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1 – 10 of over 70000Sadegh Aliakbarlou, Suzanne Wilkinson and Seosamh B. Costello
The purpose of this paper is to improve the understanding of what clients value from contractors’ services. Understanding client values and the way by which clients perceive value…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to improve the understanding of what clients value from contractors’ services. Understanding client values and the way by which clients perceive value will contribute to client-perceived value within contracting services.
Design/methodology/approach
A literature review was conducted to understand how clients perceive value in the construction industry. In addition, conducting expert interviews and document analysis helped in achieving the research purpose.
Findings
The findings show that values associated with time, cost and quality can be considered as important client values, while they are not exclusive values for assessing contractor service anymore. Construction clients are concerned about health and safety, low rate of environmental impact, guarantees, creativity, technology transfer, value for money, reliability and tangibles of their contractors’ services. In addition, they value their contractors’ behaviour, attitude and professionalism.
Research limitations/implications
The study has disseminated different client values, through classified outcomes, to make the knowledge area more available to construction service providers. This study’s findings helped in understanding client values and how clients perceive value from contractors’ services. With this information, contractors are able to provide better services to clients. Satisfactory delivery of the values identified in this study is believed to have the greatest impact on client-perceived value within contracting services. Developing a management strategy that recognises, prioritises and satisfactorily delivers these values is essential to ensure that highest level of client-perceived value is achieved.
Originality/value
The construction literature is focussed on traditional values related to time, cost and quality, while this study highlighted the role of values such as trust, commitment, communication and other non-result-ordinated values essential for achieving client satisfaction. This study’s findings proposed a new practical assessment concept to value construction contractor services.
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The purpose of this paper is to increase the transparency of the value‐creation chain in the stock market. It aims to: conceptualize the value‐added through the relational…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to increase the transparency of the value‐creation chain in the stock market. It aims to: conceptualize the value‐added through the relational capital, inductively develop models on how values are created, and discuss the values created for the analyst firm, the clients and investors in the stock market in general.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on a case study of sell‐side analysts at a big Swedish investment bank and their work with real life situations of changes in recommendations.
Findings
The findings of the case study indicate that analysts, through their relational capital, access competitive advantages needed for remaining on a highly competitive market. They get access to value‐added information and knowledge and also business for the firm. This helps them to fulfill the three roles played, i.e. as information intermediaries, knowledge builders and businessmen. However, the analysts' dependencies, due to their relational capital and the analysts' conflicting roles, result in ambiguous or even biased information. The values added to clients differ between prioritized clients who receive value‐added information through the relational capital with the analysts and non‐prioritized clients with limited, or no access, to the analysts' services.
Originality/value
Value created through relational capital within organizations has been intensively studied within the area of intellectual capital. However, the sell‐side analysts' value‐creation chain linked to their relational capital with company representatives and clients, considered in the present study, has been neglected.
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Sadegh Aliakbarlou, Suzanne Wilkinson, Seosamh B. Costello and Hyounseung Jang
The purpose of this paper is to explore and prioritize the key client values within contracting services for reconstructing the built environment in post-disaster situations.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore and prioritize the key client values within contracting services for reconstructing the built environment in post-disaster situations.
Design/methodology/approach
A literature review, semi-structured interviews and questionnaire survey were included in this study. A comparative analysis was used to obtain different perspectives between public and private sectors.
Findings
A total of 39 client values were identified in this study. Clients for disaster reconstruction services put more emphasis on values such as timeliness, availability of resources, competency, building a trust-based relationship, financial stability, and communication techniques than contract price. Public and private clients have a different perspective regarding the importance of the identified values, while these are not statistically significant for the most important values.
Research limitations/implications
The construction literature is focussed on business-as-usual rather than post-disaster reconstruction. To ensure that reconstruction programmes after a disaster are successfully implemented, it is necessary to identify and prioritize the client values within contracting services. Focussing the attention of the service providers on these values is believed to have the greatest impact on the programmes’ success.
Practical implications
Understanding the client values identified by this study can aid contractors to better prepare for reconstruction programmes and provide improved services to clients.
Originality/value
A number of important client values within contracting services that appear to have a bearing on the success of disaster reconstruction programmes were identified in this study.
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Sadegh Aliakbarlou, Suzanne Wilkinson and Seosamh Benedict Costello
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…
Abstract
Purpose
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.
Design/methodology/approach
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.
Findings
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.
Research limitations/implications
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.
Practical implications
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.
Originality/value
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.
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This paper is for coaches (or those who coach) to consider: how their own values affect the coaching interaction; and how customizing their communication to align with the client…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper is for coaches (or those who coach) to consider: how their own values affect the coaching interaction; and how customizing their communication to align with the client's values can create better results. The paper aims to address these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper references the strength deployment inventory and relationship awareness theory as the suggested methodology in understanding one's values.
Findings
The paper advocates that, no matter which coaching system or methodology is used, that a focus on values is important to the success of the coaching interaction. Values are integral to the coach and the client, and should be given attention in the coaching process.
Originality/value
This paper looks at the impact of values on the coaching process.
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Matthew Egan and Barbara de Lima Voss
Big 4 professional services firms increasingly lay claim to recruiting and including staff of diverse genders, cultures, ages and sexualities. Drawing on Foucauldian insights…
Abstract
Purpose
Big 4 professional services firms increasingly lay claim to recruiting and including staff of diverse genders, cultures, ages and sexualities. Drawing on Foucauldian insights, this study explores how LGBTIQ+ staff navigated shifting technologies of client power, at the time marriage equality was legislated in Australia.
Design/methodology/approach
This article explores changing experiences of LGBTIQ+ staff and allies, through 56 semi-structured interviews undertaken through 2018–2019.
