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The most important function that facilitates construction organizations to accomplish profit maximization is cost control. However, the absence of a well‐established cost control system has caused failures to many Thai contractors especially during the current economic recession period. To comprehensively understand cost control systems in practice, this study theoretically assessed effectiveness as well as the deficiencies of the ‘traditional’ systems vis‐à‐vis the ‘effective’ systems. In addition, by contrasting what are found in ‘effective’ systems but not found in ‘traditional’ systems, critical attributes most contributing to the systems' successfulness were identified so that the improvement steps can be suitably prioritized. The validated findings indicated remarkable contrasts between ‘traditional’ and ‘effective’ systems. Two critical aspects, including advancement of cost control framework and systematic participation of site personnel in cost control, were found to be the major differences. Interestingly, similar conditions were encountered in various countries such as Greece, Pakistan and Australia; hence suggestions from this study could be internationally useful.

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the relevant determinants of IT project decision making and their relevance in corporate practice.

The empiric analysis used in-depth expert interviews (n=18) as method for data collection and qualitative content analysis using evaluative categories for analysis.

Corporate practice is strongly influenced by descriptive decision making. There is only little use of normative decision models in decision making. In corporate practice little use is made of evaluations to analyze achieved project outputs and impacts to improve decision-making practice. This is the result of several evaluation barriers in organizations.

The sample is restricted to IT projects as the experts are responsible for IT project portfolio management. Also, an industry comparison is not included in the study.

The analysis shows that IT project decision making in corporate practice should include results from descriptive decision theory into project decision processes in corporate practice. More effort should be made in challenging project input data which is relevant for project decision making. By systematically including evaluations for relevant projects, the deviations between planned and achieved project impacts offer valuable feedback for estimators and decision makers.

The paper presents detailed analysis on decision variables and their relevance for IT project decision making in corporate practice. Critical aspects of decision making become clear, such as the aspects of evaluation barriers and the need to incorporate descriptive decision-making aspects into corporate decision processes.

A change order is an order from an employer authorizing a variation. Success in managing change orders results in uninterrupted construction operations and an agreed final project cost as well as duration. One of the methods to manage change orders is to establish good communication and cooperation among project team members. Success of this method can be enhanced by developing and utilizing a web‐based change order management system that supports documentation practice, communication and integration between different team members in the change order workflow. This paper discusses our web‐based project management system, change order management system (COMS), to manage change orders using the Internet. In order to show COMS’ potential benefits, a test case was conducted for comparing the COMS with the conventional practice of change order management.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to identify and rank the challenges influencing the delivery of the housing public-private partnership (HPPP) in Tanzania; and second, to suggest solutions in the form of a conceptual public-private partnership (PPP) framework model that will address the identified challenges and boost the chances of success.

Using a convergent parallel (concurrent) mixed method approach, data were collected from 28 stakeholders involved with HPPP projects in Tanzania using a hand-delivered and e-mail survey and 13 semi-structured interviews with public and private sector respondents. The quantitative data included subjecting the 19 challenges as identified from the literature to parametric tests such as one-sample t-tests and descriptive statistics tests such as measures of central tendencies and frequency analysis through Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS 22.0). Qualitative data employed content analysis. The research was further underpinned by a number of theoretical perspectives such as Gidden’s structuration theory, contingency theory, relational and equity theory.

The top five ranked challenges influencing the delivery of HPPP were “inadequate PPP skills and knowledge”; “poor contracting and tendering documents”; “inadequate project management”; “inadequate legal framework”; and “misinformation on financial capacity of private partners”. The least six ranked and most significant challenges based on the one-sample (single) t-tests were as follows: “Poor risk allocation”; “inexperienced private partner”; “unequal qualification and contributions of expertise”; “poor enabling environment to attract competent partners”; “inadequate mechanisms for recovery of private investors’ capital”; and “high costs in procuring PPP projects”. The qualitative study further confirmed the challenges and cited the reason for the failure of joint venture projects as the lack of motivation for undertaking similar PPP projects. Despite the increased awareness of PPP projects and associated marginal benefits, the main impediment to the uptake and delivery of PPP housing projects remained the lack of skills and expertise.

