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- Sunding, Lars, et al.
(författare)
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Applying social sciences to inspire behavioural change in the construction sector: an experimental study
- 2015
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Ingår i: Construction Management and Economics. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1466-433X .- 0144-6193. ; 33:9, s. 695-710
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In several reports, the construction industry has been criticized for inefficiencies, errors and increasing costs. Although the industry's critics and researchers implicitly call for a change in human behaviour, this is seldom explicitly problematized by any of them. It is rather seen as a natural consequence of the suggested measures for improvements. Researchers have begun to question if the influence of human psychology has not been underestimated in the present approach. After a review of different psychological theories an action research investigation of how psychological factors might contribute to the recurring problems in the construction sector and to the difficulties of changing it is carried out. An intervention method has been developed to counteract the tendency of various psychological functions that can distort information. It was found that the problems professionals are experiencing dramatically differ from those expressed in some critical reports. During the process, the professionals discovered their own role in the problem scenario. This shows a way to pay more attention to human/psychological issues in action design within the construction context, and what can happen when this is done.
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- Sunding, Lars
(författare)
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On problems, joint problem solving and change - A human behavioural approach in a construction sector context.
- 2015
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Critics maintain that there are a number of troublesome issues resulting from the construction sector’s way of operating and that these remain, despite widespread criticism and measures designed to change all of this. The construction sector’s and the critics’ manner of describing these problems fails to a large extent to take into consideration the way people function in connection with practical problem solving. This is remarkable. People play a central role in all building activity, their being the ones who experience a need, make demands, commission work, formulate and solve problems, evaluate results, and the like. Therefore, people need to be included as a factor in an extended problem description here; the problem solver should be seen as part of the problem. Theories in psychology and social psychology can be used to identify relevant issues and to support the management of the human factor in such an extended problem definition. The research work which has resulted in the present thesis represents an attempt to understand the relationship between (1) the problems of the construction sector, (2) how the problems tend to be formulated, (3) the problemsolving strategies that are employed and (4) the problem solver involved. The aim of all of this has been to develop a methodology able to provide practical support for a given work group in a manner enabling it to make use of a greater share of its intrinsic and potential problem solving and value-creating capacity than would otherwise be the case. In a study of literature that is relevant, and in three separate empirical studies, the construction sector’s problem panorama and the possibility of creating extended and more effective problem management is investigated. The one study, involving use of a questionnaire, investigates the relationship between different problems, the work situation and how people tend to function generally. Another study was carried out as a series of seminars in which the participants were given the opportunity to increase their understanding of the significance of the human factor. A third study was carried out within an actual construction project, a small group of site managers being given, in connection with the ordinary meetings they held at the workplace, the opportunity to increase their understanding of the significance of the human factor and of the need for more extended problem formulations. The results presented in the thesis represent a proposal for just such an extended problem formulation and a methodology for implementing it. The studies carried out show that even those with long experience in the construction industry can discover new ways of seeing their daily sphere of activity. Implementation of the methodology involved presupposes the presence of a facilitating interventionist - “the liberator” – whose main objective is to free the problem solvers from different inhibiting phenomena (mainly psychological) that are operating in the problem-solving situation. This is done by introducing and leading an initiated dialogue regarding (1) the specific problems involved, as well as (2) problem solving in general, and (3) the effect of the human factor on the problem formulation, the problem solving and the decision making to be carried out.
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| 7. |
- Sunding, Lars, et al.
(författare)
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Problems and Problem Attention in the Construction Sector – Understanding the Influence of Human Factors.
- 2014
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Ingår i: Australasian Journal of Construction Economics and Building. - 1837-9133. ; 14:2, s. 1-17
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Problems concerning quality and productivity in the construction sector have been a recurrent issue for many years and seem to remain in spite of various initiatives for resolving them. This situation is a result of human action. From social sciences we know that psychological factors crucially influence action design. Knowledge of this influence seems however to be underestimated in the construction sector, and could represent a missing link between strategies, plans and instructions, and the actions carried out. In order to prospect for new problem solving approaches we undertook a questionnaire-based survey to investigate how individuals in the sector perceive the importance and occurrence of, and attention directed to, different proposed causes of inadequate performance. The design of the questionnaire enabled comparisons of different answers to look beyond the respondents’ overt answers. The result suggests that (1) the whole problem solving situation, including individual, relational and contextual problem components should be addressed as ‘the problem’; (2) the workforce has the ambition and courage to do what is expected but does not always have adequate information and the ability or resources to do it; (3) mental information distortion might be responsible for affecting the way the world is understood.
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- Willberg, Lotta, et al.
(författare)
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Sclerosing injections to treat midportion Achilles tendinosis : a randomised controlled study evaluating two different concentrations of Polidocanol.
- 2008
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Ingår i: Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy. - : Springer. - 0942-2056 .- 1433-7347. ; 16:9, s. 859-864
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Two to three ultrasound (US) and colour Doppler (CD)-guided injections of the sclerosing substance Polidocanol (5 mg/ml) have been demonstrated to give good clinical results in patients with chronic midportion Achilles tendinopathy. This study aimed to investigate if a higher concentration of Polidocanol (10 mg/ml) would lead to a less number of treatments, and lower volumes, needed for good clinical results. Fifty-two consecutive Achilles tendons (48 patients, mean age 49.6 years) with chronic painful midportion Achilles tendinopathy, were randomised to treatment with Polidocanol 5 mg/ml (group A) or 10 mg/ml (group B). The patients and treating physician were blinded to the concentration of Polidocanol injected. All patients had structural tendon changes and neovascularisation in the Achilles midportion. Treatment was US + CD-guided injections targeting the region with neovascularisation (outside ventral tendon). A maximum of three treatments (6-8 weeks in between) were given before evaluation. Patients not satisfied after three treatments were given additional treatment with Polidocanol 10 mg/ml, up to five treatments. For evaluation, the patients recorded the severity of Achilles tendon pain during activity on a visual analogue scale (VAS), before and after treatment. Patient satisfaction with treatment was also assessed. At follow-up (mean 14 months) after three treatments, 18/26 patients in group A and 19/26 patients in group B were satisfied with the treatment and had a significantly reduced level of tendon pain (P < 0.05). After completion of the study, additional treatments with Polidocanol 10 mg/ml in the not satisfied patients resulted in 26/26 satisfied patients in both groups A and B. In summary, we found no significant differences in the number of satisfied patients, number of injections or volumes given, between patients treated with 5 or 10 mg/ml Polidocanol.
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