Suvi Päivikki Nenonen and Goran Lindahl
The purpose of this paper is to describe, discuss and analyze forerunner cases from three different decades in workplace concept development in Sweden and Finland and discuss the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe, discuss and analyze forerunner cases from three different decades in workplace concept development in Sweden and Finland and discuss the transformation over time to better facilitate management of office development and disseminate Nordic experiences.
Design/methodology/approach
The reflecting paper is discussing the development of workplace concepts. It is based on case studies collected from 1980s to the new millennium. The reflection is based on the perspective of Nordic culture. The characteristics of the Nordic culture used in the paper are low power distance and individualism.
Findings
The evolution from “office as a city” to “city as an office” has taken place in both countries and Nordic cultural values have provided fruitful platform for them. However, the layer of organizational culture in the studied workplaces also has an impact on the development and implication of the concepts.
Research limitations/implications
The selection of case studies is limited to two Nordic countries only. The comparison of all five Nordic countries could increase the understanding of Nordic culture and similarities and differences between the countries. The study could be deepened by a more thorough literature review including not only Nordic but also European cases.
Practical implications
The dilemma of management when designing workspaces for the changing world is in that individuals increasingly choose where to work, when, with whom and how. Facilitating that freedom of choice is a balancing act in modern workspace design where people is a scarcer resource than space. It requires an active management that sees their facilities as a part of their system not as a costly box top put it in.
Social implications
Easy access seems to be the key to the workspace of the future when decision power shifts from organizations to individuals. Simultaneously, individuals need to take more and more responsibility and action to get their job done: the cases illustrate how this has been done and that the integration and interaction between office concepts and office work will need to be on business agendas.
Originality/value
The perspective of Nordic workplace concept development from 1980s provide the material for future development, without an understanding of the past one cannot understand the future.
Details
Keywords
Andrea Brambilla, Göran Lindahl, Marta Dell'Ovo and Stefano Capolongo
Several healthcare quality assessment tools measure the processes and outcomes of the care system. The actual physical infrastructure (buildings and organizational) aspects are…
Abstract
Purpose
Several healthcare quality assessment tools measure the processes and outcomes of the care system. The actual physical infrastructure (buildings and organizational) aspects are, however, rarely considered. The purpose of this paper is to describe the process of validation and weighting of an evidence-informed framework for the quality assessment of hospital facilities from social, environmental and organizational perspectives to complement other assessments.
Design/methodology/approach
Sustainable High-quality Healthcare version 2 (SustHealth v2) is the updated version of an existing framework composed of three domains (social, environmental and organizational quality). To validate and establish a relevant weighting, interviews were conducted with 15 professionals within the field of healthcare planning, design, research and management. The study has been conducted through semi-structured interviews and the application of the Simon Roy Figueras (SRF) procedure for the elicitation of weights criteria. The data collected have been processed through the DecSpace web platform.
Findings
Among the three domains, the organizational qualities appear to be the most important (W = 49%), followed by the environmental (W = 29%) and social aspects (W = 22%). Relevant indicators such as future-proofing, wayfinding and users’ space control emerged as the most important within each macro-area. Those results are confirmed by the outcome of the interviews that highlight user/patient-centeredness, wayfinding strategies and space functionality as the most important concepts to foster in existing healthcare facilities improvement.
Practical implications
The study highlights important structural and organizational aspects that hospital managers and planners can consider when dealing with healthcare facilities’ quality improvement.
Originality/value
The use of the SRF multicriteria method is novel in this context when used to weight an assessment tool with a focus on hospital built environment.
Details
Keywords
Abderisak Adam, Per-Erik Bertil Josephson and Göran Lindahl
The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact that cost overruns and time delays exert on large public construction projects to clarify how past and current research regard…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact that cost overruns and time delays exert on large public construction projects to clarify how past and current research regard factors causing cost overruns and time delays in large public construction projects.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper, which is based on an analysis of a literature selection consisting of 40 journal articles, investigates and ranks the occurrence of and the explanations for cost overruns and time delays in large public construction projects. The study makes use of a kiviat diagram/radar chart in order to visualize multivariate data.
