5. 5
The point of departure
• Organisational challenges due to increased digitalised communication
in the value chain in offshore construction projects
• The history:
– Frequent investments in information technology
– Extensive research initiatives carried out in order to improve
interorganisational collaboration
– Developed standards for data exchange (POSC/Caesar, ISO STEP, etc)
• In spite of these efforts, the organisations express that they still fall
short
– Too much information to handle in a short time span
– Collaboration and exchange of information could be improved
• Their answer: more standardisation and utilise new information
technology
F
E
D
C
B
A
8. 8
An important clarification
Data, information and knowledge
Knowledge
- valuable information from the human mind; includes reflection, synthesis,
context
Hard to capture
electronically
Hard to structure
Often tacit
Hard to transfer
Highly personal to
source
Information
- data endowed with relevance and purpose
Requires unit of
analysis
Needs consensus
on meaning
Human mediation
necessary
Often garbled in
transmission
Data
- simple observations of states of the world
Easily
captured
Easily
structured
Easily
transferred
Compact,
quantifiable
More human
contribution
Greater value
Source:
Pearlson and Saunders (2006)
F
E
D
C
B
A
15. 15
Research objectives
Research objectives
• Identify how communication and collaboration
between organisations are realised through
interaction between individuals on each side of
interorganisational interfaces
• Identify which role information has in this
interaction, and describe how high quality
information products are created and maintained
• Identify factors influencing production of high
quality information products and consequently
how these factors influence communication and
collaboration in general
• Identify and describe actions that could help to
improve communication and collaboration in
interorganisational interfaces through improved
information quality
F
E
D
C
A
B
18. 18
Research objectives (revisited)
Research objectives
• Identify how communication and collaboration
between organisations are realised through
interaction between individuals on each side of
interorganisational interfaces
• Identify which role information has in this
interaction, and describe how high quality
information products are created and maintained
• Identify factors influencing production of high
quality information products and consequently
how these factors influence communication and
collaboration in general
• Identify and describe actions that could help to
improve communication and collaboration in
interorganisational interfaces through improved
information quality
Instruments used
• Questionnaire,
verified by interviews
• Questionnaire,
deepened by
interviews
• Primarily interviews
• Primarily interviews
F
E
D
C
A
B
19. 19
Delimitations
• Investigation limited to construction projects in the offshore industry
and based on one in-depth case study
• Main focus on information production, not data capture
• Information production, not document management
• Main focus on individuals on an operational level, as this is where the
main body of information is generated
• Communication with stakeholders is considered, but not included as
the main focus
• Focus on solutions that will benefit all actors in the value chain
F
E
D
C
A
B
25. 25
Overview of theoretical contributions
• Mapping the communicative situation
– A methodical framework
• An information product process model, including the principle of role-
oriented information production
• Factors influencing perceived information quality
• Proposed model for execution of information quality improvement
efforts
A
F
E
B
C
D
27. 27
The communicative situation
Brief presentation of instruments and their
purpose
Instruments Purpose
Mapping of communication
pattern
Identify and describe the relations between the
individuals in the value chain
Means of communication Identify and describe the means the
respondents use to communicate
Information products in use Identify and describe the information products
used by the respondents
Information systems in use Identify and describe the information systems
employed by the organisations to manage the
information flows and information products
Perceived information quality
assessment
An assessment of how the respondents assess
the quality of the information they receive
Actor alignment assessment An assessment of how well the respondents are
aligned and if they have a similar perception of
the collaborative environment in the project
A
F
E
B
C
D
38. 38
An information product process model
PRODUCTION STORAGE & MAINTENANCE ACTIVATION VALUE CREATIONACQUIREMENT
Acquired
intelligence and
knowledge
Tacit
knowledge
Data
Stored
information
(explicit
knowledge)
