Introduction

Construction management is a rapidly changing discipline, and research of the group in this area is established to address both fundamental and applied research. It is concerned with the development and application of integrated innovative solutions to technical, social and economic problems related to the management and engineering of construction. The multi-disciplinary composition of the group has provided a coherent but flexible platform for the development of several lines of research.

The construction industry occupies a prominent position in the world’s economic and social structure. In many countries the industry is undergoing radical changes. New challenges facing it have arisen as a result of projects complexities, new ways of financing them and the shift from a supply to demand-driven market. Novel methods of project delivery and partnering, innovative materials and construction technologies, innovative financing forms and the need for increasing the involvement of the end users in the decisions making process require the various stakeholders to modify their core competencies to incorporate the skills required to meet these challenges.

Mission

The mission of the Department of Construction Management and Engineering encompasses all aspects of the construction process to do with the definition, appraisal, design, delivery of the projects and life-time behaviour of objects. It deals with the interests of all stakeholders involved, as well as the construction business in its broadest sense. For this reason the thrust of the research is an interdisciplinary programme focusing on integration of technology and management for the purpose of producing innovative solutions. The design oriented approach, the close co-operation with practice and the emphasis on integration of disciplines are major distinctive features of this research programme.

The end objective is dedicated to improve the performance of the construction industry by:

·	Developing effective and innovative solutions to the problems of managing and engineering of construction processes;

·	Conducting both fundamental and applied research of high quality;

·	Providing a stimulating and supportive environment for research students;

·	Disseminating the research work through publications in scientific and professional journals and at international conferences;

·	Regular involvement with the construction industry at all levels.

Strategy and Policy

Research by staff and postgraduate students of the Construction Management and Engineering group addresses the whole range of activities in the construction cycle. General areas of research range from project appraisal to realisation, from design to customer service and from marketing and ethics to design and support processes.

Primarily, the group’s research encompasses three main perspectives:

a.	Planning and development: In this perspective the research emphasis is on the integration of planning and design and the way interests of stakeholders in the planning and design phase of the construction process are managed.

b.	Market and Organisation: This perspective concentrates on studying the various types of procurement systems and their impact on project performance, the structure of the construction industry, and on the incentives for technology development and innovation.

c.	Design and Engineering: Within this perspective the focus is on the design and engineering phase of the construction process. The research area is concerned with investigating the opportunities and limitations to innovate design and construction processes as well as construction materials.

The research focus of the group relates to the above perspectives as well as to the overlap areas between them. For this purpose the research programme identifies the following themes:

New forms of governance

New forms of governance of construction processes and their impact on planning and development are studied. Traditionally, the (central) government held chief responsibility for infra and area planning and development. This one-sided practice has been criticized by many, in terms of both legitimacy and effectiveness. A rearrangement between public and private responsibilities was the outcome. By monitoring and evaluating these process approaches and their effects on the performance of governments and private parties, we can assist in making better strategic choices for public private arrangements. This subprogram adapts theoretical insights from areas such as strategic planning and process-based contingency modelling of organisations. The first originates from the management field; the second has its roots in organisational studies.

Design management

This research theme aims at increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of design processes in construction. Specific attention is given to the interface between users/client and the design and engineering process. The theme further focuses on finding new ways for achieving coordination in design processes, design team composition, communication in planning and design, value engineering and user involvement in the design process.

Risk management and Project Control

Planning and the management of risks and uncertainties are key themes in the research agenda of the Department. The research theme in this area is intended to provide stakeholders, in construction, through their engineers and managers, with tools and support mechanisms for their decisions. This often requires combining techniques from several widespread areas of research and applying them to both traditional civil and building engineering problems. Particular focus areas of interest include time and cost planning and control; resource scheduling; scenario planning to deal with uncertainties; risk models and management; development of models, simulation and tools for work improvement.

Innovative procurement systems

Over the last decade, a shift towards more integrated project delivery methods is ongoing in several countries around the world. The changing of procurement strategies is seen as pivotal in the reform of construction industry. New innovative types of procurement and contractual arrangements are also introduced in the Netherlands. This UT research sub program evaluates the effects of new innovative procurement methods, and relates the development of procurement strategies with the dynamics in the construction industry - from the perspectives of neo institutional economics and industrial organisation theory. As such this research sub program supports the implementation of innovative procurement and contributes to the construction industry reform debate.

Platform driven development

A trade-off problem exists between offering customer variety and manufacturing costs economically. Industries such as automotive, aircraft and shipbuilding industry confront the same trade-off problem by means of developing product and process platforms. Key to such an approach is the re-use and sharing of components, product modules and other assets over a variety of products overtime. In this research theme we investigate the conditions to also develop and implement platform-based concepts successfully in the construction industry.

Supply chain management

This theme is closely linked with the platform driven development research theme. This research theme explores new ways to organise and manage the construction supply chain. The operations management perspective is taken as starting point to investigate material and information flows through the supply chain of manufacturer, intermediary parties and contractor. Special attention is given in this respect on implementing new ways of physical distribution of building materials, enterprise resource planning systems and information management.

Sustainable building

This research theme focuses on subjects in the field of structural engineering, geotechnical engineering and construction materials (concrete, asphalt and soil) and their interaction with the production process, management, investment and exploration.

In each of the above described main themes, there are specialists who perform and produce high quality research in their own specialised fields and in relation to the fundamental problems at hand. For each perspective leading experts are working in the group. The professors/chairs of the group concentrate on one of the perspectives but collaboration is highly pushed. This collaboration is also meant to ensure that the overlapping interests are identified and addressed as shown in the diagram below.

The figure shows examples of the specialised research subjects addressed within each perspective as well as the overlapping themes. It also depicts the type of the interdisciplinary research areas carried out within the interfaces between the perspectives.

Fig 1: Construction Management and Engineering Research Programme

Collaboration

Many of the research projects carried out by the group are the products of close collaborations with other national and international academic institutes. The Department stimulates exchange programmes with other universities. Research projects are undertaken, besides Dutch universities, with researchers from Imperial College, University of Leuven, Manchester Business School, Concord University, Stanford University, Bau-Institute (Weimar) in Germany and the University of Nottingham. In addition the Department has recruited researchers from ETH Zurich, Weimar, Wuhan University. In 2006 several academics from leading universities have visited our Department. Also a number of staff members have recently held Visiting Scholarships and Professorship at various universities

The Department further has developed a co-operation with the TNO and GeoDelft, two Dutch leading scientific institutes for applied research.