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The purpose of this paper is to develop a structural relationship model to study the relationship between causes and effects of poor communication and information exchange in construction projects using Smart-PLS.

The first method of this research is to identify the causes and effects factors of poor communication in construction projects from the extant of literature. The data used to develop the model was collected using a questionnaire survey, which targeted construction practitioners in the Malaysian construction industry. A five-point Likert type scale was used to rate the significance of the factors. The factors were classified under their relevant construct/group using exploratory factor analysis. A hypothetical model was developed and then transformed into Smart-PLS in which the hypothetical model suggested that each group of the cause factors has a direct impact on the effect groups. The hypothesis was tested using t-values and p-values. The model was assessed for its inner and outer components and achieved the threshold criterion. Further, the model was verified by engaging 14 construction experts to verify its applicability in the construction project setting.

The study developed a structural equation model to clarify the relationships between causes and effects of poor communication in construction projects. The model explained the degree of relationships among causes and effects of poor communication in construction projects.

The published academic and non-academic literature introduced many studies on the issue of communication including the definitions, importance, barriers to effective communication and means of poor communication. However, these studies ended up only on the general issue of communication lacking an in-depth investigation of the causes and effects of poor communication in the construction industry. The study implemented advanced structural modeling to study the causes and effects. The questionnaire, the data and concluding results fill the identified research gap of this study. The addressed issue is also of interest because communication is considered one of the main knowledge areas in construction management.

In addition to agriculture, energy production, and industries, potable water plays a significant role in many fields, further increasing the demand for potable water. Purification and desalination play a major role in meeting the need for clean drinking water. Clean water is necessary in different areas, such as agriculture, industry, food industries, energy generation and in everyday chores.

The authors have used the different search engines like Google Scholar, Web of Science, Scopus and PubMed to find the relevant articles and prepared this mini review.

The various stages of water purification include coagulation and flocculation, coagulation, sedimentation and disinfection, which have been discussed in this mini review. Using nanotechnology in wastewater purification plants can minimize the cost of wastewater treatment plants by combining several conventional procedures into a single package.

In society, we need to avail clean water to meet our everyday, industrial and agricultural needs. Purification of grey water can meet the clean water scarcity and make the environment sustainable.

This mini review will encourage the researchers to find out ways in water remediation to meet the need of pure water in our planet and maintain sustainability.

Despite the emergence and strategic importance of project risk management (PRM), its diffusion is limited mainly to large companies, leaving a lack of empirical evidence addressing SMEs. Given the socio-economic importance of SMEs and their need to manage risks to ensure the success of their strategic and innovative projects, this research aims to investigate how to adopt PRM in SMEs with a positive cost–benefit ratio.

This study presents an exploratory and explanatory research conducted through multiple-case studies involving 10 projects performed in Spanish and Italian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The results obtained highlight how project features (commitment type, innovativeness, strategic relevance and managerial complexity) and firms' characteristics (sector of activity, production system and access to public incentives) influence PRM adoption, leading to different levels and types of benefits.

The paper offers practical indications about PRM phases, activities, tools and organizational aspects to be considered in different contexts to ensure the project's success and, ultimately, the company's growth and sustainability. Such indications could not be found in the literature.

The adoption of knowledge management (KM) to steer new skills and capabilities among people provides evidence that KM not only offers competitive advantages but also provides a means for organisational survival, by improvising core capabilities or generate new ones that can drive people in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) era. This paperaim to identify critical new skills and capabilities among people within an organisation to stay competitive, innovative and relevant.

The paper presents the findings on new skills assessment for Fourth Industrial Revolution. The study was carried out through an interview with a focus group discussion technique to gather data on the role of KM in creating new set of skills or capabilities in Fourth Industrial Revolution’s landscape. The study also reports a bibliographic study of critical skills based on more than a decade of related academic and industry publications to portray research trends and future directions.

