Building absorptive capacity in a mega-project program alliance: Learning to mitigate rework
Collaborative procurement forms such as program alliancing can create a burgeoning environment for absorptive capacity to materialize, enabling learning and rework to be mitigated. However, little is known about the learning routines and practices enabling program alliances to tackle their rework ef...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2024-04-01
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| Series: | Developments in the Built Environment |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666165924000838 |
| _version_ | 1797220206694629376 |
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| author | Peter E.D. Love Jane Matthews Derek H.T. Walker Lavagnon A. Ika |
| author_facet | Peter E.D. Love Jane Matthews Derek H.T. Walker Lavagnon A. Ika |
| author_sort | Peter E.D. Love |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Collaborative procurement forms such as program alliancing can create a burgeoning environment for absorptive capacity to materialize, enabling learning and rework to be mitigated. However, little is known about the learning routines and practices enabling program alliances to tackle their rework effectively. As a result, this has stymied best practices that can be used to reduce rework from being made available to other construction organizations. This paper fills this void by addressing the following research question: How does a program alliance develop its absorptive capacity to learn and mitigate its rework? We use an illustrative case study approach to draw on the practices of a transport mega-project (>AU19 billion) delivered using a series of program alliances to address our research question. We reveal how one of its program alliances utilized its absorptive capacity to assimilate and apply new knowledge to manage errors and mitigate rework. Additionally, we unearth the presence of desorptive capacity, as the alliance exploited its error knowledge and transferred it to others as part of an incentivization scheme manufactured by the client authority to stimulate learning and continuous improvement within the project. The knowledge gleaned from the program alliance case examined in this paper provides an opportunity for organizations to learn how to deal with errors and rework, which has been absent in the literature. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T12:45:52Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-77221a25b47f4b2598b076842b7e1fff |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2666-1659 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T12:45:52Z |
| publishDate | 2024-04-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Developments in the Built Environment |
| spelling | doaj.art-77221a25b47f4b2598b076842b7e1fff2024-04-07T04:36:48ZengElsevierDevelopments in the Built Environment2666-16592024-04-0118100402Building absorptive capacity in a mega-project program alliance: Learning to mitigate reworkPeter E.D. Love0Jane Matthews1Derek H.T. Walker2Lavagnon A. Ika3School of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth, Western Australia 6845, Australia; Corresponding author.School of Architecture and Built Environment, Deakin University Geelong Waterfront Campus, Geelong, VIC 3220, AustraliaSchool of Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC 3000, AustraliaTelfer School of Management, University of Ottawa, 55 Laurier Avenue East, Ottawa, Ontario, KIN 6N5, CanadaCollaborative procurement forms such as program alliancing can create a burgeoning environment for absorptive capacity to materialize, enabling learning and rework to be mitigated. However, little is known about the learning routines and practices enabling program alliances to tackle their rework effectively. As a result, this has stymied best practices that can be used to reduce rework from being made available to other construction organizations. This paper fills this void by addressing the following research question: How does a program alliance develop its absorptive capacity to learn and mitigate its rework? We use an illustrative case study approach to draw on the practices of a transport mega-project (>AU19 billion) delivered using a series of program alliances to address our research question. We reveal how one of its program alliances utilized its absorptive capacity to assimilate and apply new knowledge to manage errors and mitigate rework. Additionally, we unearth the presence of desorptive capacity, as the alliance exploited its error knowledge and transferred it to others as part of an incentivization scheme manufactured by the client authority to stimulate learning and continuous improvement within the project. The knowledge gleaned from the program alliance case examined in this paper provides an opportunity for organizations to learn how to deal with errors and rework, which has been absent in the literature.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666165924000838Absorptive capacityErrorInfrastructure projectsLearning routinesRework |
| spellingShingle | Peter E.D. Love Jane Matthews Derek H.T. Walker Lavagnon A. Ika Building absorptive capacity in a mega-project program alliance: Learning to mitigate rework Developments in the Built Environment Absorptive capacity Error Infrastructure projects Learning routines Rework |
| title | Building absorptive capacity in a mega-project program alliance: Learning to mitigate rework |
| title_full | Building absorptive capacity in a mega-project program alliance: Learning to mitigate rework |
| title_fullStr | Building absorptive capacity in a mega-project program alliance: Learning to mitigate rework |
| title_full_unstemmed | Building absorptive capacity in a mega-project program alliance: Learning to mitigate rework |
| title_short | Building absorptive capacity in a mega-project program alliance: Learning to mitigate rework |
| title_sort | building absorptive capacity in a mega project program alliance learning to mitigate rework |
| topic | Absorptive capacity Error Infrastructure projects Learning routines Rework |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666165924000838 |
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