Error culture and its impact on rework: An exploration of norms and practices in a transport mega-project

Rework has been and continues to be a problem during the construction of transport mega-projects. This article examines the error culture of an alliance that forms part of a transport mega-project to determine its effectiveness in mitigating rework. Our article reveals that an error management cultu...

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Main Authors: Love, Peter, Matthews, Jane, Ika, L.A., Fang, W.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: ELSEVIER 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP210101281
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/90128
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author Love, Peter
Matthews, Jane
Ika, L.A.
Fang, W.
author_facet Love, Peter
Matthews, Jane
Ika, L.A.
Fang, W.
author_sort Love, Peter
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Rework has been and continues to be a problem during the construction of transport mega-projects. This article examines the error culture of an alliance that forms part of a transport mega-project to determine its effectiveness in mitigating rework. Our article reveals that an error management culture positively correlates with reducing rework and holds a divergent relationship with an error aversion culture. We further show a negative association between an error aversion culture and the ability to reduce rework. It is suggested that more can be done to reduce errors and rework despite the prevalence of a strong error management culture in practice. We thus call for an explicit focus on reducing negative error consequences and developing strategies to handle errors. The article argues that providing a psychologically safe work environment, understanding and focusing on what goes right, and coaching to ensure that learning is transferred from an individual to an organizational level can reduce rework. Our study is the first attempt to examine the homogeneity of error culture (i.e., how errors and their consequences are dealt with) in an alliance mega-project setting. In addition, it provides a new line of exploration to address the issue of rework.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-901282023-02-15T01:11:13Z Error culture and its impact on rework: An exploration of norms and practices in a transport mega-project Love, Peter Matthews, Jane Ika, L.A. Fang, W. Science & Technology Technology Construction & Building Technology Engineering, Civil Engineering Culture Error Error management Error prevention Rework Mega-project MANAGEMENT CULTURE CONSTRUCTION QUALITY DESIGN SAFETY ELEMENTS COSTS LEARN WORK Rework has been and continues to be a problem during the construction of transport mega-projects. This article examines the error culture of an alliance that forms part of a transport mega-project to determine its effectiveness in mitigating rework. Our article reveals that an error management culture positively correlates with reducing rework and holds a divergent relationship with an error aversion culture. We further show a negative association between an error aversion culture and the ability to reduce rework. It is suggested that more can be done to reduce errors and rework despite the prevalence of a strong error management culture in practice. We thus call for an explicit focus on reducing negative error consequences and developing strategies to handle errors. The article argues that providing a psychologically safe work environment, understanding and focusing on what goes right, and coaching to ensure that learning is transferred from an individual to an organizational level can reduce rework. Our study is the first attempt to examine the homogeneity of error culture (i.e., how errors and their consequences are dealt with) in an alliance mega-project setting. In addition, it provides a new line of exploration to address the issue of rework. 2022 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/90128 10.1016/j.dibe.2022.100067 English http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP210101281 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ ELSEVIER fulltext
spellingShingle Science & Technology
Technology
Construction & Building Technology
Engineering, Civil
Engineering
Culture
Error
Error management
Error prevention
Rework
Mega-project
MANAGEMENT CULTURE
CONSTRUCTION
QUALITY
DESIGN
SAFETY
ELEMENTS
COSTS
LEARN
WORK
Love, Peter
Matthews, Jane
Ika, L.A.
Fang, W.
Error culture and its impact on rework: An exploration of norms and practices in a transport mega-project
title Error culture and its impact on rework: An exploration of norms and practices in a transport mega-project
title_full Error culture and its impact on rework: An exploration of norms and practices in a transport mega-project
title_fullStr Error culture and its impact on rework: An exploration of norms and practices in a transport mega-project
title_full_unstemmed Error culture and its impact on rework: An exploration of norms and practices in a transport mega-project
title_short Error culture and its impact on rework: An exploration of norms and practices in a transport mega-project
title_sort error culture and its impact on rework: an exploration of norms and practices in a transport mega-project
topic Science & Technology
Technology
Construction & Building Technology
Engineering, Civil
Engineering
Culture
Error
Error management
Error prevention
Rework
Mega-project
MANAGEMENT CULTURE
CONSTRUCTION
QUALITY
DESIGN
SAFETY
ELEMENTS
COSTS
LEARN
WORK
url http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP210101281
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/90128