Mapping stakeholders’ cultural learning in the hospital briefing process

In the context of a major hospital redevelopment project, briefing is conceived as an organic and cyclical process of cultural learning whereby project and hospital representatives gradually converge upon a shared meaning of each other’s values, beliefs and needs over time. Using a comparative cause mapping that draws on a case study approach and interviews, it was found that the clinicians’ understanding of the key cultural concepts differed significantly from all other groups and that clinicians’ ability to influence hospital design outcomes is constrained by their relative social marginalization in the briefing process. It follows that hospital facilities would better meet client needs if the briefing process is managed as a process through which project participants interact to socially construct a common understanding of project objectives and requirements; and if knowledge about facility requirements is not merely ‘given’ information but is the result of cultural learning involving social processes among the briefing participants.     

基于干系人知识共享的多组织项目风险的仿真

多组织项目的风险管理涉及众多干系人的参与,从知识管理角度分析,项目风险管理过程是不同项目干系人在信任的基础上进行相互协作、共享风险知识以实现风险控制的持续过程。基于社会网络理论,利用智能体仿真技术研究在不同信任条件和活动自由度下,干系人风险知识的交互对项目风险绩效的影响。研究结果表明,合理的信任条件以及适当的干系人活动自由度能降低项目整个生命周期内的风险影响,提高项目风险绩效,并提出了相应的项目风险管理建议。     

To bridge or to bond? Diverse social connections in an IS project team

Although research has shown that knowledge sharing among project team members is crucial for project performance, achieving knowledge sharing is still challenging. This problem is especially salient in IS project teams. Such teams are temporary organizations that may not progress through the necessary team formation cycle, yet are expected to produce intangible outcomes in a limited time. In this paper, we investigate how bonding and bridging social capital influence knowledge sharing and project performance. Bonding could facilitate cohesiveness within a team and lead a team to achieve project goals. Bridging could facilitate access to various beneficial resources beyond the boundary of a project team, increasing creativity and innovation. However, bridging is costly and can obstruct project performance. Our findings suggest that team members with high bonding social capital are more likely to share their knowledge with their team. Bonding and intention to share knowledge also positively affect project performance. Conversely, bridging social capital can contribute to project performance only through the mediating effect of bonding. This research contributes to theory by empirically examining the two types of social capital and their interdependence, as predictors of knowledge sharing and subsequently project performance. Project managers should form teams composed of members with diverse social connections and consider the balance between bonding and bridging within a team to control the potential disadvantageous effects of bridging social capital.     

Hospital learning from extreme weather events: using causal loop diagrams

Extreme weather events (EWEs) represent an important opportunity for hospital facilities managers to learn lessons to improve future hospital resilience. However, little is known about the process by which this occurs and how effectively this happens. These questions are addressed by an exploration of how individual hospital stakeholders learn about the performance of their facilities and share these lessons in the adaptation of future hospital disaster management plans. More specifically, the evidence of behavioural and social/collective learning is investigated amongst hospital stakeholders during EWEs. The data gathered from a case study of a major hospital network of four hospitals were qualitatively analysed within a constructionist ontology and interpretivist epistemology using causal loop diagrams (CLDs). This revealed how lessons were learned in the hospital network from collective stakeholder EWEs’ experiences. The findings highlight the need to develop appropriate processes and structures to capture, share and use facilities-related knowledge and embed new lessons learnt into future hospital disaster planning processes. Using Nonaka and Takeuchi's model of organizational knowledge creation, this paper presents new theoretical and practical insights for hospital facilities managers to build hospital resilience by better capturing the facilities-related lessons learnt in responding to an EWE.     

Project management office a knowledge broker in project-based organisations

Current research into project management offices (PMOs) has stressed the PMOs' potential to act as knowledge brokers between projects, and between project and top management. Nonetheless, the literature does not provide sufficient evidence of the brokering role of PMOs. The research reported here aims to examine PMO's functions from a knowledge sharing perspective and explore whether or not these functions reflect the knowledge sharing needs of project managers (PMs). These issues are investigated through a cross-case analysis of seven organisations. The main contribution is insight into how PMs share knowledge and awareness of the need to structure PMOs to align with PMs' nature, needs and expectations in order to improve knowledge sharing in PBOs. Finally, some practical steps for helping PMOs to better adapt their functions to the needs of PMs and their learning and knowledge sharing style are proposed.     