There is a demand in “must-have” skills related to Industry 4.0 such as capability for complex decision-making, complex problem-solving, collaborative innovation, project management, creativity and critical thinking, social skill and social responsibility. While these skills are critical enablers to aiding individuals in the scenarios of plausible 4IR futures, several important new research trends that emerge have also not been adequately explored including KM and Industry 4.0 skill gap, skill evolution, machine knowledge, intuitive decision-making, rational decision-making, technostress, digital fluency, collaborative innovation, industrial policies, human–machine interaction and societal systems.

This research provides a roadmap for the next research trends and topics in the area of Fourth Industrial Revolution and new skills requirements. The study discusses some of the essential issues and challenges with upskilling required for Industry 4.0. It also focuses on how upskilling learning initiatives influence new knowledge creation. This primarily contributes to the educational field in deciding how and when to adopt appropriate strategies and identify which initiatives to best meet the needs of its community.

KM enables individuals to utilise their existing core capabilities or generate new ones for immediate investment in upskilling to meet current and future skills needs required by an organisation. Simply put, KM will improve the organisation’s talent-driven learning strategy and increase individuals’ ability to learn faster and attain sustainable competitive advantage in a fast-paced ever changing environment.

This paper is useful to academics, practitioners and policymakers in the fields of KM. The research provides initial insight into new skills mapping in the context of Fourth Industrial Revolution and the needs for researchers to understand the recent research trends in KM.

This study aims to build a framework of the influencing factors of construction workers' career promotion and identifies the critical determinants so as to propose suggestions for the government and enterprises to offer construction workers a path for career promotion.

In line with the theory of human resources, such as Herzberg's two-factor theory, this study constructs a theoretical framework that affects the career promotion of construction workers. Using evidence from Guangzhou city, valid data provided by 464 workers from 50 sites were collected by a questionnaire survey, and the significance test on the influencing factors of construction workers' career promotion was taken by binary logistic regression.

The overall career development of construction workers in Guangzhou is worrying. The binary logistic regression indicates that age, working years, type of work, career development awareness, legal awareness, professional mentality, vocational psychological training and career development path are critical factors that affect construction workers' career promotion.

This study for the first time explores the career promotion of frontline construction workers. Specifically, it identifies the critical factors that affect the career promotion of workers and thus lays a foundation for further research and the promotion and continuous and healthy development of the construction industry. Thus, this study is original and has theoretical and practical significance.

The pandemic has reinforced the need for revamping the healthcare service delivery systems around the world to meet the increased challenges of modern-day illnesses. The use of medical cyber–physical system (MCPS) in the healthcare is one of the means of transforming the landscape of the traditional healthcare service delivery system. The purpose of this study is to critically examine the impact of MCPS on the quality of healthcare service delivery.

This paper uses an evidence-based approach, the authors have conducted a systematic literature review to study the impact of MCPS on healthcare service delivery. Fifty-four articles were thematically examined to study the impact of MCPS on eight characteristics of the healthcare service delivery proposed by the world health organisation.

The study proposes support that MCPS will positively impact (1) comprehensiveness, (2) accessibility, (3) coverage, (4) continuity, (5) quality, (6) person-centredness, (7) coordination, (8) accountability and (9) efficiency dimension of the healthcare service delivery. The study further draws nine propositions to support the impact of MCPS on the healthcare service delivery.

This study can be used by stakeholders as a guide point while using MCPS in healthcare service delivery systems. Besides, healthcare managers can use this study to understand the performance of their healthcare system. This study can further be used for designing effective strategies for deploying MCPS to be effective and efficient in each of the dimensions of healthcare service delivery.

The previous studies have focussed on technology aspects of MCPS and none of them critically analysed the impact on healthcare service delivery. This is the first literature review carried out to understand the impact of MCPS on the nine dimensions of healthcare service delivery proposed by WHO. This study provides improved thematic awareness of the resulting body of knowledge, allowing the field of MCPS and healthcare service delivery to progress in a more informed and multidisciplinary manner.