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The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that have influenced the use of implicit (naïve) techniques in property portfolio diversification evaluation in the Nigeria property market. This is necessitated by the need to look at the ways by which the property portfolio diversification evaluation practice in the market could be made to improve and adjust to ever changing global trends in this area.

The authors of this paper administered questionnaires, backed up with interviews, on 28 institutional property investors and 128 real estate practitioners in three locations (commercial nerve centres) of the country, namely, Lagos, Abuja and Port‐Harcourt metropolitan areas. Data were analysed with the use of frequency distribution, mean and standard deviation measures, relative importance index and Pearson Chi‐Square test.

The results of the study in this paper revealed, among others, that lack of time series data and the small size of many of the investors' portfolios in Nigeria encouraged the use of implicit analysis in their property portfolio evaluation techniques. The study also showed that investors and practitioners detest complex calculations and were using traditional evaluation techniques because they considered the methods as needing no pre‐requisite knowledge before they could be used.

The study in the paper concluded that there is the need for a restructuring of the Nigerian real estate education and portfolio evaluation practice and the use of a micro‐real estate specific data derived from local market information to develop property performance indices towards building up functional real estate indices at the regional and national levels.

This paper is a pioneering attempt at establishing the factors that influenced the use of implicit techniques in property portfolio diversification evaluation in emerging property markets like Nigeria.

This section describes sustainable development (SD) in relation to infrastructure projects and explains how to evaluate SD. SD is assessed as context-dependent, considering the project’s economic, social, and ecological context. Sustainable road infrastructure projects (SRIP) should encapsulate the complete life cycle from idea to development, functionality, and maintenance. SD should be considered as part of the evaluation process prior to project execution, but it can also serve other functions. Sustainability evaluation must start with project appraisal or evaluation and the earliest stages of project decision-making. Sustainable infrastructure projects (SIPs) are evaluated using a variety of techniques and models, such as cost-benefit analysis (CBA), multi-criteria techniques, ecological and societal impact assessments, ranking techniques, models, and evaluation guidelines. Established SD structures and modelling techniques for infrastructure projects are presented from an SD perspective, with the primary objective of investigating how they operate and determining whether existing models provide an effective method for applying the SD idea into infrastructure development. CBA is a widely used strategy for evaluating alternatives to maximize sociocultural well-being. It is based on the likelihood of costing customer advantages and negative impacts and has been discussed in scholarly articles. The multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) approach is an acceptable methodology for addressing complex matters involving high risk, conflicting objectives, different types of information and data, different concerns and points of view, and the representation of complex and evolving biological, ecological, and financial frameworks. It combines many methodologies and offers various advantages over more conventional ways of decision-making and plan development. It should be used to increase community participation and empower partner organizations and should apply several criteria at the same time, including those that are difficult to adjust and quantify. The key difficulty with this strategy is the usage of weightings, which has been sharply criticized by several researchers. Life-cycle assessment (LCA) is an adaptive tool used to assess the ecological effects of a particular action, task, or procedure. It is applied globally to decision-making in numerous fields, including transportation, energy, and water, and has become a typical tool for determining the ecological performance of infrastructure projects. However, it has a few flaws and could benefit from improvements to assess SD with greater precision. It is a fragmented mechanism for assessing the three components of SD, but its incorporation into other evaluation approaches is desirable. The evaluation of societal implications has been conducted using a variety of methods and techniques, but there is currently no standard method for assessing the communal and appropriation consequences of infrastructure initiatives. Social life-cycle assessments (SLCAs) are advancing, but consensus remains a challenge. The Evaluation Partnership and the Centre for European Policy Studies identified several obstacles and challenges to implementing an outstanding societal assessment, such as the term ‘societal impacts’ being potentially overbroad and not adequately defined, and the lack of a suitable method for quantitatively evaluating sociological effects. Additionally, a large section of societal assessments is biased and frequently inconsequential. The chapter discussed the theoretical and methodological stances on sustainable road infrastructure, using current SID concepts and evaluation techniques thoroughly.

The purpose of this research is to compare the results of two different usability techniques in evaluating the Web of Science interface.

At first three human factors experts conducted a heuristic evaluation with the interface. Then, usability testing was conducted with 22 students recruited from various departments at Loughborough University, UK.

A comparison of these techniques showed that heuristic evaluation revealed qualitative information whereas usability testing uncovered mostly quantitative data about usability of the interface. Although heuristic evaluation found more problems than usability testing, it also identified complementary information.

This paper recommends applying multiple usability techniques to ensure comprehensiveness in evaluating IR interfaces.

This paper shows that using multiple usability techniques resulted in a high degree of comprehensiveness in evaluating IR user interfaces.

Many universities are currently investing significant sums of money into refurbishing existing learning spaces and/or building further infrastructure (including Next Generation Learning Spaces (NGLS)) to support learning and teaching in the face-to-face context. While this is usually welcome by staff and students, there is often a concern that designs are not informed by input from appropriate stakeholders.

This chapter brings together information from a range of sources to provide practical ideas and advice on designing robust, whole-of-lifecycle evaluations for learning space projects. By incorporating pre- and post-occupancy stages, involving a wide array of stakeholders and looking beyond surveys and focus groups as evaluation techniques, universities can ensure that future designs take into consideration the experiences and context of staff and students at the institution as well as lessons learned from previous projects.

