DEGREE PROJECT
Real Estate and Construction Management
Architectural Design and Construction Project Management MASTER OF SCIENCE, 30 CREDITS, SECOND LEVEL STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN 2020
Digitalization and construction project management
- What consequences the use of ICT-tools has had on the project manager role in the construction industry
Matilda Damström
TECHNOLOGY
DEPARTMENT OF REAL ESTATE AND CONSTRACTION MANA ROYAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
DEPARTMENT OF REAL ESTATE AND CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT
Abstract
Digitalization is a hot topic in the construction industry today, with more and more ICT-tools being used. Web-based project platforms, digital meetings and BIM have all existed for quite a while, however the progress in using them and exploring the potential takes time. ICT-tools are usually aimed to make the information flow and communication more efficient, which directly relates to the project manager in a construction project. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to understand how digital tools has affected the role of the client’s construction project manager over the last 5 years. The purpose is to gain knowledge on what consequences the use of digital tools such as BIM, digital project platforms and digital meetings has had on the role of the project manager and how they deal with the consequences.
In this thesis, a qualitative study has been performed, where construction project managers were interviewed about their experiences of ICT-tools and the changes that has occurred over time. The findings were analyzed with a theoretical framework and discussed together with previous research and knowledge. The theoretical framework includes key aspects of leadership in project management and four main categories explaining how actors use ICT.
The use of BIM was in particular analyzed using the Bew-Richards BIM maturity model.
The study shows that there has been an increase in use of ICT-tools in construction projects over the last 5 years, and that there are both benefits and challenges for the project manager with all three types of digital tools that were in this study. BIM, digital project platforms and digital meetings. The primary benefits were shown to be that the tools increase time- efficiency in the project manager role and it facilitates communication. However, there is less personal contact with project team members and other challenges with getting project participants to the same use of the tools. To increase the significance of the benefits and decrease the negative consequences, the construction project manager should implement a leadership style focused on the human side, with more follow-ups, structure and routines.
Technical knowledge about the ICT-tools is also beneficial to the project manager to have since it increases the possibility to guide the project team members in a good way.
Master of Science thesis
Title Digitalization and construction project
management - What consequences the use of ICT-tools has had on the project manager role in the construction industry
Author(s) Matilda Damström
Department
Master Thesis number
Real Estate and Construction Management
Supervisor Tina Karrbom Gustavsson
Keywords Digitalization, ICT-tools, project
management, BIM, Building Information Modeling, digital platforms
TRITA-ABE-MBT-20533
Acknowledgement
This Master thesis represents the last element of the Degree programme in Civil Engineering and Urban Development at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm. The thesis is written during spring 2020 at the institution for Real Estate and Construction Management with focus on Construction Project Management. The total sum of work and execution constitutes of 30 ECTS.
Firstly, I would like to thank my supervisor at KTH, Tina Karrbom Gustavsson, for all expertise and guidance through this rollercoaster of a working process.
I would like to thank my supervisor at the consultancy firm where the work is partially executed, and the study has taken place. Thank you for all advice and the help with finding interviewees.
I would of course also like to thank everyone who took the time to participate in the interviews. All those who helpfully and unselfishly has given reflections and shared their own experiences to forward the thesis. Without you, it would not have been possible to finalize this work.
Another thank you is directed to Mark Bew and Mervyn Richards, who gave their permission to use their copyrighted BIM maturity model in this thesis.
Last but not least, I would like to thank friends and family that has given their advice and supported me during the working process. A warm thank you, you are deeply appreciated and an invaluable part of my life.
Stockholm, June 5th 2020 Matilda Damström
Examensarbete
Titel Digitalisering och byggprojektledning – Vad
för konsekvenser användandet av ICT- verktyg har haft på projektledarrollen i byggbranschen
Författare Matilda Damström
Institution
Examensarbete Master nivå Fastigheter och Byggande
Handledare Tina Karrbom Gustavsson
Nyckelord Digitalisering, ICT-verktyg, projektledning,
BIM, Byggnadsinformationsmodellering, digitala plattformar
Sammanfattning
Digitalisering är ett hett ämne i byggbranschen, med mer och mer ICT-verktyg som används.
Webb-baserade projektplattformar, digitala möten och BIM har alla existerat ett tag nu, men utvecklingen av användandet och utforskningen av deras potential tar tid. ICT-verktyg är ofta avsedda för att effektivisera informationsflödet och kommunikationen, vilket relaterar till projektledaren i ett byggprojekt. Därför är ändamålet med det här examensarbetet att förstå hur digitala verktyg har påverkat byggprojektledarollen på beställarens sida, under de senaste 5 åren. Syftet är att få kunskap om vad för konsekvenser användningen av digitala verktyg så som BIM, digitala projektplattformar och digitala möten har medfört för en projektledare och hur de hanterar konsekvenserna.
I det här examensarbetet har en kvalitativ studie gjorts där byggprojektledare intervjuades om deras erfarenheter av ICT-verktyg och de förändringar som har skett över tid. Resultaten analyserades med hjälp av ett teoretiskt ramverk och diskuterades tillsammans med tidigare forskning och kunskap. Det teoretiska ramverket inkluderar vissa nyckelaspekter av ledarskap inom projektledning och 4 huvudsakliga kategorier som beskriver hur aktörer använder ICT.
Användningen av BIM var särskilt analyserad genom Bew-Richards model för BIM mognadsgrad.