成功的公私合营模式前期采购相关的关键因素

PPP 项目的前期阶段至关重要,因为它有助于在采购过程中澄清客户的需求,这是PPP 中最重要的元素之一。针对这一点,本文目的在于确定可能会影响成功的前期采购相关的关键因素。基于现有文献和访谈,研究确定了15 个采购相关因素。进行因子分析,以确定潜在影响PPP 前期阶段的方面和尺度。在香港发放问卷调查,收集定量数据。结果提炼出客户对前期阶段的要求和决定、简报文件和灵活性、清晰的简报过程和控制及前期阶段中利益相关方的参与4 个主成分对前期采购具有影响,这4 个方面是PPP 可持续发展的基础,并可在前期阶段帮助改善PPP 项目的运作。     

A parallel multiple mediator model of knowledge sharing in architectural design project teams

The demystification of the underlying mechanism for architects' knowledge sharing behavior in a project team context is of importance to better appreciate the behavior in a theoretical sense and for effective managerial intervention in a practical sense. However, most studies of knowledge sharing mechanism in current literature focus on the simple mediation. The likelihood of multiple mediators for knowledge sharing is yet to be investigated. To bridge this gap, structural equation modeling is applied to test the parallel mediation of team-based self-esteem and team identification between two types of trust and knowledge sharing with survey data. It is found that the relation between affect-based trust and knowledge sharing is completely mediated by team-based self-esteem and team identification. The model implies that project managers should pay attention to the cultivation of members' team-based self-esteem and team identification. Special measures should also be taken to build and strengthen the affect-based trust.     

Stakeholder impact analysis of infrastructure project management in developing countries: a study of perception of project managers in state‐owned engineering firms in Vietnam

Construction projects can involve a diverse range of stakeholders and the success of the project depends very much on fulfilling their needs and expectations. It is important, therefore, to identify and recognize project stakeholders and develop a rigorous stakeholder management process. However, limited research has investigated the impact of stakeholders on construction projects in developing countries. A stakeholder impact analysis (SIA), based on an approach developed by Olander (2007), was adopted to investigate the stakeholders’ impact on state‐owned civil engineering projects in Vietnam. This involved the analysis of a questionnaire survey of 57 project managers to determine the relative importance of different stakeholders. The results show the client to have the highest level of impact on the projects, followed by project managers and the senior management of state‐owned engineering firms. The SIA also provides suggestions to project managers in developing and evaluating the stakeholder management process.     

Knowledge sharing in information systems development projects: Explicating the role of dependence and trust

This study provides empirical evidence for the role of dependence and trust in knowledge sharing in information systems projects. As critical antecedents of dependence and trust among team members, four constructs are included in the study—environmental complexity, domain expertise, similarity of project value, and communication frequency. Partial least square analyses are conducted, using data collected from 135 project teams in two large IT firms. The results confirm that dependence and trust maintain a strong impact on knowledge sharing, leading to good team project performance. This study uses a cross-sectional survey as a research method. Longer term exploration seems necessary to further explore how trust and dependence are actually formed among team members. Findings indicate that team members share their knowledge when they trust their partners and when they feel dependent. Feelings of dependence and trust are influenced by the communication frequency, perceived similarity of the project's value, and the perceived expertise. Project managers need to pay attention to these variables in order to increase the level of knowledge sharing among team members especially in information systems development projects where primary tasks are critically knowledge-intensive.     

An assessment of briefs used for designing healthcare environments: a survey in Sweden

The brief is a central document in decision-making during the early stages of the planning and construction (briefing/programming) of healthcare environments. Thus, the demand on the content and quality of these documents is high. The content and quality of initial briefs developed in Sweden were assessed to obtain an up-to-date picture of current practices of writing project statements in the early stages of designing healthcare environments. A new instrument called the Content and Quality of Brief Instrument (CQB-I) was used to study 29 initial briefs. In many cases, the documentation in the briefs was incomplete and the information did not adequately address users’ needs. In addition, the briefs often did not include any measurable outcomes or explicitly evidence-based information. These findings have implications for identifying areas for improvement in design teams’ documentation practices. Assessment can have a real impact on the quality of briefs and can raise awareness of the need to improve the briefing process itself. This is one of the first studies to assess the content and quality of briefs and it provides a starting point for both practitioners and future researchers to explore the role of briefs in briefing process quality improvement.     

Improving megaproject briefing through enhanced collaboration with ICT

AimsThe paper reviews the development of information and communication technology in briefing and proposes a collaborative briefing framework to extend key stakeholder engagement, aiming to improve the efficiency and reliability of project briefing for megaprojects.ScopeAuthors introduce an innovative collaborative approach to promote stakeholder involvement by enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of managing a large group of stakeholders, harnessing collaboration technology. Drawing parallels with biological neural networks in humans, a conceptual collaborative briefing framework is proposed to demonstrate how briefing team members can work collaboratively as a virtual organisation through a shared digital workspace. This framework has five core elements: integrated briefing team, collaborative briefing job plan, computer supported cooperative work platform, requirements processing models and facilitation models.ConclusionThe proposed framework supplements face-to-face discussion with computer mediated discussion, depending on the type, flexibility and interaction needed for different aspects in briefing. This “hybrid briefing method” would maximise the benefits to costs ratio of expanded stakeholder engagement in project briefing. The framework is expected to promote the accuracy and transparency of ‘requirements identification’ processing, the effective engagement and appropriate integration of more stakeholder inputs and finally, to improve the efficiency and reliability of briefing outputs. Lastly, some framework limitations are discussed, aimed at further development and a computer prototype.     

