Jones, K;
Mosca, L;
Whyte, J;
Davies, A;
Glass, J;
(2021)
Addressing specialization and fragmentation: product platform development in construction consultancy firms.
Construction Management and Economics
10.1080/01446193.2021.1983187.
(In press).
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Abstract
Construction product platforms provide the opportunity to improve productivity in construction projects while maintaining heterogeneity of output. The growing literature on construction product platforms describes how product suppliers develop product platforms either top-down or bottom-up, independently from project delivery. Through a single case study of a consultancy firm, this paper shows how specialist consultancy firms operating in the construction sector develop their own product platform on projects while iteratively developing and augmenting their delivery capabilities. Distinguishing between activity integration, coordination, and consolidation, the platform development process highlights how vertical and horizontal consolidation of capabilities within the engineering phase of delivery enables early resolution of both product and process specifications. This means that vertical coordination between engineering and manufacturing phases can be managed by a fully specified contract, rather than acquisition. The analysis of the case show how construction can be more closely aligned with the linear and sequential models found in manufacturing through clarifying and distinguishing the roles of engineering, manufacturing, finishing and sub-assembly.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Addressing specialization and fragmentation: product platform development in construction consultancy firms |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1080/01446193.2021.1983187 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1080/01446193.2021.1983187 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
| Keywords: | Product platforms, Fragmentation, Construction, Manufacturing |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment > The Bartlett Sch of Const and Proj Mgt |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10134636 |
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