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Discusses a recently completed research project on women in construction management occupations. Focuses on the issues generated by the research and main conclusions. The methodology is briefly discussed and the sequence of the investigation outlined. Presents the problem of the under‐representation of women in the construction industry with statistical evidence. Issues raised include the image of the construction industry, knowledge as a determinant of career choice and organizational culture. States conclusions and implications for practice.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the joint congruence effect of leadership styles and organizational culture on project members’ innovative behaviors in the construction projects setting.

The proposed hypotheses are tested using polynomial regression with a sample of 217 project managers and employees of different construction projects in China, and plotted through response surface analysis.

The results of polynomial regressions support the congruence effect hypothesis, indicating that more innovative behaviors of the project members could be elicited by a high level of congruence between transformational or transactional leadership styles and organizational culture. Furthermore, asymmetrical incongruence effects are found wherein project members with lower levels of innovative behaviors when project organizational culture is stronger as compared with when two leadership styles are at higher levels. Specifically, the condition is found under the innovation dimension of organization culture, but higher level of innovative behavior conversely displays when the harmony culture is weaker than two leadership styles.

The conceptual model and hypotheses are examined by analyzing cross-sectional and self-reported data collected in China. The findings could be further examined through multi-source or longitudinal, more systematic research.

The findings highlight the pivotal role played by the value congruence of leaders-organizations in motivating employees to be innovative in project organizations. This paper provides knowledge for project managers to help them understand whether and how project members’ innovative behaviors are better motivated by the fit or misfit between the styles of leadership and project organizational cultures. Besides, this study provides the approach or direction for the project leaders training.

This study is one of the first to examine the joint effects of leadership styles and organizational culture on innovative behavior based on the person-organization fit theory and from the perspective of value congruence.

This research aims to investigate the impacts of project culture on the performance of construction projects. Cultural issues in the construction industry have attracted growing attention from both practitioners and academia. However, there are few studies on culture issues at the project level. The influence of project culture has not traditionally been on the research radar.

A case study approach, utilising questionnaire surveys, in-depth interviews and review of project documents, was used to investigate project culture and its associated impacts in two major hospital projects.

The results indicated that project culture played an important role in achieving harmonious relationships between project participants and better project outcomes in terms of schedule, functionality, satisfaction with the process, satisfaction with the relationships, environmental issues addressed commercial success, further business opportunities and overall performance. Case 1 outperformed Case 2 in these performance indicators. Similarly, it became clear that the project’s culture should be developed from the outset and sustained during the project period. Furthermore, it was also highlighted that the project culture should be translated to all levels of the supply chain, i.e. sub-contractors and suppliers.

The findings enabled the client to understand the role of project culture and actively commit towards the development and maintenance of the project culture from very early on. It also helps project teams to understand how to deal with cultural issues at the project level.

This study is one of limited empirical studies that offer in-depth insights of how project culture affects the performance of construction projects. It is also the first study of hospital projects on the research topic.

Engineering-procurement-construction (EPC) projects in the oil and gas industry are special projects involving diverse cultures, behaviours and complexity in global business. Among these elements, culture is a crucial factor contributing to project performance. Several studies have been conducted on culture and its impact on project performance, especially in construction. However, studies on the cultural factors affecting EPC projects have not yet been carried out, especially for projects in the oil and gas industry. Thus, this study aims to explore and identify the cultural factors that affect the performance of oil and gas EPC projects in Vietnam.

In all, 60 people with experience in EPC projects were interviewed for the study. Axial and selective coding were used to build the final grounded theory.

The research findings show that the main cultural factors affecting the performance of EPC projects are leadership, organisation, planning, communication, human resources, goal and orientation.

This study provides empirical evidence for the importance of cultural factors that affect the success of EPC projects. It can serve as a guide on how to manage EPC projects and how to overcome the cultural difficulties in oil and gas EPC projects in Vietnam.

