Abstracts – Browse Results
Click on the titles below to expand the information about each abstract.
Viewing 40 results ...
Al-Shammaa, M M J (2019) Improving risk management in megaprojects, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Leeds.
Alkhorayef, A N M (2014) Improving decision making on large scale investment projects: A psychological perspective, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Leeds.
Alnsour, M A M (2020) Integrating sustainability assessment into public works development in Jordan, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Civil Engineering, University of Leeds.
Anumba, C J (1989) An integrated two and three dimensional data structure for a structural engineering CAD system, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Leeds.
Barnes, G R (2016) Market creation in the European Union: the case of the public procurement directives, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Politics and International Studies, University of Leeds.
Birchall, S J (2011) An appraisal of the performance of a 'green' office building, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Leeds.
Dakas, A I I (2014) Management of project stakeholders: facilitating project success in public sector projects in Nigeria , Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Civil Engineering, University of Leeds.
Davis, M C (2011) Psychological and organisational issues in the design of buildings and workplaces, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Leeds.
El-Samadony, A A E-Y (1986) Development of an improved construction bidding model incorporating multiple objective functions, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Leeds.
Elmahroug, M H M (2018) Facilitating effective external stakeholder involvement in the pre-design phase of civil engineering infrastructure projects, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Civil Engineering, University of Leeds.
Ghazali, F E M (2007) A reenginered model for effective risk management in pre-contractual procurement process for NHS PFI hospitals, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Civil Engineering, University of Leeds.
Giesekam, J J (2016) The contribution to UK climate mitigation targets from reducing embodied carbon in the construction sector, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Leeds.
Gkiourka, P (2011) Managing innovation in the construction industry, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Civil Engineering, University of Leeds.
Grady, K (1980) The provision of public buildings in the West Riding of Yorkshire, c.1600-1840, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Economic Studies, University of Leeds.
Hagan, G N (2013) Managing complex construction projects in it multiproject environment by the contractor, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Civil Engineering, University of Leeds.
Hakim, H (2011) Effective contract structures and value for money in PFI social housing projects, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Leeds.
Harun, Z B (1993) Computer simulation in decision support systems for management of construction projects, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Leeds.
Heineck, L F (1983) On the analyses of activity durations on three house building sites, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Leeds.
Invernizzi, D C (2019) Benchmarking nuclear decommissioning, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Leeds.
Kašpar, H M P (2022) Robert Adam and networks for building in eighteenth-century Britain, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Leeds.
Kerr, N J (2018) The rationale for retrofit: A multi-level, interdisciplinary perspective on the energy efficient retrofit of existing residential buildings, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Leeds.
Kibwami, N (2016) Enhancing sustainable construction in the building sector of Uganda using embodied carbon accounting, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Leeds.
Li, D (2012) Development of a framework of competitive advantage in non-state construction contractors in China, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Business School, University of Leeds.
Li, Q (2012) Inter-organizational relationships in the programme management lifecycle, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Business School, University of Leeds.
Liang, S (2013) Legal aspects of privately financed infrastructure projects (PFIPs) in China: the case for international standards, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Business School, University of Leeds.
Lu, L-T (2003) The impact of cultural distance on the management style and performance of Japanese and Taiwanese joint ventures with local partners in China, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Business School, University of Leeds.
Luise Valencia Gluyas, J (2004) Public-private participation in water infrastructure in Mexico, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Civil Engineering, University of Leeds.
Mlybari, E A A (2011) Managing value, requirements and risk in the appraisal stage of UK construction projects, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Civil Engineering, University of Leeds.
Nguyen, Q T (2009) Developing a strategic model for small-and-medium-sized construction firms in Vietnam, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Leeds.
Oliomogbe, G O (2017) The investigation of the generation of intangible benefits through project management, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Leeds.
Riley, F G (2018) Information behaviour in construction project management teams: contradictions, motivations and influencing factors, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Civil Engineering, University of Leeds.
Sainati, T (2018) Governance of infrastructure megaprojects : The role of the special purpose entities, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Leeds.
Seboni, L (2016) Improving the existing project manager-to-project practice of a specific organization (organization A) in Botswana, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Leeds.
Soliman, M M A E I (2014) Risk management in international construction joint ventures in Egypt, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Civil Engineering, University of Leeds.