Studien visar att det har varit en ökning av användandet av ICT-verktyg i byggprojekt de senaste 5 åren, och att det är både fördelar och utmaningar för projektledaren med de tre typerna av digitala verktyg som var med i denna studie. BIM, digitala projektplattformar och digitala möten. De främsta fördelarna visade sig vara att verktygen ökar tidseffektiviteten i projektledarrollen och underlättar kommunikationen. Det blir dock mindre personlig kontakt med projektdeltagare och andra utmaningar med att få med projektdeltagare på samma användande av verktygen. För att öka betydelsen av fördelarna och minska de negativa konsekvenserna, borde projektledaren implementera en ledarskapsstil som är mer fokuserad på den mänskliga sidan, med mer uppföljningar, struktur och rutiner. Teknisk kunskap om ICT-verktygen är också fördelaktiga för projektledarna att ha eftersom det ökar möjligheten att vägleda medlemmarna i projektet in på rätt väg.
TRITA-ABE-MBT-20533
Förord
Det här examensarbetet representerar det sista momentet i civilingenjörsprogrammet Samhällsbyggnad vid Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan (KTH) i Stockholm. Arbetet är skrivet våren 2020 vid institutionen för Fastigheter och byggande med inriktningen Byggprojektledning. Det totala arbetet och utförandet utgör 30 högskolepoäng.
Jag skulle först vilja tacka min handledare på KTH, Tina Karrbom Gustavsson, för all expertis och vägledning genom denna berg- och dalbana till arbetsprocess.
Jag vill även tacka min handledare på konsultbolaget där arbetet delvis är utfört samt studien tagit plats. Tack för alla råd samt hjälp med att hitta intervjupersoner.
Jag vill självklart även tacka alla som tog sig tid att delta i intervjuerna. Alla de som hjälpsamt och osjälviskt gett reflektioner samt delat med sig av egna erfarenheter för att främja examensarbetet. Utan er hade detta arbete inte kunnat slutföras.
Ett tack är också riktat till Mark Bew och Mervyn Richards, som gav sin tillåtelse att använda deras modell för BIM mognadsgrad som är skyddad av copyright.
Sist men inte minst skulle jag vilja tacka vänner och familj som har gett goda råd och stöttat mig under arbetets gång. Varmt tack till er, ni är djupt uppskattade och en ovärderlig del av mitt liv.
Stockholm, 5 juni 2020 Matilda Damström
Notations
BIM Building Information Modeling (Smith, 2014; Jacobsson and Merschbrock, 2018; Rezahoseini et al., 2018)
CAD Computer Aided Design (Zhou et al., 2012)
Digitization The process of converting analogue information to a digital format (Ritter and Pedersen, 2020).
Digitalization The integration of digital technologies into everyday life, which impacts how work gets done (Ritter and Pedersen, 2020).
Project Platforms It is software online used to communicate, collaborate and organize projects. Is also referred to as project networks (Löfgren, 2006).
Digital meetings/
Virtual meetings Meetings using digital technology to connect geographically separated people in real-time, through audio either with or without video. It includes online meetings, sometimes complemented by other forms of digital collaboration such as document sharing and chats (Arnfalk et al., 2020).
ICT Information and Communication Technology (Lam, Wong and Tse, 2010)
ICT-tools A term for devices or applications used in information and
communication technology, e.g. cellular phones, computers, network hardware or software, videoconferencing and other applications
associated with the devices (Kondra, 2020). Used interchangeably with digital tools and IT-tools.
2D Two dimensional: height and width (Rezahoseini et al., 2018).
3D Three dimensional: height, width and depth (Rezahoseini et al., 2018).
4D Four dimensional: height, width and depth plus an integrated time plan (Rezahoseini et al., 2018).
5D Five dimensional: height, width and depth plus time plan and cost estimations (Rezahoseini et al., 2018).
Table of Contents
1 INTRODUCTION ... 1
1.1 BACKGROUND ... 1
1.2 RESEARCH GAP ... 2
1.3 PURPOSE AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS ... 2
1.4 LIMITATIONS ... 3
2 METHOD ... 4
2.1 RESEARCH APPROACH ... 4
2.2 QUALITATIVE STUDY ... 4
2.3 LITERATURE STUDY ... 4
2.4 DATA CREATION –INTERVIEWS ... 5
2.5 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS ... 6
2.6 DATA ANALYSIS -QUALITATIVE ... 7
2.7 VALIDITY, RELIABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY ... 8
3 LITERATURE STUDY ... 9
3.1 ICT IN CONSTRUCTION, OPINIONS AND CHANGING WORK ... 9
3.2 BIM AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT ... 10
4 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ... 13
4.1 CONSTRUCTION PROJECT MANAGEMENT ... 13
4.2 LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT ... 13
4.3 INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY ... 14
4.3.1 How actors use ICT ... 14
4.3.2 Building Information Modeling ... 14
4.3.3 Bew-Richards model for BIM maturity ... 15
5 FINDINGS ... 17
5.1 THE PROJECT MANAGER ROLE ... 17
5.2 BIM KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE ... 18
5.3 DIFFERENCES IN USE OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY ... 19
5.4 COMMUNICATION DIFFERENCES IN WORKING DIGITALLY ... 21
5.5 LEADERSHIP CHANGES ... 22
5.6 TECHNICAL AND PRACTICAL ASPECTS ... 22
5.7 CHANGED ROLES AND PROJECT ORGANIZATION ... 24
5.8 GENERAL OPINION OF DIGITALIZATION AND IMPLEMENTATION ... 24
6 ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION ... 26
6.1 BENEFITS TO THE PROJECT MANAGER WHEN USING ICT-TOOLS ... 26
6.2 CHALLENGES TO USING ICT-TOOLS ... 27
6.3 NEW REQUIREMENTS ON THE PROJECT MANAGER ROLE ... 28
6.4 IMPLEMENTATION ... 29
6.5 SUSTAINABILITY ... 30
7 CONCLUSION ... 31
7.1 SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH ... 32
8 REFERENCES ... 34
9 APPENDIX A – INTERVIEW QUESTIONS ... 39
1 Introduction
In this chapter, the background to the topic is described. The aim of this study is presented, as well as the research questions. Furthermore, the limitations are discussed.
