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Open Access
Book part
Publication date: 1 May 2019

Anna-Therése Järvenpää, Johan Larsson and Per Erik Eriksson

For a number of years, the construction industry has seen an ongoing shift from design-bid-build to design-build contracts. This transition in contract type entails changes for…

Abstract

Purpose

For a number of years, the construction industry has seen an ongoing shift from design-bid-build to design-build contracts. This transition in contract type entails changes for both the organizations and the individuals involved. Consequently, the purpose of this paper is to investigate how the client manages the transition between the different contract types from an organizational change perspective in a project-led organization.

Design/Methodology/Approach

A multiple case study of six infrastructure projects with DB contracts, all managed by the Swedish Transport Administration, was conducted. The major source of data is semi-structured interviews with respondents from both the client and the contractors.

Findings

Results suggest that the transition has resulted in a mix of design-bid-build and design-build as contract type owing to issues when changing in a project-led organization. A change in vision also requires a concomitant change in culture, systems and roles.

Research Limitations/Implications

The study only includes cases from the Swedish transport infrastructure sector, which limits the generalizability. The findings are also indicative owing to the small number of cases.

Practical Implications

The findings further our understanding of managing change in complex projects, which might help practitioners to manage change in a more integrated way.

Originality/Value

The findings enrich our understanding of the systemic change that a switch in contract types can have in inter-organizational complex projects such as transport infrastructure projects. Furthermore, it emphasizes the intricate task of change management in project-led organizations and its effects on roles and responsibilities.

Details

10th Nordic Conference on Construction Economics and Organization
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83867-051-1

Keywords

Open Access
Book part
Publication date: 1 May 2019

Per Fridtjof Larssen, Atle Engebø, Ola Lædre and Ole Jonny Klakegg

This paper aims to examine how a partnering contract facilitates project values and the culture in a construction project and the consequences of said facilitation. Hence, it…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine how a partnering contract facilitates project values and the culture in a construction project and the consequences of said facilitation. Hence, it answers the following research questions: 1) How does the contractual framework in Bispevika facilitate relational culture? 2) What effects of this facilitation can be identified in the early phase of development?

Design/Methodology/Approach

An explorative approach is taken into a single case. A literature study into the topics of relational contracting and culture provides a backdrop for the study. The empirical work consists of a study of the construction contracts and six in-depth interviews with actors from the supply-chain.

Findings

Contractual elements affect the project organizations’ motivation. On the basis of existing literature, five contractual elements are identified explicitly in the contracts: “shared goals”, “incentives and bonus”, “open book”, “colocation”, and “design-build”.

Research Limitations/Implications

The data collection is restricted to a single point in time in a single project. Further research is necessary both at a later stage in the same case and in similar projects.

Practical Implications

The paper identifies the effects that proper use of contractual elements has on the relational culture in a construction project and is, therefore, important for subsequent research within the area.

Originality/Value

In addition to identifying the existing contractual elements, the interviews also revealed two additional practices that might be useful for subsequent research: “involvement of executive management” and “subsequent contracts dependent on previous project performance”.

Details

10th Nordic Conference on Construction Economics and Organization
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83867-051-1

Keywords

Open Access
Book part
Publication date: 30 November 2023

Pedro Pineda

I historically compare changes in institutional frameworks creating academic positions linked to temporary employment by analyzing university employment statistics in Chile…

Abstract

I historically compare changes in institutional frameworks creating academic positions linked to temporary employment by analyzing university employment statistics in Chile, Colombia, Germany, and the USA. I find that temporary academic positions were institutionalized through the creation of previously inexistent academic categories called a contrata in Chile, de cátedra in Colombia, “junior professor” without tenure in Germany and “postdoc” in the USA; used in higher education and employment laws since 1989, 1992, 2002, and 1974, respectively. Under institutional frameworks demanding the maximization of students and research, universities have increasingly contracted academics through temporary contracts under rationales that differ between regions. In Colombia and Chile, public university leaders and owners of private universities contract such teaching positions to expand student numbers through lowering costs. In Germany and the USA, employment insecurity is mostly driven by temporary scientific positions under a main rationale of scientific expansion. The share of temporary positions has increased exponentially in Colombia and Germany in recent decades, whereas in the USA there has only been an increase since 2012. Moreover, in Chile, the share of permanent positions has decreased since 2012. The common trend is one of isomorphism of vertical academic structures sharing a pyramidal form, with a wide base of academics working under conditions of contractual insecurity. Such trends follow a rationale for maximization of student numbers as well as administration, and scientific production that is in tension with prioritizing wellbeing and improvement of academics’ working conditions. Yet, in these environments, the institution of tenure in the USA and recent Chilean regulations on accreditation represent mechanisms counteracting precarious employment.

Details

University Collegiality and the Erosion of Faculty Authority
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80455-814-0

Keywords

Open Access
Book part
Publication date: 1 May 2019

Agnes Lindell and Stefan Olander

Social sustainability is of increasing importance in societal development, which will affect the implementation of construction projects. The social responsibilities for both…

Abstract

Purpose

Social sustainability is of increasing importance in societal development, which will affect the implementation of construction projects. The social responsibilities for both construction clients and suppliers will be an increasingly relevant part of their business processes. The objective of this study is to evaluate how the procurement process functions today with respect to social considerations.

Design/Methodology/Approach

The empirical data is based on interviews with procurement officials for each studied contract, together with official guidelines concerning social considerations and tender documents for each studied contract. Furthermore, the interviews addressed the level of knowledge that exists with procurement officials concerning social considerations in the procurement of road and railroad projects.

