An investigation into how property developers use their social networks to drive development

Knight, T. and Boyd, David (2008) An investigation into how property developers use their social networks to drive development. In: 24th Annual Conference of the Association of Researchers in Construction Management, ARCOM 2008, 1 September 2008 through 3 September 2008, Cardiff.

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Abstract

While there is a substantial literature available regarding the individual specialist constituents of the development process, such as planning, finance, construction management, and economic perspectives, there is very little that discusses the whole process or the perspective of the property developer, their behaviour, methods and motivations. The world of property development is somewhat hidden and it needs researching to consolidate our understanding of the creation of the built environment. The property development world is renowned for its individual's personalities and it is how these individuals work that is of interest. Drawing on Harris and Cundell's observations that individual judgement is often made based on experience and instinct or "gut feel", this investigation aims to explore how developers approach complex decisions with incomplete knowledge. A series of semi-structured, exploratory interviews were conducted with small, independent commercial property developers. Preliminary findings suggested that there are a number of elements whose influence plays a significant role in the development process including social networks and the resultant social capital, which appear to bear a significant impact on opportunity identification. This paper considers the role and importance (as understood by the actors themselves) of their contacts (i.e. social networks) in the commercial development process. Interview data was analysed from an interpretivist stance and compared to relevant theory. Findings suggest that developers have a conscious awareness of the influence and impact that their network relationships have on development.

Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Dates:
DateEvent
2008Published
Uncontrolled Keywords: Commercial property development, Complex decisions, Opportunity identification, Social capital, Social networks, Built environment, Commercial development, Commercial property, Complex decision, Construction management, Development process, Drive development, Economic perspective, Incomplete knowledge, Property development, Semi-structured, Significant impacts, Social capitals, Social Networks, Whole process, Project management, Research, Social networking (online)
Subjects: CAH13 - architecture, building and planning > CAH13-01 - architecture, building and planning > CAH13-01-01 - architecture
CAH13 - architecture, building and planning > CAH13-01 - architecture, building and planning > CAH13-01-02 - building
CAH13 - architecture, building and planning > CAH13-01 - architecture, building and planning > CAH13-01-04 - planning (urban, rural and regional)
Divisions: Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment
Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment > School of Engineering and the Built Environment
Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment > School of Engineering and the Built Environment > School of Built Environment
Depositing User: Yasser Nawaz
Date Deposited: 21 Jul 2016 10:28
Last Modified: 22 Mar 2023 12:17
URI: https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/id/eprint/2347

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