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Centre for Digital Built Britain completed its five-year mission and closed its doors at the end of September 2022

This website remains as a legacy of the achievements of our five-year foundational journey towards a digital built Britain
 

Research background

Thayla is a Researcher at the Centre for Digital Built Britain, and also currently studying for a PhD at the Institute for Manufacturing, University of Cambridge. Her research interests revolve around Building Information Modelling (BIM), services and digital transformation of the built environment.

A framework of the practices affecting the performance of digitally enabled construction projects

Building Information Modelling (BIM) sits at the heart of digital transformation across the UK built environment. Several benefits of implementing BIM have been promulgated within the construction industry and literature, such as cost and time savings, enhanced productivity and quality, improved collaboration and inefficiency reduction. However, BIM is not a panacea for improving project performance, which requires more than new technical solutions; the full potential of BIM cannot be realised without changes in both organisational and inter-organisational practices. Although there is a range of standards for BIM implementation, the practices at multiple levels, factors and mechanisms that affect BIM project performance remain unclear and fragmented in the literature. Notably, there are mixed findings in the literature about BIM implementation and the conditions under which a BIM project has improved performance outcomes. 

Research Objectives

Grounding on the project-as-practice literature, this research aims to elucidate which practices, factors and mechanisms influence the successful execution and completion of digitally enabled construction projects. Multiple case studies will be conducted aiming to develop a framework of multilevel practices that are related to superior performance.

Research Contributions

This research seeks to contribute to the literature and practice in different ways. First, this research adds to the limited empirical research that focuses on the relationship between BIM project practices and project performance. In addition, although the technical side of BIM is maturing, the managerial areas of BIM remain unexplored. Thus, this study aims to expose unexplored practices and factors that are related to functional and management competencies and their relationship to improved performance. Finally, from the practical perspective, identifying relevant practices at different levels will not only facilitate BIM adoption but will also clarify which complex activities regarding multidisciplinary collaboration impact project performance.

Biography

Thayla holds a BEng and an MEng in Civil Engineering (first-class honours) and an MSc in Production Engineering from the Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil. She graduated Summa Cum Laude (with the highest distinction) and she is ranked among the 5% of students with the highest GPAs of the engineering course to date. Prior to her PhD, Thayla worked as a researcher at the Production Engineering Department of the Federal University of Santa Catarina.

Publications

Key publications: 

Zomer, T., Neely, A., & Parlikad, A. Institutional pressures and decoupling in construction projects: an analysis of Building Information Modelling implementationProceedings of the 36th Annual ARCOM Conference, 325-334. 

Zomer T., Neely A., Sacks R., Parlikad A. (2021) A Practice-Based Conceptual Model on Building Information Modelling (BIM) Benefits Realisation. In: Toledo Santos E., Scheer S. (eds) Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Computing in Civil and Building Engineering. ICCCBE 2020. Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, vol 98. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51295-8_29

Sousa-Zomer, T.T.Neely, A. and Martinez, V. (2020), "Digital transforming capability and performance: a microfoundational perspective", International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOPM-06-2019-0444

Zomer, T., Neely, A., Sacks, R., Parlikad, A.K, (2020) "Exploring the influence of socio-historical constructs on BIM implementation: An activity theory perspective", Construction Management and Economics, https://DOI.org/10.1080/01446193.2020.1792522

Zomer T, Neely A, Parlikad A and Martinez-Hernandez V, "Becoming Digital: Enacting Digital Transformation in Construction Projects"  CDBB_WP_40 https://DOI.org/10.17863/CAM.47667 

Zomer, T. (2019). Toward a Digitally Enabled Estate: Project Capella (CDBB_REP_008) https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.35318

Researcher
 Thayla  Zomer

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