1.1 Background
In an industry that has been previously slow at adapting to the digital community (Headrick, 2017), more and more digital methods, tools and software emerge to handle the increasing complex construction projects. Over the last 25 years the whole building industry has gone through a substantial change of working processes and communication, due to the IT- revolution (Lundgren, 2019). Integrating and using information and communication technologies to their full potential are one of the most important challenges for businesses across industries today. The pressure on companies to transform digitally and to make this a strategic priority to seize the opportunities the digital technologies bring is increasing (Hassaini et al., 2017) .
Information has always been closely related to the way work has been performed. Going back in time it has influenced habits such as knowing when to plant crops and how to use machines(Forman et al., 2014). Information and technology, digital technologies, significantly influence work practices. However, how this happens is still poorly understood which means that there is a need for further understanding of the relationship between information, technology and work practices (Forman et al., 2014).
A recent topic in society today is the epidemic outbreak of the COVID-19 virus. The virus is causing many people to stay at home as much as possible to stop the disease from spreading.
This is also a case of information that is changing behavior. This has resulted in an increased usage of digital platforms and hosting digital meetings, since many are now working from home (Warren, 2020). In a quick empirical trend survey by the organization Digital Marketing Exposition & Conference (DMXCO), the results showed that 78% of the international respondents thinks that it will be more accepted to work from home after the crisis with the virus has passed. 66% believe that this will accelerate the pace of digital transformation in business and 59% believe that digital communication and collaboration tools will become more important (Malev, 2020). In other words, the majority believe that there will be an increased digitalization in the near future, further stressing the importance of this subject.
Building information modeling (BIM) is one of the digital technologies many of the companies within the construction industry are seeking to implement. For about 40 years it has been an interest to companies, however there are still issues with effective implementation and use of BIM (Smith, 2014). There are many studies about the different perceived benefits to BIM (Azhar, 2011; Fazli et al., 2014; Hoseini et al., 2019), although BIM challenges traditional work processes and practices in construction projects (Kerosuo et al., 2015).
Using digital technology for communication is often seen as a managerial tool, essentially assigning the construction project manager as responsible for the digitalized communication process within construction projects (Wikforss and Löfgren, 2007). Project information management can be seen as a formal sub-discipline of project management (Froese, 2006).
Since the use of digital tools such as Building Information Modeling (BIM), digital project platforms and digital meetings are nowadays important in the communication and information sharing within projects, it possibly has had multiple consequences for the project managers.
Partly because leading change is a managerial challenge (Canterino et al., 2020), but also because there are expected consequences of ICT-tools to the project manager (Wikforss and Löfgren, 2007; Rokooei, 2015).
1.2 Research gap
How ICT is used in the construction industry has been researched, as well as users’ opinions on different ICT-tools (Löfgren, 2006; Wikforss and Löfgren, 2007; Jacobsson and Linderoth, 2012). The expected benefits to using different ICT-tools have also been thoroughly investigated, especially concerning BIM. Although research has mainly been performed with a project, organizational or theoretical perspective, and not based on a study with a project manager perspective (Ahuja et al., 2010; Azhar, 2011; Bryde et al., 2013; Chen and Luo, 2014; Li et al., 2017; Rezahoseini et al., 2018; Hoseini et al., 2019). The factors affecting the implementation and understanding of ICT-tools has been researched in multiple studies (Hartmann et al., 2012; Jacobsson and Linderoth, 2012; Fox, 2014; Jahanmir and Cavadas, 2018), as well as leadership in digital change (Oberer and Erkollar, 2018). Still, the project manager perspective is not present in these studies.
This means that there is limited recent research about how ICT-tools directly affect the role of the project manager from a construction project managerial perspective, especially that has a high validity and credibility, which is focused on in this study.
1.3 Purpose and research questions
The purpose of this study is to understand how ICT-tools has affected the role of the client’s construction project manager over the last 5 years. To gain knowledge on what consequences the use of digital tools such as BIM, digital project platforms and digital meetings has had on the on the project manager role and how they deal with the consequences.
With knowledge of the consequences and how ICT-tools affect the role of the client’s construction project manager, it enables the project manager to stay more vigilant to the risks and opportunities when using certain tools. It also creates a possibility to easier be able to know, as a project manager, how to overcome problems related to the digital work process that might occur within the project team. It is an important topic to create an efficient implementation process and a favorable workflow when working with different ICT-tools, which is an important part in the construction industry.