Filtering information
Creating information
Combining information
Aggregating
information
Generalising
information
Refining information
Filtering information
Retrieving
and storing
information
Stored
information
Maintaining information
Cleansing/
Removing obsolete
information
Transferring
information
Receiver
Production quality
Transaction quality
47. 47
Summary of main findings
• Confirmed that information is regarded as a by-product, and not as a
result of well-defined processes
• Developed an information product process model and described
principles for production of high quality information products
• Contributed to a better understanding of how information quality
relates to organisational efficiency and interorganisational
collaboration, and the importance of this relation
• Identified challenges and potential benefits related to information
quality, based on an analysis of the communicative situation in one
offshore project
A
B
C
D
E
F
52. 52
Research objectives (revisited)
Research objectives
• Identify how communication and collaboration
between organisations are realised through
interaction between individuals on each side of
interorganisational interfaces
• Identify which role information has in this
interaction, and describe how high quality
information products are created and maintained
• Identify factors influencing production of high
quality information products and consequently
how these factors influence communication and
collaboration in general
• Identify and describe actions that could help to
improve communication and collaboration in
interorganisational interfaces through improved
information quality
Status
• Considered to be
answered
• Considered to be
answered
• Considered to be
answered
• Considered to be
answered
53. 53
Presentations and
introductions
Informal
conversations
Document studies Semi- structured
interviews
Observations
Introduction
Frame conditions for collaboration
Identifying actors
Governance system(s)
Means of communication
Mapping information flow and communication patterns
Mapping processes involved in information production
Sources for my research activities
54. 54
The communicative situation
Information products in use
87.2%
83.5%
78.9%
67.9%
67.9%
67.0%
67.0%
65.1%
64.2%
59.6%
47.7%
38.5%
35.8%
29.4%
26.6%
25.7%
23.9%
6.4%
0.0 %
10.0 %
20.0 %
30.0 %
40.0 %
50.0 %
60.0 %
70.0 %
80.0 %
90.0 %
100.0 %
Information products in use in Tyrihans
56. 56
The communicative situation
Perceived information quality assessment
Perceived Information Quality
(of information products received from)
1,00
1,50
2,00
2,50
3,00
3,50
4,00
A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6 C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 D6 E1 E2 E3 E4
Credibility Relevance Clarity Timeliness Accessibility
Information quality dimensions
Weighted average StatoilHydro PRO StatoilHydro UPN TYR project organisation Document administration
TYR Topside modifications TYR Reservoir TYR Well Preparation TYR Subsea Installations TYR Prep for operation
Aker Reinertsen FMC Kongsberg Suppliers in general Sub-suppliers in general
I trust the information I receive because I know the person(s) who have prepared and sent it.
I normally double-check the information I receive with other sources before I rely on it.I rely on this information to carry out my tasks and responsibilities
Timeliness is not of concern to me and the information I need
57. 57
The communicative situation
Actor aligment assessment
-
1.00
2.00
3.00
4.00
5.00
Statement 1
Statement 2
Statement 3
Statement 4
Statement 5
Statement 6
Statement 7
Statement 8
Statement 9
Statement 10
Statement 11
Statement 12
License partners
StatoilHydro PRO
TYR Project director
TYR Project staff
Topside site team
Topside contractor
Reservoir project team
Well prep project team
Subsea site team
Subsea contractor
Subsea suppliers
Prep for Operation
58. 58
How can the offshore industry
release the potential benefits?
• Implement interface coordinators as a standard measure in all
complex and important interfaces
• Eliminate the downsides of technologies enabling one-to-one
communication
• Introduce role-oriented information production
• Invest in information technology that enables single file storage and
better flow of information throughout the value chain
59. 59
Potential benefits
from implementing an information product perspective
• Better understanding and knowledge of how information products are
created and maintained, as well as the skills and processes involved.
• Better understanding of the processes that information technology
should support, and how IT can support these processes in the future.
• Reduced information load due to more precise information products.
• Improved information quality, which in turn may improve value chain
efficiency
