MT - Using BIM as a PM Tool: 3.1 – Research Philosophy and Approach

For the reasons mentioned on the previous paragraph, the overall research philosophy adopted was that of Critical Realism
The combination of the information gathered through the literature review plus the acknowledgement of the social forces affecting the study in hand make this philosophy the most adequate. (Volm, 2010).

The choice of this research philosophy is based on the fact that this research needs not to be based just on ontological or epistemological orientations, but on a combination of both as it is the case with realism (Given, 2008). We will need some empirical evidence to test that BIM is a relevant tool for the delivery of complex constructions projects, but at the same time, we want to formulate a theory of “how can BIM help” this delivery based on real world observations. This combination of orientations requires consequently a mixed research approach. The research starts with a deductive approach to test the theory and continues with an inductive approach to come up with a theory of How BIM can help PMs successfully deliver projects.

Figure 3.1 Steps followed on the deductive approach
Theory of the process of deduction (after Lancaster, 2005)

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MT - Using BIM as a PM Tool: 3 Methodology

The author wants to proof with qualitative data that projects managed using BIM achieve better outcomes than comparable ones not using them. Factors influencing the success of projects are usually more qualitative than quantitative (Fortune and White, 2006) and that social forces have a great effect on the implementation of new technologies (Williams and Edge, 1996) and on the success of projects with complex inter-organisational structures (Maurer, 2010 and Kadefors, 2004).

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Test on Running an IFC Based Clash Detection using Revit

I tried this and it is not a pleasant process.
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MT - Using BIM as a PM Tool: 2.4 Chapter Summary

The literature review shows a clear tendency towards major project complexity (Chan et al., 2004; Williams, 2002; Alshawi and Ingirige, 2003). It also shows a linkage between complex projects and the existence of inter-organizational associations to accomplish these projects (Maurer, 2010).A second linkage has been drawn between inter-organizational associations and the need for “better integration, cooperation, and coordination of construction project teams” (Cicmil & Marshall 2005, cited in Maunula, 2008).

The unprecedented level of communication, collaboration and efficiency that BIM allows (Lee, 2008) seems to draw the last linkage on this chain: we have more complex projects that require inter-organizational associations; these associations require better coordination and cooperation; BIM promises to allow this increased coordination and collaboration. Ignoring BIM from the Project Management point of view seems to the author as a big mistake.

Lastly, we have seen how the industry requires a shift from a document based approach to communicating information to what many have chosen to name as Project Integrated Databases. The scholarly literature and statements from BIM supporting bodies suggest that BIM could help on this shift from documents to PIDs, for its nature is the “creation and maintenance of an integrated collaborative database of multi-dimensional information”, as we have seen in the definition of BIM on Chapter 1.

We have also seen a list of 10 potential benefits that PMs can get by implementing BIM in the projects (Table 2.1). BIM can thus be the catalyst that will enable Project Managers to reengineer the processes to better integrate the different stakeholders involved in modern construction projects.

There are and there will be challenges to the acceptance and implementation of BIM. Some of them are inherent to the new associations between stakeholders needed. The correct implementation of BIM requires “understanding and developing inter-organizational work practices” (Harty, 2005, cited in Maunula, 2008). This requirement for the implementation of BIM could be the catalyst for an overall shift towards better, more collaborative processes that could improve drastically the results and the productivity of the companies working on the AEC Industry.

The intention of this dissertation is thus to analyze the benefits of BIM as a Project Management tool and to explore in which ways and to what extent BIM will help the implementation of better processes to successfully deliver complex construction projects and which are the main challenges ahead. The methodology to achieve these goals will be explained on the following chapter.



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