Research Process

This study adopted a systematic research process as exhibited in the figure below (figure 3-5: the research process). This figure shows, at the preliminary stage the aim and objectives of this study, the literature and data from the Department of Business Innovation and Skills (BIS), Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), Her Majesty’s Government (HM Govt) and the Office of National Statistics (ONS), and literature from the UK construction industry which are reviewed to identify the problems existing in CSCs. Through this study, five objectives (see 1.1.3) are drawn.

Afterwards, as shown in the sub-process within figure 3-5, an in-depth literature review was conducted to fulfil the objectives and to develop the conceptual framework to initiate the Transfer and Sharing of Tacit Knowledge in CSCs. Based on the outcomes of the literature review undertaken for this study, a novel Knowledge Driven Research Methodology (KDRM) Model was developed. This drove this study to fulfil the aim and objectives. The adoption of KDRM Model also drove the choice of research strategies, approach, methods and data collection and analysis tools and techniques based on the research objectives.

This study demanded a mixed method approach via the choice of a survey questionnaire (quantitative) and expert interviews (qualitative) to collect data to validate the findings from the literature and the conceptual framework. The study further established the target population, the recruitment of respondents based on the external data (BIS, ONS) and the literature analysis. Moreover, quantitative data is analysed in SPSS. Based on the nature of the data (Ordinal Scale, Non-parametric) data analysis tools were employed (see chapter 4). These were Cronbach’s Alpha (reliability analysis), Frequency analysis (descriptive) and the Kruskal-Wallis H test (Non-parametric). This helped to test the hypothesis for each variable via boxplot summary and asymptotic significance and Spearman’s Correlation (Correlate) analysis to identify the correlation significance among the variables. However, employing these tools was not sufficient for this study because of testing the findings from different disciplines. In that situation, interpretive correlation rank-order analysis was employed to draw the assumptions and generalise the results for further study. The conceptual framework was modified through the findings. Those findings were further analysed and validated through the qualitative data. To

130 background for semi-structured interviews. The data collected was analysed through interpretive analysis and the results were generalised to validate the framework. Finally, the framework was modified and the conclusions and recommendations were drawn.

131 Literature review to

identify problem based on objectivesLiterature review Methodology Research

Construction Supply

Chains KDRM Model,Research Philosophies

Data Analysis Tools and Techniques Frequency Analysis Kruskal-Wallis H Test Spearman’s Correlation Analysis Interpretive Rank Order Analysis BIS, HMRC, HM Govt., ONS Survey, Respondents Knowledge Management Lean and Agile in

Construction

Conceptual Framework Aim &

Objectives

BIS, ONS, HESA

Qualitative Analysis Framework Modification Framework Validation Conclusion and Recommendations Database, SPSS Percentile and Median Score Visual Boxplot and Asymptotic Significance Identify Correlation Significance among variables Establish Foremost and Preceding Variables Keys Objective (2) Examine Contribution Objective (3) Investigate Challanges Objective (4) Identify CSFs Objective (5) Develop Framework BIS, HMRC, HM Govt., ONS Expert Interviews Objective (1) Literature review Start/End

Process Process ProcessSub-

Literature

review External _Data Database Decision

132 This chapter critically analyses existing research methodological models to develop a robust research methodology for this study. This study develops and employs a KDRM model that helps to establish an appropriate research methodological framework to fulfil the objectives of this research. With the help of the KDRM model, the unit of analysis (see 3.1.15) and the target population (see, chapter 4) were established. Furthermore, the research strategies (see, 3.1.12), survey e-questionnaire and semi-structured interviews, were chosen to collect data from respondents. Afterwards, data analysis tools and techniques were established to analyse the qualitative and quantitative data. In the next chapter (4) data collection tools and techniques are discussed in-depth to identify the UoA, the target population, the questionnaire design and to establish the tools and techniques chosen for the data analysis.

The major findings from this chapter are as follows.

• Both the Nested model and Research Onion methodological frameworks fail to provide the opportunity to drive a research methodology through the research objectives and/or research questions.

• The KDRM model brings the opportunity to establish a research methodological framework driven by the research objectives and/or the research questions.

• This study establishes that no social science research is bias free. This chapter also presents seven different types of researcher’s bias that can influence research.

• A combination of quantitative and qualitative data collection is the most appropriate approach for this study to validate the conceptual framework through different dimensions.

• This study employs the deductive approach to investigate the literature and establish Lean, Agile and SC principles. This also brings forward the challenges and CSFs associated with the effective transfer and sharing of Tacit Knowledge. Furthermore, this study employs an inductive approach to build theory in order to validate the conceptual framework and to generalise the results of the data analysis.

This chapter focuses on the design of the survey questionnaire and the interview questions. The purpose of this section is to consider all the aspects of the data collection, questionnaire design and the data analysis.

Firstly, this chapter explores the research strategy chosen for data collection in chapter 3. It considers a measured planning for the data collection and defines the potential difficulties in data collection. Moreover, this chapter reviews the literature and statistics from ONS (2014), HM Government (2014) and BIS (2014) to define the size of the target population. Additionally, this chapter provides the reasoning for the chosen strategy. In addition, this chapter answers the questions below to establish the facts of the data collection strategy.

1. What is the scope of this research? 2. Who can answer the questions?

3. How big is the population of the prospective respondents in this research?

4. What are the potential difficulties in collecting the data from the construction sector? 5. How many responses are required for undertaking the data analysis for this research? Secondly, this chapter critically discusses the questionnaire design going through each question and its variables. It also establishes and discusses the purpose of asking each question and its variable. Moreover, this chapter defines and critically analyses the data analysis tools and techniques.