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The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between overcoming the value management (VM) implementation barriers and VM implementation in the Egyptian building sector.

A critical review of the literature on VM was used to through bibliometric analysis has been conducted to highlight the studies’ gap and establish the VM barriers. These obstacles were then contextually transformed via a semi-structured interview and a pilot study, and subsequently organized in the form of a theoretical model. The primary data was collected from 335 building stakeholders in Egypt through the administration of questionnaire surveys. Consequently, structural equation models of partial least squares were applied to statistically assess the final model of VM barriers.

The bibliometric analysis shows that there is an inadequate study on VM implementation barriers in the Egyptian construction industry and insufficient studies on implementing VM in developing countries. Results obtained from the proposed model showed that overcoming the VM barriers has a major connection with successful VM implementation. This is indicated with the value of ß = 0.743, which is necessary when the firm is overcoming 1 unit of VM barriers.

This study fills the knowledge gap by identifying and emphasizing the critical obstacles to VM implementation.

The purpose of this study is to investigate consumers’ intention to use mass customization by incorporating preference fit and their ability to express preferences into the theory of planned behaviour and to examine how consumers perceive behavioural control over the process of online mass customization (OMC). Preference fit, which refers to fit between consumer preference and product attributes, and ability to express preferences were integrated into theory of planned behaviour as two belief variables related to OMC.

In total, 346 potential respondents were invited via e-mail to participate in the present study acquired from an independent marketing company. We conducted a self-administrated online survey using a video clip with voice instructions to demonstrate the OMC process as a stimulus.

The results suggest that consumers’ attitudes and perceived behavioural control predicted their OMC use intentions. Preference fit positively affected consumers’ attitudes towards OMC as a behavioural belief, and the ability to express preferences positively influenced preference fit but did not predict perceived behavioural control as a control belief. Clothing involvement was a positive predictor of preference fit and the ability to express preferences.

This study contributes to the OMC literature by suggesting a theoretical framework by extending the theory of planned behaviour and identifying consumers’ belief variables as antecedents of attitudes and perceived behavioural control in the OMC context. In addition, the study examines the role of clothing involvement in facilitating consumers’ OMC beliefs, suggesting the crucial role of clothing involvement as one of individual factors extending theory of planned behaviour framework, in the OMC process.

The adoption of value management (VM) has been on the rise in the construction industry, especially in the past decade. Identifying the main barriers to VM application for ameliorating poor project outcomes in the construction industry is a critical step to overcoming its implementation. Therefore, this study aims to examine the barriers to the adoption of VM in the Nigerian construction industry (NCI) and identify the critical ones for action by construction stakeholders.

This study used two rounds of Delphi surveys with 15 VM experts to identify the challenges to VM adoption. The Delphi team’s data from the two surveys were analysed using descriptive statistics. The mean-mode approach was used to identify ten major barriers to VM adoption based on the consensus reached during the second round of the Delphi poll. Following that, an interrater agreement analysis and a significant level analysis were performed.

Of the 17 identified barriers hindering VM adoption on construction projects in the NCI, 10 were found to be profound after statistical analyses of the data. The significant barriers include communication gap between the client and other consultants; delay in design preparation because of VM services; the pretext that VM is being practiced in the construction industry; and the wrong perception of VM by construction professionals, among others. The findings of the analysis suggested that the lack of VM adoption in the NCI was because of inadequate knowledge of VM techniques among construction professionals. Therefore, it is advised that VM training be provided for concerned stakeholders to address the lack of VM expertise among Nigerian construction professionals.

This study investigated the barriers to VM adoption on construction projects in the NCI with the opinions of a few construction professionals who can be regarded as VM experts. As against obtaining large survey responses from construction professionals who may not be knowledgeable in the VM process, the limited VM experts’ responses provide a valid basis for drawing inferences and making recommendations to address the paucity of VM applications in the NCI.