Management training and development is currently in vogue. There appears to be a growing belief in the benefits of investment in training and development. When a market is buoyant is the time to consider and anticipate the consequences of a future downturn in demand. Such a downturn in demand may demonstrate increasing pressure to “justify” investment in training and development. There is a long established academic body of knowledge on the subject of evaluating training and development. From research evidence and the authors′ experience, the sponsors and the providers of training and development pay scant attention to systematic evaluation of these activities and investments. It is the authors′ contention that when the market′s critical assessment of the value of training and development increases there will be an increasing interest in evaluation. An overview of the history of evaluation traditions is provided and the state of play is commented upon. It is noted that there is a shortfall between theory and practice. It is argued that evaluation is a worthwhile and important activity and ways through the evaluation literature maze and the underpinnings of the activity are demonstrated, especially to management. Similarly the literature on evaluation techniques is reviewed. Tables are provided which demonstrate areas of major activity and identify relatively uncharted waters. This monograph provides a resource whereby practitioners can choose techniques which are appropriate to the activity on which they are engaged. It highlights the process which should be undertaken to make that choice in order that needs of the major stakeholders in the exercise are fully met.

This paper presents the results of an empirical investigation into the capital budgeting practices of UK multinationals for foreign direct investment, with particular reference to the use of a conceptual framework of risk and return. Drawing upon Robock's (1965) criticisms of the lack of a conceptual framework for businessmen within which to make international financing and capital budgeting decisions, we assess briefly the developments in the theoretical framework of risk and return since Robock's address. We then review the existing empirical literature (mainly from America) and combine this with our own research involving 59 UK multinationals, to conclude that the developments in the theoretical framework of risk and return have not been translated into practice. We offer suggestions as to why this is the case.

Explores the thesis that the techniques of risk analysis are necessary but in themselves insufficient components of the management of risk process. Begins by exploring the debate about risk. Proposes a definition of risk analysis, suggesting that the term refers to the sum of risk identification, estimation and evaluation. Takes the three component headings as the frameworks. Within each framework, gives an overview followed by an outline of the more common and important techniques. Discusses the issues of sufficiency and draws conclusions. Refers to the decision making techniques of risk management and sets out the overall conclusions substantiating the thesis.

This paper describes the approach adopted in the evaluation of a knowledge‐based system for subsidence management, subsidence case management system (SCAMS). It introduces general principles in the evaluation of knowledge‐based systems, highlighting some of the various techniques available. The criteria adopted for SCAMS’s evaluation are then established, followed by a description of the evaluation methodology. The paper concludes with an appraisal of the evaluation process and a discussion of its outcome.

This study aims to propose a hybrid technology evaluation process integrating the Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) technique and the analytic network process (ANP) with novel MCDM method for the organic light emitting diode (OLED) technology evaluation. The DEMATEL is used to detect and build the complex network relationship map (NRM) among dimensions/criteria. The ANP is employed to conduct the dependence and feedback among criteria and to decide the relative weights of the criteria by super‐matrix. The combination of DEMATEL technique and ANP with novel MCDM method is used to perform for constructing a technology evaluation structure.

This study proposes a hybrid approach integrating the DEMATEL and the ANP to construct a technology evaluation and decision‐making model for OLED. Taiwan is a research base in this study. This is for the purpose of offering an example as to how a technology firm or even a country can evaluate or position certain emerging technology in the process of resource investment decision‐making.

This study suggests a hybrid technology evaluation approach integrating the DEMATEL technique and the ANP approach. When policy makers and R&D planners design R&D programs in emerging technology fields, the authors' proposed model can help to assess whether it is worth investing in the expected technology or not, for all concerned. Besides, using Taiwan's OLED as an example, this study has generated a conclusion comprising several strategic suggestions and managerial implications.

The whole approach developed by this study can serve as a reference to construct an evaluation framework to evaluate other technology fields in order to propose some guidance for R&D planning or strategy making in the industry applied the aimed technology. The weights distributed to the prospects and the problems can also serve as a reference of whether the R&D investment in the new technology is worthwhile for all concerned. Future research can adopt the approach proposed in this study to evaluate the worth of R&D investment in other targeted technologies.

Advanced manufacturing machines (AMMs) are searched as a momentous asset across the manufacturing societies for quenching and addressing the production units under economical circumstances, i.e. production of high-quality of goods under feasible cost. AMMs are significant in holding the managers against their rivals and competitors with high profit margins. The authors developed the decision support mechanism/portfolio (DSM-P) consist of knowledge-based cluster approach with a dynamic model. The purpose of research work is to measure overall economic worth of AMMs under objective and grey-imperfect (mixed) data by exploring the proposed DSM-P.

The authors developed the DSM-P that consist of knowledge-based cluster, three multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) techniques-1-2-3 with complementary grey relational analysis-4(GRA), approach with a dynamic model (complied by technical plus cost and agility measures of AMMs). The proposed DSM-P enables the manager to map the overall economic worth of candidate AMMs under objective and grey-mixed data.

The presented DSM-P assist the managers for handling the selection problem of AMMs, i.e. CNCs, robots, automatic-guided vehicle, etc under mixed (objective cum grey) data. To enable the readers for intensely understand the work, the utility of proposed approach is displayed by illustrating a polar robot evaluation and selection problem. It is ascertained that the robot candidate-11 alternative is fulfilling the entire technical cum cost and agility measures.

The DSM-P provides more precise and reliable outcomes due to a usage of the dominance theory. Under the dominance theory, the ranks are obtained by MCDM techniques-1-2-3 are compared with ranks gathered by the GRA-4 under objective cum grey data, formed the novelties in presented research work. From a future perspective, the grey-based models in DSM-P can be built/extended/constructed more extensive and can be simulated by the same approach.