From Social Network to Data Envelopment Analysis: Identifying Benchmarks at the Site Management Level
Publication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 140, Issue 8
Abstract
It is widely accepted in the construction industry that contract documents, specifying the responsibility and risk of each participant, are the basis for project managers’ and superintendents’ decision making (DM). However, in practice strict adherence to the formal procedures and chains of command would not always be possible without an unacceptable expenditure of time and money. Although much attention is given to the decisions at the project manager and superintendent level, the underlying rules and mechanisms for the moment-to-moment DM at the site management level has not been documented. In this paper, a social network (SN)–based data envelopment analysis (DEA) benchmarking procedure (SDBP), which combines DEA (assessing the relative efficiency of DM units) and SN (concentrating on the relationships amongst DM units) to identify the benchmarks for the inefficient specialty trades (STs). This paper also uses a case study to illustrate how to implement the SDBP. This research contributes to the body of knowledge because it combines the DEA and SN analysis for the first time to propose a new method of identifying the improvement direction (benchmarks) for STs of a project. This technique is beneficial to project managers because it (1) untangles the role and effectiveness of the existing interactions and interdependencies among the STs, (2) evaluates the STs’ potential for being benchmarks, and (3) outlines how an inefficient ST can improve its performance through learning from the practices of other good performers (social learning).
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Argote, L., Ingram, P., Levine, J., and Moreland, R. (2000). “Introduction: Knowledge transfer in organizations: Learning from the experience of others.” Organiz. Behav. Hum. Decis. Processes, 82(1), 1–8.
Bala, V., and Goyal, S. (1998). “Learning from neighbors.” Rev. Econ. Stud., 65(3), 595–621.
Ballard, G., Koskela, L., Howell, G., and Tommelein, I. D. (2005). “Discussion of ‘Improving labor flow reliability for better productivity as lean construction principle’ by H. Randolph Thomas, Michael J. Horman, R. Edward Minchin Jr., and Dong Chen.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 615–616.
Banerjee, A. (1992). “A simple model of herd behavior.” Q. J. Econ., 107(3), 797–817.
Bertelsen, S., Henrich, G., Koskela, L. J., Rooke, J. A. (2007). “Construction physics.” Proc., 15th Annual Conf. of the Int. Group for Lean Construction, Int. Group of Lean Construction, East Lansing, MI, 13–26.
Bikhchandani, S., Hirshleifer, D., and Welch, I. (1998). “Learning from the behavior of others: Conformity, fads, and informational cascades.” J. Econ. Perspect., 12(3), 151–170.
Charnes, A. A., Cooper, W. W., and Rhodes, E. (1978). “Measuring the efficiency of decision making units.” Eur. J. Oper. Res., 2(6), 429–444.
Chinowsky, P., Diekmann, J., and Galotti, V. (2008). “Social network model of construction.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 804–812.
DEAfrontier [Computer software]. Joe Zhu, Worcester, MA.
De Nooy, W., Mrvar, A., and Batagelj, V. (2005). Exploratory network analysis with Pajek®, Cambridge University Press, New York.
Ellison, G., and Fudenberg, D. (1993). “Rules of thumb for social learning.” J. Political Econ., 101(4), 612–643.
El-Mashaleh, M. (2003). “Firm performance and information technology utilization in the construction industry: An empirical study.” Ph.D. thesis, Univ. of Florida at Gainesville, Gainesville, FL.
El-Mashaleh, M., O’Brien, W., and Minchin, R. (2006). “Firm performance and information technology utilization in the construction industry.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 499–507.
El-Mashaleh, M. S., Minchin, R. E., Jr., and O’Brien, W. J. (2007). “Management of construction firm performance using benchmarking.” J. Manage. Eng., 10–17.
El-Mashaleh, M. S., Rababeh, S. M., and Hyari, K. H. (2010). “Utilizing data envelopment analysis to benchmark safety performance of construction contractors.” Int. J. Project Manage., 28(1), 61–67.
Gubanov, D. A., Novikov, D. A., and Chkhartishvili, A. G. (2011). “Informational influence and informational control models in social networks.” Autom. Remote Control, 72(7), 1557–1567.