Through a Delphi survey, the critical barriers to the adoption of VM were identified, along with recommendations to help construction stakeholders overcome the challenges and enjoy the benefits of VM.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the barriers to the adoption of value management (VM) in the construction industry of developing countries with a view to providing possible measures in avoiding these barriers and increasing the usage of the system within the construction industry.

The level of knowledge and adoption of VM practices, as well as the barriers to its adoption in the construction industry were assessed through a survey design. Construction professionals were sampled from the six geo-political zones in Nigeria through the use of a structured questionnaire. Factor analysis was conducted on data gathered on the barriers of VM.

The study revealed a moderate level of knowledge of VM among construction professionals. This implies that the problem of VM is not that of awareness, but readiness to adopt the system. The study also reveals that the barriers to the adoption of VM can be categorised under the general stakeholder’s barriers, training and education barriers, client barriers and government/top management barriers.

This study was conducted across the six geo-political zones of the country as against common practice of selecting a particular region or states to represent the entire country. The findings therefore show a true reflection of the barriers to VM adoption in the country and its recommendations can to a large extent promote the adoption of VM in the country and also other developing countries where construction projects are executed through similar method, style and approach.

This paper highlights the possible barriers to the adoption of VM in Nigeria construction industry and provides ways to avoiding these barriers in order to achieve better quality construction and value for money.

The more the rate of sub‐division of the grid into subareas is high, the more the Maxwell’s sub‐areas method of studying the current field generated by a grounding grid is accurate. In this paper the authors suggest a fuzzy approach applied to a horizontal cylindrical electrode which allows them to determine in advance the errors due to the different rates of subdivision.

This paper aims to explore the effects of two drivers, namely, the received fundings and its interaction with the specialized competences owned by the managerial board, on the R&D activities performed by start-ups.

This paper tests hypotheses on a sample of 405 innovative start-ups established in Italy and registered into the Chamber of Commerce official database. This study uses the R&D expenses as a measure of the innovative performance of start-up, and the authors also collected the number and total amount of grants received by them and the presence of high qualified team in their management board.

The analysis reveals that both the number and total amount of grants received by start-ups positively impact the innovative performance. The same is for the integration of the total amount of grants with the presence of high qualified team in the management board.

This study did not distinguish between different types of grants adopted by start-ups, while it would be interesting to study whether any difference does exist among them in terms of their influence on innovative performance. Also, this paper considers the total number of specialized people in the team while it would certainly be interesting to analyze people’s background and competences in relation to the innovative performances.

This paper allows us to offer some provisional conclusions such as having funds in the preliminary phase of start-up life cycle, and investments mainly for R&D expenses. The start-up must also leverage its skills and therefore it is necessary to invest in human capital.

Findings suggest that policymakers should introduce integrated measures to support start-ups throughout the entire life cycle, from the creation of the idea to incubation up to industrial consolidation.

This paper focuses on the determinants of start-up innovative performance because both external (such as political, economic, social and technological) and internal (such as organizational) influencing factors have to be considered as crucial for start-ups innovation and growth. Finally, this study is one of the few attempts exploring the phenomenon by using an empirical methodology based on real and certificated data.

The purpose of this paper is to collect the numerical elaboration of resistances measured on cubes made during the concrete casting and on cores extracted after the completion of the structure, for the concrete used in the construction of the “Esaro” Dam facilities (Cosenza, Italy). In addition to the statistical treatment of the sample, aimed at assessing the analytical congruence with the homogeneous classes provided in the design, the influence of compaction degree on in place strength value was qualitatively evaluated.

The reliability of the concrete during the construction phases was evaluated by two analytical control types according to Italian and European technical rules: “production controls” based on statistical processing of resistance values; “laying controls” that serve to assess the compaction degree with a statistical approach.

Results highlighted in the assessing of compliance checks of the mixture, the fundamental relation between statistical approach and concrete laying control. They become important when is necessary to quantify, especially in the case of great infrastructure, the gap between “potential” and “structural” concrete.