Findings
Aggregated rankings of important causes of cost overruns and time delays are reported. These show a strong emphasis on the management aspect as a primary cause of cost overruns and delays. Additionally, there seems to be a trend toward deemphasizing the role of financial considerations in explaining cost overruns and delays. It is argued that there needs to be a more rigorous assessment of the impact that each factor has on cost increases and delays based on factual observed data as opposed to retrospective accounts from questionnaire respondents.
Research limitations/implications
Only public construction projects have been considered. The results will not be directly applicable to privately funded construction projects and/or projects of a smaller size.
Originality/value
The use of trend data, as illustrated in a kiviat diagram, showing how different ranking factors causing cost overruns and time delays has changed in importance over time.
Details
Keywords
Abderisak Adam, Göran Lindahl and Roine Leiringer
Previous research within the dynamic capabilities literature has primarily targeted the strategic innovation of technology firms and significantly less interest has been given to…
Abstract
Purpose
Previous research within the dynamic capabilities literature has primarily targeted the strategic innovation of technology firms and significantly less interest has been given to project-based organizations that operate in the construction sector. A recent study by Davies and Brady (2016) places the dynamic capabilities concept in a project-based context, drawing upon research on dynamic capabilities and organizational ambidexterity. The purpose of this paper is to apply the aforementioned framework in a case involving public construction clients with the aim of examining their approaches for maintaining or developing project capabilities depending on the volatility of the environment.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on a case study of a decentralized association of 16 healthcare client organizations in Swedish counties, which was compared to a centralized unit for healthcare planning and construction in Norway. In total, 19 interviews were conducted, alongside two workshops and a feedback questionnaire.
Findings
The interviewees emphasized the lack of adequate support to handle the increasingly more complex projects. Results indicate the need for a more segmented approach for understanding how dynamic capabilities are managed in client organizations based not merely on the level of stability in the environment, but also taking into account the resources that are utilized. It is further argued that there is a need for a more granular research approach to studying the development of capabilities in a case-based setting, an approach that more specifically links the development of dynamic capabilities with their relevant antecedent activities.
Originality/value
The study sheds light on how the various approaches for maintaining/developing project capabilities available to the public sector construction client depend on the volatility of the environment and the resources they require.
Details
Keywords
This paper presents a research based analytical model that supports the planning of workspace and to contribute to the discussion on how to achieve efficient work places. The…
Abstract
This paper presents a research based analytical model that supports the planning of workspace and to contribute to the discussion on how to achieve efficient work places. The research behind this paper aims to develop knowledge regarding the planning and design of work places. Through literature studies, case study research and action research projects the paper considers in what way spatial issues matter in organisations. By relating the various aspects of the analytical model it is possible to illustrate how focus and perspectives change during organisational and workspace changes. A need for new professional roles and processes for workplace design is noted. It is argued that the relationship between the organisation and the workspace should be a continuous process of design. The paper contributes to the process of workspace planning by giving a new insight into the traditional aspects of work environmental issues and metaphoric/symbolic qualities. This is useful for external consultants and facilities managers alike.
Details
Keywords
Abderisak Adam and Göran Lindahl
The purpose of this paper is to examine the Company Dynamic Response Map (CDRM) risk management model that uses the dynamic capabilities concept. The study examines risks…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the Company Dynamic Response Map (CDRM) risk management model that uses the dynamic capabilities concept. The study examines risks associated with strategic decision-making in construction projects and evaluates proposed methods that connect the dynamic capabilities of project-based organisations with risk management.
Design/Methodology/Approach
This preliminary study examines risks associated with strategic decision-making in construction projects and evaluates a proposed model that connects the dynamic capabilities of project-based organisations with risk management. Specifically, the CDRM model is evaluated, a risk management model developed by Arena et al. (2013) to better respond to risks and opportunities based on the concept of dynamic capabilities.
Findings
We argue that although the CDRM presents a promising development in that it uses dynamic capabilities prospectively in a risk management model to produce tangible results, there are, nonetheless, impediments to the CDRM being used by construction clients. The primary impediment relates to the issue of categorisation, the difficulty in assigning a specific identified risk to a particular category of dynamic capabilities.
