Viability of the BIM Manager Enduring as a Distinct Role: Association Rule Mining of Job Advertisements

Reza Hosseini, Igor Martek, Eleni Papadonikolaki, Moslem Sheikhkhoshkar, Saeed BANIHASHEMI, Mehrdad Arashpour

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

48 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Building information modelling (BIM) has developed as the definitive technology for managing construction projects. With its rise, the corresponding role of BIM manager has emerged as a necessary adjunct role in coordinating BIM-enabled projects. The ascent of the BIM manager has attracted a significant body of research, investigating the various competencies and responsibilities required of the role. While BIM is here to stay, a recent study, however, asserts that a distinct role oriented around BIM is transitory, which represents a significant departure from accepted assumptions regarding the viability of the BIM manager role. This research sets out to test the likelihood of a long term market demand for the BIM manager, as a distinct role, based on a robust quantitative analysis of open-source data from a rich empirical dataset of global relevance for North America, Europe, and Australasia. Text mining methods are used. A total of 199 BIM-related jobs were retrieved from 14 of the most relevant job websites, representing the global English speaking job markets. Key knowledge, skills, and abilities that are attributes of BIM jobs were extracted and analyzed. Analysis reveals that there is no significant difference between the roles BIM manager and BIM coordinator. Moreover, the findings highlight that these two BIM roles align with that of project manager. Most importantly, analysis shows that BIM roles supplement the lack of BIM expertise within the role of project manager, and that, as BIM capabilities are increasingly absorbed by project managers, the rationale for an independent BIM expert will fade. The corollary is that BIM roles
are a stopgap measure that can be expected to disappear as project managers absorb requisite BIM skills. The practical implication for construction engineering HR departments is that the prevailing policy of retaining dedicated BIM managers into the longer-term future should shift to one in which project managers are retrained to a level at which they possess comprehensive, independent BIM expertise.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1-11
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of Construction Engineering and Management - ASCE
Volume144
Issue number9
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 9 Sept 2018

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