Social Network Analysis in Construction E-Book

Stephen Pryke

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 476

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2012

Beschreibung

Social Network Analysis in Construction

Increasingly demanding and knowledgeable clients in construction require an approach to project management that recognises both the important role played by the client in the definition of a project and the lack of certainty that large and/or complex projects present.

Having identified the importance of managing relationships, both analysts and practitioners today need a sophisticated framework and methodology for observing systems and managing the complex relationships in major construction project coalitions.

Social Network Analysis in Construction shows how social network analysis (SNA) can be used to observe, monitor and analyse systems and relationships. Although this has been an established analytical technique in the US for some time, it is only now being developed in the UK.

Stephen Pryke spent nearly two decades investigating major project relationships using SNA and brings together here mathematical and sociological methods, and major project relationships in a manner that will inspire both academic interest and a desire to apply these concepts and techniques to live construction projects. Case studies include projects from two of the UK’s largest property developers – the UK Ministry of Defence, and a County Council.

SNA is innovative – but potentially inaccessible to project management analysts and practitioners. The author provides clear and relevant explanation and illustration of the possibilities of using SNA in a major project environment. In addition to offering the potential for sophisticated retrospective analysis of a wide range of systems associated with construction and engineering project coalitions, he also looks at how we might apply the network analysis findings to the design and management of project and supply chain networks.

Postgraduate students and academic researchers in Project Management and Construction Management, as well as practitioners from professional consultancies and project management companies will find here an excellent exposition of an often inaccessible subject.

Leseprobe

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

About the author

Preface

Acknowledgements

Chapter 1: Introduction

Understanding the Construction Sector

Structure of the Book

Summary

Chapter 2: Rationale for a Network Approach to the Analysis of Project Management Systems

Introduction

Review of Approaches to the Analysis of Procurement and Management Systems

Presentation of Analysis and Implementation of Recommendations

A Social Network Analysis Approach to the Analysis and Visualisation of Organisational Forms

Summary

Chapter 3: Twenty-First Century Reform and Emergent Systems in Construction

Introduction

Collaborative Relationships: Partnering, Strategic Alliances, Framework Agreements

Supply Chain Management

Network Clusters

Integrating Systems and Linkages

Summary

Chapter 4: The Construction Project as a System of Interdependent Governance Networks

Introduction

Institutional Economics and the Governance of Transactions

A Model for Analysis

Social Network Analysis in the Study of Reforms in Procurement and Management Systems within the Construction Industry

Some Fundamental Concepts in Social Network Analysis

Previous Applications of SNA to the Construction Industry

SNA and its Application to the Analysis of UK Construction Networks

Propositions

Summary

Chapter 5: Social Network Analysis as a Research Method

Definition

Origins and History

Why Choose Social Network Analysis?

Problems Associated with the Use of SNA in Construction Research

Concepts and Terminology

Defining the Population for the Study

Finally on SNA Theory and Techniques

Software for the Analysis of Networks

Getting Started in Social Network Analysis

Conclusion

Chapter 6: Network Case Studies

Criteria for the Selection of Case Studies

Essex Project: Traditional Procurement, Public Sector – Records Office

Uxbridge Project: Traditional Procurement, Private Sector – Commercial Office Building

Aldershot Project: Collaborative Procurement, Public Sector – Sports Facilities and Office Accommodation

Slough Project: Collaborative Procurement, Private Sector – Commercial Office Building

Summary of the Case Study Selection Criteria

Chapter 7: Interpreting the Network Diagrams for the Case Studies

Essex Project: Non-Collaborative Public Sector Procurement

Uxbridge Project: Non-Collaborative Private Sector Procurement

Aldershot Project: Collaborative Public Sector Procurement

Slough Project: Collaborative Private Sector Procurement

Final Thoughts

Chapter 8: Data Analysis for the Case Studies

Mathematical Analysis of Network Data

Networks of Contractual Relationships

Cost Monitoring and Control Networks

Instruction Networks

Progress Monitoring Networks

Performance Incentives Networks

Design Development Communication Networks

Summary

Conclusions: Using SNA to Classify Team Roles in Different Procurement Systems

Final Thoughts

Chapter 9: Managing Networks

Introduction

How Did We Understand and Manage our Organisations Before SNA?

