AIM Fellowship Overview

Prof Jennifer Whyte's AIM Fellowship looks at management practices in project-based environments. It contributes to the AIM mission through a state-of-the-art review, two studies of management practices in projects and programmes in the design of the built environment, user engagement and capacity building activities. The fellowship draws on more than a decade of work on design, visual practices, digital technologies and innovation in organizations. It provides an opportunity to connect construction management research with the AIM management community.

The UK government has invested significantly in major infrastructure projects and programmes. There is a significant opportunity to improve the design, and hence sustainability, of the built environment. To do this requires improvements in management practices as well as technological innovation. The state-of-the-art review will draw together academic work on how management decisions are visualized and made in project-based environments. This includes studies of management in the dynamic contexts of projects and temporary organizations and studies of risks and responsibilities in complex organizations.

The two streams of empirical work in the AIM Fellowship then look at: 1) management practices in project-based design work; and 2) how such practices are changing in the digital economy. The first project is exploratory. The second project builds on a trajectory of work on digital technologies in projects. It is based on fieldwork in UK and USA. It seeks to understand barriers to sustained improvement through a study of management practices in the digital economy. Both projects involve intense user engagement.

As well as close interaction with collaborators on the research, the Fellowship will organize 3 workshops for industry and policy-makers. The third will launch a consumable AIM report that draws out broader lessons from management practices in projects and programmes from the research. The work will also form the basis for a research capacity building event. An international advisory board is proposed and the work will involve active links with internationally leading scholars.