How has digitalization over the past 5 years affected the role of the client’s construction project manager in a Swedish consultancy firm:
- What changes in digitalization of the project manager work has occurred over the last 5 years?
- How is the client’s construction project manager benefitted by using different ICT- tools in the construction process?
- What challenges for the client’s construction project manager exists when using ICT- tools?
- What new requirements on the role of the client’s construction project manager does using ICT-tools in project work bring?
1.4 Limitations
One of the main limitations within this study was that all interviewees are employed at the same consultancy firm and can be affected by the same values and company culture to incur bias in their answers. However, since it is a consultancy firm, they have extensive contact with clients and experiences from different projects which might have values and culture that also affects them. The experiences of the interviewees are not limited to any single kind of projects, they have experience of working with housing and infrastructure projects, both new productions as well as refurbishments. There were also a range in their experience when it comes to scope of the project, with smaller projects up to large ones with billions in budget.
However, their experiences in working in project with a high level of BIM-integration was limited, which meant that some speculations occurred during the interview, and possibly were mistaken by the author for actual opinions based on experience due to the interviewee’s assurance and strong belief.
When writing about the project manager in this thesis, it is presumed to be a construction project manager working within the construction industry. The project manager referred to in this thesis are also presumed to be working for the client, and not the contractor of the construction project. This is the most common case at the consultancy firm which this thesis is written in collaboration with.
The author’s pre-gathered opinion of the subject can be seen as another limitation due to the risk of confirmation bias, confirming one’s own belief and missing out on the other results.
However, this was actively worked with and an acknowledged risk. The analysis of the results was done in a structured and organized way in order to minimize this risk of bias, as can be read about in the chapter 2, Method.
2 Method
In this chapter, the methods used in the study are presented. The approach to gather empirical data is described and justified as means to answer the research questions. Validity and reliability of the method of analysis is discussed as well as the ethical considerations and selection of respondents.
2.1 Research approach
This thesis is made with an abductive approach, which is a combination of a deductive and an inductive approach. A deductive study implies that theoretical concepts are used to explain empirics, while an inductive approach means that empirics are used to explain theoretical concepts (Saunders et al., 2009; Bhattacherjee, 2012). This means that an abductive approach means to alternate between empirics and theoretical concepts.
The abductive approach was chosen after realizing that the theoretical framework was not sufficient to analyze the findings of the interviews. This implicates that a deductive approach was the starting point, although changed along the work process of this thesis.
2.2 Qualitative study
In this thesis, qualitative study has been performed. The decision to use a qualitative study was made due to the kind of topic, which is within the social sciences research field. As Leung (2015, p.324) states:
”The essence of qualitative research is to make sense of and recognize patterns among words in order to build up a meaningful picture without compromising its richness and dimensionality.”
A qualitative study is of a descriptive character and comes to good use in a social sciences field, when trying to understand the meaning of human senses and subjectivity (Leung, 2015).
This type of study is based the data creation expressed in words, which cannot be standardized (Saunders et al., 2009). For these reasons, a qualitative study for the subject of this thesis is a good fit.
2.3 Literature study
A literature study was made to achieve an understanding of the previous research in this field and to create a basis for this study. A major focus in the beginning of the literature study was about BIM, what it is and how it is affecting the construction project. The focus point was kept on how it affects the project manager, being responsible for the projects, but also what changes the construction industry has went through in terms of digital technology the last decade. This resulted in looking into more research about ICT technology and what effects it has had on the different aspects of the project team in terms of communication and information.
The previous research has mainly been retrieved from platforms such as google scholar and the Royal Institute of Technology’s library portal (KTH Bibliotek), as well as some physical books. It was retrieved partially by searching for the keywords of this thesis: Digitalization, ICT-tools, project management, BIM, Building Information Modeling, digital platforms.
Another part of the previous research was found through searching for a few other words to gain further results, such as: Construction project management, digital meetings, digital technology, digital tools, web-based platforms, project platforms, leadership, BIM maturity.
All the words searched for was used in different combinations and variations. Lastly, an additional part of the previous research was found through the sources of already found articles.
The previous research has mainly been in the form of articles from scientific journals, to have a high credibility in the sources. The literature has also been critically analyzed and when possible, multiple sources have been used to have a firm basis for the study. This was done to avoid bias as well as to gain a more comprehensive view of the previous research field. It is important to have a proper view of the previous research, to gain a clear idea of the gap that is to be studied (Saunders et al., 2009).
2.4 Data Creation – Interviews
For the data creation part of this study, 12 semi-structured interviews have been performed with construction project managers to gather empirics about the subject. One test-interview was performed before the interviews with the professionals took place. After the third interview, the interview questions were slightly revised. The interviews were performed in Swedish, as is the interviewees’ professional language. This decision was made to avoid unnecessary language barriers. Thus, quotes provided by the interviewees to this study are freely translated by the author. The guiding questions used in the semi-structured interviews can be found in appendix A (in Swedish). Though keeping in mind that they were solely guiding questions, and additional question were added based on the answers during the interviews to get high-quality answers.
The interview questions were formed based on the information from previous research, theory and the research questions. Inspiration to the interview questions was also found in previous master theses. To reflect on the interview questions, a question form with a non-aligning topic was studied and changed to the topic of this study. This revealed further angles to the questions.
