Search results

1 – 10 of 25
Article
Publication date: 26 April 2024

William Henry Collinge

The paper aims to apply social practice theory to clarify the process of innovation design and delivery from one successful digital innovation: the building information modelling…

Abstract

Purpose

The paper aims to apply social practice theory to clarify the process of innovation design and delivery from one successful digital innovation: the building information modelling (BIM) risk library. The paper clarifies the practices surrounding construction innovation and provides a schema useful for practitioners and technology designers through a social practice analysis.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper applies Schatzki's “organisation of practice” concepts to a construction project innovation to clarify how the practice of innovation revolves around understandings, rules and teleoaffectivities (emotive behaviours). Sources for the study include notes from meetings, workshops with experts and the shared artefacts of innovation.

Findings

The practice of innovation design and delivery are clarified through a social practice analysis: a distinct “field of practice” and a “schema” of generalisable prescriptions and preferences for innovation delivery being presented.

Practical implications

The paper informs the practice and process of innovation design and delivery; the insights clarify how collective understandings and rules of use evolve over time, becoming formalised into contracts, agreements and workplans. Practically, processes whereby innovation “sayings” evolve into innovation “doings” are clarified: a schema detailing prescriptions and preferences of practitioners and developers being presented.

Originality/value

The social practice analysis of one successful construction innovation is an original contribution to the body of knowledge, adding a level of detail regarding innovation design and delivery often missing from reported research.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 April 2023

Xu Ren, Jing Xu, Yali Hao and Song Wang

This paper aims to investigate the impact of relationship quality among team members in the project team on knowledge transfer effectiveness and analyze the role of organizational…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the impact of relationship quality among team members in the project team on knowledge transfer effectiveness and analyze the role of organizational structure in the influencing process.

Design/methodology/approach

The hypotheses are verified by the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis using Smart PLS 3 software with the data collected from 236 questionnaire samples in Chinese construction industry.

Findings

The results indicate that relationship quality has a direct impact on knowledge transfer in project teams and centralization has a negative impact on relationship quality. Moreover, relationship quality plays a mediating role between centralization and knowledge transfer effectiveness and formalization plays a negative moderating role in the effect of relationship quality on knowledge transfer effectiveness.

Originality/value

This paper studies intra-project knowledge transfer from the perspective of relationship quality of project teams and explores the antecedent and moderating role of organizational structure in the influence of relationship quality on knowledge transfer.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 July 2023

Maszura Abdul Ghafar and Rahinah Ibrahim

This paper discussed quantifying architect, engineer and contractor (AEC) professionals' cross-work culture productivity by comparing between Malaysian and United Kingdom (UK…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper discussed quantifying architect, engineer and contractor (AEC) professionals' cross-work culture productivity by comparing between Malaysian and United Kingdom (UK) projects during industrialized building project delivery. This study addressed the second part of a mixed method research design study.

Design/methodology/approach

This study hypothesized that with understanding of cultural work knowledge between professionals during design phase coupled with competent technological support, productivity can be improved. It utilized Cognitive Organizational Theory (COT) protocols to test conceptual models in SimVision®. Organizational structure, project intensity, and statistical validations parameters were performed to obtain the reliability and generalization of the result.

Findings

This study found that with Building Information Modeling (BIM) technology intervention, the handling of exception, coordination and decision-making time could be improved, resulting in better project performances. The result also indicated that in choosing organizational fit, national culture factor needed to be considered; otherwise, organizational change would be unacceptable. By changing the operational process from intensive to reciprocal task intensity with BIM technology intervention, the effect on productivity would be similar to changing hierarchical organizational structure to flatter organizational structure.

Research limitations/implications

Project discrepancies issues are limitedly discussed due to companies' confidentiality. The paper only focuses on understanding the effects of human factors during the integrated project delivery phase.

Practical implications

The findings could support developing countries' professionals to collaborate effectively with developed countries' professionals.

Originality/value

The development of the project's cultural knowledge experimentations will provide guidance to teams involved in international projects from developed and developing countries in pursuing joint ventures in project deliveries in either country successfully.

Details

Smart and Sustainable Built Environment, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-6099

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 April 2024

Mawloud Titah and Mohammed Abdelghani Bouchaala

This paper aims to establish an efficient maintenance management system tailored for healthcare facilities, recognizing the crucial role of medical equipment in providing timely…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to establish an efficient maintenance management system tailored for healthcare facilities, recognizing the crucial role of medical equipment in providing timely and precise patient care.

Design/methodology/approach

The system is designed to function both as an information portal and a decision-support system. A knowledge-based approach is adopted centered on Semantic Web Technologies (SWTs), leveraging a customized ontology model for healthcare facilities’ knowledge capitalization. Semantic Web Rule Language (SWRL) is integrated to address decision-support aspects, including equipment criticality assessment, maintenance strategies selection and contracting policies assignment. Additionally, Semantic Query-enhanced Web Rule Language (SQWRL) is incorporated to streamline the retrieval of decision-support outcomes and other useful information from the system’s knowledge base. A real-life case study conducted at the University Hospital Center of Oran (Algeria) illustrates the applicability and effectiveness of the proposed approach.