The proposed framework model is not yet tested, but since this paper is part of the ongoing research, the next stage involves the testing and validation of the model. Future studies could test the applicability of the proposed framework in other HPPP projects in Tanzania, and in other similar developing countries. Second, the validated framework can contribute towards addressing similar challenges as well as providing guidance. The proposed framework model is not yet tested, but since this paper is part of the ongoing research, the next stage involves the testing and validation of the model. Furthermore, recommendation for future research is to test the alignment of the identified challenges to the proposed remedial solutions across the five phases within the proposed PPP framework with a number of case studies.

The identified challenges were used to form the basis of the framework presented in this paper. Furthermore, these provide useful information, thus leading to increased awareness to enable successful delivery of HPPP in Tanzania. Similarly, both the government and policy makers could use the findings as the basis for re-examining the existing PPP policy and regulations, and reflecting on the existing situation with a view to improving the delivery of future HPPP projects.

The empirical study is among the first that identifies and ranks the challenges of PPP for housing projects delivery within the Tanzanian context. The identification of the challenges enabled their ranking, resulting in the mapping out of the most critical challenges. Furthermore, using the Gidden’s structuration theory, the study illustrates how institution mechanisms (structures) address these delivery challenges, thus influencing the implementation of HPPP in Tanzania, and how individual stakeholders (human agents or agency) are able to make choices (advocated solutions) in dealing with the challenges. More so, these constraints (challenges) as identified and viewed through the contingency and equity theoretical lenses form the foundation for developing the PPP conceptual framework. The proposed framework would thus serve as a mechanism for providing practical solutions as well as reducing the level of severity of the identified challenges.

This study aims to explore the relationships between knowledge management (KM) enablers, employee innovativeness (EI) and market development performance (MDP) in architecture, engineering and construction (A/E/C) firms.

A questionnaire survey is conducted to collect empirical data from A/E/C practitioners in Vietnam. First, factor analysis is used to identify KM enablers in A/E/C firms. Then, a framework which shows the links between KM enablers, EI and MDP is proposed. Structural equation modeling (SEM) is used to examine the proposed relationships.

This study identifies five constructs which can enable A/E/C firms to achieve effective KM implementation, including mutual trust and collaboration, organizational values and norms, information and communication systems, organizational policies and empowerment. Furthermore, the SEM results show that except for organizational policies, four remaining KM enablers significantly affect EI. It is also found that EI has a significant impact on MDP.

The findings could help A/E/C firms to know which KM enablers are critical to EI and provide a better understanding of the link between EI and MDP. Hence, they could make appropriate investments in KM practices to improve both EI and MDP.

The results of this study fill the gap in knowledge by empirically structuring the relationships between KM enablers, EI and MDP. Such results may provide A/E/C firms with useful information to enhance EI and MDP in today’s intensively competitive construction environments.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and rank policy and regulatory framework factors and inherent pitfalls in the delivery of Tanzanian public–private partnerships (PPPs) affordable housing schemes. The strength of interactions between pitfalls is established, with practical solution proposals offered.

Primary data were collected from questionnaires administered to 28 Tanzanian stakeholders. Semi-structured interviews with public and private sector respondents then complemented survey findings with proposed solutions. The quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics, mean scores, parametric tests and correlation analyses. Directed content analysis was used for the interview transcripts.

Results show that “current PPP policy and guidelines need further improvement” and “Tanzania has a PPP policy and clear regulatory framework” were rated higher as policy and regulatory factors. In contrast, “poor planning skills and analytical capacity”, “high cost of building materials” and “inadequate access to housing finance” were the critical pitfalls. Most practical solutions were broadly financial in nature, or related to training, project management or PPP-enabling environment.

The paper provides solutions that can be tailored to international practitioners interested in understanding the effects of PPP policy, regulatory issues and pitfalls on Sub-Saharan Africa and other similar developing economies.

This study aims to identify key knowledge enabling factors (KEFs) which can enable construction companies to improve various organizational effectiveness outcomes (OEOs).

Using a questionnaire, data are collected from construction companies in Vietnam. Mean score method is used to calculate the mean values of KEFs. In addition, regression analysis is used to identify KEFs which significantly affect OEOs.