Managing Networks

The Key Points in Managing Networks

Final Thoughts

Chapter 10: Summary, Conclusions and Final Thoughts

Summary

Conclusion

Final Thoughts

Appendix: SNA questionnaire

1.0 Network Population

2.0 From Whom Do You Receive Information?

3.0 To Whom Do You Send Information?

4.0 Formal Contractual Arrangements

5.0 Performance Incentives

References

Index

Advertisement

This edition first published 2012

© 2012 Stephen Pryke

Blackwell Publishing was acquired by John Wiley & Sons in February 2007.

Blackwell's publishing program has been merged with Wiley's global Scientific, Technical and Medical business to form Wiley-Blackwell.

Registered office:

John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK

Editorial offices:

9600 Garsington Road, Oxford, OX4 2DQ, UK

The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK 2121 State Avenue, Ames, Iowa 50014-8300, USA

For details of our global editorial offices, for customer services and for information about how to apply for permission to reuse the copyright material in this book please see our website at www.wiley.com/wiley-blackwell.

The right of the author to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. All brand names and product names used in this book are trade names, service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publisher is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold on the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services. If professional advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Pryke, Stephen.

Social network analysis in construction / Stephen Pryke.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-1183-4391-3 (hbk. : alk. paper)

1. Construction industry--Social aspects--Great Britain. 2. Project management--Great Britain.

3. Business logistics--Great Britain. 4. Social networks--Great Britain. I. Title.

HD9715.G72P79 2012

624.068'4--dc23

2011045492

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books.

Cover design by Garth Stewart

Cover image courtesy of iStockPhoto

This book is dedicated to

Stanley Pryke whose enquiring mind and determined spirit influencedthe course of my life in so many ways.

About the Author

Dr Stephen Pryke is a Senior Lecturer in Project Management at The Bartlett School, University College London. He is the Director of Studies for the MSc Project and Enterprise Management programme. He has recently published three texts for Wiley-Blackwell: The Management of Complex Projects: A Relationship Approach (with Smyth), Collaborative Relationships in Construction (with Smyth) and Construction Supply Chain Management. He is a series editor of the RICS/Wiley-Blackwell series on innovation in construction, and he contributed to Advanced Research Methods in the Built Environment (Knight and Ruddock, 2008) and Managing the Professional Practice: In the Built Environment (edited Smyth, 2011), both also published by Wiley-Blackwell. He has published a number of papers in leading research journals dealing with supply chain management, social network analysis and the legal aspects of procurement reforms in the UK. His work has been presented to a number of international research conferences, and his work on procurement and project management systems in France and China has been published by the RICS. Stephen is a reviewer for Construction Management and Economics and the RICS research paper series; he is an APC panel member for the RICS Project Management Faculty. He has provided project management training and consultancy to a number of major European companies. He is a consultant to Durland Consulting in Chicago, USA. Prior to entering academia in the mid 1990s he held a number of senior project management positions in both the public and private sectors within the UK.

Preface

This book responds to, and builds upon, two previous books: The Management of Complex Projects: A Relationship Approach and Collaborative Relationships in Construction. Focusing on these books convinced me of the need for the approaches to the analysis of the systems involved in the management of projects, and the language used to describe the findings of such analysis, to be radically changed. The subsequent book dealing with supply chains, Construction Supply Chain Management, emphasised the inadequacy of current analytical methods in my mind, and increasingly I found myself turning to the idea of networks as a means of representing and understanding the project systems and their effectiveness. Alongside my work on collaborative relationships and supply chain management, I was invited to contribute a book chapter to Andrew Knight and Les Ruddock's (2008) book Advanced Research Methods in the Built Environment. Chapter 5 on social network analysis as a research method contains material included within Chapter 15 of Knight and Ruddock (2008).

Much of our thinking in management and project management terms has been constrained by boundaries imposed by classifications that are artificial and unhelpful. Work packages, project phases, contracts and subcontracts, projects and programmes are all artificial constructs that help us to understand and manage some aspects of our projects but prevent us from analysing and improving systems in other respects. Even the idea of supply chains is problematic; although the chain helps with the economics of value and cost, it really does not present the format of the interfirm and intrafirm relationships that deliver satisfaction. The idea of networks of relationships and the associated social network analysis provides an opportunity to look at a wide range of relationships between individuals and firms in a manner that is free from artificial boundaries. In this way the opportunity to really understand the structure of the systems and their effectiveness is possible.

This book therefore challenges some of the traditional thinking on the distinction between corporate strategic management, project management and programme management. This is because the value delivered to individuals, whether they are end-users or stakeholders of some other type, is the product of value generated by networks of relationships; and these relationships often span organisational and project-related boundaries.