Findings

Case study results reveal that 40% of processed equipment is highly critical, 40% is of medium criticality, and 20% is of negligible criticality. The system demonstrates significant efficacy in determining optimal maintenance strategies and contracting policies for the equipment, leveraging combined knowledge and data-driven inference. Overall, SWTs showcases substantial potential in addressing maintenance management challenges within healthcare facilities.

Originality/value

An innovative model for healthcare equipment maintenance management is introduced, incorporating ontology, SWRL and SQWRL, and providing efficient data integration, coordinated workflows and data-driven context-aware decisions, while maintaining optimal flexibility and cross-departmental interoperability, which gives it substantial potential for further development.

Details

Journal of Quality in Maintenance Engineering, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2511

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 August 2023

Charles Frommweiler and Erik Poirier

The building commissioning (BCx) phase is a critical stage in a building's lifecycle. It is also a complex process that involves a large number of actors and activities. While the…

Abstract

Purpose

The building commissioning (BCx) phase is a critical stage in a building's lifecycle. It is also a complex process that involves a large number of actors and activities. While the use of building information modeling (BIM) in the commissioning phase of building equipment and systems could be beneficial, few studies have investigated the processes behind its implementation. The research presented in this paper aims to investigate the implementation of BIM for the commissioning phase within a general contracting company through action-research.

Design/methodology/approach

Through direct involvement with the research partner, a large general contractor, a diagnosis on the current limitations of the commissioning process was conducted. An action plan to implement BIM for commissioning was developed and implemented in two pilot projects. Evaluation was performed through on-site observations and informal discussions with field staff. Learning was specified through the development of a formal protocol for BIM-enabled BCx.

Findings

This action-research project helped the partner organization identify the challenges and a way forward to formalize its BIM-enabled BCx process. The action plan aimed at countering the lack of knowledge about the status of equipment and system commissioning as well as the lack of standardization. The research team co-developed and tested a formal protocol, including BIM-enabled processes and technologies to address these observed problems. A complete implementation ecosystem was structured and deployed. Preliminary feedback indicated that improvements were obtained using a BIM-enabled approach over a traditional approach.

Originality/value

While past studies have investigated the BCx process, this study identified current challenges considering recent advances in BIM and focused on a large general contractor. This work provides an in-depth account of a large general contractor attempting to streamline its BCx process. The results of the study could help guide practitioners in implementing more streamlined BIM-enabled BCx processes.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 26 June 2023

Juliano Afonso Tessaro, Rainer Harms and Holger Schiele

This study aims to analyze how startups organize their purchasing activities to improve operative excellence and become attractive customers.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to analyze how startups organize their purchasing activities to improve operative excellence and become attractive customers.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use a two-phase exploratory approach with semistructured interviews and a World Café. In total, 20 startup purchasers and suppliers participated. It is an international study with participants from eight countries (Belgium, Brazil, France, Germany, Hungary, The Netherlands, the UK and the USA).

Findings

The authors find that startups organize the purchasing function in five ways: partial outsourcing, transactional-oriented, strategic only, outsourced purchasing and full department. Each type has advantages and disadvantages regarding operative excellence. The authors identify type-specific antecedents to operative excellence: forecasting, payment habits, ordering process, contact accessibility and quick decision-making.

Research limitations/implications

The value of this paper is that it offers entrepreneurs a framework to organize startup purchasing activities, including outsourcing options. Furthermore, it provides theoretical contributions that expand the topic of purchasing and supply organization and operative excellence to the startup context.

Originality/value

The value of this paper is that, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, it is the first to explore purchasing organization and operative excellence in startups.

Details

Journal of Global Operations and Strategic Sourcing, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2398-5364

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 May 2023

Yumeng Hou, Fadel Mamar Seydou and Sarah Kenderdine

Despite being an authentic carrier of various cultural practices, the human body is often underutilised to access the knowledge of human body. Digital inventions today have…

Abstract

Purpose

Despite being an authentic carrier of various cultural practices, the human body is often underutilised to access the knowledge of human body. Digital inventions today have created new avenues to open up cultural data resources, yet mainly as apparatuses for well-annotated and object-based collections. Hence, there is a pressing need for empowering the representation of intangible expressions, particularly embodied knowledge within its cultural context. To address this issue, the authors propose to inspect the potential of machine learning methods to enhance archival knowledge interaction with intangible cultural heritage (ICH) materials.

Design/methodology/approach

This research adopts a novel approach by combining movement computing with knowledge-specific modelling to support retrieving through embodied cues, which is applied to a multimodal archive documenting the cultural heritage (CH) of Southern Chinese martial arts.

