Foundations of Operations Management Applied in The
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See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283479520 Application of flow principles in the production management of construction sites Thesis · October 1999 DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.2163.9123 CITATIONS READS 30 1,552 1 author: Aguinaldo dos Santos Universidade Federal do Paraná 145 PUBLICATIONS 670 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects: Kits Do-It_yourself View project LeNSin: the International Learning Network on Sustainability View project All content following this page was uploaded by Aguinaldo dos Santos on 04 November 2015. The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file. APPLICATION OF FLOW PRINCIPLES IN THE PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT OF CONSTRUCTION SITES Aguinaldo dos Santos School of Construction and Property Management The University of Salford Salford, UK Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy October 1999 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................................................. II LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................................................... XV LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................ XVII ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................................... XXI ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................ XXII PREFACE .............................................................................................................................. XXIII CHAPTER 1 1.1 OVERVIEW ............................................................................................................................2 1.2 BACKGROUND .....................................................................................................................2 1.2.1 CURRENT MISCELLANY OF THEORIES ............................................................................ 2 1.2.2 USING A PRODUCTION THEORY TO ENABLE LEARNING ............................................ 4 1.2.2.1 LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES IN A GLOBAL CONTEXT .................................................... 4 1.2.2.2 ABSTRACTION AS A MECHANISM FOR KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER ................................ 5 1.2.2.3 DEMAND DRIVEN vs. SUPPLY DRIVEN KNOWLEDGE .................................................... 6 1.2.3 PRESSURES TO IMPROVE PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT IN CONSTRUCTION ........ 8 1.2.3.1 LOW PRODUCTIVITY ........................................................................................................... 8 1.2.3.2 SOCIAL DEMANDS ................................................................................................................ 8 1.2.3.3 HIGH LEVELS OF WASTE .................................................................................................... 8 1.2.3.4 BAD IMAGE .......................................................................................................................... 10 1.3 KEY AREA OF CONCERN .................................................................................................10 1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS....................................................................................................11 1.5 OBJECTIVES AND WORKING HYPOTHESES ................................................................12 1.6 SCOPE OF THE WORK .......................................................................................................13 1.7 OUTLINE OF THE RESEARCH PROCESS .......................................................................14 1.8 ORGANISATION OF THE THESIS ....................................................................................15 1.9 SUMMARY ...........................................................................................................................18 ii CHAPTER 2 2.1 OVERVIEW ..........................................................................................................................21 2.2 RECENT HISTORY OF MANAGEMENT THEORY .........................................................21 2.2.1 THE IMPORTANCE OF UNDERSTANDING HISTORY ......................................................... 21 2.2.2 THE SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT SCHOOL .......................................................................... 23 2.2.3 THE HUMAN RELATIONS SCHOOL ....................................................................................... 26 2.2.4 THE NEO-CLASSIC SCHOOL ................................................................................................... 29 2.2.5 DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................................... 30 2.3 GENERALISATION OF MANAGEMENT THEORIES .....................................................31 2.3.1 GENERALISATION OF TECHNICAL FINDINGS ................................................................... 31 2.3.2 GENERALISATION OF HUMAN RELATED FINDINGS ........................................................ 31 2.3.3 MAIN BARRIERS FOR GENERALISATION............................................................................ 32 2.3.4 DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................................... 34 2.4 THE PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT CASE ....................................................................35 2.4.1 DYNAMIC FLOW BETWEEN PRACTICE AND THEORY ..................................................... 35 2.4.2 PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT RESEARCH AGENDA ........................................................ 37 2.4.3 DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................................... 39 2.5 DEVELOPING PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT IN CONSTRUCTION .........................40 2.5.1 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY ............................................... 40 2.5.2 USUAL STRATEGIES FOR DEVELOPING PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT IN CONSTRUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 43 2.5.2.1 ADAPTATION OF IDEAS FROM OTHER INDUSTRIES ................................................. 43 2.5.2.2 DEVELOPMENT OF CONSTRUCTION’S OWN THEORY .............................................. 45 2.5.3 DISCUSSION: AN ALTERNATIVE STRATEGY ..................................................................... 48 2.6 INTERACTIONS OF PRODUCTION WITHIN THE ORGANISATION ..........................51 2.6.1 THE FUNCTIONAL PERSPECTIVE .......................................................................................... 51 2.6.2 THE PROCESS PERSPECTIVE .................................................................................................. 53 2.6.3 DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................................... 55 2.7 THE STRATEGIC ROLE OF PRODUCTION .....................................................................55 2.7.1 DIFFERENTIATING STRATEGIC, TACTICAL AND OPERATIONAL DECISIONS ........... 55 2.7.2 THE CONTEXT OF STRATEGIC THINKING IN PRODUCTION ........................................... 56 2.7.3 THE MISSING LINK BETWEEN PRODUCTION DECISIONS AND THE BUSINESS STRATEGY .......................................................................................................................................... 57 2.7.4 DEFINING PRODUCTION STRATEGY ................................................................................... 60 2.7.5 COMPETITIVE CRITERIA IN PRODUCTION DECISIONS .................................................... 60 2.7.5.1 QUALITY ............................................................................................................................ 61 2.7.5.2 TIME .................................................................................................................................. 61 iii 2.7.5.3 COST .................................................................................................................................. 62 2.7.5.4 FLEXIBILITY ..................................................................................................................... 62 2.7.6 THE FALL OF THE TRADE-OFF PARADIGM ......................................................................... 63 2.7.7 DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................................... 65 2.8 CONCLUDING REMARKS .................................................................................................66 2.9 SUMMARY ...........................................................................................................................66 CHAPTER 3 3.1 OVERVIEW .......................................................................................................................68 3.2 POSITIONING THE THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ...................................................68 3.2.1 IMPORTANCE OF A THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ............................................................ 68 3.2.2 ABSTRACT LEVELS WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK ............................................................... 70 3.3 INTRODUCTION TO CORE CONCEPTS .......................................................................72