Augmented process model for e-tendering: Towards integrating object models with document management systems

The management of the construction industry is exponentially increasing in complexity since it has to deal with highly fragmented, complex and unique combinations of business relations, communications and processes. Each phase in the construction cycle requires effective communication/sharing of information/knowledge as well as coordination among project participants and stakeholders, thus leading to timing and technical content transfer enhancements and/or problems as well as related efficiency and/or profitability loss. Recent advances in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) are considered essential and promising in improving sharing/exchange of project information as well as communication among construction industry stakeholders whilst reducing associated costs and time.One facet of such advances in ICT is evident from the proactive indulgement of the construction supply chain in collaborative extranets. Extranets are able to capture the supply chain communication practices and provide a controlled communication hub as well as document management databases with all ICT enhanced features. In parallel, the construction industry has recognized the importance of sharing and exchanging project information across the supply chain through project integrated databases. However, such advancements in the ICT utilisation in construction industry were unable to develop a system that exchanges/shares project information, at the element level, over a well defined matrix of communication that can also integrate into the business processes of the members of supply chain.The objective of this study is to highlight the needs to bridge this gap through the development of an augmented process model which will enable integrated databases to support collaborative extranets at the Tender stage. This paper will discuss the features, limitation and nature of the process and information models which can be integrated into the core business processes of the construction supply chain members. This is basically achieved by investigating the communication processes and information exchanged across the supply chain during the construction tendering phase.     

Is the evolution of building sustainability assessment methods promoting the desired sharing of knowledge amongst project stakeholders?

Building sustainability assessment methods (BSAM’s) seek to help project stakeholders understand the predicted and actual sustainability performance of their buildings but are often applied reactively and isolated from project decisions. The last decade has seen BREEAM at the forefront of evolving assessment practice towards a framework approach to help shape project decisions and promote stakeholder learning. The research explores the nature and extent this transition is being realized in practice within four case studies applying BREEAM spanning a 15-year period. Process and knowledge mapping techniques are applied to explore the flow of knowledge required to enable sustainable decisions, stimulate the sharing of understanding, mediation of views and to promote learning amongst stakeholders. Evidence suggested that when applied in progressive projects that the flow of knowledge is strongest when supported by sustainability leadership, a framework approach aligned with project management, an improvement and engagement culture and a strategy for promoting knowledge flow. As practice matures care is needed to ensure engagement remains high and stakeholders are not isolated from the flow of knowledge as projects increasingly rely on sustainability advisors thus losing the opportunity to learn and shape decisions.     

Managing construction project change: a knowledge management perspective

In the information age, organization theories have addressed problem‐solving as an information‐processing activity. However, in this era, with the realization of knowledge‐based views of the organization, shared problem‐solving is increasingly recognized as a knowledge creation trigger. During shared problem‐solving, stakeholders bring different types of knowledge into the problem situation and it is captured, created and shared by the team members. In construction projects, shared problem‐solving often takes place through pragmatic problem‐solving on site, in particular, through managing project changes. However, this significant role of knowledge in managing project change is not well appreciated in the extant literature. Accordingly, to explore how knowledge is created during project changes in construction a case study approach was adopted using two change events in two collaborative settings within the UK construction industry. The case study findings revealed that different forms of knowledge are created during the project change process within construction projects. However, this knowledge remains largely tacit and does not disseminate to the wider organization due to imbalanced codification and personalization strategies existing in such settings. A knowledge management perspective is introduced to manage project change so that construction project teams can successfully resolve and learn from change events.     

Improving ecological performance of industrialized building systems in Malaysia

For construction stakeholders to fully embrace sustainability, its long-term benefits and associated risks need to be identified through holistic approaches. Consensus among key stakeholders is very important to the improvement of the ecological performance of industrialized building systems (IBS), a building construction method gaining momentum in Malaysia. A questionnaire survey examines the relative significance of 16 potentially important sustainability factors for IBS applications. To present possible solutions, semi-structured interviews solicit views from experienced IBS practitioners, representing the professions involved. Three most critical factors agreed by key stakeholders are material consumption, waste generation and waste disposal. Using SWOT analysis, the positive and negative aspects of these factors are investigated, with action plans formulated for IBS design practitioners. The SWOT analysis based guidelines have the potential to become part of IBS design briefing documents against which sustainability solutions are contemplated, selected and implemented. Existing knowledge on ecological performance issues is extended by considering the unique characteristics of IBS and identifying not only the benefits, but also the potential risks and challenges of pursuing sustainability. This is largely missing in previous research efforts. Findings to date focus on providing much-needed assistance to IBS designers, who are at the forefront of decision-making with a significant level of project influence. Ongoing work will be directed towards other project development phases and consider the inherent linkage between design decisions and subsequent sustainability deliverables in the project life cycle.     

