Agile practices and performance: Examining the role of psychological empowerment

This study draws on the literature on psychological empowerment to conceptualize agile practices as a source of intrinsic motivation that enables the agile teams to deliver innovative outcomes. Then, drawing on the resource based view of innovative projects, the innovative behaviour of agile teams is cast as a project capability that affects project performance. To test this original conceptualization, data was collected to find support for the hypothesized relationships between agile practices, psychological empowerment, innovative behaviour and project performance. The statistical results showed that the agile practices of team autonomy and agile communication contributed to psychological empowerment that led to the innovative behaviour of agile teams. The innovative behaviour also affected project performance. The empirical validation of agile practices as a source of empowerment and motivation for agile teams is a new finding in the literature which has strong implications for both the theory and practice.     

Group‐level safety climate in the Australian construction industry: within‐group homogeneity and between‐group differences in road construction and maintenance

In modern organizations it is overly simplistic to assume that a uniform, organization‐wide climate for safety develops. Workgroup‐level safety climates are more likely to arise in decentralized organizations and their influence on occupational health and safety (OHS) behaviour is likely to be stronger when work is non‐routine, as in construction. The existence of workgroup‐level safety climates was examined in the Australian construction industry. A group‐level safety climate survey was conducted in a road maintenance and construction organization. The clear factorial structure produced in a larger sample of Australian defence logistics workers was not replicated and factors splintered, possibly due to the subject‐to‐item ratio in the construction study. However, the internal reliability consistency of the factors produced in the earlier pilot study was found to be acceptable for the construction industry data. Two requisite conditions for the existence of group‐level safety climates, i.e. (1) within‐group homogeneity; and (2) between‐group variation, were satisfied within the road construction and maintenance organization. The results indicate that distinct workgroup safety climates exist in construction, providing a theoretical explanation for why some workgroups perform better in OHS than others, despite having similar risk exposure.     

Safety climate in conditions of construction subcontracting: a multi‐level analysis

A multi‐level safety climate model was tested in the Australian construction industry. Subcontracted workers’ perceptions of the organizational safety response (OSR) and supervisor safety response (SSR) in their own organization and that of the principal contractor were measured using a safety climate survey administered at a large hospital construction project in Melbourne. One hundred and fourteen construction workers completed the survey, representing nine subcontractors engaged at the project. Two requisite conditions for the existence of group‐level safety climates, i.e. (1) within‐group homogeneity; and (2) between‐group variation were satisfied for perceptions of subcontractors’ OSR and SSR. This supports the contention that subcontractors working in a single construction project exhibit a unique group‐level safety climate. Subcontracted workers also discriminated between group‐level safety climates (i.e. the SSR) in their own and in the principal contractor’s organizations. The results suggest some cross‐level influence. Perceptions of the SSR were positively predicted by perceptions of the OSR in both the principal and subcontractor organizations. Perceptions of the OSR of the principal contractor were also a significant predictor of the perceived OSR and SSR in the subcontractor organizations. Perceptions of the subcontractors’ SSR were a significant predictor of the rate of lost‐time and medical treatment incidents reported by the subcontractor. Although perceptions of the principal contractor’s SSR were not directly related to subcontractors’ injury rates, they were a significant predictor of subcontractors’ SSR, revealing an indirect link. The results suggest that supervisory personnel (e.g. foremen and leading hands) play an important role in shaping safety performance in subcontracted workgroups.     

Properties of group safety climate in construction: the development and evaluation of a typology

A safety climate survey was conducted in three Australian construction industry organizations. Workers’ perceptions of their supervisors’ safety response (SSR) and co‐workers’ safety response (CSR) were measured as facets of group safety climate. A two‐dimensional schema was developed based upon the strength and the level of group safety climate. The resulting framework was used to position the 40 workgroups included in the sample within one of four group safety climate types. A non‐parametric Kruskal Wallis test revealed that workgroups in which members share a strong consensus that co‐workers should treat safety as a priority had a significantly lower injury frequency rate than other workgroups in the sample. While no significant differences between the injury frequency rates of workgroups positioned in the four safety climate types were found for the other facets of group safety climate, workgroups with strong and high (i.e. strongly supportive) safety climates related to supervisors’ safety expectations and co‐workers’ actual safety behaviour reported injury frequency rates on average two‐thirds the magnitude of the remaining workgroups in the sample. Although limited by the reliance on retrospective and insensitive measurement for the dependent variable (i.e. injury frequency rates), the research provides preliminary evidence for the importance of considering both the strength and level of group safety climates in the construction industry. Future research should seek to replicate and extend this research by examining the antecedents of group safety climate strength and level in the construction context.     

