J. WHYTE, N. BOUCHLAGHEM, ANTONY THORPE and RON MCCAFFER
A survey of computer use in the British house building industry was conducted by means of a postal questionnaire to 100 house builders followed‐up by in‐depth interviews. The…
Abstract
A survey of computer use in the British house building industry was conducted by means of a postal questionnaire to 100 house builders followed‐up by in‐depth interviews. The research shows widely variant levels of computer use and expertise in different house building companies amongst both regional developers and the nationwide volume builders. Some housing developers have sophisticated information technology strategies and are well placed to successfully implement advanced techniques whilst many have very little or no computer use for design and visualization and rely more on traditional competitive strategies.
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JASON MATTHEWS, ALAN TYLER and ANTONY THORPE
The use of subcontracting within the modern construction industry has become commonplace with many main contractors only undertaking the management and co‐ordination activities…
Abstract
The use of subcontracting within the modern construction industry has become commonplace with many main contractors only undertaking the management and co‐ordination activities. The reliance on subcontractors has put much stress on the subcontractor — main contractor relationship. As main contractors have realized that the greatest potential for cost saving lies with subcontractors, the prevalence of unfair contract conditions, dutch auctioning and other onerous practices has increased. This paper describes a procurement approach, utilizing limited competition, developed by a top UK main contractors (MC) in order to improve its relationships with subcontractors. The approach, termed semi‐project partnering, was implemented on a commercial development. The approach was supported by research which identified: what MC's employees want from subcontractors; what subcontractors want from main contractors; and a study to benchmark MC's performance with that of other main contractors. It was concluded that this approach offers a number of benefits for the client, main contractor, partnering subcontractors and professional consultants. These included an improved team approach; an improved understanding of the project; more compliant subcontractor bids; better/closer relationships; more reliable programming; less confrontation; and lower tendering costs. It was also identified through debriefing subcontractors that sub‐contractors were quoting a10% lower than normal due to this approach.
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Nick G. Blismas, William D. Sher, Antony Thorpe and Andrew N. Baldwin
The single project paradigm which dominates the literature of both project and construction management research does not accurately reflect the reality of many construction…
Abstract
The single project paradigm which dominates the literature of both project and construction management research does not accurately reflect the reality of many construction clients, who have large ongoing construction portfolios rather than one‐off construction projects. Although several concepts of multi‐project environments (MPEs) exist, an investigation of the form and dynamic interactions of components within MPEs of construction clients was lacking. This paper presents the factors identified as exerting greatest influence on project delivery within construction clients' MPEs.
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Olivia McDermott, Jiju Antony, Michael Sony and Vikas Swarnakar
This paper gives the background to the ISO 18404:2015 standard and explains its rationale. It aims to rebut the Oudrhiri et al. (2022) paper. Furthermore, this paper adds further…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper gives the background to the ISO 18404:2015 standard and explains its rationale. It aims to rebut the Oudrhiri et al. (2022) paper. Furthermore, this paper adds further evidence of the misplacement and unfitness for use of the standard, as evidenced in the previous work by Antony et al. (2021, 2022).
Design/methodology/approach
A point-counterpoint methods approach with a literature review of studies available on ISO 18404:2015 to respond to the Oudrhiri et al. (2022) study.
Findings
The findings indicate that Oudrhiri et al.'s (2022) work is not open minded in relation to ISO18404. Each point raised in the Oudrhiri et al. (2020) study has been answered and counter argued.
Research limitations/implications
Other than Antony et al.'s three studies (2021 and 2022) and Oudrhiri et al.’s (2022) study empirical studies looking into the impact of the ISO 18404 standard in the literature were limited. As the literature has shown, many companies are not utilising the standard given its current format; hence, a lack of information relating to the practical implementation is sparse.
Practical implications
The findings indicate that Oudrhiri et al.'s (2022) work can be answered and counter argued.
Originality/value
This study consolidates and strengthens the findings from the three studies by Antony et al. (2021 and 2022) and acts as a rebuttal to the Oudrhiri et al. (2022) study.
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Lijia Guo, Tine Van Bortel, Chiara Lombardo, Steven Martin, David Crepaz-Keay, Shari McDaid, Oliver Chantler, Lucy Thorpe, Susan Solomon, Alec Morton, Antonis Kousoulis and Gavin Davidson
The COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions created a range of potential additional stressors for families, particularly for parents living with children. This study aims to…
Abstract
Purpose
The COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions created a range of potential additional stressors for families, particularly for parents living with children. This study aims to explore whether there were any differences in the mental health and emotional experiences of those living with children, and those who were not, during the pandemic and related lockdowns; and whether there were any specific risk factors associated with these mental health outcomes and emotional experiences.
Design/methodology/approach
Regression analyses of ten-wave repeated cross-sectional surveys between May 2020 and November 2021 on a total sample of 42,529 UK adults, which measured mental health with a range of pleasant and unpleasant emotional experiences. The interaction effects of living with children and age as well as marital status were tested.
Findings
During the pandemic, individuals who were living with children were more likely to feel hopeful (OR: 1.1) and grateful (OR: 1.163), less likely to feel hopeless (OR: 0.918) and lonely (OR: 0.799), while more likely to feel guilty (OR: 1.185), unprepared (OR: 1.195) and pressurised (OR: 1.14), than those not living with children. More nuanced findings and diverse emotional experiences were also found in people of different age groups and marital statuses.