Research Limitations/Implications
A conceptual argument is made and not an empirical one.
Practical Implications
The CDRM model was developed to be used in practice and this paper evaluates that model.
Originality/Value
Contributes to both the dynamic capabilities literature as well as risk management literature. The paper ends with a discussion on the possible merits of the CDRM, and an evaluation on potential impediments to its use by construction clients.
Details
Keywords
Mikael Sondergaard and William Naumes
The ABB (A) case describes the situation leading up to a decision that has to be made concerning closing a manufacturing subsidiary of ABB and moving its operations to Thailand…
Abstract
The ABB (A) case describes the situation leading up to a decision that has to be made concerning closing a manufacturing subsidiary of ABB and moving its operations to Thailand. The Plant/subsidiary manager is placed in a conflict position regarding this decision due to the matrix form of management structure employed by the parent ABB. His direct line manager in charge of the global product line wants the move to take place. He has the support of his supervisor, who sits on the Executive Committee of the parent company. The ABB Country Manager for Denmark wants the plant to stay where it is. The subsidiary manager also reports to him, as part of the matrix structure. The subsidiary manager has recently been promoted to his new position, with the support of the Country Manager. The previous subsidiary manager had been promoted to head up a larger, Danish subsidiary of ABB. The previous year, the Country Manager and the previous subsidiary manager had managed to over rule the same request, in no small part, due to their connections within ABB as well as within Denmark. The new subsidiary manager needs to make a recommendation as to what should be done. The ABB Transformers (A) case can be used separately, or in conjunction with the (B) case.
The (B) case follows up on the (A) case. The decision was made to leave the plant in Denmark. It was revisited one year later, and the subsidiary manager is in even more of a quandary. The former Country Manager has been promoted to the Executive Committee of ABB. At a meeting of the new Country manager (not previously from within ABB), the Product Manager, his supervisor from the Executive Committee, the former Country Manager, and the subsidiary manager, the discussion is primarily between the new Country Manager and the Product Supervising Executive Committee Member, who has also been given added responsibility for all of Asia and the Pacific region. The former Country Manager, now responsible for European operations, remains quiet during the discussions. He later notes that this is a relatively small decision in the context of European operations. The subsidiary manager still needs to make a decision, but is now unsure of what has happened during the past year to allow this issue to be raised for the third time. The (B) case can be used to demonstrate how politics, promotions, and transfers can radically alter the environment within the context of a strategic decision. The focus is now on organization culture and power, and on the problems of operating within a matrix structure. The (B) case should be used in combination with the (A) case.
Giles Thomson, Göran Lindahl, Ammar Shemery, Mattias Roupé, Keith Hampson and Mikael Johansson
The purpose of this paper is to introduce and discuss potential applications of emerging Building Information Model (BIM) and related technologies as applied to healthcare…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to introduce and discuss potential applications of emerging Building Information Model (BIM) and related technologies as applied to healthcare facilities. The paper presents example of applications of digital tools enabled by BIM that support more integrated outcomes for complex healthcare projects.
Approach
Paper formulation by a transdisciplinary author group with ideas and approaches developed through discussions and writing to explore future research directions. Initial ideas are supplemented by a literature review with examples introduced where relevant.
Findings
BIM as a front-end construction engineering tool is quite mature. Application of BIM and related tools to support complex healthcare at the precinct scale, for facilities management (FM), including improved user experience (UX) has been limited but shows great promise to support complex healthcare projects.
Research Limitations/Implications
The research presented is limited and exploratory as it represents the first step by this group to investigate an integrated approach to digital healthcare design and FM.
Practical Implications
The paper introduces the considerable benefits of BIM models, and related tools for FM and/or UX (both staff and patients) to save time, money and improves efficiency and accuracy in healthcare facilities.
Originality/Value
The transdisciplinary author group brought broad perspectives to the potential benefits of combining accurate data-rich legacy building models with other digital tools for increased integration and co-ordination at all life stages of a healthcare precinct.