Collaboration in a Web Enabled Design Management System – a Case Study in Kolkata, India

Project specific websites for construction management have become common in developed countries. Such a web space was introduced in Kolkata, India in 2006 for a hotel restoration and development project. The collaboration performances of the participants are presented in this case study. Relevant literature and the background conditions were first studied for planning of the web site. The response and participation of the end users were the most important aspects for success of such a collaborative web site. A number of tools like sociogram, sociometry, statistical analysis, social network analysis and factor analysis have been used to investigate the users’ participation in the web site. The responses in the web forum followed a Pareto distribution in conformity with the literature. A sociogram and indexes as proposed in Moreno methods in sociometry were reported. A social network analysis was executed. These results could be used for comparisons with similar internet forums. It can be also used in future for checking performance of this web space. A factor analysis was performed to map the users’ opinion about the web site. Users felt that the web site performed well in respect of coordination and benefit perspective but expected more in the areas of quality improvement and users’ satisfaction perspective.