Low carbon solutions in infrastructure have been well documented and promoted in most areas of the UK except in the context of public sector Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management (FCERM) infrastructure. With the UK Government providing £2.5bn capital investment to reduce risk of flooding and coastal erosion between 2015 and 2020, the carbon impact of this construction programme will have a significant impact on the UK’s carbon targets. The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive literature review focusing on the effect of carbon on climate change, the role of UK public sector FCERM construction and organisational cultural challenges in promoting low carbon.

An electronic survey of practising professionals in a leading government agency that procures major FCERM construction projects has been undertaken. The survey covers participants from the whole value chain within the project life cycle, since many authoritative sources call for integration, and for change to be implemented in partner organisations.

The survey shows that although carbon is considered, it is not yet at the level of importance nor is it prioritised to the extent at which cost is. This is for both public and private sector supply chain organisations. Low carbon, although included in discussions, does not feature as prominently throughout all project stages.

The utilisation of a survey for this research is limited as it merely supports current industry findings, albeit having focused on a specific infrastructure area. Further qualitative research is required to fully explore the findings within the survey, and to establish whether the implementation of a new whole life carbon calculator within FCERM construction will have an impact on the organisational culture and future successful implementation of low carbon construction.

The results of this research identify the specific areas in which industry practitioners involved in promoting and prioritising low carbon could focus on to facilitate the change required to fully embed low carbon into FCERM construction.

This research supports industry knowledge specifically for public sector FCERM construction, and the changes to organisational culture required to fully embed low carbon solutions in public sector construction. These changes may have an impact on the amount of carbon being used, which can positively affect climate change as a whole.

The literature review shows that carbon has a clear impact on climate change, and organisational culture and leadership can facilitate the successful implementation of new initiatives. However, previous attempts to embed low carbon into infrastructure construction practice have had limited success to date. The survey findings support the view that organisational culture and leadership can influence the successful embedding of low carbon solutions, and why this has been a challenge.

This paper aims to investigate the link between two knowledge areas that have not been previously linked conceptually: stakeholder management and corporate culture. Focussing on the UK construction industry, the research study demonstrates mutual dependency of each of these areas on the other and establishes a theoretical framework with real potential to impact positively upon industry.

The study utilises both qualitative and quantitative data collection and then analysis to produce results contributing to the final framework. Semi‐structured interviews were used and analysed through a cognitive mapping procedure. The result of this stage, set in the context of previous research, facilitated a questionnaire to be developed which helped gather quantitative values from a larger sample to enhance the final framework.

The data suggests that stakeholder management and corporate culture are key areas of an organisation's success, and that this importance will only grow in future. A clearly identifiable relationship was established between the two theoretical areas and a framework developed and quantified.

It is evident that change is needed within the UK construction industry. Companies must employ ethical and social stakeholder management and manage their corporate culture like any other aspect of their business. Successfully doing this will lead to more successful projects, better reputation and survival. The findings of this project begin to show how change may occur and how companies might intentionally deploy advantageous configurations of corporate culture and stakeholder management.

It is widely recognised that improving project delivery in construction requires a consideration of the culture within the project organisation that is often associated with fragmentation, antagonism, mistrust, poor communication, finger‐pointing, machismo, and sexism. Many have thus called for cultural change on construction projects. However, change can only take place when there is an understanding of the drivers of culture within the construction project organisation (CPO). Given the argument in cultural theory that culture reflects distinct adaptations to the environments in which people operate, this research seeks to look for empirical evidence that the culture of the CPO is associated with particular features of construction projects.

A mixed methodology approach was employed with qualitative data collected through semi‐structured interviews, and quantitative data on project features and cultural orientations collected through a questionnaire survey of UK contractors.

Factor analysis revealed five principal cultural dimensions: workforce orientation, performance orientation, team orientation, client orientation, and project orientation. It was found that these five dimensions are associated with a number of key project features, in particular project size, complexity, influence of participants like the quantity surveyor, client and main contractor, the level of importance of cost and health and safety (H&S), location, and the number of variations. Significantly, no evidence was found to confirm that the procurement approach adopted influenced culture.