This book is a product of the academic environment in which I have found myself over the last decade or so following two or more decades managing projects for clients in industry. The last decade has been spent in the company of the dedicated and articulate academics comprising the School of Construction and Project Management at University College London. The school, led by Professor Peter Morris, has provided a stimulating and challenging environment in which to develop new ideas in management related to construction and engineering. The book was written in the aftermath of the world recession commencing in 2008, and perhaps this has also influenced the way in which we are trying to understand the activities of the construction industry and the new terms that we increasingly needed to accurately describe success and failure.

This book is almost certainly incomplete and imperfect; some of the content will be challenged, I am sure, by those with superior knowledge, or differing views, in the areas of social network analysis, governance, procurement and project management and systems. I have brought together aspects of these individually complex subject areas in an attempt to make sense of our projects and their supply chains; and to provide some navigation between, and assimilation of, this eclectic group of material.

I sincerely hope that those of us who have grown up with social networks as part of the way that we manage our social lives will find something new and interesting here; and a means of understanding the use of social networks and their analysis in their research, writing and successful management careers, in construction and hopefully other sectors.

I really hope you enjoy reading this book and that you find something to interest and perhaps inspire you. I have hugely enjoyed the ‘journey’ as well as the final production of this book.

Stephen Pryke London September 2011

Acknowledgements

My thanks to each of the organisations that allowed me to gather social network data and to interview their staff in connection with the four case studies presented here. The case studies are presented anonymously but the individuals involved will know who they are. Sincere thanks to Georgia Zagkli for reproducing the figures used in Chapters 2, 7 and 8, using AutoCAD 2010 by Autodesk. Professor Martin Everett at the University of Manchester provided much support in the use of UCINET, the software package that he created with Steve Borgatti, and the most popular SNA software in the world. The idea of using SNA to analyse inter coalition relationships evolved during my PhD studies under the supervision of Professor Graham Winch. I thank Prof. Winch for his inspiration and guidance. I also want to thank The Bartlett School of Construction and Project Management at University College London for effectively sponsoring this book.

Finally, this book would not have happened without the long-term support and encouragement I have been most fortunate to receive from Karen Rubin. Karen convinced me of the pressing need to get the book published, produced Figure 1.1, and helped edit the manuscript prior to submission as well as the proof.

To all these people, thank you.

Chapter 1

Introduction

Whether you are wanting to make contact with friends through Facebook or business associates through Linkedln, to share or find entertainment through YouTube or MySpace, or to locate old school friends through Friends Reunited, the exponential, global expansion of the application of social networks has increasingly influenced our lives, largely because of the opportunities provided by the Internet. The idea of networks and some basic social network analysis (SNA) terminology have entered our everyday lives and increasingly inform our understanding of the society in which we live (for example, Easley and Kleinberg, 2010). Yet much of our thinking relating to organisations and projects, particularly those in construction, is not conceptualised in network terms.

This book is essentially about how people form networks for work; it is about how networks are created and modified and what these network configurations mean for the actors and for the projects. In particular I was keen to contribute to the discussion about how we might use networks prescriptively and proactively. Much of the current work of social network analysts is essentially retrospective – accurately analysing past activities, mostly using a cross-sectional or ‘snapshot’ approach.

Social network analysis is a fascinating mixture of mathematics, IT and sociology. My observation is that there is a gap in our knowledge, as far as projects and their analysis have been concerned, which can be dealt with through the exploitation of SNA. The analysis of relationship networks enables us to understand the interdependent and transitory systems that we have been discussing for so long, particularly in complex project environments.

Understanding the Construction Sector

Value for our construction clients is created through projects and programmes carried out by people working in relationships that are collaborative to some degree or another. Those people are employed by a number of firms located within various tiers in the supply chains established by contractors and increasingly client organisations. Some individuals are project actors in their own right; other individuals need to collaborate with others to command ownership and delivery of a project actor role and to achieve delivery of service in relation to that role. Figure 1.1 shows the relationship between supply chains and networks and provides the starting point for this book.

Figure 1.1 Supply chains and networks

Understanding complex interdependent systems in construction requires an understanding of the classification and variety of possible network configurations into which our project actors are connected. We also need an appreciation of the nature of the linkages, along with network environmental effects acting upon the behaviour of individual actors. These influences affect the formation, development and decay of network relationships. Network structure, and the characteristics of the actors and their position within the structure, are related to the effectiveness of that network to fulfil its function. Let us now turn to a brief review of the construction sector environment within which the proposed network-based analysis of project systems is located.