Hajifathalian, K., Wambeke, B., Liu, M., and Hsiang, S. (2012). “Effects of production control strategy and duration variance on productivity and work in process: Simulation-based investigation.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 1035–1043.
Henrich, J., and Boyd, R. (2001). “Why people punish defectors: Weak conformist transmission can stabilize costly enforcement of norms in cooperative dilemmas.” J. Theor. Biol., 208(1), 79–89.
Howell, G., Laufer, A., and Ballard, G. (1993). “Uncertainty and project objectives.” Project Appraisal J., 8(1), 37–43.
Jolliffe, I. T. (2004). Principal component analysis, 2nd Ed., Springer, New York.
Kendal, J., Giraldeau, L., and Laland, K. (2009). “The evolution of social learning rules: Payoff biased and frequency-dependent biased transmission.” J. Theor. Biol., 260(2), 210–219.
Koskela, L., Howell, G., Ballard, G., and Tommelein, I. (2002). “The foundations of lean construction.” Chapter 14, Design and construction: Building in value, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, U.K., 211–226.
Lai, M. C., Huang, H. C., and Wang, W. K. (2011). “Designing a knowledge-based system for benchmarking: A DEA approach.” Knowl. Based Syst., 24(5), 662–671.
Lamberson, P. J. (2010). “Social learning in social networks.” B.E. J. Theor. Econ., 10(1).
Luu, V. T., Kim, S. Y., and Huynh, T. A. (2008). “Improving project management performance of large contractors using benchmarking approach.” Int. J. Project Manage., 26(7), 758–769.
McCabe, B., Tran, V., and Ramani, J. (2005). “Construction prequalification using data envelopment analysis.” Can. J. Civ. Eng., 32(1), 183–193.
McFadden, D. L., and Train, K. E. (1996). “Consumers’ evaluation of new products: Learning from self and others.” J. Political Econ., 104(4), 683–703.
Moreno, J. L. (1960). The sociometry reader, The Free Press, Glencoe, IL.
Park, H., Han, S. H., Rojas, E. M., Son, J., and Jung, W. (2011). “Social network analysis of collaborative ventures for overseas construction project.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 344–355.
Pilateris, P., and McCabe, B. (2003). “Contractor financial evaluation model.” Can. J. Civ. Eng., 30(3), 487–499.
Taylor, J. E., Levitt, R., and Villarroel, J. A. (2009). “Simulating learning dynamics in project networks.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 1009–1015.
Thornton, R., and Thompson, P. (2001). “Learning from experience and learning from others: An exploration of learning and spillovers in wartime shipbuilding.” Am. Econ. Rev., 91(5), 1350–1368.
Vitner, G., Rozenes, S., and Spraggett, S. (2006). “Using data envelope analysis to compare project efficiency in a multi-project environment.” Intl. J. Project Manage., 24(4), 323–329.
Vives, X. (1996). “Social learning and rational expectations.” Eur. Econ. Rev., 40(3), 589–601.
Wambeke, B., Hsiang, S., and Liu, M. (2011). “Causes of variation in construction project task starting times and duration.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 663–677.
Wambeke, B., Liu, M., and Hsiang, S. (2012a). “Using last planner and a risk assessment matrix to reduce variation in mechanical related construction tasks.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 491–498.
Wambeke, B., Liu, M., and Hsiang, S. (2012b). “Using Pajek and centrality analysis to identify a social network of construction trades.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 1192–1201.
Wong, K., Unsal, H., Taylor, J. E., and Levitt, R. (2010). “Global dimension of robust project network design.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 442–451.
Zhu, J. (2009). Quantitative models for performance evaluation and benchmarking: Data envelopment analysis with spreadsheets, 2nd Ed., Springer, Worcester, MA.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 140 • Issue 8 • August 2014
Copyright
© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 7, 2013
Accepted: Apr 1, 2014
Published online: Apr 29, 2014
Published in print: Aug 1, 2014
Discussion open until: Sep 29, 2014
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.