基于PPP模式的公共部门投资激励约束机制方法研究

城市基础设施建设中采用 PPP 模式,是带动城市经济与社会双重效益的新特征。公私部门合作需要利用激励约束 机制来调动参与项目建设投资的积极性,以获得经济社会公益与经济效益共赢。通过对实践案例研究发现,有效建立激励机 制,取决于政府在项目建设中为私有部门提供的报酬及其为自身积极努力的程度。激励机制效用是政府独特约束控制权确定 的关键。为了论证研究方法在项目实施中的效用,构建了激励约束机制方法模型。研究结果表明,采用 PPP 模式的项目运 营决策标准存在差异性,激励约束机制在 PPP 项目运营中作用和风险分担能力最强,收益约束监管难度最高。因此,建立 激励约束机制便于规避 PPP 模式在城市建设运营中的风险且有利于促进社会公平。     

The User Pre-Occupancy Evaluation Method in designer–client communication in early design stage: A case study

The interaction between designers and clients is continuous during the briefing and architectural design stage. The efficiency of the interaction process may be decreased due to the limited experience of clients, such as the limited capacity in understanding drawings or reviewing design solutions. A User Pre-Occupancy Evaluation Method (UPOEM) was developed to enhance the designer–client communication by applying building information modeling, user activity simulation, and requirement management techniques. A case study is used to apply the UPOEM to verify the practical implementation in a real project and from which a comparative experimental study and questionnaire survey were conducted. The findings indicate that the UPOEM can help generate more suggestions for improving design solution during designer–client communication compared with traditional approach. It can also enhance the clients' understanding of the future built environment as well as their willingness in collaborative working with designers at the early design stage.     

A framework for identification and representation of client requirements in the briefing process

The briefing process is critical to the successful delivery of construction projects. Although a number of briefing guides have been developed, attempting to address the problems of briefing, they are often criticized as being too general and implicit. This paper describes a structured framework for identifying and representing client requirements (CRs) in the briefing process. It integrates the value management (VM) methodology with function analysis system technique (FAST) and functional performance specification (FPS) to enable the client organization and project team to systematically identify, clarify and clearly represent CRs in the briefing process. It comprises four interrelated phases: preparation, information, analysis and evaluation. This paper starts with a critical review of previous work in briefing and function analysis, followed by an introduction to the research methodology and detailed illustration of the proposed framework. The use of this framework can facilitate and lead to systematic identification and clarification of client requirements and the formation of a more precise and explicit representation of these requirements. The limitations of the approach are also discussed in the paper.     

A socio-ecological analysis of hospital resilience to extreme weather events

Hospitals play a critical role in helping communities respond effectively to extreme weather events (EWEs). Despite predictions of more EWEs, little is known about the process by which hospital infrastructure resilience to such events can be built. Using Gunderson and Holling’s Adaptive Cycle, a new theoretical perspective based on socio-ecological resilience theory is provided to understand this process. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews, observations of disaster drills and disaster planning meetings, as well as additional documentary analysis of past incident reports. The research findings were then refined and validated in a focus group meeting with respondents. The findings indicate that there are significant organizational barriers which prevent facilities managers improving the resilience of hospital facilities to future EWEs. It was found that the disaster planning process is ad hoc and non-inclusive, focused on man-made disasters and compliance driven, top-down approach, under-resourced and is driven by a general ignorance of the importance of resilient-built facilities to health care delivery during an EWE. It is concluded that to produce more resilient hospital infrastructure, there needs to be a more well-resourced, integrated and collaborative approach to disaster management planning which enables health facilities managers to play a more central role in disaster planning decisions. There also need to be better systems, technologies and training implemented to manage information about health infrastructure performance before, during and after EWEs.     

多项目环境下工程管理组织内部知识共享影响因素识别

知识共享作为知识管理的核心要素,在工程管理领域越来越受到研究人员和各类工程管理组织的重视。为了理清制约工程管理组织内部知识共享效果的各类影响因素,在分析工程管理组织知识共享特点的基础上,构建了多项目环境下工程管理组织内部知识共享模型,从共享主体、共享客体和共享环境3 个维度,分析识别出多项目环境下工程管理组织内部知识共享的常规影响因素以及特有影响因素,并利用专家访谈法最终确定出17 个方面的影响因素,建立了多项目环境下工程管理组织内部知识共享影响因素概念模型,为继续开展有关影响机理的实证研究奠定了基础。