A list of 32 KEFs, whose ranking orders of importance are provided according to different types of construction companies, is presented. In addition, different lists of specific KEFs which could significantly affect different OEOs are identified. Furthermore, seven key KEFs which could have a significant impact on many OEOs are highlighted.

The findings of this study could help construction companies to know the controllable KEFs, on which they should focus more. Hence, they could perform these KEFs properly to improve various aspects of organizational effectiveness.

This study identifies 32 KEFs and 10 OEOs specifically for knowledge management in construction companies. This study also provides construction companies with a better understanding of the impact of KEFs on various aspects of organizational effectiveness. Hence, they could develop effective KEFs-based management strategies to enhance various aspects of organizational effectiveness.

For construction and management, the existing codes of practice of international organizations such as US Army Corps of Engineers, the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, the United Nations Office for Project Services, etc., often prove ineffective when applied in post-war countries like Afghanistan. Domestic contractors faced maximum challenges in contractual scope management, which was implemented by such organizations based on their existing codes of practice. The purpose of this paper is to understand these barriers in scope management as faced by the domestic contractors of Afghanistan.

The research employs a mixed methodology to cater to its objectives. Face-to-face structured interviews of 14 industry experts and extensive literature review were conducted to identify unique barriers pertaining to Afghanistan construction industry. Further, quantitative assessment of these barriers through the statistical tools of “mean score ranking,” “Kendall’s test” and “independent sample t-test” was carried out to understand the severity of the barriers.

In total, 39 unique barriers were identified under the groups of “scope formulation,” “scope completeness,” “scope pricing,” “scope implementation” and “scope change control.” The consequential impacts of these barriers and their existence at different stages of the project were illustrated. The most severe barriers were identified as the “inadequacy of site investigation reports” and the “unavailability of resources in local markets.”

The understanding of the challenges faced by local stakeholders, as highlighted by this study, can be utilized by these international organizations in their strategy and planning to ensure successful projects while also propagating the adoption of sustainable construction practices.

This study aims to relate knowledge creation factors (KCFs) to construction organizations’ effectiveness, which can be measured by different effectiveness outcomes (EOs).

Data with regard to KCFs and EOs are collected from construction organizations in Vietnam using a survey questionnaire. Regression analysis is used to relate KCFs to EOs.

Various lists of specific KCFs that may significantly affect EOs are identified. Furthermore, several key KCFs that could play a vital role in enhancing different EOs are highlighted.

Owing to the use of data collected from construction organizations in Vietnam, the results of this study cannot be directly applied to other types of organization in other countries without using any other extra data.

Based on the results of relating KCFs to different EOs, construction organizations would know which specific KCFs are vital to their organizational effectiveness. Hence, they may enhance different organizational effectiveness aspects by focusing more on such KCFs.

In this study, 16 KCFs and 10 EOs which may be useful for organization-level knowledge management practices in construction are introduced. Furthermore, the specific controllable KCFs vital to different EOs are identified. Hence, construction organizations would establish KCFs-based strategies for their management activities to improve various organizational effectiveness aspects.

This research is aimed at examining the relationships between knowledge factors and the knowledge creation process in construction projects, paying particular attention to on‐site work.

The design of this research is cross‐sectional and uses a blended methodological approach of both quantitative and qualitative methods. The research model includes the following variables; six knowledge factors: vision of leadership, trust, collaboration, incentives, information technology (IT) support, and individual competencies; and four knowledge creation processes: socialization, externalization, combination, and internalization. Survey data from 70 construction projects in Thai construction firms, obtained by means of a questionnaire developed by the researcher, were collated and analyzed. As a means of testing the model, regression analysis techniques were used to analyze the data.

Consistent with previous empirical evidence, three knowledge factors affected the knowledge creation process: incentives, IT, and individual competencies. It was noted that these factors overlay the knowledge creation process at all execution stages of on‐site construction.

This research is expected to contribute to a better understanding of important knowledge factors and knowledge management research in Thai construction that is still at an infancy stage. In order to build a knowledge creative culture, construction project executives need to support and maximize the value of human assets (individual competencies). Furthermore, facilitating IT‐supported knowledge management in construction projects needs to be considered and emphasized needs to be placed on productive work and gain a competitive advantage.