Assessing the level of teamwork in Brazilian and English construction sites

Abstract

Increase the workforce involvement in continuous improvement activities is one of the main recommendations of the recent report Rethinking Construction, developed by the UK Construction Task Force. In Brazil, this is also a major issue in most government and industry initiatives for the sector, particularly after the opening of the economy in the mid‐1980s. In this context, this research attempts to contribute to policy making by assessing the degree of workforce involvement in continuous improvement in English and Brazilian construction sites. The results show a generalised poor level of workforce involvement in comparison to the reported practices of other industrial sectors. Hence, the results suggest that current strategies for promoting continuous improvement in the construction sector are failing to bring real change at the operational level due to the lack of leadership and appropriate win‐win relationships.

Citation

Santos, A. and Powell, J.A. (2001), "Assessing the level of teamwork in Brazilian and English construction sites", Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 22 No. 4, pp. 166-174. https://doi.org/10.1108/01437730110395060