Context

For most of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries a traditional procurement system prevailed, using consultants to carry out design and financial monitoring and a main contractor which took overall responsibility for production of the building to a design and specification defined by the professional team. Winch (2000) refers to this system as the professional system, the structure and organisation of the industry being dominated and heavily influenced by the professional bodies established by architects (RIBA), engineers (ICE, ISE, CIBSE), quantity surveyors (RICS) and, most recently, contractors (CIOB).

The 1960s brought management contracting to the UK (Winch, 2000) from the USA, and the late 1960s and early 1970s saw the re-emergence of design and build as a significant procurement route in the UK (Masterman, 2002; Franks, 1999). Most importantly, this period of dominance of the professional system, albeit tempered by new initiatives like ‘management contracting’ and ‘design and build’, established the reward and penalty structure for the actors in the British construction industry, in a context of generally adversarial relations (Winch, 2000).

The Latham Report (1994) registered the fact that the construction industry had been very slow to respond to pressure for change in the past and referred to the need for ‘better performance, but with fairness to all . . . [and] teamwork’. The report also recommended that the New Engineering Contract (NEC) form of contract be adopted and that ‘endlessly refining existing conditions of contract [would] not solve adversarial problems’. With hindsight this was a somewhat strange solution to couple with the other, non-contractual, proposals. The recommendations were typical of this type of review and the issues of governance structure and reform implementation are important. In the event the industry did not, apparently, make a policy shift towards the NEC form; the industry did, however, make significant efforts to introduce a less adversarial approach to construction, notably through the extensive introduction of partnering. The terms win–win and later partnering entered the vocabulary of every individual associated with the UK construction industry.

One of the first major client organisations to change its procurement strategies following the publication of the Latham Report was the British Airports Authority (BAA), initially through its subsidiary, London Heathrow Ltd (LHR). BAA launched its Frameworks initiative (BAA, 1997) which constituted a highly structured and well-documented, some might say bureaucratic, approach to partnering.

The incoming Labour government of May 1997 launched the Construction Task Force (CTF) in the face of a slowing pace of implementation within the Construction Industry Board (CIB). The job of the CTF was to implement the findings of the Latham Report. The report of the CTF, Rethinking Construction, was published in July 1998 (Egan Report, 1998). The Egan Report embraced partnering and explored some of the ways in which the industry could reform in a context free from the limitations of competitive bid tendering on a project-by-project basis. Longer-term relationships and the associated financial security provided an environment in which to implement, critically, an important new initiative for the construction industry. This was supply chain management based on the principles of lean thinking, first described in The Machine that Changed the World (Womack et al., 1990) and subsequently developed into Lean Thinking (Womack and Jones, 1996). The Machine that Changed the World influenced the thinking of the BAA project team dealing with the Genesis Terminal Five pilot project. Professor Dan Jones was a member of the Construction Task Force.

The other important new initiative to have flowed from the non-adversarial environment was the reordering of project relationships around technology clusters (Gray, 1996). The concept involved the grouping of actors in relation to specific critical interfaces within the production phase of the project. For example, an upper floor cluster leader would be responsible for the design coordination and construction of the concrete suspended slab, the screed above it, and the ductwork and suspended ceiling below it. This concept was first tried on the BAA Genesis project at Heathrow and was an important feature of the Slough case study and the Aldershot project (Chapter 6).

These innovations in project systems, primarily partnering, supply chain management and technology clusters, have since been adopted more generally by other large client organisations. The Defence Estates' use of these initiatives in a design and build environment is referred to as ‘prime contracting’.

I have referred to these three new initiatives in procurement and management as governance modifiers simply because, as things stand at the time of writing, they have been appended to traditional contract conditions. Any agreement relating to any or all three of these modifiers lies outside the contractual governance of projects. Where organisations have sought to formalise these modifiers, the resulting partnering charters and framework agreements lie alongside the main contractual conditions and in some senses are, arguably, in conflict with them. At present the industry is at a crossroads, with relational contracts in one direction and a move away from contractual governance in another direction. Relational contracts are those that seek to define the nature of the relationship, rather than the detail of the possible future eventualities which the contract is intended to incorporate (see, for example, Macauley, 2000). The Egan Report (1998) on the other hand proposed that construction might be governed without the use of formal contractual agreements. Egan was, in effect, proposing that maintenance of network position be used as an incentive to perform.