Analysis of probabilistic climate projections: heat wave,overheating and adaptation

Climate change could substantially impact on the performance of buildings in providing thermal comfort to occupants. The recently launched UK climate projections (UKCP09) suggest that all areas of the UK will become warmer in the future with the possibility of more frequent and severe extreme events, such as heat waves. This study, as part of the low carbon futures (LCF) project, explores the consequent risk of overheating and the vulnerability of a building to extreme events. A simple statistical model proposed by the LCF project elsewhere has been employed to emulate the outputs of the dynamic building simulator (ESP-r), which if directly used with the numerous replicated climates available from a probabilistic climate database could be practically challenging. For complex probabilistic climate datasets, we demonstrate the efficiency of the statistical tool in performing a systematic analysis of various aspects of heat waves including: frequency of extreme heat events in changing climate; its impact on overheating issues and effects of specific adaptation techniques applied to offset predicted overheating. We consider a domestic building as a virtual case study. Results are presented relative to a baseline climate (1961–1990) for three future timelines (2030s, 2050s and 2080s) and three emission scenarios (Low, Medium and High).     

Learning in project-based organizations: The role of project teams' social capital for overcoming barriers to learning

It is a major challenge for project-based organizations to learn across project boundaries by making project-level knowledge available to the organization as a whole. This study argues that project teams' social capital is conducive to overcoming barriers to learning in project-based organizations. Based on a large-scale analysis of engineering projects in Germany, the study shows that project teams' social capital, i.e. the intra-organizational social ties of project teams with their colleagues outside the project, compensates for project teams' lack of opportunity, motivation, and ability to make project-learnings available to the organization as a whole. By contributing to overcoming barriers to learning in project-based organizations, social capital represents an important driver of organizational learning about market conditions, products and technologies as well as project management.     

基于Cloud-BIM 的工程项目数据管理研究

建筑业动态和碎片的属性导致项目协同团队之间的数据管理在工程项目生命周期内没有获得有效改善。研究提出了工程项目大数据实时处理模型和基于Cloud-BIM 的模型应用框架,Cloud-BIM 平台对工程项目大数据进行收集、集成、关联、存储和数据挖掘,实现工程项目数据的再利用和知识管理。基于云计算的应用框架不仅使个人与项目团队之间,而且使各个项目组织之间以一致的、实时的、可持续、基于项目生命周期的方式进行数据管理,从而有效提高项目不同组织界面之间的协同工作,有助于把项目数据转换成组织的信息资产。     

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.     

Dynamics of control in construction project teams

Control is pervasive in construction project environments. The management of projects through various planning and control tools has therefore been described essentially as rebureaucratization which increases control over individuals, teams and organizations through ideologies of efficiency and performativity. Yet certain characteristics of the project setting make it an ideal climate for the empowerment of individuals and teams. The manifestations of control in five construction project management teams involved in two ongoing construction projects in Hong Kong are examined. The interpretive and exploratory focus of the study favoured the use of a qualitative research design and the case study approach in particular. Control is viewed as all devices and systems employed to ensure that acts, behaviours, outcomes and decisions of individuals, teams and organizations are consistent with meeting organizational or project goals, objectives and strategies. The findings indicate that a portfolio of control modes is implemented in project teams comprising both formal (i.e. behaviour‐ and outcome‐based) and informal (i.e. clan‐ and self‐based) control mechanisms which are not necessarily incompatible. While formal control remains the primary control mode, a portfolio of control appears necessary to augment the inadequacies of formal control due to the evolving nature of the project environment.     