Findings

Through experimenting with a retrieval engine implemented using the Hong Kong Martial Arts Living Archive (HKMALA) datasets, this work validated the effectiveness of the developed approach in multimodal content retrieval and highlighted the potential for the multimodal's application in facilitating archival exploration and knowledge discoverability.

Originality/value

This work takes a knowledge-specific approach to invent an intelligent encoding approach through a deep-learning workflow. This article underlines that the convergence of algorithmic reckoning and content-centred design holds promise for transforming the paradigm of archival interaction, thereby augmenting knowledge transmission via more accessible CH materials.

Details

Journal of Documentation, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 November 2023

Lea Iaia, Monica Fait, Alessia Munnia, Federica Cavallo and Elbano De Nuccio

This study aims to explore human–machine interactions in the process of adopting artificial intelligence (AI) based on the principles of Taylorism and digital Taylorism to…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore human–machine interactions in the process of adopting artificial intelligence (AI) based on the principles of Taylorism and digital Taylorism to validate these principles in postmodern management.

Design/methodology/approach

The topic has been investigated by means of a case study based on the current experience of Carrozzeria Basile, a body shop born in Turin in 1970.

Findings

The Carrozzeria Basile’s approach is rooted in scientific management concepts, and its digital evolution is aimed at centring humans, investigating human–machine interactions and how to take advantage of both of these.

Research limitations/implications

The research contributes to both Taylorism management and the literature on human–machine interactions. A unique case study represents a first step in comprehending the phenomenon but could also represent a limit for the study.

Practical implications

Practical implications refer to the scientific path to facilitate the implementation and adoption of emerging technologies in the organisational process, including employee engagement and continuous employee training.

Originality/value

The research focuses on human–machine interactions in the process of adopting AI in the automation process. Its novelty also relies on the comprehension of the needed path to facilitate these interactions and stimulate a collaborative and positive approach. The study fills the literature gap investigating the interactions between humans and machines beginning with their historical roots, from Taylorism to digital Taylorism, in relation to an empirical scenario.

Details

Journal of Management History, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1751-1348

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 December 2023

Indria Handoko and Hendro A. Tjaturpriono

Along their journey to achieve exponential growth, startups must process a vast amount of information and make quick decisions, reevaluate and adjust strategies and simultaneously…

Abstract

Purpose

Along their journey to achieve exponential growth, startups must process a vast amount of information and make quick decisions, reevaluate and adjust strategies and simultaneously redesign their organization along with the venture lifecycle. This paper delineates the evolution of startups' organizational design and identifies the influencing factors in every phase of the lifecycle.

Design/methodology/approach

This study adopts an explorative qualitative approach using a multiple case study methodology for six Indonesian startups. Indonesia is chosen as an emerging country in Southeast Asia with tremendous growth in digital startup businesses.

Findings

The research findings suggest that, as they experience exponential growth, startups strive to manage the tension between being structured and being flexible and hence remain innovative by combining management-centric and employee-centric approaches. In particular, this study identified three main factors that potentially influence the evolution of startups' organizational design: founders, investors and the characteristics of business and market.

Research limitations/implications

The present study focuses mainly on Indonesian digital startups and does not fully explain how the influencing factors work in each phase of the venture journey.

Practical implications

This study offers practical contributions for startups pursuing business growth by focusing on the importance of balancing the tension between structured and flexible organizational design and placing more attention on founders, investors and business-market characteristics.

Originality/value

This empirical study is among the first to delineate nuances of organizational design evolution during the startup lifecycle by adopting an explorative qualitative method.

Details

International Journal of Emerging Markets, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-8809

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 May 2023

Shuting Chen and Dengke Yu

Knowledge management (KM) capability plays an important role in the promotion of firm performance in the knowledge economy era. However, empirical evidence on how KM capability…

Abstract

Purpose

Knowledge management (KM) capability plays an important role in the promotion of firm performance in the knowledge economy era. However, empirical evidence on how KM capability affects firm performance is still limited. The study therefore aims to explore the impacts of internal and external KM capabilities on firm performance via the parallel mediation of efficiency-centered and novelty-centered business model innovations (BMIs).

Design/methodology/approach

The authors empirically analyzed a survey data of 295 Chinese innovative enterprises by applying partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA).

Findings

According to the results of PLS-SEM, the relationship between internal KM capability and firm performance is not significant, instead it is fully mediated by efficiency-centered and novelty-centered BMIs. External KM capability can directly and positively affect firm performance, while the relationship is also partially mediated by BMIs. Furthermore, the authors recognized the antecedent conditions for high-level and low-level firm performance by fsQCA analysis, which substantiate the above findings.

Originality/value

It not only enriches the literature that links KM and innovation management but also contributes to the new theoretical perspective on firm sustainable growth. Methodologically, it combines symmetric and asymmetric analyses together. Additionally, it provides some insights for managers to understand how KM capability drives firm performance through BMI.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

1 – 10 of 25