Delineating the Implications of Dispersing Teams and Teleworking in an Agile UK Construction Sector

Ed Burton, David John Edwards, Chris Roberts, Nicholas Chileshe and Joseph H. K. Lai
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Ed Burton: School of Engineering and the Built Environment, City Centre Campus, Birmingham City University, Millennium Point, Birmingham B4 7XG, UK
David John Edwards: School of Engineering and the Built Environment, City Centre Campus, Birmingham City University, Millennium Point, Birmingham B4 7XG, UK
Chris Roberts: School of Engineering and the Built Environment, City Centre Campus, Birmingham City University, Millennium Point, Birmingham B4 7XG, UK
Nicholas Chileshe: UniSA STEM, Scarce Resources and Circular Economy (ScaRCE), University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia
Joseph H. K. Lai: Department of Building Services Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 17, 1-21

Abstract: A scientometric analysis of extant literature is conducted to elucidate upon the practicality of teleworking throughout industry as a prelude to prescribing a bespoke conceptual adoption model that embeds innovative digital technologies to facilitate teleworking for construction professionals. The model is premised upon the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) work stages and illustrates how technologies are being used at each incremental stage. An interpretivist philosophy and inductive reasoning were adopted using a sample of longitudinal secondary data contained within pertinent extant literature, where each publication constitutes a unit of analysis. The qualitative scientometric software VOSviewer and Voyant Tools were utilised to examine emergent research trends, with further manual review of prominent papers contained within the sample dataset. Four distinct historical advances are delineated in a timeline that describes the evolution of home working from the 1970s through to the present day (and during the global COVID-19 pandemic). Key milestones delineated indicate how technological advances have created new opportunities for teleworking. The research indicates that an acceleration of digital advances has engendered modernity in contemporary work location patterns and that these offer potentials to reduce the environmental impact of anthropogenic activities. This unique study highlights how COVID-19 and available digital technologies have shaped the future of teleworking from home and the potential environmental impact of such. This concludes by signposting directions for future research into the adoption of teleworking at the organisational level and establishing the cost and environmental savings to businesses from abandoning the traditional model of employer-based working.

Keywords: teleworking; construction industry; scientometric analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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