Spiteri, J (1998) A critical analysis of occupational and organisational strategy in UK: architectural and quantity surveying practices, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Leeds.
Tan, Y (2006) A case-based reasoning approach to improve risk identification in construction projects, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Civil Engineering, University of Leeds.
Valencia Gluyas, J L (2004) Public- private participation in water infrastructure in Mexico, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Leeds (United Kingdom).
Wasiluk, K L (2012) Sustainable wealth creation in practice: a framework to manage firm's intangibles, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds.
Wheat, P E (2013) Econometric cost analysis in vertically separated railways, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds.
Woodhead, R M (1999) The influence of paradigms and perspectives on the decision to build undertaken by large experienced clients of the UK construction industry, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Civil Engineering, University of Leeds.
- Type: Thesis
- Keywords: case study; client dissatisfaction; decision-making; decision-to-build
- ISBN/ISSN:
- URL: http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/21081/
- Abstract:
This thesis explains how paradigms and perspectives influence both the process and content of the decision to build undertaken by large, experienced clients of the UK construction industry. The level of client experience is drawn from a sample with a collective value of around £300-350 million, which are in turn taken from a group of clients who spend around £1 billion per year on construction industry projects. The thesis moves from a "messy" (Ackoff, 1979) view of the research problem and client dissatisfaction (Latham, 1994 and Egan, 1998) to arrive at a clear understanding of how the decision to build is made. Its scope begins by considering the initial stimulus that triggers the decision-making process and finishes when the developing proposal receives a firm commitment in the form of budgetary sanctioning. This thesis argues that it is the allocation of funds which marks the boundary between a proposal and project stage and so names the proposal’s evolution phase the "Pre-Project Stage". The overarching aim of the thesis is to prepare the way for improved client satisfaction and it achieves this goal by explaining the following: The process of the decision to build and its structure is determined by the expectations of paradigms and perspectives; the content of the decision to build process and the conversations within it are influenced by other competing paradigms and perspectives that seek to impose ’their’ criteria by which their definition of ’good’ decisions can be recognised; the internal and external influences on the decision to build’s process and content stem from the complex interrelationships that influence the dominance of perspectives within individual paradigms that are at the same time in competition to determine how success is recognised; how the decision to build can be improved is explained as a corollary of the realisation that contrasting views of what is a ’good’ decision can exist at different levels within the same client organisation. The use of grounded theory (Glasser and Strauss, 1967) with a multiple case study research methodology (Yin, 1994), built around thirteen core questions, led to a detailed explanation and conclusions which satisfied the research aims and Objectives. Central to this detailed explanation is the consequence of dividing the process of decision making between constituent groups within the client organisation; these groups are decision approvers, decision takers and decision shapers. The explanation articulates the decision to build as a paradigm in its own right and reveals that the people involved in the decision-making process are, in reality, a co-ordinated collection of smaller groups. This division of decision-making lacks consonance as the various groups push different process and content agenda in an attempt to arrive at a successful decision. It is paradigms and perspectives that guide logic as they provide a means of objectifying decisions and also link the decision to build to a wider society. The thesis highlights that conflict can exist between the decision approvers’, takers and shapers view of effectiveness and efficiency. Essentially, the property department, who are the decision shapers, see their role as delivering projects and so it is through their paradigms and perspectives that they attempt to justify subjective aims as objective decisions. Shapers see their primary role as driving potential projects through the approval process to achieve budgetary sanctioning and are often in competition with other shapers from different parts of the same organisation. Decision shapers see the approval process not as a mechanism to improve decision quality, but as a series of obstacles in the way of the project’s delivery. Should anything stifle the shapers’ drive to get a proposal through the pre-project stage, then they will make modifications and adapt their approach in an attempt to ensure that the proposal becomes a project. The unifying theme is that all the actors seek to realise ’good’ decisions and, that for shapers, ’good’ decisions result in the successful delivery of a building. The construction industry’s interpretation of ’client’ can now be redefined as a small group of property-related professionals working in a much larger organisation which has a core business that is tangential to the decision to build. Validity is achieved by establishing agreement with subjects during data collection, by selecting experienced subjects who want to be seen as using best practice, by using cross-sectional corroboration within the case studies and literature, by using grounded theory and its inherent ability to confirm theory as it emerges out of data, by providing an audit trail from explanation to the data, and by verifying its findings in a validating workshop.