The framing of construction management responsibilities in job advertisements in the UK and the USA

Abstract

Responsibilities in construction management can be looked at from many perspectives: individually and organizationally, within the organization and outside the organization. They spread from the daily tasks of a site manager to contractual responsibilities of a whole organization forming a wide and complex topic. The aim of this research was to enhance the understanding of construction management responsibilities by looking at how job advertisements frame the responsibilities of construction management professionals. A documentary research approach with genre and content analyses was used to analyze a selection of job advertisements from large main contractors in the UK and the USA qualitatively. The genre analysis revealed that job advertisements present the construction management responsibilities through a breakdown of three levels: the role name, the overview of the work functions and the description of the responsibilities. The qualitative content analysis resulted in a redeveloped definition of construction management and typology of responsibilities. Recommendations are given for job advertisement writers to ensure that the role name, overview of the work functions and description of the responsibilities all align and contain an appropriate amount of accurate information to attract suitable candidates to apply.