Integrated Management Systems for Construction

Quality, Environment and Safety

Alan Griffith

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781317902898
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Tecnología e ingeniería
• Subtopic: Construcción e ingeniería arquitectónica

Integrated management systems (IMS) are an innovative way of handling the plethora of management functions and procedures that are applied throughout major construction projects. Contracting companies use management systems to shape and define the corporate arrangement of their business activities, translating these into operational procedures for application to the construction projects they undertake. The management of quality, environment, and safety are at the forefront of systems evolution where the integration of these traditionally independent and dedicated standards-based and process-orientated systems can provide the potential to deliver greater organisational efficiency and effectiveness.
This is the first textbook to cover each of the international standards for quality, safety and environment (ISO9000, ISO14001 and ISO18001) and to discuss integrating them. This book provides a detailed yet accessible text to support the study of quality, environment, and safety management systems on professionally accredited undergraduate courses throughout the built environment and for advanced postgraduate courses in construction, project, and engineering management. It is also an indispensible reference for construction professionals working for principal contractors, subcontractors and construction industry supply chain organisations.

Chapter 1
Management systems

Introduction

Chapter 1 focuses on management systems. It examines management theories, the nature of organisation, and the processes involved in delivering business outputs. It defines what a management system is and describes and explains the types, features and characteristics of such systems. It proceeds to examine the application of management systems to construction and the processes involved, together with research reports and experiences of systems in use ascertained from construction professionals involved in management system development and implementation. Chapter 1 provides a fundamental and important introduction to the prominent approaches used to establish management systems for quality, environment and safety within construction.

Management: theories, the organisation and business processes

This section examines: the nature of management and the influence of systems concepts upon a construction-related organisation; prominent management theories including systems theory and the influence of quality management theories; management and organisation, focusing on the open system and holism; organisational management and the different types and characteristics of business processes; and the application of the systems approach and the challenge of continuous improvement in organisational activities and outputs.

Management

Management is not a single discipline but one which crosses the boundaries of many disciplines – it is both multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary in application. Management and its association with systems applications centres on the relationship between the company and those functions of management that need to be structured and supported in delivering the processes associated with the company’s business. Within the context of the construction industry, management systems can be a part of the structure and organisation of any company associated with the construction processes. Many client organisations, consultants, contractors and materials and equipment suppliers can and indeed do implement management systems in the delivery of their inputs. More prominent perhaps, in the context of construction projects, management systems tend to be associated generally with those organisations which deliver the construction phase on site during construction projects – principal contractors and contractors. The use of management systems by supply and service organisations is driven predominantly by the requirements of clients. This is exemplified in the view of Davis Langdon and its subsidiary company Davis Langdon Certification Services (DLCS), a certification body operating globally which assesses quality, environmental, occupational health and safety, and integrated management systems across a wide range of industries including construction: ‘Market forces are increasing the demand for organisations to implement management and product systems that operate in accordance with recognised standards’ (DLCS, www.davislangdon.com, 2010).

Systems management concepts have permeated management and organisational thinking for well over two centuries. A systems approach to configuring the organisation of business activities within a company is well advised as systems thinking can meet a number of the most fundamental and important organisational needs. A management system is, simply put, a way of doing things. Systems arrange, develop and apply protocols and sets of procedures which bring structure, order and stability to the processes of running any business. Without such basic arrangements being in place, a company would be subject to general dysfunction, possibly even chaos. When configured as holistic, transparent and open, a system is one which not just satisfies the intra-organisational requirements of the company’s business processes, but extends to interact with and address the external and wider requirements of the business environment.

Any management system should be simple but not simplistic. It must be easy to understand, interpret and apply by those personnel in the company who work with and around the system. A system must give focus and shape to the many functions of management which are used to oversee the undertaking of the processes involved in delivering the business, whether the outputs are services, products or projects. Because business activities generally flow continuously or in cycles, management systems must give repeatable, consistent and reliable outcomes. Systems must be able to arrange those functions of management key to the core business in and throughout the corporate organisation. Moreover, the systems which focus and drive the corporate organisation must be capable of being translated into sensible and appropriate procedures and tasks which actually deliver the business outputs – the services or products of the company. This point is especially important within the construction industry, where the services and products which input companies provide are fundamentally task based and delivered at the project site.

In many organisations, the structure and organisation of management systems is relatively straightforward. This is true because many businesses are based on a single and central corporate management location from which their business outputs are distributed. Construction organisations differ from the single-location scenario as the corporate organisation delivers its business outputs via project sites. Project delivery within the construction industry more often than not involves geographically and sometimes widely dispersed sites. Such sites are temporary in nature with a transient state of inputs and resources. These inputs are usually interdisciplinary, with provision from a variety of contributing companies and organisations. Furthermore, companies offering services and projects within the construction industry handle multiple projects simultaneously, and many of these differ in a wide variety of type, content and complexity.