The choice to use semi-structured interviews as a method in this qualitative study was made because structured interviews are often more limiting in qualitative research, due to the firm structure of the questions. Unstructured interviews were also ruled out due to the informal setting and the risk of the interviewees to derail (Saunders et al., 2009).
The interviewees are all construction project managers at the same consultancy firm. The consultancy firm is a middle-sized firm with different departments within the construction industry. It consists of more than 1000 employees and has an annual turnover of more than 1
billion SEK. Despite the interviewees being employed by the same company, there were actions taken to achieve as much of a diversified group of interviewees as possible. They were chosen with respect to age, gender, and experience in the working role as a project manager. The experience of being a project manager varied from about 1 to over 20 years in different project managerial roles amongst the interviewees. To distinguish the interviewees while keeping them anonymous, they were divided into two groups based on being either a junior project manager with less than 5 years of experience, or a senior project manager with more than 5 years of experience. The specification for the different interviews can be seen in Table 1.
The interviewees were asked to keep a focus on the project managerial role, when having multiple roles in their projects. The project manager role in this thesis is in the form of being the client’s external project manager. When it became evident any of the interviewees was discussing the question from the contractor’s project manager perspective, that material was excluded from the results.
Table 1, specification of interviews including experience, setting and duration.
Interviewee number Experience Setting Duration (minutes)
1 Senior Phone 60
2 Senior Video call 60
3 Junior Face to Face 60
4 Senior Video call 60
5 Junior Video call 60
6 Junior Face to face 60
7 Senior Video call 80
8 Senior Face to face 80
9 Senior Face to face 60
10 Junior Video call 60
11 Senior Video call 60
12 Senior Video call 60
For an easier analysis of the empirical information gathered from the interviews, they have been transcribed. The transcribed interviews are available upon request (in Swedish).
2.5 Ethical considerations
Ethical guidelines by the Swedish research council have been followed, taking into consideration the four principles presented in their codex to conduct ethically good research (Vetenskapsrådet, 2002). The following principles are:
• The requirement of information: The interviewee was given information about the study, topic of the interview and what the information from the interview would be used. Other information about their rights as voluntary participants and conditions of participating was also given.
• The requirement of consent: The interviewee gave informed consent for the interview to be recorded and transcribed. The interviewee was also informed about the right to
withdraw consent up until one week after the interview had taken place, without any consequences.
• The requirement of confidentiality: The information the interviewee provided was and is kept under confidentiality of the researcher. This by the researcher being the only one having direct access to the recordings and making sure the interviewees are anonymous in the thesis. Although the interviewees were informed that the recordings could be made available for the supervisor of this thesis work, but no other third parties have access to their details.
• The requirement of usage: The information from the study will solely be used for the purpose of the study, and not commercial use or other non-scientific purposes.
To assure that these guidelines were thoroughly followed, all interviewees were either given a consent form to read and sign, or had it read to them before the interview when performing it digitally. This is also according to the principles of GDPR, which is included in the four guidelines (Wolford, 2020).
Since all the respondents to the interview work within the project management department of the same company, the numbering of the interviews has been randomized and are not according to the order they were performed. This is made to make sure other employees and coworkers do not have the possibility to identify the interviewees based on the accessible personal schedules.
2.6 Data analysis - Qualitative
Qualitative data is supposed to be analyzed qualitatively, which is what has been done in this study. To analyze qualitatively is to focus on the meaning and interpretations of the results from the data creation, rather than counting statements as would have been done in a quantitative analysis (Saunders et al., 2009).
As a start of the analysis, the results from the interviews was summarized in multiple steps.
This was done to gain a comprehensive view on the findings. In the first step the full transcribed material from the interviews, about 150 pages, were read thoroughly and the most important parts were extracted. In the new document with the most important extracts to the topic of this study, about 50 pages with long quotes was studied again and summarized down to the main idea that the interviewees were trying to portray, arranged according to topics.
This material was then coded in excel to connect the quotes with the summarized idea. The coded summarized ideas were then arranged in a separate document to get an even more comprehensive idea of the results. This bullet-point document of about 10 pages was the final basis for chapter 5 Findings, referring back to the quotes in the excel-document.
The findings were then properly analyzed and discussed, using the theoretical framework and comparing the comparing the findings to previous studies. This was done to analyze the meaning of the results and to gather what new knowledge they bring to the field. The theoretical framework was used to gain an understanding of the project managers situation and to be able to interpret their statements and put it into the context of the topic this thesis.
The project management and leadership framework was used to understand the position of the project manager and how the digital work depends on them. The framework of how users use ICT was applied to understand what influences the application of ICT-tools and how the project manager can affect the users, as well as assessing what affects the project manager as a user of ICT-tools. Lastly, the framework concerning BIM was used to be able to assess how the project managers are working with BIM and to be able to compare statements, without blurring the different experiences and use of BIM. To be able to differentiate between the different ways BIM is used in their projects.
2.7 Validity, reliability and transparency
According to Leung (2015), validity in qualitative studies is about “appropriateness” of different tools, processes and data used in research. This means that validity refers to appropriateness of the chosen method to the study, among other aspects. The study includes both theoretical and empirical perspectives, which is an aspect that raises the validity compared to only using one perspective. The selection of project managers to interview in this study was made to assure a validity, based on the fact that they were selected to create a diverse group with different levels of experience and age. In contrast, if the interviewees would have been a group on solely young relatively inexperienced project managers, answers might not have been as relevant. Apart from that, people working as professional construction project managers are the most equipped to provide answers relevant to the research questions due to the topic. However, the fact that they all work at the same company can have a negative impact on validity in the sense that it might give a misrepresented view of the opinions of client’s construction project managers in general.
