| This qualitative research design looks into the lived experiences of research participants using an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). The investigation takes place within the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry. Exploration of the topic involves a contemporary delivery approach to building design and construction projects called Integrated Project Delivery (IPD). According to the American Institute of Architects, American Institute of Architects Minnesota, and University of Minnesota (2012), IPD is still relatively new to the building industry, but more practitioners are being influenced since its initial stages in 2005. Prior delivery approaches include design- build, design-bid-build, and the original master builder models of service (American Institute of Architects, 2013; Taylor, 2000). IPD includes major elements of each as the most current working approach. As an explorative inquiry, the researcher's intent was to discover how practitioners' view IPD as a service within practice and how management processes may be impacted due to integration complexities. The history of similar processes in prior decades is discussed within the literature leading up to the development of this progressive project-delivery system. The primary management theories included in this study are founded on the fundamentals of systems theory and corporate governance. Leadership theories like complexity theory and leader-member exchange theory are relevant on the basis of the inherent rigor in this approach as well as the sociological position. As such, management cybernetics is the main theory applicable, because technical management and technical design are concurrently present in IPD. Findings of this study suggest that IPD is a good addition to the profession overall. |