The construction industry comprises a vast number of small building companies and small to medium enterprises (SMEs). For such organisations, the provision of their services and products is relatively simple, with the management of their corporate and project activities centralised in a single or restricted location. For larger-sized companies such as principal contracting organisations, however, management of their provision may require systems which have one ethos and focus but two levels of practical management – the corporate and the project. Establishing systems which satisfy the requisite functions of management seamlessly throughout the entire organisation is a prerequisite to the use of such systems and paramount to the efficiency and effectiveness of the company’s business.

For a management system for any functional management discipline within construction, the principal goal of the ‘corporate organisation’ is to conceive, develop and perpetuate the company’s ethos, policies, aims and objectives which drive its core business and allow it to survive and prosper. The principal goal of the ‘project organisation’ is to undertake effectively those projects which the company undertakes, delivering its services and products on time, to budget and with quality while making a profit. Both organisational levels need to support each other, operate holistically and capitalise on the synergy that their combined resources can create and maintain.

A strong framework of organisation is needed and this must cascade throughout the entire company. The lead for this must come from the corporate, or executive, level through to the directive, or management, level to the operational, or supervisory and task, level. Policies, aims and objectives for the business determined by the executive level will need to be translated into actions throughout the entire managerial hierarchy; they will need to be written down with clarity and communicated effectively to all within the company. This is achieved by establishing documents which describe the company, the processes involved in delivering its business, and how these processes are to be managed. For any given management function, these documents identify, define and describe: the structure and organisation of the company; the procedures by which business processes will be managed; plans to describe organisation and management procedures in specific situations; and working instructions to guide the undertaking of tasks at the point of delivery of the business outputs.

The knowledge and capability to plan and organise and undertake activities in seeking to achieve the needs and wants of individuals, groups and organisations is absolutely essential to their being, their welfare and their perpetuation. Management is the broad function of putting in place the necessary mechanisms to do all that is needed to deliver the outputs of these needs and wants. Companies of all types require management to guide their business activities and execute the processes associated with delivering their business services or products to their customers. Management pervades throughout any company, helping to shape vision and culture and business goals at the corporate level, while at the operational level the supervision of processes and tasks is essential to delivering outputs to time, budget and quality. Therefore, management is an activity that is fundamental to all that human beings do and essential to the configuration and operation of any organisation.

‘Management’ is, however, a term that can be ambiguous. It does not have a robust meaning in the minds of many managers and employees. It can be a loose term giving rise to misrepresentation in use and misunderstanding by perception. This is because each user of the term management tends to have in mind a discrete application in the context of the user’s work activities and with little appreciation for the frame of reference of the receiver. Management is in reality a term with broad practical application. It can range from the handling of a limited, simple and routine organisational activity to the planning, resourcing and undertaking of extensive technologically complex projects. Management is not a single discipline confined to an individual but one which extends across the boundaries between many different disciplines and can involve the activities of many people. It is multidisciplinary in nature and interdisciplinary in application. Within any organisational setting management goes on day by day, handling a range of issues from the small and trivial to the large and vital. All in their own way contribute to the collective activity of what constitutes the term management.

In the context of organisations and a systems approach to management, the term is used to emphasise the application of a multitude of specific functional management concepts, principles and practice. Management is the collection of practices used throughout a company and its organisation to apply the functional concepts, principles and practices to all its activities. Many elements of management practice will be generic with widespread use throughout a company while other elements will be specific, governed by the precise nature of the company’s business activities. Furthermore, generic elements are transferable from organisation to organisation while others will appear quite specific, even unique to the business activities of other organisations. Management practice may be generic throughout companies across many different business sectors but be specific in their application within their sectors as corporate management is translated and applied to particular business outputs – services, products or projects. Management therefore takes on a configuration appropriate to the nature of a company, its activities and its environment. So, while there are common threads to the nature, form and application of management, there is no single prescription for its arrangement within any organisation. Likewise, the management systems established to assist in the organisational delivery of each and every functional management discipline will be configured around sound generic elements coupled with specific elements essential to meeting the particular needs of the organisation and its business.

Management theories

The concepts, principles and practices of what is conventionally termed management have been influenced significantly throughout the centuries by the thinking and philosophies of prominent individuals and collective schools of thought. These different and sometimes conflicting perspectives have been important as they have changed the ways in which the work of people is seen and have changed the ways in which organisations are shaped. Moreover, such views have influenced the ways in which the organisation of human endeavour has evolved towards efficiency, effectiveness, adaptability and holism. Over the years, many similar and also many very different theories on appropriate ways to manage have emerged, yet in their own way and collectively all have contributed to modern management thinking. Moreover, they hav...