Findings
Technologies of client power were central to shaping workplace experiences for LGBTIQ+ staff. However, each firm was also keen to carve unique and bold responses to changing societal attitudes regarding sexuality and gender. These progressive moves did not sit comfortably with all clients, and so this article provides insight into the limitations of client privilege within professional services firms. For staff, this increasing complexity of sometimes opaque, contradictory and shifting technologies of client and firm power, enabled agency to explore a sense of self for some, but continued to exclude others.
Originality/value
Little attention has been directed to exploring challenges for staff of sexual and gendered diversity within professional services firms, or to exploring how staff navigate changing perceptions of client power.
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Michèle Paulin, Ronald J. Ferguson and Marielle Payaud
This paper has four purposes. First, it points out and explains why the Market‐type culture, is not the culture type most conducive to business performance. This Market‐type…
Abstract
This paper has four purposes. First, it points out and explains why the Market‐type culture, is not the culture type most conducive to business performance. This Market‐type culture reflects mainly a Transactional approach to the market rather than a longer term Relational approach to clients. Second, a modification of the CVM is presented which forces the respondents to weigh the value their firm places on the client or customer compared with the other competing values in the model. This modified version can be used to describe organizational cultures which are more Relational or Transactional in nature. Third, an empirical study of commercial banking relationships in France indicated that business effectiveness was greater when both parties in the exchange (account manager and business client) perceived their respective organizations to be Relational‐type cultures. Conversely, the worst business performance was found when both organizations had Transactional‐type cultures. Fourth, the managerial implications of the paper are discussed in the context of commercial banking.
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Ayman Ahmed Ezzat Othman and Lamis Yasser Wagih Youssef
This paper aims to develop a framework for implementing the integrated project delivery (IPD) approach during the design process in architecture design firms (ADFs) in Egypt.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to develop a framework for implementing the integrated project delivery (IPD) approach during the design process in architecture design firms (ADFs) in Egypt.
Design/methodology/approach
A research methodology consists of literature review, case studies and survey questionnaire was designed to achieve the abovementioned aim. First, literature review was used to identify and categorise the challenges of implementing IPD during the design process. Second, four case studies were analysed to investigate the values delivered to the client or missed due to the use of IPD or traditional procurement approaches, respectively. Finally, a survey questionnaire was carried out with a representative sample of ADFs in Egypt to investigate their perception towards the challenges of IPD implementation in Egypt. Based on the results of the above, the research developed a framework to facilitate the implementation of IPD in ADFs in Egypt.
Findings
Through literature review, the research identified 30 challenges that hamper the implementation of IPD in ADFs. These challenges were categorised due to their nature into five groups, namely, integration, cooperation, commitment and trust challenges, knowledge, experience skills and decision-making challenges, cultural challenges, legal and contractual challenges and technical and financial challenges. Results of data analysis showed that “poor communication and spirit of collaboration between project stakeholders” was ranked the highest influential challenge as IPD is based on collaboration and trust between project participants. In addition, “lack of training and motivation in investing for using IPD” was ranked the lowest influential challenge due to the poor attention paid to training in the construction industry. Moreover, despite the benefits of IPD implementations in many countries worldwide, it is not implemented in the Egyptian context. This necessitated taking action towards developing a framework to facilitate IPD implementation in ADFs in Egypt.
Research limitations/implications
The research focussed on ADFs in Egypt.
Practical implications
Adopting the proposed framework developed through this research will help implementing IPD during the design process in ADFs.
Originality/value
The research identified, categorised and analysed the challenges that obstruct the implementation of IPD in ADFs. The research tackled a topic that received scant attention in construction literature in the Middle East generally and Egypt in particular. In addition, this paper presented a framework to facilitate the implementation of IPD during the design process, which represents a synthesis that is novel and creative in thought and adds value to the knowledge in a manner that has not previously occurred.
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The following is an introductory profile of the fastest growing firms over the three-year period of the study listed by corporate reputation ranking order. The business activities…
Abstract
The following is an introductory profile of the fastest growing firms over the three-year period of the study listed by corporate reputation ranking order. The business activities in which the firms are engaged are outlined to provide background information for the reader.
To investigate if game theoretic reasoning may be used to explain a lack of cooperation in buyer‐supplier relationships within construction and facilities management. In order to…
Abstract
Purpose
To investigate if game theoretic reasoning may be used to explain a lack of cooperation in buyer‐supplier relationships within construction and facilities management. In order to make an empirical application of the prisoner's dilemma (PD) game, possible important variables are operationalized and empirically measured.
Design/methodology/approach
Empirical data concerning pay‐offs and the variables in the discount parameter formula (created in this paper) have been obtained through interviews with clients and contractors in the Swedish construction sector.
Findings
This paper suggests a way to operationalize pay‐offs and the discount parameter, making empirical measurements possible. Owing to differences in pay‐offs and the discount parameter, different forms of contracts will affect cooperation. Cumulative values of cooperation are much higher in lasting relationships than in occasional transactions. Thus, the best way to facilitate cooperation between rational players is long‐term contracts.
Research limitations/implications
Since, the values used are based on empirical data collected from a few respondents, they should be viewed as illustrative empirical examples, rather than statistical generalizations.
Practical implications
From a game theoretic perspective the practice of project partnering may not solve problems regarding lack of cooperation. To increase the incentives for cooperation, the actors should work together in long‐term relationships instead of focusing on single projects. Long‐term strategic partnering is, therefore, beneficial for the construction and management of facilities.
Originality/value
This paper makes empirical application of the PD game possible by operationalizing and empirically measuring game theoretic variables that previously have been given values set by the researcher rather than by the players in the game.
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