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De verkenning van silo's binnen bouwcombinaties - een exploratief onderzoek naar de aanwezigheid van silo's en de zo optimaal mogelijke situatie

Wertwijn, Cynthia (2017) De verkenning van silo's binnen bouwcombinaties - een exploratief onderzoek naar de aanwezigheid van silo's en de zo optimaal mogelijke situatie.

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Abstract:A silo is a metaphor for departments and disciplines within organizations which are autonomous and independent units (Lawrence & Lorsch, 1967; Lencioni, 2006). Silos have not been studied for construction consortia. Therefore, the focus of this research is to lay a foundation around silos for newly established construction consortia by exploring the best possible situation around silos between departments and/or disciplines. With this focus the following research question was drawn up: What is the best possible situation for yet to be established construction consortia regarding silos between departments and disciplines? For answering the research question, research is conducted. Data is collected and analyzed from different sources. The sources are: two construction consortia and literature. The data for the two construction consortia originate from document analysis, interviews and participant observation. By analyzing the data conclusions are drawn. It can be concluded that there are different types and subtypes in silos. The types are a silo in dimensions (dimension silo), behavior and mentality (people silo), resources (resource silo) and process (process silo). The subtypes of the dimension silo are spatial and time-related dimension silo. The subtypes of people silo are silo behavior and silo mentality. The resource silo consists of labour, money, material, equipment and technology resource silo. The process silo consists of the behavioral and workflow process silo. Most of these subtypes reinforce each other. Furthermore, the study concluded that the presence of the subtypes varies by construction project. Two subtypes are present in any case, namely the behavioral process silo and time-related dimension silo. The subtypes have 30 effects on a construction consortium. One of the effects can be positive or negative and 25 effects are negative. It can be concluded that a construction consortia with a minimal amount of silos is the best possible situation. The subtypes have different applications for the best possible situation. The applications for the spatial dimension silo are: placing the staff at one location and having as minimal as possible amount of spatial divisions within the site office. The organization of spatial divisions is influenced by the size of a construction consortium and the opportunity for employees to seclude themselves and meet without disturbing the other employees. Those for the time-related dimension silo are: dividing the project in stages and having an accountable representative for each stage from the start present. The applications for silo behavior are: having the motivation to communicate and collaborate with, performing acts for and focusing management actions on the responsibility to integrate the department and/or discipline with the whole construction consortium. For silo mentality it means, that employees identifying themselves with the construction consortium. In case of a large construction consortium employees should identify themselves with a department and discipline crossing group. For the behavioral process silo it consists of dividing the behavioral processes. The applications for the workflow process silo are: having no black-boxes in the workflows, monitoring and coordinating not in sections of departments and/or disciplines and conducting performance assessments on the result of the construction consortium. For silos in workflows organizing the applications depend on the requirement that discussion on effectiveness and efficiency around workflows cannot be held continuously. The applications for the different subtypes of the resource silo all are similar. These are sharing the resources. For the technology resource silo the application differs a little for sensitive information. This information should be protected. For the material resource silo the resources should only be shared when materials are ordered at once, delivered on demand and paid at delivery. All subtypes of the resource silo have requirements. These requirements mean that agreements must been made about responsibilities, claiming resources and workability of technologies. Pursuing the best possible situation is recommended. Further research is needed for pursuing this best possible situation. Furthermore, it would be interesting to do follow-up research on silos elsewhere in construction consortia. The other locations are: between the companies of which a construction consortia consists, between the construction consortia and the client, between the construction consortia and subcontractors and between groups within departments and/or disciplines.
Item Type:Essay (Master)
Clients:
DHM-Infra
Faculty:ET: Engineering Technology
Subject:56 civil engineering
Programme:Construction Management and Engineering MSc (60337)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/72220
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