ABSTRACT
Over the last 50 years, research has been carried out to identify the means through which the construction industry could be improved. However, little has been achieved in this respect (Koskela 2000). Several factors couldwell be levelled as tangible excuses, not least skills shortages (McNair and Flynn 2006), and the need for a diametric change in culture (RIBA 2005). For example, the fragmented nature of the construction industry (Emmerson 1962; Banwell 1964; Latham 1994) has often been cited as a primary factor that has adversely affected performance and productivity. In this respect, contemporary ‘change’ initiatives have tried to improve performance by focussing on time, quality or cost elements; and, Kagioglou et al. (2001) noted that the majority of problems in the construction industry were more often than not process related, and not product related. Furthermore, the ‘Rethinking Construction’ initiative (Egan 1998) highlighted a specific ‘crisis’ in training, as the proportion of trainees in the workforce appeared to have declined by half since the 1970’s, which created increased concern about skills shortages in the industry.
