| 1. |
- Räisänen, Christine, 1950, et al.
(författare)
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Stakeholders' views and experiences of leadership education in construction: suggestions for improvements
- 2015
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Ingår i: 8th Nordic Conference on Construction Economics and Organization. - : Elsevier BV. - 2212-5671. ; 21, s. 540-547
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- In construction-related education, leadership development is generally a scarce feature in education curricula. Yet, the critical need of "good" leadership at all levels of construction-related organisations is being increasingly highlighted in research and in practice. In this paper, we focus on how leadership competence at middle-manager level, e.g. site managers, may be enhanced and we examine how higher education may address this need. The overall aim is to suggest how leadership development may be introduced and/or improved in programs and courses. Rather than using a questionnaire or individual interviews, the data was collected in three focus groups. Each group addressed one level of higher education: vocational, bachelor and master, respectively, and included practitioner, teacher and student stakeholders. The focus groups were recorded. The field notes and the photographic documentation strengthened the reliability of our interpretations. The paper describes how focus groups were used, discusses the aggregated findings from the groups and suggests some ways in which education curricula can be improved to incorporate transferable leadership development and competence to contexts in which graduates will operate. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
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| 2. |
- Bildsten, Louise
(författare)
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Purchasing strategies in industrialized building - a comparison of Australian and Swedish companies
- 2015
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Ingår i: Procedia Economics and Finance. - 2212-5671. ; 21, s. 594-600
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Companies adopt different rationales for purchasing in order to make production processes as efficient as possible. This paper presents the results of an investigation into how purchasing strategies can vary between companies and countries. Two industrialised building companies, one in Sweden and one in Australia, were the objects of study. The purpose was to compare and understand the rationale behind their purchasing strategies. The interviews and the observations in the factory revealed the differences in the purchasing strategies due to the companies’ prerequisites, expectations and cultures. The strategies proved to be different in terms of the split between in-house and outsourced work. Some aspects of the respective strategies did, however, prove to be similar, such as the purchase of prefabricated structural components. It could be useful for researchers and practitioners to appreciate the advantages and disadvantages of different supply structures, not least parallel sourcing. In this latter regard, benefits appear to outweigh potential disadvantages that single sourcing confers even where partnerships exist.
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| 3. |
- Martinez, Carlos, et al.
(författare)
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Stakeholder Participation for Sustainable Property Development
- 2015
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Ingår i: Procedia Economics and Finance. - 2212-5671. ; 21, s. 57-63
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Complexity in property development projects involves and affects stakeholders with different attributes, interests, needs and concerns. Thus, each stakeholder may influence a project negatively or positively. The literature suggests that the concepts of stakeholder, participation, social sustainability and sustainable development are intertwined and together can contribute to social change. To enhance transparency and involvement of a wide range of stakeholders, there is a need for a systematic process of stakeholder collaboration in urban property development projects. This paper describes two internal project meetings of a case study of a property development project with the aim to achieve sustainable development. Collaboration, participation and new forms of organizing are needed to achieve sustainable property development. Stakeholder participation can contribute to this by providing forums for a dialogue and interactions in projects. Furthermore, institutionalization, organisational change and commitment in project organisations are needed to safeguard good participation practice. These could be facilitated through action research-based, collaborative interventions where theory and practice contribute to desired organisational change.
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| 4. |
- Adam, Abderisak, 1988, et al.
(författare)
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Take a Chance on Me? Construction Clients' Perspectives on Risk Management
- 2015
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Ingår i: Procedia Economics and Finance. - 2212-5671. ; 21, s. 548-554
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Having been overwhelmed with a strikingly large list of things that can go wrong, public clients have consistently found themselves subjected to many risks associated with construction projects. As the scale of projects increases, the severity of risks intensifies. This study sets out to highlight a particular set of risks associated with strategic decision making in public construction projects. Of particular importance stands the client organizations’ capacity to properly manage risks rooted in poor decision making that leads to many types of project failure. To curb the negative effects of poor decision making, varying organisational configurations have been adopted by clients. This paper investigates the six Swedish public client organizations’ risk management procedures, the risk types and the frequency by which they reference risk management in their internal documents. The purpose is to explore how organisational measures influence a client's ability to undertake major construction projects in a manner that is conducive to effective project delivery. The present study is part of an ongoing research project concerning the capabilities of public clients in managing large scale construction projects.
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| 5. |
- Engström, Susanne, et al.
(författare)
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From the Pilot Project to the Mainstream Practice : Learning Explored in Planning and Design of a Low-Energy Quarter
- 2015
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Ingår i: Procedia Economics and Finance. - 2212-5671. ; 21, s. 288-296
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Pilot projects are common platforms for developing/testing construction methods or solutions for e.g. low-energy house-building. Whereas studies report on their technical/engineering outcomes, little is known from a learning perspective. In our study of pilot-project learning, the planning for and assessment of learning from a “low-energy quarter” pilot was explored. In step one, the initiators and the local authority participantswere addressed. The findings of the interviews indicatedthe changed understandings during the pilot of e.g. the planning and design criteria for sustainable building. Although stressed at the pilot outset, it seems that the learning among the stakeholders was not so well documented or systematically evaluated and shared so that the mainstream practice could have been informed or changed
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| 6. |
- Eriksson, R., et al.
