Error aversion or management? Exploring the impact of culture at the sharp-end of production in a mega-project

The research we present in this paper addresses the following question: What type of error culture does the rank-and-file workforce experience during construction, and does it help mitigate rework? We undertake an exploratory case study of an Alliance, which forms part of a transport mega-project. A...

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Main Authors: Matthews, Jane, Love, Peter, Ika, L.A., Fang, W.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: ELSEVIER 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/90142
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author Matthews, Jane
Love, Peter
Ika, L.A.
Fang, W.
author_facet Matthews, Jane
Love, Peter
Ika, L.A.
Fang, W.
author_sort Matthews, Jane
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The research we present in this paper addresses the following question: What type of error culture does the rank-and-file workforce experience during construction, and does it help mitigate rework? We undertake an exploratory case study of an Alliance, which forms part of a transport mega-project. An error culture questionnaire is administered to the Alliance's subcontractors' workforce across four projects. We find that an error management culture positively correlates with reductions in rework and holds a divergent relationship with an error aversion culture. We further reveal a negative association between an error aversion culture and the ability to reduce rework. Consequently, we question the contemporary wisdom that assumes that error prevention should be combined with error management to create an adaptive culture, aiming to minimise the negative and maximise positive error consequences. We finally discuss the study's limitations and implications for future research examining error culture in construction projects.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-901422023-02-15T05:43:00Z Error aversion or management? Exploring the impact of culture at the sharp-end of production in a mega-project Matthews, Jane Love, Peter Ika, L.A. Fang, W. Science & Technology Technology Construction & Building Technology Engineering, Civil Engineering Construction Culture Error Error management Error prevention Rework CONSTRUCTION SAFETY RELIABILITY QUALITY The research we present in this paper addresses the following question: What type of error culture does the rank-and-file workforce experience during construction, and does it help mitigate rework? We undertake an exploratory case study of an Alliance, which forms part of a transport mega-project. An error culture questionnaire is administered to the Alliance's subcontractors' workforce across four projects. We find that an error management culture positively correlates with reductions in rework and holds a divergent relationship with an error aversion culture. We further reveal a negative association between an error aversion culture and the ability to reduce rework. Consequently, we question the contemporary wisdom that assumes that error prevention should be combined with error management to create an adaptive culture, aiming to minimise the negative and maximise positive error consequences. We finally discuss the study's limitations and implications for future research examining error culture in construction projects. 2022 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/90142 10.1016/j.dibe.2022.100074 English http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ ELSEVIER fulltext
spellingShingle Science & Technology
Technology
Construction & Building Technology
Engineering, Civil
Engineering
Construction
Culture
Error
Error management
Error prevention
Rework
CONSTRUCTION
SAFETY
RELIABILITY
QUALITY
Matthews, Jane
Love, Peter
Ika, L.A.
Fang, W.
Error aversion or management? Exploring the impact of culture at the sharp-end of production in a mega-project
title Error aversion or management? Exploring the impact of culture at the sharp-end of production in a mega-project
title_full Error aversion or management? Exploring the impact of culture at the sharp-end of production in a mega-project
title_fullStr Error aversion or management? Exploring the impact of culture at the sharp-end of production in a mega-project
title_full_unstemmed Error aversion or management? Exploring the impact of culture at the sharp-end of production in a mega-project
title_short Error aversion or management? Exploring the impact of culture at the sharp-end of production in a mega-project
title_sort error aversion or management? exploring the impact of culture at the sharp-end of production in a mega-project
topic Science & Technology
Technology
Construction & Building Technology
Engineering, Civil
Engineering
Construction
Culture
Error
Error management
Error prevention
Rework
CONSTRUCTION
SAFETY
RELIABILITY
QUALITY
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/90142