The publication of PPC 2000 (Trowers and Hamlins, 2000; subsequently amended in 2003), the Association of Consultant Architects (ACA) Standard Form of Contract for Project Partnering, was a bold step towards drafting a standard form of building contract that envisaged the use of partnering, supply chain management and work clusters. The important work of David Mosey at Trowers and Hamlins, solicitors, although publicly supported by Sir David Egan, has not been given the attention that it deserves by a UK construction industry perhaps more focused upon ‘doing things right’ than ‘doing the right things’. PPC 2000's move away from solely dyadic relationships provides context for the analysis of contractual relationships that is discussed in Chapters 7 and 8.

Problems with Existing Forms of Analysis and Visualisation

The analysis and visualisation of project management systems have not been possible in the past, the construction process being represented by a range of task dependency, structural and process mapping approaches which fail to reflect the network of relationships and their function. This book presents a solution to the problem: how do we set about trying to understand and improve the systems that we use in construction?

Structure of the Book

Chapter 2: Rationale for a Network Approach to the Analysis of Project Management Systems

The chapter asks why we need to find a new approach to the analysis of procurement and project management systems. It looks at some traditional analytical methods – task dependency, structural analysis and process mapping – and critiques these. The chapter deals with some of the important and frequently repetitive findings of reviews of the construction industry. Identifying and classifying the problems is relatively easy, but reaching agreement and consensus on which are the parts worth using in any given report, and implementing change, is almost always much more difficult. The chapter also looks at problems arising out of the situation where we quite intuitively understand construction processes as ‘systems’ and yet we lack an effective means of representing and critiquing those systems. A start is made on the classification of the systems, based upon project functions. The chapter deals with the benefits that social network analysis (SNA) might bring to the understanding, representation and analysis of the multiple concurrent and interdependent systems that comprise the construction project. There is a review of the limitations of other analytical methods which have been applied to construction.

Chapter 3: Twenty-First Century Reform and Emergent Systems in Construction

This chapter explores the industrial contextual drivers for a network approach to analysing construction project systems. Supply chain management (SCM) and collaborative relationships (and the lack of collaborative relationships) are put forward as important contextual issues for the construction industry and to help provide definition and focus for the case studies that follow later in the book. The chapter confronts the tension between the development of collaborative relationships and the fight for survival for many construction firms in the face of recessionary forces. No discussion about SCM would be complete without consideration of Gray's (1996) work on technology clusters. There is also a link to Pryke and Smyth's (2006) work on the relationship approach to managing projects.

Chapter 4: the Construction Project as a System of Interdependent Governance Networks

Chapters 2 and 3 provide context and motivation for the case studies and analysis in later chapters; Chapter 4 starts to elevate the level of abstraction. Network theory and the governance of transactions are dealt with along with reference to the contract theory of the firm. The transaction is suggested as a possible unit of investigation in the study of construction coalitions, and the difficulties in the operationalisation of the work of the prominent transaction cost economist are wrestled with and some proposals are made.

The case is made for applying Reve's (1990) work on the nexus of contracts to Winch's (1989) temporary project coalitions. Five basic theoretical premises for using SNA in the analysis of construction coalitions are posited, and these are followed by some definition of terms. Network density and actor centrality are justified as important SNA measures for the development of a SNA theory of construction project coalitions. Finally a move is made to provide some application for the theoretical discussion presented. It is proposed that the construction coalition might be conceptualised as three groups of transaction sets: contract, performance incentives and information exchange. The importance of density measures in relation to, in particular, information exchange networks is referred to. It is also proposed that changes in centrality values for project actors provide an important measure of the change in coalition actor roles. Finally, comparison of different functional classes of networks provides a measure of the maturity of any given role – and also, perhaps, some measure of the likelihood of the success of that role.

Chapter 5: Social Network Analysis as a Research Method

We take a brief look at the origins and history of SNA. We move on to an appraisal of the limitations associated with the application of SNA to construction research. The chapter covers key concepts and terminology and then provides some examples of the types of issues and problems that might be investigated using SNA. These include financial transactions and performance incentives, contractual relationships, a range of communication types and modes, information and knowledge transfer, risk transfer, abuse of power and conflict resolution. Chapter 5 provides details of a selection of software available for network analysis. Finally, we provide some information about getting started with the analysis of network data using one of the packages of software identified.

