material suppliers as a group score poorer than other lines of business on innovation
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| 5. |
- Larsson, Bengt, 1943-, et al.
(author)
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The Performance Concept in Road Projects : One Way to Develop the Civil Engineering Sector
- 2004
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Swedish civil engineering sector has problems with the rate of technology and knowledge development. It also has image problem when trying to attract students. The Swedish National Road Administration (SNRA) has addressed these issues by undertaking a number of demonstration road projects. One of these demonstration projects aimed at developing the performance concept in road construction. The road construction project was procured and produced and it is today open for traffic. The performance concept differs from traditional Swedish procurement mainly through the change from extensive technical specifications to demands on road functions. One assumption was that a higher degree of freedom for the contractor would lead to more innovative technical solutions. This paper aims to describe and draw conclusions regarding development of road construction based on the demonstration road project. Observers attended project meetings throughout the project, from design of the procurement documents to production. Interviews were made at different stages of the project with client, tenderer, consultants and contractor. The results from the follow-up indicate a rethinking of design in the tender process, new communication and decision behaviour in production and a changed focus towards finding solutions rather than finding faults. The overall conclusion is that the performance concept has a potential to develop construction in the civil engineering sector although with obstacles in the dissemination process to overcome.
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