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The purpose of this paper is to review the state-of-the-art of literature of value management (VM) and to map the VM domain to provide a launch pad for further knowledge development and dissemination.

This study employed CiteSpace bibliometric analysis software to systematically, comprehensively and accurately review the VM-related literature and to map the VM knowledge domain.

The results reveal the current VM knowledge base, clusters, research hotspot, and the evolutionary trajectory while contributing to the development of VM knowledge by providing a dynamic platform for integrating future developments in research.

The contribution of this paper to scientific VM knowledge is, therefore, a quantitative and accurate VM knowledge map based on a bibliometric analysis of data from the VM knowledge base, domains and evolution. The findings can be generalised and used as an effective knowledge mapping tool in a specific field of study that could complement and add significant value to the often adopted more traditional literature reviews. This study further recommends that the proposed knowledge map be frequently updated by similar future studies to fill gaps that arise with changing needs, priorities and contexts, as well as to identify corresponding future demands in the VM research domain.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a holistic and comprehensive historical perspective of the evolution of value management, and to illustrate the impact that value analysis can have on innovation within organizations.

A review of published material from credible sources describing the evolution of the value management methodology, and a desktop analysis of 35 documented value management case studies illustrating the role of value management in innovation.

Published descriptions of the evolution of value management are incomplete and fragmented. A holistic and comprehensive historical perspective of value management as a value-adding methodology is provided. Mapped against a model for innovation, value management is shown to contribute substantially to innovation within organizations across a variety of contexts. Value management is currently evolving into a powerful approach to strategic planning.

This paper illustrates the contribution of value management to innovation across a variety of industries and contexts.

The paper provides a holistic and comprehensive historical perspective of the evolution of value management as a methodology, and demonstrates by mapping selected case studies onto a model of innovation impact, that the method is a powerful and versatile approach to obtaining innovative solutions to organizational problems.

The large volume of big data makes it impractical for traditional clustering algorithms which are usually designed for entire data set. The purpose of this paper is to focus on incremental clustering which divides data into series of data chunks and only a small amount of data need to be clustered at each time. Few researches on incremental clustering algorithm address the problem of optimizing cluster center initialization for each data chunk and selecting multiple passing points for each cluster.

Through optimizing initial cluster centers, quality of clustering results is improved for each data chunk and then quality of final clustering results is enhanced. Moreover, through selecting multiple passing points, more accurate information is passed down to improve the final clustering results. The method has been proposed to solve those two problems and is applied in the proposed algorithm based on streaming kernel fuzzy c-means (stKFCM) algorithm.

Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm demonstrates more accuracy and better performance than streaming kernel stKFCM algorithm.

This paper addresses the problem of improving the performance of increment clustering through optimizing cluster center initialization and selecting multiple passing points. The paper analyzed the performance of the proposed scheme and proved its effectiveness.

In literature, it is recognized that there is no universal set of critical success factors (CSFs) applicable to all projects. The goal of this research is to validate a theoretical model which considers that CSFs’ influence on project success (PS) is configurational, that CSFs combine to influence PS.

The authors proposed a theoretical framework which operationalizes CSFs considering contingency and institutional theories' terms, as external contingencies, organizational resources and project strategies, which influence PS. The framework is validated through a qualitative approach on 18 social projects implemented by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Based on the conducted semistructured interviews with NGO managers or project managers, 91 instances when CSFs combine to influence PS were identified.

The dominant path reveals the combination of CSFs in terms of strategies adopted to face contingencies (70 instances), another as resources which moderate managers' strategies (14 instances), and in seven instances positive contingencies and resources combine and influence the PS. The results reveal that CSFs combine in reactive and dynamic ways to influence PS.

The research contributes to the vast literature on projects' success by adopting a different perspective. Configurational theory explains project management and projects' complexity better than the traditional approaches, which have a rather correlational perspective.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the delay factors in South African electrical distribution projects and demonstrate the interlaced relationship between the identified project delay factors.

This research employs interactive management (IM) methodology to construct a model achieving the research purpose. The IM methodology is anchored in the soft systems thinking. Its inquiry process mainly comprises four phases: idea generation, idea clarification, idea structuring and interpretation of the structured ideas. The IM methodology allows the relevant stakeholders to collaboratively develop a digraph displaying the interrelationship among the system elements.

The participants of the IM session structured a systemic model showing that a loop comprising three factors is the driver leading to the delays in the electrical distribution projects. The three delay factors in the loop are “poor communication”, “poor planning” and “project scheduling not properly done”.

The findings show that a loop comprising three delay factors is the driver leading to the project delays. This result is different from the outputs of the commonly used approaches. The three identified root causes serve as the starting point for eradicating delays in the electrical distribution projects.

