Flow og organisering i byggebranchen

Abstract

Indeværende kandidat afhandling argumenterer for, at den traditionelle måde at organisere sig på i byggebranchen er økonomisk reguleret, hvilket er en barriere for delingen af viden og information og derved er en barriere for skabelsen af flow. Studiet viser endvidere, at organisationsstrukturen skaber et gab imellem ansvar og kontrol med opgaverne og fordrer suboptimering, fordi hver part kæmper for at beholde kontrollen. Der argumenteres endvidere for, at informations perspektivet, defineret af Lauri Koskela (1999), er for snærvert til at forklare byggeprocessens behov og er fundet et vigtigt fremtidigt research emne. Et eksplorativt studie af byggebranchen i Danmark er blevet udfærdiget for, at konstruere et årsags-virknings diagram relevant for den nutidige situation i branchen, hvor symptomer såsom lav kvalitet samt overskridelser af budgetter og tidsplaner stadig påvirker ydeevnen. Flere virksomheder har prøvet at løse dette ved brug af koncepter såsom Lean Construction med sit fokus på minimering af spild og leveringstid imens kundeværdien forøges. Empiriske fund viser, at et lille antal virksomheder reelt set bruger konceptet og at den mest engagerede virksomhed, kun har implementeret konceptet på halvdelen af deres byggeprojekter. Hvorfor er dette stadig et problem og hvordan påvirker Lean Construction egentligt flowet af arbejdsprocesser? Dette er afhandlingens hovedemne og forklaringer understøttes af teori inden for organisationsstrukturer og vidensdeling, som er appliceret på tre embedded casestudier og sammenlignes med organisationelle og omverdens karakteristika for projektorganisationen. Projektgruppen har deltaget i et byggeprojekt som observatører og har over en seks ugers periode deltaget i ugentlige gruppemøder og indsamlet årsager til ikke-udført arbejde. Til sidst blev syv interviews udført med håndværkere og ledere på byggepladsen på baggrund af årsager til ikke-udført arbejde. Metodisk behandler denne afhandling præmisser, teori og empiri i en hermaneutisk fortolkende og cirkulær struktur og har bevirket at projektgruppen er kommet fra udforskning til valide og pålidelige forklaringer på barrierer for flow af arbejdsprocesser. Afhandlingen afslutter analysen med at krydsreferere de embedded cases og opsummerer empiriske og teoretiske fund som barrierer for flow af arbejdsprocesser. De vigtigste resultater er: 1) En snæver og uvirksom definition af information og viden inden for Lean Construction, hvilket refererer tilbage til en manglende forståelse for de nødvendige forudsætninger for at udføre opgaverne. 2) Lean Construction forudsætter et organisationelt reguleret incitament. 3) Disse modsigende præmisser skaber et gab imellem ansvar og kontrol med opgaverne, som fordrer unnødvendige konflikter og suboptimering og derved skaber et dårligt flow af arbejds processer. Resultaterne diskuteres og perspektiveres til case virksomheden i slutningen af rapporten og skal derfor opfattes som case-specifikke, såvel som en inspiration til fremtidige studier.

This thesis argues that the traditional ways of organizing projects in the construction industry is economically regulated which is a hindrance to the sharing of knowledge and information, and thus is a hindrance for the creation of flow. The study also highlights the fact that the organisational structure creates a gap between responsibility expected and control with the assignment, which creates sub optimization as each part struggles to maintain control. Furthermore it is argued that the information perspective elaborated by Lauri Koskela (1999) is too narrow to explain the necessities of the construction process and is defined as an important research topic for further understanding. An explorative study of the construction industry in Denmark was conducted in order to structure a cause and effect diagram relevant for the current situation in the industry where symptoms like low quality and exceeding time schedules and budgets still affects heavily on performance. Companies have sought to deal with this through the use of concepts like Lean Construction with its focus on minimizing waste and delivery time while increasing customer value. Empirical findings suggest that only a small number of companies are actually using the concept and the company most involved have only applied this to half their projects where bad performance still is an issue. Why is this still a problem and how does Lean Construction actually affect the flow of work processes? This is the main issue addressed by this thesis and explanations are found in the theory about organizational structuring and knowledge sharing, which are applied on three embedded case studies and compared to organizational and environmental characteristics for the project organisation. The project group has participated in a construction project as observant and over six weeks participated in weekly group meetings and collected causes for unsuccessful work. In the end seven interviews was conducted with workers and leaders at the construction site on the basis of selected instances regarding work not done. Methodologically the thesis treats præmises, theory and empirical data in a hermeneutical circular interpretational structure of understanding and has supported the project group in getting from exploration to valid and reliable explanations to barriers in the flow of work processes. The thesis concludes the analysis by cross referencing the embedded cases and sums up empirical and theoretical findings as barriers for the flow of work processes. The most important findings are: 1) a narrow and ineffectual definition of information and knowledge in Lean Construction refers to a lack of understanding of the preconditions necessary for completing assignments. Acknowledging this will close the gap between information and knowledge produced and what is really in demand. 2) Lean Construction presumes an organisational regulated incentive for the exchange of knowledge and information while the industry and the structure promoted by the project organisation presumes an economically regulated incentive. 3) The contradicting præmises create a gap between responsibility for and control with the assignments which gives rise to unnecessary conflicts and sub optimization and thus a bad flow of work processes. These findings are discussed and put in perspective of the case company in the end of the report and should be considered case specific considerations as well as a muse for further studies.

A master thesis from Aalborg University

Flow og organisering i byggebranchen

[Flow and organization in the construction industry]