Technical, Managerial, and Organizational Changes in Adapting an E-Commerce Model in Civil Engineering Design and Consulting Services
Publication: Leadership and Management in Engineering
Volume 3, Issue 4
Abstract
Encouraging experiments and practices in e-commerce over the past several years are now contributing to and enhancing our understanding of the critical issues involved in leveraging the potential of these technologies. The e-commerce uptake of civil engineering design and consulting faces tough resistance on the technical, managerial, and organizational fronts where industries have developed and evolved to support the traditional business model. In this paper we discuss some anticipated technical, managerial, and organizational changes that are necessary in adapting the e-commerce model for our business. We present rationales for each proposed change, based on both e-commerce prerequisites and business requirements. Technical changes include standardization and e-documentation of business processes, dissemination and simplification of complex processes, digital transformation of business processes and interfaces, reduction of manual executions, and integration and optimization of the entire process. Managerial changes include job management from project centered to process centered, labor management from task centered to data centered, and supply management from organization centered to market centered. Organizational changes include elimination of middle management, breaking down of barriers between disciplines, and integration of information management.
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Copyright © 2003 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Published online: Sep 15, 2003
Published in print: Oct 2003
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Business management
- Business organizations
- Computer networks
- Computing in civil engineering
- Construction engineering
- Construction management
- Consulting services
- Design (by type)
- Engineering firms
- Engineering fundamentals
- Industries
- Information management
- Internet
- Load and resistance factor design
- Load factors
- Organizations
- Practice and Profession
- Professional services
- Project management
- Structural design
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