A typology for describing and assessing Visual Management in construction projects

Abstract

Visual Management (VM) is a strategy for making information clear and accessible, strongly related to the lean production principle of increasing process transparency. VM also presents a very important role in promoting effective communication and seamless collaboration among team members. It is not an end but consists of practices that improve production system performance. VM practices include both VM devices (the observable portion of a managerial system) and the non-visual work involved in producing information. VM system is a set of interconnected practices deliberately designed to facilitate information sharing. This set of practices must be complementary and have common purposes, which increases the impact of VM, in comparison to isolated VM practices. Therefore, VM seems to be particularly useful for supporting the management of construction projects that can be considered a complex sociotechnical system, in which many dynamically interacting elements combined with their wide diversity may cause unanticipated variability and asset resilience. Several studies about VM in construction have been developed. However, instead of being based on a sound theoretical basis, VM tends to be implemented in construction projects mostly through efforts made by trial and error, many times only copying applications from other contexts such as manufacturing. Hence, there is a need to broaden the development of theory building related to VM. Moreover, it is also important to find innovative ways of disseminating related concepts by active methodologies, such as serious games. The aim of this thesis is to propose a typology for describing and assessing VM in construction projects. Design Science Research is the methodological approach adopted in this investigation, which is based on three academic papers. The first paper develops the first version of the typology, extending the contribution of taxonomies previously proposed in the literature, by emphasizing the role of collaboration and communication, as well as the need to integrate VM practices into managerial routines and other practices. The second paper is focused on a serious game, named VM Game. It is a tool for learning and discussing a set of VM taxonomies regarding purposes, the role of communication, the role of collaboration, and requirements. The third paper devises some propositions to explain the role and impact of VM systems in construction projects, highlighting their purpose and how they support dealing with complexity. Therefore, the typology could be refined to a final version, with ten types of analysis divided into three main levels, from a lower to a higher level of complexity and context-dependence: VM device, practice, and system. The target audience for using the artifacts devised in this investigation is the academic community interested in advancing the prescriptive knowledge on VM, besides construction companies that use VM as a strategy for information management.