The interplay of formal integrative mechanisms and relational norms in project collaboration

Collaboration can bring multiple benefits to projects. Real collaboration appears, however, complex to implement. So far, there is no scientific agreement on the importance of the formal and relational (behavioural) sides of project collaboration. Through a qualitative study of two collaborating teams in large engineering and construction projects we uncover the roles of these two sides of collaboration and analyse their interplay. We find that relational and formal aspects of collaboration are complementary, yet each has a distinct role. The formal integrative mechanisms provide an arena for relational norms to be established, and for collaborative behaviours to be practiced and implemented. Relational norms transform traditional project management activities into collaborative, integrative ones. We advance theory of collaboration by offering a holistic and at the same time fine-grained view on it, and stress that project teams need to pay equal attention to both formal and relational sides for collaboration to succeed.     

An integrated model of factors influencing project managers' motivation — Findings from a Swiss Survey

The imperative need for increasing project managers' motivation is a major concern for organizations. We developed and evaluated an integrated model of factors influencing project managers' motivation, the ‘Motivational Factor Inventory’ (MFI). The MFI consists of 47 items grouped in 6 motivational dimensions. These dimensions are: 1) interpersonal interaction, 2) task, 3) general working conditions, 4) empowerment, 5) personal development, and 6) compensation. Results of this study showed that the MFI was a valid instrument and that all identified items were relevant for project managers' motivation. A clearly defined, interesting task, working with a supportive and goal oriented team, getting the necessary information and financial and personnel resources, and having the possibility to influence important decisions have been identified as the most important motivators for project managers working in Switzerland. Factors related to compensation were the least important motivators. Results are discussed, and practical conclusions and recommendations for further research are formulated.     

湿热气候下高层办公楼气候适应性设计 ——以广东交通设计大厦为例

揭示湿热气候下高层办公楼气候适应性设计策略与应用逻辑,为我国高层办公楼的绿色设计提供借鉴与参考。运用建筑气候适应性思想,聚焦方案设计阶段,通过案例归纳与分析气候特征,总结湿热气候下绿色高层办公楼在隔热、遮阳、通风、节能方面的设计策略。并通过广东交通设计大厦项目实践,在城市、建筑与细部尺度将气候适应性设计策略有效运用,深刻塑造了建筑的形体与空间特色。高层办公楼气候适应性设计,有益于创造出适应气候环境、更加节能健康的绿色建筑。     

Profiling work motivation of project workers

The purpose of this study is to understand the constructs of work motivation in project-based organizations. We first juxtapose work motivation in traditional and project-based organizations to put forward an operational definition of work motivation for our study. We then present the research methodology where we profile work motivation as perceived by project workers using principal component analysis. We obtain a five factor structure of work motivation. Finally, we discuss these results by putting them within the project management perspective and suggest managerial implications.     

Unraveling local relationship patterns in project networks: A network motif approach

Characterizing relationship patterns among organizations in project networks has become a hot issue in the emerging field of project network management. Many researchers focus on social network centralities (e.g. degree, betweenness, and closeness) and global network measures (e.g., network density, degree distribution, and clustering coefficient) to investigate the relationship patterns in project networks. However, little is known about the local relationship patterns, i.e., relational structures among a small number of project organizations. In this paper, we will construct the contractors’ collaboration networks by mapping collaborative relationships between hundreds of contractors within the electronic database of National Quality Award Projects (NQAP) of China. The research purpose is to make use of the normative network motif approach in characterizing the local relationship patterns of project networks and in demonstrating how such relationship patterns evolve, thus contributing to the field of project network research. We find two distinct types of local collaboration patterns, i.e., motif and antimotif in the NQAP collaboration network. The motifs are the evolutionary favored patterns induced by macro network clustering tendency and individual structural embeddedness. Moreover, the evolution of the NQAP collaboration network shows a phase transition characterized by the distribution of the local collaboration patterns. The motif approach is expected to help project organizations devise appropriate strategies to select partners as well as to help governors establish effective strategies of project network governance.     