The findings provide some insight into the cultural consequences of project features, awareness of which is essential if appropriate strategies are to be developed to mitigate the negative impacts of culture.

This research aimed to investigate the extent to which organisational culture is practised in local and foreign contractors in grade one and two categories and how it affects their performance.

The approach for this research was positivist in nature adopting a mono-method of data collection through a survey using self-administered questionnaires. A total of 138 questionnaires were distributed among public clients and large-scale contractors registered in the stated grades, and 112 questionnaires were returned for analysis representing an overall response rate of 81% for contractors and clients.

Findings revealed that in organisational culture, significant differences were found for management style and dominant characteristics of the organisation between local and foreign contractors. Differences were not found for leadership styles, measures of success and organisational glue. Results suggest that for local contractors to perform better, significant changes are needed to their management style and dominant characteristics of their organisations.

Foreign contractors in the Zambian construction industry are reportedly outperforming local contractors making them preferred contractors on larger public projects accounting for 85% of construction projects by value of works. This study presents the differences in organisational culture between foreign and local firms. It further demonstrates that organisational culture plays a key role in determining performance of a contracting firm. The study presents areas that local contractors can improve in organisational culture in order to remain competitive.

Due to the practical complexity and fragmented nature of the construction industry, digitalisation, like other innovations, is not easily achieved. This study aims to explore organisational influences on digitalisation within construction firms.

The study uses structured open-ended questions as a data collection tool for a qualitative investigation. The qualitative approach enabled participants to express their inputs and maximise the diversity of data, offering new insights and discussions that are distinct from previous works.

Construction professionals from 22 organisations provided their perspectives on digital transformation and their organisations. Under four constructs – structure, culture, leadership and internal processes, findings uncovered 16 determinants critical to digitalisation in construction firms. The study offers a theoretical perspective supported by empirical data to explore the complex dynamics and internal interactions of organisational influence on the uptake of digitalisation in the construction industry.

This paper offers arguments from a theoretical lens by applying the organisational influence model and capturing the variables under each construct in an exploratory manner to highlight the reasoning behind the low digital uptake in construction firms. This research aids academia and practice on the pressure points responsible for enhancing, or undermining, digital uptake in construction firms at an organisational level.

The aim of this research is to investigate how foreign (non‐mainland Chinese) architectural, engineering and construction (AEC) professionals manage cross‐cultural encounters with mainland Chinese in the construction industry. The specific objectives are to identify perceived cultural differences between Chinese and foreigners when executing construction projects, based on the perceptions of foreign personnel only; and recommend a framework to manage cross‐cultural encounters between foreigners and Chinese.

The data collection instrument was a questionnaire, which had open‐ended questions. The data collection method was face‐to‐face in‐depth interviews with 19 foreign AEC practitioners who had worked with Chinese in construction projects in mainland China. The majority of these projects were located in Shanghai.

The main perceived differences were: the absence of team spirit in Chinese staff; the need to micro‐manage Chinese staff; the lack of initiative in Chinese staff; difficulty in communicating with Chinese staff; the absence of trust among the Chinese and by Chinese of foreigners; Chinese firms' attempts at recovery of under‐pricing following contract award; ease of settling disputes with Chinese; lack of safety and quality culture; and prevalence of networking culture. Several methods to manage cross‐cultural encounters are identified. Among these, most of the interviewees practiced adaptability, mimicry and mindfulness, which involved paying attention, being watchful and attentive. They also relied on their knowledge and experience of Chinese culture.

The findings may not be readily generalized because interviews were conducted with only 19 foreign AEC professionals, many of who are from Singapore and had worked primarily in Shanghai. The small number of interviewees may be unrepresentative of the population.

Foreign firms could use the findings to help them decide on some of the methods to overcome cultural differences.

The research proposed a framework for foreign firms to use when managing cross‐cultural encounters with Chinese. It recommends different measures to manage cross‐cultural encounters between foreigners and Chinese.