The Construction Firm
Our management of project enterprises research theme covers how organisations that manage projects manage their business and how those organisations support project delivery.
Overview
Transferring management theories and concepts into running project businesses is far from straight forward. Our teaching and research addresses the transfer and translation issues. We address problem areas and differences in experience and practice, developing theoretical understanding that is applicable to improve practice.
Research undertaken in these areas is therefore challenging and relevant to industry and society at large. Research activity covers:
- areas of competitive strategy, core competencies and organisational capabilities
- processes including change and knowledge management
- functional areas including finance management, marketing and business development, supply chain management, health and safety management, programme management and value creation
Research projects
A broad range of research has been conducted in recent years relating to the management of project enterprises and project delivery.
More information about our research projects in this area can be found below.Professor Hedley Smyth and Wu Yanga
Authors: Hedley Smyth, Aeli Roberts, Meri Duryan, Fred Sherratt, Xu Jing, Angeliki Maria Toli.
Castles in the air: the evolution of British main contractors [pdf, 477 KB]
Professor Hedley Smyth
Construction Needs Intensive Care: A Report on the Health Hazard of the Failed Business Model [pdf, 112 KB]
Professor Hedley Smyth
Knowledge Management for a Multi-billion Programme in the Client Organisation and its Supply Chain
Professor Hedley Smyth (Principal Investigator) and Dr Meri Duryan. Funded by government through Innovate UK and the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC) with Network Rail.
A Comparison between HK and UK of the Health, Safety and Wellbeing Environment in Construction: issues of culture, systems and procedures in changing environments, HKU-UCL Grand Challenges
Professor Hedley Smyth, Dr Aeli Roberts (UCL) with Professor Steve Rowlinson and Professor Richard Fielding (Hong Kong University)
Developing a Health & Safety Culture
Professor Hedley Smyth (Principal Investigator) with Dr Aeli Roberts and Dr Kamran Razmdoost. Commissioned and funded by Multiplex and following up on earlier for the firm, when named Brookfield Europe
Outputs
Outputs of this research theme take several forms:
- reports to funding organisations and industry
- academic outputs
- practical tools and guidance for industry
A sample of recent outputs is listed below, and more information can be found in our staff profiles.
Smyth, H.J., Lecoeuvre, L. and Vaesken, P. (2017)
Co-Creation of Value and the Project Context: towards application on the case of Hinkley Point C Nuclear Power Station, International Journal of Project Management
Smyth, H. J., Anvuur, A. and Kusuma, I. (2017)
A total asset management view of value integration in design and construction: a “RIVANS” perspective
Built Environment Project and Asset Management, 7 (1), 5-18.
Smyth, H. J., Fellows, R., Liu, A.M. and Tijhuis, W., (2016), Editors of the Special Issue
Business Development and Marketing in Construction
Construction Management and Economics, 34, 205-352.
Smyth, H. J., Fellows, R., Liu, A.M. and Tijhuis, W., (2016)
Editorial: business development and marketing in construction
Special Issue on Business Development and Marketing in Construction, Construction Management and Economics, 34, 205-217.
Smyth, H. J. and Lecoeuvre, L. (2015)
Differences in decision making criteria towards the
return on marketing investment: a project business perspective,
International Journal of Project Management, 33 (1), 29-40.
Smyth, H. J. (2015)
Market Management and Project Business Development, Routledge, Abingdon
Siegling, A.B., Sfeir, M. and Smyth, H. J. (2014)
Measured and self-estimated trait emotional intelligence in a UK sample of managers
Personality and Individual Differences, 65, 59-64.
Kelly, N., Edkins, A. J., Smyth, H. J. and Konstantinou, E. (2013)
Reinventing the role of the project manager in mobilising knowledge in construction
International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, 6 (4), 654-673.
Smyth, H. J. (2011)
Managing the Professional Practice
Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford.
People
A wide range of School staff are involved in this research theme, with specialisms ranging across the fields of management, marketing, organisational culture and business development.
Professor Hedley Smyth has led this area of work.
h.smyth@ucl.ac.uk
Dr Grant Mills
g.mills@ucl.ac.uk
Dr Stefano Miraglia
s.miraglia@ucl.ac.uk
Dr Meri Duryan
m.duryan@ucl.ac.uk
Dr Antoine Vernet
a.vernet@ucl.ac.uk
A number of other School staff contribute to this research theme, including:
Dr Efrosyni Konstantinou
efrosyni.konstantinou@ucl.ac.uk
Dr Natalya Sergeeva
n.sergeeva@ucl.ac.uk
Dr Aeli Roberts
a.roberts@ucl.ac.uk
Impact
Our recent research has culminated in a report to industry, in particular British-owner main contractors and the effectiveness of their management.
There has been substantial engagement with industry and its stakeholders that improves performance, covering training, action research and improving best practice, as well as indirect influence through teaching.
Marketing and project business development has been a particular longstanding strength of this research theme. Marketing has evolved from training and guidance on relationship management and trust, through to recent work around service-dominant logic.
Our research has directly impacted a number of organisations in social housing markets, undertaking PPP/PFI contracts, informed a major property developer in the appointment and management of design teams and a leading civil engineering contracting organization in the UK.
We have carried out an extensive amount of research on value and support from project-based firms to address value creation in their strategies from marketing and procurement to operations in use and context.
Our partnerships
We are seen around the world as a centre for generating research and insight into the management of projects, into the enterprises involved with such projects, and into the associated economics and finance that can make a real difference to the delivery and improvement of our built environment