Industrialised House-Building - Conceptual orientation and strategic perspectives
Författare
Summary, in Swedish
Popular Abstract in English
This thesis is about industrialised house-building, put in a strategic perspective. Industrialised house-building is in the thesis described as a process- and product-oriented concept that can serve as an alternative to traditional project-oriented house-building methods and principles. It is seen as an integrated, multi-disciplinary concept that requires an established production system, continuously used by a company or a network of closely collaborating companies. The development of industrialised house-building is connected to how companies are structured and managed, and therefore this thesis is focused on the strategic perspective on companies’ implementation and development of the concept.
The research is based on case studies, executed with qualitative methods including interviews, company visits, document studies and interaction with staff in the studied organizations. The case studies were done at companies applying industrialised house-building in Sweden and North America, and contributed with valuable knowledge. A theoretical foundation is achieved by thorough literature studies, which complement the case studies with theories, models and tools that are used for describing, explaining and analyzing the studied phenomena.
A conceptual framework is presented to describe industrialised house-building. This includes a set of inter-related constructs required for successful up-take of the concept. It is stated that industrialisation is an issue of strategic importance for companies and hence cannot be managed on a building project level, but needs to be addressed on a strategic level in companies. Business models are found to be tools suitable for describing industrialised house-building companies, including not only operational issues but also issues concerning market position and the companies’ offerings. Two main strategic perspectives, Inside-Out and Outside-In, are used for describing the business models’ starting points. Further, by structuring technical solutions into product platforms, industrialised house-building companies establish a backbone for continuously managing information, methods and processes. The choice of platform build-up, defining the company’s level of product predefinition (product strategy), affects the company’s business model. Moreover, the company’s strategic perspective determines the starting point for business model creation. By introducing a diagramme showing the strategic perspectives together with market cover (product strategy), knowledge about industrialised house-building companies’ business models is brought further. It is concluded that the difference in strategic perspectives and product strategies determines the roles and offerings of the companies. However, as a result of business model evolution, companies from different strategic perspectives tend to approach each other, as a result of business model fine tuning and improving balance and fit between the business model’s components.
The thesis is a covering, synthesizing thesis also including three appended research articles. The aim is that the thesis put the research in a broader context than presented in the individual research articles, and brings the understanding further by processing the material as a whole.
This thesis is about industrialised house-building, put in a strategic perspective. Industrialised house-building is in the thesis described as a process- and product-oriented concept that can serve as an alternative to traditional project-oriented house-building methods and principles. It is seen as an integrated, multi-disciplinary concept that requires an established production system, continuously used by a company or a network of closely collaborating companies. The development of industrialised house-building is connected to how companies are structured and managed, and therefore this thesis is focused on the strategic perspective on companies’ implementation and development of the concept.
The research is based on case studies, executed with qualitative methods including interviews, company visits, document studies and interaction with staff in the studied organizations. The case studies were done at companies applying industrialised house-building in Sweden and North America, and contributed with valuable knowledge. A theoretical foundation is achieved by thorough literature studies, which complement the case studies with theories, models and tools that are used for describing, explaining and analyzing the studied phenomena.
A conceptual framework is presented to describe industrialised house-building. This includes a set of inter-related constructs required for successful up-take of the concept. It is stated that industrialisation is an issue of strategic importance for companies and hence cannot be managed on a building project level, but needs to be addressed on a strategic level in companies. Business models are found to be tools suitable for describing industrialised house-building companies, including not only operational issues but also issues concerning market position and the companies’ offerings. Two main strategic perspectives, Inside-Out and Outside-In, are used for describing the business models’ starting points. Further, by structuring technical solutions into product platforms, industrialised house-building companies establish a backbone for continuously managing information, methods and processes. The choice of platform build-up, defining the company’s level of product predefinition (product strategy), affects the company’s business model. Moreover, the company’s strategic perspective determines the starting point for business model creation. By introducing a diagramme showing the strategic perspectives together with market cover (product strategy), knowledge about industrialised house-building companies’ business models is brought further. It is concluded that the difference in strategic perspectives and product strategies determines the roles and offerings of the companies. However, as a result of business model evolution, companies from different strategic perspectives tend to approach each other, as a result of business model fine tuning and improving balance and fit between the business model’s components.
The thesis is a covering, synthesizing thesis also including three appended research articles. The aim is that the thesis put the research in a broader context than presented in the individual research articles, and brings the understanding further by processing the material as a whole.
Avdelning/ar
Publiceringsår
2015
Språk
Engelska
Publikation/Tidskrift/Serie
TVBK
Volym
1050
Fulltext
- Available as PDF - 15 MB
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Dokumenttyp
Doktorsavhandling
Förlag
Lund University (Media-Tryck)
Ämne
- Civil Engineering
Nyckelord
- orientation
- platform
- product
- business model
- strategic
- Industrialised
- house-building
Status
Published
Handledare
ISBN/ISSN/Övrigt
- ISSN: 0349-4969
Försvarsdatum
27 november 2015
Försvarstid
09:15
Försvarsplats
Stora Hörsalen, Ingvar Kamprad Designcentre, Sölvegatan 26, Lund University, Faculty of Engineering LTH, Lund
Opponent
- Jack Steven Goulding (Professor)