In quantitative research, reliability refers to the replicability of the study (Leung, 2015). If using same approach and methods, the research will show similar results. However, in a qualitative study it is impossible to achieve exactly the same results. This is because the research is based on opinions, peoples’ own perspectives and experiences. The reliability in qualitative research is needs to be conceptualized differently (Carcary, 2009). This is why transparency is important in qualitative studies, to increase trust and credibility in the study among the readers (Moravcsik, 2014), when not being able to measure the reliability in the same way.
Transparency in qualitative studies has three dimensions, according to Moravcsik (2014). The dimensions are data transparency, analytic transparency and production transparency. Data transparency is about giving the readers access to the data used in the empirical results. In this study, the transcribed interviews which represents the data is available for the readers upon request, as previously mentioned. This increases the data transparency. Transparency could be increased by giving the readers direct access to the data. However, this is considered to be inconvenient due to the fact that the data is most likely overwhelming to the normal reader since it is around 150 pages long. Analytic transparency refers to what access readers have to information about the data analysis. In this thesis this is dealt with by explaining how the data analysis was made (2.6 Data analysis – Qualitative). Production transparency is about the methods to how the production of empirical results was made. To give the readers access to
information about how the empirical evidence was selected from the full data. This has to do with confirmation bias and selection bias. In this thesis it was dealt with by analyzing the full results in steps and coding the data, as previously described. It was done to make sure there were no selection bias, in contrast to if the basis for the analysis instead would have been the first 5 interviews where additional findings would have been added later. This could have resulted in unconscious confirmation bias, due to confirming the findings one had already stated.
3 Literature study
In this chapter, the previous research in the field is presented. This is made to set a base for empirical study.
3.1 ICT in construction, opinions and changing work
According to a study made by Jacobsson and Linderoth (2012), ICT (Information and Communication Technology) is essential in daily work for most professionals in the construction industry. How ICT is used is depending on the occupational groups regarding differences in types of work tasks and context, where managers uses ICT mainly for control of project performance (Jacobsson and Linderoth, 2012). There is evidence that the use of IT- tools is extensive, although perhaps not used to their full potential. There are still high expectations on IT-tools and the advantages they bring (Gustavsson et al., 2012).
Wikforss and Löfgren, (2007) states that there is a need for effective communication and quick access to information in both design and production stages of construction. This is considered to be a project management dilemma. A tool being used to handle this is digital project platforms, which is an ICT based tool designed to give immediate access to shared documents and dynamic communication on the platform webpage (Wikforss and Löfgren, 2007). A study of four project platforms(PNet, Projektstruktur, Projektplatsen/Project place and Byggnet) was made where multiple users were interviewed, including a few project managers. It was found that many considered the platforms to be inefficient and too complicated. Many communication functions remained unused and most of the time, the project platforms were only used to store documents as opposed to the idea of using them for dynamic communication. The platforms were also considered to be time consuming when logging on and searching for documents. Another thing that was mentioned is that tagging the documents with the right metadata, upload and structure them correctly was a complex task in practice according to respondents (Löfgren, 2006).
For the project manager, it is no longer possible to decide what information is given at what time to the project team members when using project platforms. All have equal access to information that is constantly changing based on the fact that team members upload documents continuously. Flexibility and general understanding of the project is reduced using these platforms. Also for the project manager it gets more difficult to control project team members’ perspectives on the project, since they base their image of the project on information they acquire from the platform (Wikforss and Löfgren, 2007).
However, as Forman et al., (2014) concludes in a study about how information and technology changes the work, some implications are only possible to observe after sufficient amount of time has passed. Meaning further changes of work processes and practice could possibly occur over time. New ways to work digitally also brings new possibilities, such as working together despite problems due to location. In a study of the Indian construction industry, where project teams are generally geographically separated, Ahuja et al., (2010) concluded that the adoption of ICT is most beneficial when it comes to create effective communication in that specific setting.
Opinions of digital technology has also been studied as something that affects the digital implementation. Negative attitudes and negative word of mouth are affecting the adoption of digital innovations negatively, which implies that increasing the consumers positive attitude of a digital tool could be effective for adoption (Jahanmir and Cavadas, 2018). This requires leadership, and in a project, the leader is typically the project manager (Zulch, 2014).
However, in a study of the user perceptions of the use of ICT in the Swedish construction industry, it was concluded that the users are quite happy with the kind of ICT that is used, and does not seem to be interested in further implementation (Jacobsson and Linderoth, 2012) There are different kinds and types of leadership. According to a study by Oberer and Erkollar (2018), it could be more important to have a leadership style more focused on the human side of the organization in leading digital work. This could increase productivity and efficiency compared to other styles with the same prerequisites.
3.2 BIM and project management
In a study by Rokooei (2015), a comparison was made between the main aspects of BIM and knowledge areas of project management. It was concluded that the project manager is one of the best roles fit to utilize BIM. He also suggests that BIM can be viewed as a managerial tool instead of a technical one in construction projects. This suggestion was made due to similarities that were recognized in his study between the project manager, being the heart in decision making within projects, and BIM in the construction process. He also argues that to understand similarities between the project management role and BIM, it requires an understanding and knowledge of the concept and experience in working with BIM.