Originality/value
This study has highlighted that being parents and living with children could be important factors of emotional distress, especially during the special circumstances of the pandemic and lockdowns, drawing on the large-scale national data.
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Sandra Furterer, Jiju Antony, Sanjay Bhasin, Alessandro Laureani and Shreeranga Bhat
This systematic literature review aims to synthesise, organise and structure the stock of knowledge relating to leadership and design for Lean Six Sigma (DFLSS) and to understand…
Abstract
Purpose
This systematic literature review aims to synthesise, organise and structure the stock of knowledge relating to leadership and design for Lean Six Sigma (DFLSS) and to understand leadership’s role, traits, skills, competencies and styles within the context for DFLSS program success.
Design/methodology/approach
The research is based on a systematic literature review of 67 papers that were published on leadership and DFLSS, demonstrating the importance of leadership for successful DFLSS programs.
Findings
The key findings show that leadership plays a critical role in launching and sustaining a DFLSS program in organisations, while illustrating the leadership traits, skills, competencies and styles that are more conducive to a successful DFLSS program.
Originality/value
The study has identified several gaps in the literature from a practical approach and an empirical validation of the critical factors of leadership when applying and supporting DFLSS efforts supporting future initiatives.
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Sigrid Syltevik, Stavros Karamperidis, Jiju Antony and Babak Taheri
The purpose of this paper is to present the key findings of a systematic literature review (SLR) on Lean for services and, in particular, airport services.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present the key findings of a systematic literature review (SLR) on Lean for services and, in particular, airport services.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors have utilised an SLR methodology proposed by Denyer and Tranfield (2009). A total of 23 papers published in 18 scientific journals have been systematically reviewed for evaluating and establishing the current status of Lean for airport services.
Findings
It was observed that there are no journal publications on the use of Lean in UK airport services. Although value stream mapping has been widely accepted as a powerful Lean tool across many service organisations, its applications in airport services is in its early stages. One of the biggest challenges in the implementation of Lean for airport services is about maintaining the level of service standards. The most common barriers in the implementation of Lean for airport services may include: resistance to change, varied definitions of the term Lean for different people across the business and understanding the need for Lean in airport services as there is a misconception that Lean is confined to manufacturing.
Research limitations/implications
This paper seeks to contribute to and broaden the limited body of evidence of the applicability of Lean to airport services and identify areas for further research and review.
Originality/value
This paper makes an attempt to demonstrate the use of Lean thinking for service industries and, in particular, airport services. The authors have identified less than five papers on the use of Lean thinking in airport services and this paper sets the foundation for future research on the use of process excellence methodologies such as Lean. Moreover, the authors firmly believe that the results of this SLR can be extremely beneficial to many managers working in Airport Service contexts, irrespective of the country and culture of the organisation.
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Richard McLean and Jiju Antony
The purpose of this paper is to present the core themes derived from literature that contribute to the failure of continuous improvement initiatives in the manufacturing industry…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present the core themes derived from literature that contribute to the failure of continuous improvement initiatives in the manufacturing industry.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach taken was to complete a systematic review of literature, grouping the failure factors through the use of idea maps and affinity diagrams into the core themes reported.
Findings
From the review it is evident that continuous improvement initiatives can fail due to a multitude of factors; but that these can be grouped under eight core themes. The themes found to contribute to the failure of continuous improvement initiatives are: Motives and Expectations, Organizational Culture and Environment, The Management Leadership, Implementation Approach, Training, Project Management, Employee Involvement Levels, and Feedback and Results. These themes have been further categorized into a three-stage model.
Research limitations/implications
The review was carried out using a selection of high-quality journals, although this may have restricted the findings. The research is also limited to manufacturing, so it is unknown if the same factors impact initiatives in the service or public sectors. Continuous improvement is defined for the purpose of the study as TQM, Lean, and Six Sigma.
Originality/value
From a practical perspective, the research findings create awareness for organizations of the complexity of organizational change in the form of continuous improvement implementation.
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Jiju Antony, Michael Sony, Mary Dempsey, Attracta Brennan, Thomas Farrington and Elizabeth A. Cudney
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the limitations and emerging trends of Six Sigma through an empirical study. Six Sigma is one of the most powerful business process…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the limitations and emerging trends of Six Sigma through an empirical study. Six Sigma is one of the most powerful business process improvement strategies used by numerous World Class corporations for over three decades. A handful of existing publications address some limitations and potential trends of Six Sigma, yet there are no empirical studies investigating the fundamental limitations and emerging trends of Six Sigma.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors developed an online survey instrument based on the existing literature addressing the above. In this study, 61 Six Sigma Master Black Belts and Black Belts from large manufacturing companies and 25 academics who are familiar with the Six Sigma topic participated and contributed to the research.
Findings
The study reports the top 5 limitations and emerging trends of Six Sigma from the viewpoints of both academics and experts from large manufacturing companies. These are: integration of Six Sigma with Big Data, use of Six Sigma in small medium and micro enterprises, over emphasis of Six Sigma on variability reduction, poor implementation of Six Sigma and its negative impact on employee satisfaction and non-exploitation of integration of Six Sigma with Industry 4.0.
Practical implications
In order to sustain Six Sigma initiatives, it is imperative that limitations and fundamental gaps are understood, and strategies developed to address them. The authors argue that leading academic scholars have a vital role to play in working with industry practitioners to overcome the limitations and emerging trends addressed above.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first empirical study looking into the limitations, research gaps and emerging trends of Six Sigma.