Rethinking Construction Research

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Rethinking Construction Research

• Professor Peter Barrett

Research Institute for the Built and Human
Environment University of Salford, UK
www.scpm.salford.ac.uk/PBarrett/
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Overview

• What should we research?
• How should we research it?
• Conclusions

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Overview

• What should we research?
• How should we research it?
• Conclusions

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Construction as a second rate manufacturing
industry Fragmented and disorganised
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There are many small construction firms

• 95 have 1- 10 staff
• 4 have 11-50 staff
• They deliver 49 of the output
• High degree of specialisation

DETR, 2000
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But it is a big industry

• Contractors alone
• Employ 1.8 million people
• 6.4 of national employment
• Output of 102 billion or 6.4 GDP
• Add building professionals, components suppliers,
  etc
• Employ 6 million (23 of UK)
• Output 244 billion (15 GDP)

Ruddock, 2002 from DETR Construction Statistics
2000
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Complex / dynamic demand
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Proposition driven by Requisite variety
Construction is appropriately differentiated to
be flexible constantly re-organising to achieve
complex problem-solving in highly unstable
economic situations
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Employment by sector 1978 - 2001
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Relative employment
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Relative contributions of GVA
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GVA index 1976 - 2001
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BS Client SurveyPerformance v Importance
Barrett, 2001
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Performance-importance gaps
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Improvement map
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Integration

• Significant efforts around projects
• Heroic efforts to satisfy clients immediate
  requirements
• Blind spot for related organisational learning
  and inter-company innovation

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Potential to organise new developments
Potential to exploit new developments
Potential to support new developments
Capacity to support people
Capacity to exploit technology
Capacity to do work
I2i2 project
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Interim conclusions

• Construction industry performance
• Has coped with turbulence well
• Performs well, but should probably learn from the
  service sector
• Construction industry structure
• Reflects its diverse business environment
• But needs to be highly integrated too not only
  within projects, but especially within and
  between companies

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Overview

• What should we research?
• How should we research it?
• Conclusions

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Limited research resource

• In UK only 200 researcher FTEs in the built
  environment RAE panel area
• 165,000 contractor cos
• 304,000 people in architectural and technical
  consultancy

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What can researchers offer?

• Empathy with industry and users
• A desire to generate and transmit knowledge to
  ...
• The opportunity to study issues deeply and over
  the long term
• An objective stance towards ve and -ve findings
• A different perspective

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What should researchers do?

• Exploit their distinctiveness as
• Microscopes - in depth, controlled studies -
  knowledge building blocks
• Telescopes - looking around to understand context
  - synthesis and abstraction
• Periscopes - helping stakeholders keep heads
  above water - application

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Research approaches
 
 
 
 
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The Kaleidoscopic Model of Research
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Suggested emphases

• More telescopic research to complement existing
  portfolio
• See construction in a broad context
• Exploit multiple perspectives and be
  constructively critical

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Construction in a broader context

• Construction costs 1
• Occupation costs 10
• Impact on core business 100

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Conclusions

• Construction research has moved a long way, but
  now needs to re-orientate towards
• Construction as a success !
• Learning points from the services sector
• Company based integration to complement project
  focused activities
• Telescopic research to complement traditional
  research activities
• The RICS has a major role to stimulate and
  facilitate an holistic approach