Hoseini et al., (2019), also studied the comparison between BIM and project management body of knowledge. The conclusion was that the uses, influences and benefits of BIM relates well to project management body of knowledge. He argues that BIM can support and positively affect time and cost management, plus other fields such as risks and resources of the project. Working with BIM can therefore help with achieving the project goals (Hoseini et al., 2019). In another article about the effects of BIM capabilities knowledge management areas in the construction industry, BIM is expressed as a project management methodology.
All the different BIM capabilities are concluded to have positive effects on the recognized standard project management body of knowledge (Rezahoseini et al., 2018).
Bryde et al., (2013), argues that the aspect of cost management is the most positively influenced by BIM in construction project management. However, several other aspects are
also benefitted by the use of BIM in construction project management. Time, communication, coordination improvement and quality are positively affected (Bryde et al., 2013). This is depending on the kind of BIM used in the projects. With a more extensive and integrated BIM use, benefits to the construction schedule management is more noticeable (Li et al., 2017).
When it comes to sustainability, working with BIM can improve these aspects of a project as well. Clients and key stakeholders often have a demand for sustainable projects built with sustainable methods. This requires an early involvement and cooperation of participants in the project, which can be reached with an integrated design approach through using BIM (Bryde et al., 2013). Using BIM to this extent will only be reached if companies invest in their staff in form of BIM education and training, since the people working with it will need to adjust and adopt working practices to suit the method (Bryde et al., 2013).Azhar (2011) also argues for the need of increased collaboration within project teams to achieve as many benefits as possible using BIM, but he does not sustain the idea that there will be a high cost of implementing BIM in the long run. In a study of 10 different projects, conducted by analyzing detailed cost data when using BIM, a positive return on investment (ROI) was concluded in all projects. With a range from 140% to 39,900% of positive ROI, the benefit of implementing BIM is concluded to be clear. The large range is explained by the differences in scope of used BIM methods. Based on the results from this study, he argues that increased use of BIM will hopefully benefit collaboration, reduce fragmentation in the construction industry, will gradually lead to improved project performance and reduced costs (Azhar, 2011).
Just like Azhar argues, Chen and Luo (2014) concluded that BIM aids the project participants to better comprehend the quality process and collaborate more effectively with visualized data format. They also argued that BIM is beneficial when it comes to design quality, due to conflict elimination and reducing the need for alterations and additional work. These conclusions were based on a case study of the Wuhan International EXPO Center, where a 4D BIM application for quality control was used during the construction phase (Chen and Luo, 2014).
According to Hartmann et al. (2012) the implementation of BIM tools to aid the work of construction management organization are considered to be a problematic task. He suggests the implementation would benefit from a technology pull perspective, rather than a technology push. Push and pull in this context have to do with a theory about implementing innovation. Technology push is when science and technology influence the market to change, and technology pull (or demand pull) is when the market influence the science and technology being implemented. The argument Hartmann et al. (2012) suggests based on two case studies where technology pull was used. The conclusion is that functionality of BIM based software applications can work well with established project management methods (Hartmann et al., 2012).
BIM has a quite substantial impact on the industry, and many changes to projects and working processes, as stated above. This most likely affects the role of project managers.
However, there are research suggesting that construction project managers’ knowledge of
BIM is somewhat insufficient, which can result in problems with understanding the plans (Fazli et al., 2014).
As can be gathered, the aspects of BIM are often seen as very positive and beneficial.
However, there are studies implicating that there is a hype when it comes to BIM, and that it might not be as positive as studies make it seem. Productivity has been declining over the last years in the construction industry. Stephen Fox suggests in his study “Getting real about BIM” (2014), that getting more real about BIM and having more critical descriptions of it would improve understanding of BIM. He argues that a critical description of BIM can be more holistic, and bases this argument on a case study (Fox, 2014).
4 Theoretical framework
In this chapter, the theoretical concepts used to gain an understanding of the empirics are presented and described. A few of the concepts are shortly discussed as well, to assure the relevance of them to this study.
4.1 Construction project management
In construction project management, one of the main tasks is to take stakeholders demands and interests into consideration when making decisions to ensure project success (Olander, 2007). The goal of construction project management is to reach project success, which is often measured by three aspects. Time, cost and quality. These three concepts make up the well-known theory of the Iron triangle, also known as the triple constraint. This means that construction project managers’ task is to make sure the project is delivered on time, expenses kept within budget, and the quality of the finished project is according to agreement (Pollack et al., 2018).
4.2 Leadership and management
Leadership and management are not the same, although leadership is an important part of management. “Leadership is a part of management, is the ability of convincing the others to search to achieve defined targets, gives coherence to a group and motivates it to achieve goals” (Răducan and Răducan, 2014).
There are many definitions and descriptions of leadership. However the key elements can be described as following (Derue and Ashford, 2010; Oberer and Erkollar, 2018):
- Leader and Follower: A leader cannot be a leader without followers. Followers are the ones being influenced by a leader and possibly gives input to the leader.
- Influence: As an effective leader, it is important to be able to influence and motivate others. To communicate ideas and gaining acceptance, support and willingness to implement them.
- Organizational objectives: To create a common goal and vision and to guide the followers in thinking about organizational objectives.
