Managing change in construction projects : a knowledge-based approach

Managing Change in Construction Projects: a knowledge-based approach offers a new perspective on construction project change by viewing the process of change management as a knowledge-intensive activity, where team members bring their tacit and explicit knowledge into the situation; share, create and capture this collective knowledge for future re-use in similar situations.

Through this knowledge-based approach, construction teams can successfully resolve and learn from change events, leading to an overall improved performance of the industry.

The book will make a significant contribution to our understanding of construction project change by offering new theoretical and practical insights and models grounded in results of case studies conducted within two collaborative construction project team settings.

By demonstrating how the social construction of knowledge works in construction settings, the authors challenge the prevailing change management solutions based on 'hard' IT approaches. They put forward a balanced view that incorporates both IT-based and socially constructed approaches to effective management of construction project change.

helps construction managers to improve and learn through the process of construction project change presents new theoretical models and offers practical guidelines first research-based book to directly address project change from a knowledge-based perspective draws on detailed studies with construction companies, including Ballast Construction and Kier Construction encourages a move from the information driven, process integrated approach to a knowledge-based view

Author Notes

Sepani Senaratne, Senior Lecturer, Department of Building Economics, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka.
Professor Martin Sexton, Director of Research, School of Construction Management and Engineering, University of Reading, UK.

About the Authors	p. xi
Chapter 1 Introduction	p. 1
1.1 Background	p. 1
1.2 Need for the Investigation	p. 3
1.3 Questions to Research	p. 5
1.4 Summary and Link	p. 5
Chapter 2 Key Issues from the Literature	p. 7
2.1 Introduction	p. 7
2.2 Construction Project Environment	p. 8
2.2.1 Nature of construction	p. 8
2.2.2 Construction project team	p. 9
2.2.3 Movement towards collaborative team approaches	p. 10
2.2.4 Construction teamwork issues	p. 11
2.3 Construction Project Change Management	p. 13
2.3.1 Change management in general	p. 13
2.3.2 Nature of construction project change	p. 14
2.3.3 Managing project change as a problem-solving process	p. 15
2.3.4 Causes of construction project change	p. 17
2.3.5 Effects of construction project change	p. 18
2.3.6 Context of construction project change	p. 19
2.3.7 Construction project change management approaches	p. 20
2.4 Knowledge Management Perspective	p. 22
2.4.1 Evolution of knowledge-based theories	p. 22
2.4.2 Knowledge-based views in the construction literature	p. 24
2.5 Role of Knowledge During Reactive Change Process	p. 28
2.5.1 Properties of knowledge during reactive change process	p. 29
2.5.2 Intra-project knowledge creation via reactive change processes	p. 31
2.5.3 Inter-project knowledge transfer via reactive change process	p. 37
2.6 Towards a knowledge-Based Reactive Change Process	p. 41
2.7 Summary and Link	p. 44
Chapter 3 Research Methodology	p. 47
3.1 Introduction	p. 47
3.2 Case Study Research Design	p. 47
3.2.1 Unit of analysis	p. 47
3.2.2 Case screening and selection	p. 48
3.3 Data Collection Process	p. 49
3.3.1 Selection of data collection techniques	p. 49
3.3.2 Interview structure	p. 50
3.3.3 Interview process	p. 52
3.4 Data Analysis Process	p. 52
3.5 Summary and Link	p. 52
Chapter 4 Case Study Results	p. 53
4.1 Introduction	p. 53
4.2 Case Study: Project A	p. 53
4.2.1 Case study description	p. 53
4.2.2 Contextual factors of change	p. 54
4.2.3 Knowledge properties during change	p. 63
4.2.4 Knowledge identification and utilisation during change	p. 67
4.2.5 Intra-project knowledge creation during change	p. 69
4.2.6 Inter-project knowledge transfer via change	p. 78
4.3 Case Study: Project B	p. 83
4.3.1 Case study description	p. 83
4.3.2 Contextual factors of change	p. 84
4.3.3 Knowledge properties during change	p. 94
4.3.4 Knowledge identification and utilisation during change	p. 99
4.3.5 Intra-project knowledge creation during change	p. 100
4.3.6 Inter-project knowledge transfer via change	p. 109
4.4 Summary and Link	p. 114
Chapter 5 Cross-Case Analysis	p. 117
5.1 Introduction	p. 117
5.2 Contextual Factors of Change: P1 Discussion	p. 117
5.3 Knowledge Properties During Change: P2 Discussion	p. 121
5.4 Knowledge Identification and Utilisation During Change: P3 Discussion	p. 123
5.5 Intra-Project Knowledge Creation During Change: P4 Discussion	p. 125
5.6 Inter-Project Knowledge Transfer During Change: P5 Discussion	p. 129
5.7 Summary and Link	p. 133
Chapter 6 Conclusions	p. 135
6.1 Introduction	p. 135
6.2 Summary of Propositions	p. 135
6.2.1 Summary of Proposition P1	p. 136
6.2.2 Summary of Proposition P2	p. 137
6.2.3 Summary of Proposition P3	p. 138
6.2.4 Summary of Proposition P4	p. 138
6.2.5 Summary of Proposition P5	p. 139
6.3 Comment on the Conceptual Model	p. 139
6.4 Conclusions about the Overall Research Problem	p. 141
6.5 Implications for Theory	p. 144
6.5.1 Theory of knowledge-based reactive change process	p. 144
6.6 Implications for Practice	p. 148
Appendix A Interview Guidelines	p. 151
Appendix B Example of an Interview Transcript	p. 157
Appendix C Comparison Between Propositions and Codes	p. 169
References	p. 173
Index	p. 183

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