Cross-national collaboration in strategic transport projects: The impact on benefits realization

This study investigates cross-national collaboration to realize benefits in strategic transport projects (STPs) characterized by complexity, ambiguity, and collaboration challenges between project organizations. With the increasing importance of STPs in realizing (developing) countries’ adequate transport needs and demands, we respond to calls for a more in-depth and long-term exploration of the benefits realized in STPs across the project lifecycle. We conducted a multi-method, longitudinal case study of the Addis-Ababa light rail transport project by building on interviews, observations, and secondary data. By adopting a longitudinal perspective, our findings draw out the collaboration challenges, and their impact on benefits realization, in a cross-national STP across the pre-planning, development, and operations phases. We contribute to how organizations collaborate in a cross-national STP to realize pricing and infrastructure benefits, and thereby provide an extension to our understanding of crucial benefits of STPs that go beyond the iron triangle.     

Resilience and creative problem-solving capacities in project teams: A relational view

Teams often struggle with their assigned projects and evidence indicates relatively limited project success. Recent research advanced a behavioral perspective to the study of the variance in project performance. We seek to advance this literature by developing and testing a dual-pathway model of project performance. Specifically, we expand on relational coordination theory to suggest that teams can enhance their project performance through two knowledge creation mechanisms – access to knowledge and experiential learning – which underpin resilience and creative problem solving. Results of time-lagged data from project teams indicate that high quality relationships between team members facilitate both experiential learning and access to knowledge, which in turn are positively related to team resilience. Team resilience, in turn, is indirectly related to project performance, through creative problem solving. We advance the extant literature of project management by enhancing our understanding of how relationally coordinated project teams develop capabilities – resilience and creative problem solving – and improve their project performance.     

不同气候条件下建筑外窗性能变化检测方法研究

本文分析了开展不同气候条件下建筑外窗性能变化检测方法研究的必要性和国内外研究现状,研究了我国典型气候特点及其相应的气候因素设置和外窗性能表征项目,参考欧洲标准,提出了试验检测中生成气候因素的依据、参数数值和加载方法,设计了性能测试的部位和方法。研究旨在为不同气候条件下建筑外窗性能变化检测设备研制提供设计基础。     

施工班组间安全氛围相互影响机理研究

建筑业的安全生产问题一直是理论和实践研究的重难点,研究施工班组间安全氛围相互影响机理具有重要意义。基于文献研究,将心理安全氛围MTP模型和团队绩效IMOI模型引入机理模型构建框架中,在多团队系统理论、范畴化理论、团队绩效理论基础上,结合我国施工现场的实际整理建筑业施工班组的基本情况,对团队研究模型进行适当调整,构建了施工班组间安全氛围相互影响模型,为建筑施工现场安全管理研究提供全新的理论视角。     

Examining the transition to agile practices with information technology projects: Agile teams and their experience of accountability

Proponents of the agile approach to project management describe this new way of working as more efficient, more productive, liberating, and one in which the team has greater control. We examine the experience of implementing agile practices within project management through nine agile teams in the financial services sector. Using grounded theory analysis of data from semi-structured interviews, several thematic categories emerge including accountability, team-based perceptions of their place in the organization, human factors in agile teams, and technical factors with the implementation of agile practice. As a result of these findings, we propose a framework describing how IT project teams experience accountability arrangements when transitioning into agile practices. The accountability experience is a result of the fit between the teams’ perception of how they are viewed as agile teams in their organizations, their experience of technical practices of agile implementation, and their experience of interaction and exchanges in their teams. We conclude with a call towards recognizing the dissonance between different expectations of accountability and a call for further empirical research into this phenomenon.     

Organizational context and collaboration on international projects: The case of a professional service firm

In project teams that are distributed across the international subsidiaries of a firm, collaboration can be a challenge. The organizational context of projects is not always conducive to international collaboration. Priorities and interests of sub-teams are likely to differ from those of the central team. In a grounded theory study of international client projects in a project-based organization, the impact of organizational context on collaboration is explored. It was found that the organizational context can provide important resources such as authority, policies, procedures and systems that can be appropriated to enable collaboration. However, this applies only when there are drivers for collaboration, consisting of interdependency and interest in the project's success. Even in a context not conducive to collaboration, the drivers encourage teams to constitute informal mechanisms, enabling some level of collaboration. A framework for the impact of organizational context on collaboration in international projects is presented.