The advantage obtained by controlling the compaction degree in the construction phase is unquestionable. Specifically, it might allow a reduction of the drilling cores, and so minor structural damage, especially for relatively recent structures favouring extensive non-destructive tests.

As well known, in the finite element method, the calculation and the location of the elements of the matrix C of the coefficients requires a lot of calculation times and memory employment especially for 3D problems. Besides, once the matrix C is properly filled, the solution of the system of linear equations is computationally expensive.

The paper consists of two parts. In the first part, to quickly calculate and store only the non‐null terms of the matrix of the system, a geometrical analysis on three‐dimensional domains has been carried out. The second part of the paper deals with the solution of the system of linear equations and proposes a procedure for increasing the solution speed: the traditional method of the conjugate gradient is hybridized with an adequate genetic algorithm (Genetic Conjugate Gradient).

The proposed geometrical procedure allows us to calculate the non‐null terms and their location within the matrix C by simple recursive formulas. The results concerning the genetic conjugate gradient show that the convergence to the solution of the linear system is obtained in a much smaller number iterations and the calculation time is also significantly decreased.

The approach proposed to analyze the geometrical space has been turned out to be very useful in terms of memory saving and computational cost. The genetic conjugate gradient is an original hybrid method to solve large scale problems quicker than the traditional conjugate gradient. An application of the method has been shown for current fields generated by grounding electrodes.

Knowledge assumes a pivotal role in the open innovation (OI) paradigm. Yet OI has been scantly investigated by adopting a knowledge management (KM) lens. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic literature review of the KM practices analysed by prior literature to support OI activities.

To perform a valuable literature review, the steps for systematic review proposed by previous studies have been adopted. These steps have yielded a final sample of 34 articles. Afterward, the authors have distinguished and analysed the identified articles according to the three main OI processes, i.e. inbound, outbound and coupled OI processes.

This research groups and highlights the most relevant KM practices to support OI activities on the basis of the inbound, outbound and coupled OI processes.

Despite knowledge is the most relevant resource exchanged in OI activities, this is the first attempt to highlight how knowledge should be managed in an OI context by adopting a KM lens. Furthermore, the authors also identify relevant topics that have been so far understudied, which the authors suggest as future research directions.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how universities' learning behavior (explorative or exploitative) and network structure (weak or strong inter‐organizational ties) can affect their capability to collect and diffuse knowledge, and thus to act as knowledge gatekeepers.

The research methodology is based on the longitudinal study (from 2000 to 2007) of three UK universities (University of Cambridge, London's Global University, and Imperial College London), located in the area of London and selected on the basis of their knowledge mobility. In particular, to evaluate the knowledge mobility for each university, the paper considers the collaborative R&D relationships established by each university, in terms of joint‐patents registered at the European Patent Office (EPO).

The analysis has revealed that the universities' knowledge mobility is positively affected by both the explorative learning behavior and the establishment of strong inter‐organizational ties. Moreover, results have shown that an increase of the explorative speed can entail a less positive effect of the exploration on the universities' knowledge mobility, since they can become less able to consolidate and implement the acquired new knowledge.

On the basis of these results, the present research provides interesting implications. In fact, recognizing the importance of explorative learning mechanisms, universities should enlarge and diversify their competencies and technological bases in order to be more effective knowledge sources and gatekeepers. Nevertheless, this shift towards new technologies and scientific fields should occur gradually, for instance towards more similar and contiguous technologies, so guaranteeing the necessary strengthening of skills and capabilities. Referring to the universities' network structure, the research suggests the importance of strong inter‐organizational ties as mechanisms that enable the transfer of knowledge. Hence, universities should promote the formation of stable and long‐lasting alliances and collaborations for favouring the creation of a trustworthy environment where knowledge can be exchanged and innovations rise.

The study contributes to the existing literature on knowledge gatekeepers, identifying its main performance, measuring it, and analyzing the impact exerted by two factors, as learning behavior and network structure.