- People: It is evident that being a leader is about leading people. Good leaders are helpful and likes to lead and advise the followers towards a shared goal.
- Change: Influencing and setting goals are related to change. Leaders should lead followers in change that the organization needs to adapt in global environments that change fast.
These key elements involve a fair amount of soft skills (people skills) (Derue and Ashford, 2010). The leadership ability and approach of how to motivate and convince people highly depends on communication skills and the ability to assess the situation and surrounding environment (Zulch, 2014). Further, the key elements rely on technical skills and decision- making skills of the leader. The technical skills are referring to the capability to use the
correct methods and techniques to perform a task. Decision-making skills are about problem- solving (Derue and Ashford, 2010). According to Mumford et al. (2000), leaders should be able to identify problems in the organization and formulate solutions to them.
4.3 Information communication technology 4.3.1 How actors use ICT
Adriaanse et al., (2010) have developed a theoretical model that explains how different actors use ICT in construction projects. It was developed by comparing three other ICT models about influence and adoption of ICT, the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology, the theory acceptance model and the theory of planned behavior and recognizing the missing elements.
The model contains the following four key categories:
• Personal motivation: Refers to the perceived advantages and disadvantages of ICT use and perceived time pressure when using them.
• External motivation: Refers to what extent the actors are forced by other actors, which is connected to contractual arrangements about ICT use and the presence of a requesting actor.
• Knowledge skills: Refers to what degree actors know how to use ICT tools. With limited skills, the actors themselves limit the use of ICT.
• Acting opportunities: Refers to what extent ICT can be used in the intended way. This has to do with alignment between working practices and ICT, and the availability of the actual ICT-tools.
This model is used in this thesis as a base for how the project team members use ICT-tools, which in return can explain how a project manager can affect a favorable adoption of ICT- tools within the team.
4.3.2 Building Information Modeling
Building Information Modeling (BIM) is a type of information communication technology, used for managing construction projects efficiently and effectively. It originates from Building Description Systems (BDS), that was introduced in 1975 by Charles Eastman. Over the years, the concept has developed in to BIM, which now exists with a vast amount of different definitions to it (Aryani et al., 2014). As Khosrowshahi (2017, p.50) states, the two extremes are that BIM is one hand ”purely a technical enabler in form of a sophisticated software”, or on the other “it offers a philosophical framework that offers a paradigm shift within the construction sector.”
In this thesis BIM refers to the definition by Succar et al., (2012, p.120), that BIM is “a set of interracing policies, processes and technologies that generate a methodology to manage the essential building design and project data in digital format throughout the building’s lifecycle”.
4.3.3 Bew-Richards model for BIM maturity
The Bew-Richards model (Figure 1) is built on the concept that the higher BIM maturity, the higher the lifecycle management and integration in the processes of construction. It was introduced in 2008 (Bew et al., 2008, in Succar et al., 2012) and consists of four levels, level 0 up to level 3. Level 0 is almost no BIM maturity at all, and level 3 is the highest with different kinds of integrated BIM and where lifecycle management is implemented (British Standards Institution, 2010, 2011; Khosrowshahi, 2017).
Figure 1, Bew-Richards BIM maturity model (British Standards Institution, 2011, p.16). Pictured with permission from the copyright owners and authors Mark Bew and Mervyn Richards1.
The definitions of the levels are the following (British Standards Institution, 2011, p.16-17):
“Level 0: Unmanaged CAD probably 2D, with paper (or electronic paper) as the most likely data exchange mechanism.
Level 1: Managed CAD in 2 or 3D format using BS1192:2007 with a collaboration tool providing a common data environment, possibly some standard data structures and formats.
Commercial data managed by standalone finance and cost management packages with no integration.
Level 2: Managed 3D environment held in separate discipline “BIM” tools with attached data. Commercial data managed by an Enterprise Resource Planner (ERP). Integration on the basis of proprietary interfaces or bespoke middleware could be regarded as “pBIM”
(proprietary). The approach may utilise 4D programme data and 5D cost elements as well as feed operational systems.
Level 3: Fully open process and data integration enabled by “web services” compliant with the emerging IFC/IFD standards, managed by a collaborative model server. Could be regarded as iBIM or integrated BIM potentially employing concurrent engineering processes.”
Since it is a British model, the definitions to the different levels includes British standards that are not commonly used in Sweden. In short, the levels can be explained as steps toward integration and lifecycle management. Level 0 as no BIM maturity with information in form of 2D drawings, level 1 solely focus on the geometrical 2D or 3D model, level 2 focus on collaboration over disciplines including libraries and perhaps other tools such as cost- and time information, and lastly level 3 as a working process with focus on integration and life cycle management.
Bew-Richards theory of BIM-maturity is from 2008. However, it is still used and discussed up to date (Olawumi and Chan, 2018, 2019; Jiang et al., 2019; Nývlt and Novotný, 2019).
Other BIM maturity models, such as the Multifunctional BIM Maturity Model by Liang et al., (2016), are too complex in this study for a quick self-assessment among the project managers, since it involves many aspects and criteria ordered in three sub domains, totaling in 21 ratings between stage 0 and 3, that are combined to a total score. This means that the model requires more knowledge of details in how BIM is used in the project, which some project managers might not have since they have a more comprehensive role.
In this thesis, the concept of Bew-Richards model of BIM maturity is used to assess what level of BIM is being used in different projects and what the interviewed project managers have experience of.