(författare)
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Nordic campus retrofitting concepts - Scalable practices
- 2015
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Ingår i: 8th Nordic Conference on Construction Economics and Organization. - : Elsevier BV. - 2212-5671. ; 21, s. 329-336
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Multidisciplinary collaboration and transformations in learning processes can be supported by activity-based campus retrofitting. The aim of this paper is to analyse the ongoing campus retrofitting processes at the three university campuses and to identify the elements of activity-based retrofitting. We answer the questions "What kind of examples of retrofitting are there at Nordic Campuses?" and "What kind of elements are typical for activity-based retrofitting concepts?" The 3-level framework of campus retrofitting processes was employed when conducting the three case studies. The cases were about the new ways of researching, collaborating and learning with the concepts of Living lab, Creative community for innovation and entrepreneurship and Network of learning hubs. The cases provided the first insights on retrofitting based on users' changing needs and the requirements of more sustainable solutions at campuses. Notably, a technical and spatial solution covers only part of retrofitting processes. The activity-based retrofitting consists on multidisciplinary collaboration and learning processes where diverse users have diverse roles during retrofitting processes. A process and a product are equally important for a viable retrofitting concept. (C) 2015 Published by Elsevier B.V.
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| 7. |
- Faber, Michael H, et al.
(författare)
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Interdisciplinary Approach to Disaster Resilience Education and Research
- 2014
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Ingår i: Procedia Economics and Finance. - 2212-5671. ; 18, s. 601-609
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper is based on the results of a survey on “Interdisciplinary working in disaster resilience” conducted by the WP4 work group of the ANDROID Network. The survey had the aim of gathering information on the state of art and practice in the field of disaster resilience and promoting co-operation and interdisciplinary methodologies in research and education. The survey has been carried out by means of a questionnaire focusing on disaster-resilience projects and on the main challenges faced in interdisciplinary working. The results of the questionnaire, which collected 57 answers from more than 20 European countries and few extra European countries as well, allow for three main considerations: i) projects involved 5 different disciplines as average and geography and sociology were present in the majority of the projects; ii) the level of interconnection between disciplines seems intermediate, meaning that information and methods are exchanged, but a full integration of methods and concepts into a common shared language and system of axioms is missing; iii) the lack of a common framework and common terminology represents a major barrier to good interdisciplinary work. The results highlight the role played in disaster-resilience design by social and cultural aspects, which are instead not often adequately considered in the practice. The establishment of an education on resilient design of urban system, which includes both social and technological aspects, emerges as a possible solution to overcome barriers to interdisciplinary work and improve the efficacy and quality of resilience design.
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| 8. |
- Gustafsson, Mathias Petter, 1970, et al.
(författare)
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The role of VDC professionals in the construction industry
- 2015
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Ingår i: Procedia Economics and Finance. - 2212-5671. ; 2015:21, s. 478-485
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The increasing use of Virtual Design and Construction, VDC, is changing the way of working in the construction industry. With the introduction of VDC follows the creation of new roles and new ways of communicating within construction projects. The overall aim of the present paper is to map industry practitioners’ view on VDC professionals’ role. This includes mapping their perceptions on what characteristics a VDC professional should possess, what roles they play today and what role they should play in the future, and also to what extent they are perceived to contribute to project success. In order to shed light on these questions a questionnaire was sent to respondents working in varying degrees with VDC, in one of Sweden’s largest construction companies. The results show that there is little agreement concerning the goals of VDC within the company. Furthermore, opinions also vary considerably with regards to what responsibilities a VDC professional ought to take within projects, and at the same time expectations of the characteristics of a VDC professional are high. Finally, the results show that there is demand for higher involvement of VDC professionals as compared to their current involvement.
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| 9. |
- Gustavsson, Tina Karrbom
(författare)
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New boundary spanners : Emerging management roles in collaborative construction projects
- 2015
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Ingår i: Procedia Economics and Finance. - : Elsevier. - 2212-5671. ; 21, s. 146-153
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Project management roles and functions, which are standardized and clearly defined in literature, vary in practice. This study explores project management roles and functions in collaborative construction project practice. The findings, which are based on a longitudinal case study of a collaborative construction project, reports that several project management roles emerged during the project process, for example collaboration manager, BIM-manager and cooperation manager. The findings also report associated risks with the emergence of new management roles, for example information overload and misunderstanding. These new managerial roles served both as boundary spanners when creating and maintaining relationships between stakeholders, and as innovators when challenging the traditional and ingrained adversarial construction project practice. The findings contribute to the growing literature on collaborative approaches in construction and to the discussion on the transformation of project management roles and functions.
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| 10. |
- Jansson, Gustav, et al.
(författare)
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Advancement of Platform Development in Industrialised Building
- 2015
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Ingår i: Procedia Economics and Finance. - : Elsevier. - 2212-5671. ; 21, s. 461-468
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Demand for productivity in house-building is today causing changes of work methods in the building industry, for example bythe utilization of house-building platforms. This requires development processes separated from those of individual house products. The aim of this study is to examine how platform development processes in the building industry are carried out and how product development theories fit to the studied context. A qualitative case studyanalysis shows how a house-building platform can be developed in a sequential manner with product development theories that could capture values fromthe construction company, property owner and from end user.
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