Title:
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The management of inter-organisational relationships and project based learning
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The construction industry has in recent times undergone an unprecedented period
of self-examination. Government and industry collaborations have attempted to
bring about both political and structural change with the aim of rethinking the
way it conducts business. Yet the implementation of management innovations
(Ml) such as Supply Chain Management (SCM), common in other industries, has
not materialised. This research proposes that the structural characteristics of the
industry can be addressed through the management of Inter-organisational
Relationships (lOR) and Project Based Learning (PBL). The aim of the thesis
was to determine the significance of lORs and PBL in addressing the temporary
and multi-organisational nature of project teams for the effective implementation
of Ml for continuous improvement of construction projects. A mixed method
approach was adopted for this research because it is flexible enough to
incorporate different perspectives and allows different methods and practices to
be used. Both quantitative and qualitative data was collected using a web based
questionnaire and case studies to examine lOR and PBL. The analyses involved a
mixture of descriptive, mean response ranking and Pearson's chi-square (i) tests
using the software packages SPSS and Minitab.
Findings from the web based questionnaire analyses involving 74 Demonstration
projects highlighted the significance of both lOR and PBL on the implementation
of MI. Critical success factors such as partner selection, project relationships,
learning promoters and inhibitors were established and ranked. One of the main
findings is the role of psychological safety for learning. The review of projects
and formalised learning were seen as key areas for learning improvement. The
analyses of two case studies added an additional dimension and helped explore
how practitioners had to expend more effort to make sense of new ways of
working and adapting to unfamiliar roles. Although learning was prevalent in
projects, it was associated with problems rather than a potential benefit that can
be formalised and exploited collectively by the team. Until the perennial
contextual issues of construction like poor integration of design and construction,
low bidding and unrealistic timescales are addressed, the implementation of
management innovations and the potential of lOR and PBL will not be fulfilled.
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