About the project
In modern industry more and more production is organized into projects comprised of compound chains of value that continuously cross the borders between disciplines, functions and organisational units (departments as well as companies).
Competitiveness and success is thus dependent upon the capacity to maximise flow in complex industrial processes that are highly demanding of both skills and collaboration and that no individual entity has total responsibility for. These dilemmas are reinforced by the fact that each product is unique.
The Building Industry
In the building industry both earnings and efficiency improvements have been clearly weaker than in other industries. The building industry has had little focus on research and its ability to adopt established technologies has been weak. Businesses have attempted to increase profits by standardising components, reducing vulnerability to price swings through use of subvendors, integrating value chains and introducing new business models.
Lean Construction
During the last decade a theoretical approach has emerged, "lean" construction. This looks at how the building process and the coordination of tasks in time and space can be improved for greater efficiency. Inclusive planning is Veidekke's version of "lean" construction. The direction can be described as a planning method that aids production flow by ensuring that tasks are done in the right order, that obstacles to flow are reduced and that everyone participates in the planning of their working day.
Sub-project at the Department of Sociology and Human Geography
Professor Tian Sørhaug at the Department of Sociology and Human Geography is responsible for the sub-project Social Interaction in the building process. Pål Klethagen works on the sub-project as a research fellow.
The project will have a continuous analytical device looking at teamwork at interfaces. It's in the handling of critical interfaces between phases, functions and units that the flow in the value chain is developed. In a planning perspective it is natural to focus on the flow of knowledge and to analyze teamwork in fields and arenas where different professional, organisational, social and cultural preconceptions are challenged and overcome. The project will also analyze the interaction between the culture of the head of office and the culture of the worksite.
Methodologically this means that this project will follow one or more project-based chains of value with the goal of identifying critical interfaces in the planning process. Data will be collected by observation (fieldwork), interviews, available documentation and questionnaire surveys. The goal is to reveal conditions for the development of mutual forms of understanding and trust that can create a foundation for a more holistic organised and contribution based chain of value.
Background
The project is a collaboration between several institutions. Veidekke is the initiator and project leader for the main project with the company Kruse Smith as participant. The research institutions involved in the project are the University of Oslo, the University of Agder, BI Norwegian School of Management and the Institute for Labour and Social Research. The project is also connected to international partners within the umbrella organisation Lean Construction.
