Editorial

Citation

(2003), "Editorial", Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, Vol. 10 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/ecam.2003.28610daa.001

Editorial

The six papers included in this issue are the result of the work of 11 authors from Australia, Denmark, Turkey and the UK. The distribution of authors over the papers are: one paper with three authors, all from Australia but representing two different institutions; three papers with two authors, two of these papers have authors from different countries, e.g. UK/Denmark and UK/Australia, the third has two authors from different institutions in the UK; finally there are two single authored papers. Conclusion: ECAM is not only attracting international papers, but would seem to be encouraging the growth of multi-institution or multi-country papers made possible because of the Net and the growing internationalisation of research.

The papers in this issue are again a rich mixture of subjects ranging from strategic management to the accuracy of housing forecasts. The papers in this issue are as follows.

Gorse and Emmitt introduce us to the subject of interpersonal communications, particularly in progress meetings. They explore the best way to observe such "group interactions" and go on to observe 30 site-based progress meetings and comment on their findings, including the "emotional" interactions.

Mills, Harris and Skitmore examine the accuracy of the forecasts of three Australian organisations predicting housing commencements. These forecasts are compared to actual data collected by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The accuracy achieved is reported to be 11-13 per cent.

Wood and Ellis examine the risk management practices of leading UK cost consultants. Through a series of interviews they established a set of benchmarks. They report interest in risk management as coming from the "educated" client. They report on current practice, scepticism on complex risk analysis techniques and a preference for judgement. But whose judgement, I am left wondering.

Ballal and Sher attempt to persuade us to use artificial neural networks for the selection of buildable structural systems. They argue that at the preliminary stages of structural design there is lack of information for taking decisions that will lead to "buildable solutions". The use of artificial neural networks to capture knowledge and to integrate buildability considerations into the structural design progress is the authors recommended way forward.

Kanoglu is concerned about over-runs on planned schedules, so he has developed an estimating model – multi-phase integrated automation system – to be used on design/build projects. He reports on the development of the model and its performance.

Price compares current theory with current practice in the management of strategy in large construction organisations. The paper is based on nine case studies. From the results of the case studies, a single framework for managing the strategic process was developed. The issues that cause concern are identified and recommendations are made.