Chapter 6: Network Case Studies

This chapter gives details of four case studies from which are drawn the network data analysed in subsequent chapters. Having dealt with the criteria for selection, the chapter then covers the background for each project, information about the procurement strategy, the specification of the works (in broad terms), and some details on the profile and role for each of the project actors. Methodological issues associated with the selection of each case study and/or the data gathering process are also covered. The case studies cover two projects which used ‘traditional’ design (non-collaborative, without contractors) in both public and private sectors – a public record office for a county council and a commercial office building; these were the two ‘control’ projects. The other two case study projects involved collaborative procurement, which included some activities involving the proactive management of the supply chain either by the client or on behalf of the client, in the latter case using what might be described as a supply chain management ‘agent’. These projects comprised a sports centre for the joint use of one of the armed forces and the public, and a private sector commercial development. It should be noted that neither of the commercial building projects were constructed on a speculative basis. In each case the tenant for the building and its advisers contributed to the development of the building design.

Chapter 7: Interpreting the Network Diagrams for the Case Studies

This chapter provides sociograms for each of the project transaction sets identified: contract, cost management, instructions, progress management, performance incentives and design development. The sociograms were provided for each transaction set for each of the four case study projects, referred to as ‘Essex’, ‘Uxbridge’, ‘Aldershot’ and ‘Slough’. These are the public and private sector traditional procurement and the public and private sector collaborative procurement case studies respectively. A commentary is provided for each sociogram with a view to helping the reader to understand the interpretation of network data analysis based upon the inspection of sociograms produced using the UCINET software package. Other suitable software packages are also available (refer to Chapter 5).

Chapter 8: Data Analysis for the Case Studies

Whereas Chapter 7 focused on the analysis of network data based upon the inspection of graphical material, Chapter 8 now turns to some basic mathematical analysis of the data sets from the four case studies. Although all of the formulae are embedded within the software package used for the research project, the mathematical analysis is dealt with from first principles in order to provide the reader with an insight into the nature of the analysis. Mathematical analysis involves calculations of network densities and centrality values for each of the main project actor groups and each of the main transaction sets. Some simple nodal statistics are presented along with analysis relating to isolates, transmitters, receivers and carriers.

The maths in this chapter is designed to be reasonably accessible to those without degrees in mathematics. Mathematicians will want to explore the much wider range of formulae indentified in Wasserman and Faust (1994) among others.

Chapter 9: Managing Networks

This chapter is much more speculative than those that precede it. A lot has been written on the subject of SNA and its applications to organisations (although relatively little has related to construction) but almost all of this has been concerned with retrospective analysis and, therefore, predominantly cross-sectional rather than longitudinal studies. There is a real dearth of material relating to the use of network and actor characteristics predictively and prescriptively.

The material in Chapter 9 is not derived from the previous chapters or the case study analysis provided therein. Rather, it has been inspired by the research used as the basis of the book. It is tentative and speculative and it does not relate specifically to construction.

This chapter starts with a review of how we understood the management of organisations before we adopted a network approach. We compare and classify hierarchies and networks before establishing some good practice in relation to managing networks as against hierarchical organisations. It moves on to look at the important role that trust has to play in the ‘low-governance’ network environment. We look at some generic network actor classifications: prominent disseminators, gatekeeper hoarders, isolated dyads and triads, boundary spanners and bridges. Network roles are more likely to be adopted by an individual actor based upon personality type, preferences and environmental factors than to be imposed by a superior or pre-existing authority-based hierarchy embodied within organisation governance policy documents.

To round off, we deal with leadership in networks and the role of managers. It is argued that both terms need redefinition in a network context. Finally the effects of network cohesiveness are discussed.

Summary

This chapter started with a historical reference that in some small way helps to justify the author's interest in networks and shows the enduring relevance of human relationships along with the importance of their analysis and representation. Some context relating to the UK construction industry in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century was provided before we dealt with a brief overview of the contents of each chapter. The intention of the book is to bring together a range of material that the author has been working on over the last decade and to provide access to this material for the student of project management studies, typically at masters level. It is also hoped that some practitioners might take an interest in the contents of this book.

Chapter 2 deals with a critique of existing methods for analysing construction project team activity and provides a justification for the need for a network approach.

Chapter 2

Rationale for a Network Approach to the Analysis of Project Management Systems

Introduction

This chapter provides some context for the detailed discussions that follow in later chapters. It examines the ways in which the activities comprising the typical construction project might be conceptualised and analysed. The chapter contains a review of the options available and concludes that each of the existing types of analysis has merits in specific applications. None of the previous approaches provides the potential for quantitative analysis and a level of detail appropriate for the purposes of understanding the myriad of systems, typically freestanding rather than integrated, involved in the planning, design and delivery of our increasingly complex projects. Social network analysis is introduced following a critique of the limitations of other analytical tools available.