The purpose of this paper is to study the use of potential scope reductions in major construction projects for special-purpose buildings. Scope reductions may result in buildings that are less fit for purpose; this will be negative according to a facilities management perspective. The paper discuses to what extent this is the case. Potential reductions of project scope have been a tool for cost control of governmental investments in Norway since 2001.

The study is based on lists of possible reductions that were identified in the early phase of the projects. Information about the outcome of these possible reductions is collected from eleven public building projects.

In the studied projects, reduction lists were equivalent to 2.7 per cent of projects budgets, ranging from 0 to 9 per cent. Contingencies for these projects were 9.5 per cent on average, ranging from 5 to 13 per cent. The reduction lists were typically smaller than the contingencies’ lists. Seven of 11 studied projects had reduction lists established during the front-end phase. Only two projects implemented some of the reductions. These reductions were general reductions of the quality of spaces.

Empirical research results are based on Norwegian experiences. Results are compared to international practices. Future research can include comparisons between facilities projects and other types of investments.

The Norwegian reduction lists can be seen as a type of value engineering. The studied potential reductions are based on an unusually high degree of specification of the potential actions for cost control. International best practice is more concerned with general approaches. The practice of identifying specific potential reductions has little use as an active tool for controlling costs. General reduction options work better than specific reductions. The potential scope reductions do not appear to be a threat in a facilities management perspective.

This is the first study of how potential reductions have been used in public building projects. The findings are of interest related to cost control of major investments in facilities.

This paper aims to assess the drivers of value management (VM) in the Nigerian construction industry with a view to identify the critical ones through Delphi study.

A team of 15 carefully selected experts in VM were engaged in two rounds of Delphi survey, and the responses of the survey were analyzed with descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation and mode). Kendall’s coefficient of concordance test and Chi-square (χ²) test were also used to test the level of consensus amongst the respondents at the two rounds of the survey to draw inference. Interrater agreement analysis and significant level analysis were further used to determine the criticality of critical drivers.

The critical drivers to VM adoption are adequate understanding of the benefits of VM, higher/postgraduate programme that teaches VM technique, professional’s previous experience with VM, collaboration of all construction professional bodies in Nigeria and VM training.

This paper used opinions of VM experts only to achieve the aim of this study as against the common survey method in which respondents who are not knowledgeable in the area of research might fill the questionnaire.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on exploring the construction client values and qualities reported by scholars over the last 20 years, along with clarifying commonalities and differences between “value” and “quality” in terms of definitions and their constituent attributes in the context of construction.

An in-depth, systematic literature review was used to develop a basis for identifying client values and qualities. During the research process, citation analysis has been applied to understand these attributes in the literature.

While the findings may appear to align with the value theory concept of a strong interrelationship between quality and value, the authors argue that there is an intermingling of various subjective and objective preferences within construction scholarship, rather than a broad-brush adherence to the value theory and other related theories.

A qualitative research approach of inductive analysis was conducted using the semantics of terms and codes. Although reliability checks have been conducted, the generalisability of the study findings is subject to natural methodological limitations.

This study provides initial guidance on what contractors need to consider while providing services, and leads contractors to give their clients the best possible experience during a relationship. It proposes a shift in the way construction clients assess their contractors, to improve how services are delivered.

Enhancing client value is not straightforward, hence strong emphasis has been placed on understanding client values in this study, which contributes to the construction literature by facilitating further research leading to stronger construct definitions and theory-building efforts.

This book is a policy proposal aimed at the democratic left. It is concerned with gradual but radical reform of the socio‐economic system. An integrated policy of industrial and economic democracy, which centres around the establishment of a new sector of employee‐controlled enterprises, is presented. The proposal would retain the mix‐ed economy, but transform it into a much better “mixture”, with increased employee‐power in all sectors. While there is much of enduring value in our liberal western way of life, gross inequalities of wealth and power persist in our society.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss four main research questions which are as follows: how does a consumer turn into a devoted fan? How does a devoted fan react to the expansion of a human brand? What kind of strategies does a devoted fan take when facing challenges encountered by a human brand? And are devoted fans homogeneous, or can they be further divided into different subgroups?

The basis of grounded theory process is intensive depth interviews with 14 devoted fans of a famous Taiwanese pop singer in a qualitative manner along with content analysis of messages from online fan clubs.

Using the metaphor of kingdom to parallel the phenomenon of fandom, the research also explicates the importance of initial brand position, and the construction and expansion from the core castle – the core positioning of the human brand – to become a kingdom where devoted fans swear to be loyal to the human brand and cross-buy the derivative products of the latter. Five fan’s subgroup and a theoretical framework are obtained.

The theoretical framework derived in this study explicates how consumers’ initial perceptions of the human brand are formed and reinforced and how they become different kinds of fans which in turn influence the strategies they take in the face of the expansion or withdraw of the human brand.