Findings

The results showed that there was a positive attitude towards social considerations in the procurement process and that there is a need in the construction sector to consider social issues to a higher degree.

Research Limitations/Implications

This study is based on six road and five railroad contracts within the Swedish Transport Administration as the client organization.

Practical Implications

It was evident that the level of knowledge with individual procurement officials concerning social issues is relatively low and needs to be increased. There is a perception that the management social considerations in construction procurement need to be clarified.

Originality/Value

Further research is needed to develop procedures, guidelines, routines and strategies for social considerations in procurement. Another important issue for further research is the development of routines to follow up social terms of contract during the implementation of the project.

Details

10th Nordic Conference on Construction Economics and Organization
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83867-051-1

Keywords

Open Access
Book part
Publication date: 4 May 2018

Aster Aryati Rakhmasari and Dian Anwar

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to analyze and design a virtual collaboration information system of the Jamu supply chain network based on a fair adaptive contract to…

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to analyze and design a virtual collaboration information system of the Jamu supply chain network based on a fair adaptive contract to respond to stability challenges in business with an uncertainty environment condition.

Design/Methodology/Approach – System entity approach is used for the purpose of system analysis and then case, sequence diagram, class diagram, graph data modeling, and business process modeling and Notation verse 2 (BPMN2.0) are also used to design the system concept. Each process of the connecting event and gateways was arranged with relevant multicriteria decision approach, whilst an adaptive quantitative formulation based on prescriptive analytics was embedded to ensure a fair contract implementation during the terms for all sphere roles in supply chain.

Findings – The results and implications of this model emphasizes on the knowledge, competence, trust, and fair (KCTF) for actors’ adoption to improve supply chain stability and implementation.

Practical Implications – This led actors to collaborate their business in a more effective way.

Originality/Value – This model can reach more stability in the uncertainty environment.

Open Access
Book part
Publication date: 30 April 2019

S. J. Oswald A. J. Mascarenhas

Building trust and living interpersonal trust are crucial corporate executive virtues that are needed today. Once you have developed and solidified a high level of genuine…

Abstract

Executive Summary

Building trust and living interpersonal trust are crucial corporate executive virtues that are needed today. Once you have developed and solidified a high level of genuine interpersonal trust with all your stakeholders, especially customers, suppliers, and employees, then you are on the right path of managing and transforming your company. A high level of interpersonal trust between all stakeholders and corporates in a business situation will break down communication barriers, foster serious conversation and sharing of ideas, and will eliminate corporate transactional anxieties of fear, mistrust, guilt, rigidity, blame, and resentment. When stakeholders trust you and you trust them, then you speak freely, they speak freely, and your mutual sustained transparency is a gateway to survival, revival, and sustained corporate recovery and transformation, and steady growth and prosperity. Conversely, when there is low trust, high mistrust, and high distrust among stakeholders in a business situation, communications and conversations are stressed and fragmented, teamwork and team spirit are very low, and the company is heading toward its ruin and extermination. Such is the crucial role of interpersonal trust in business. This chapter explores the crucial phenomenon of corporate interpersonal trust. We review various cases, models, concepts, definitions, and theories of trust from the management literature in general, and from the marketing field in particular, to derive psychological, behavioral, ethical, and moral principles of corporate trust, trusting relations, and trusting strategies.

Details

Corporate Ethics for Turbulent Markets
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78756-192-2

Open Access
Book part
Publication date: 14 December 2023

Isabel C. Botero and Tomasz A. Fediuk

Justice perceptions describe an individual's evaluation of whether decisions or actions are fair or unfair. These perceptions are important because they affect individual…

Abstract

Justice perceptions describe an individual's evaluation of whether decisions or actions are fair or unfair. These perceptions are important because they affect individual attitudes and behaviors in different situations. Family firms develop and implement governance policies and structures (i.e., governance systems) to diminish the problems that can arise from the overlap between the business, the family, and the ownership systems of a firm. Governance systems help family firms have a clear structure of accountability and a clear understanding of the rights and responsibilities that family and non-family members have toward the family enterprise. Research on governance to date has focused on the practices and policies that exist and their effects on the family firm. However, in the governance context, individual perceptions are important because they are likely to affect the attitudes that family and other members have toward the family enterprise and the likelihood that they will follow the different policies when they are implemented. This chapter takes a receiver perspective to explain how individuals create justice perceptions based on governance mechanisms and the effects of these perceptions. The goal is to understand how we can use this information when developing governance practices in family firms.

Open Access
Book part
Publication date: 1 May 2019

Marco A. Bragadin and Kalle Kähkönen

This paper is based on research addressing quality of construction schedules. The paper aims to structure a Schedule Health Assessment method and present it as a means to carry…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper is based on research addressing quality of construction schedules. The paper aims to structure a Schedule Health Assessment method and present it as a means to carry out the evaluation of construction schedules.

Design/Methodology/Approach

The development of the Schedule Health assessment method can be characterised as constructive research. The structuring of the method is based on analysis of factors forming the overall quality of construction schedules. The method has been tested in a proof of concept study. This comprised a case study in which four master schedules developed by junior production managers were evaluated using the Schedule Health assessment method.

Findings

It is possible to construct a method for the quality evaluation of construction schedules.

Research Limitations/Implications

The completed testing is still rather limited since it is based merely on experiences of junior production managers with a single case.

Practical Implications

The Schedule Health assessment method can in a useful manner make the quality evaluation of construction schedules easy to approach and effective process.

Originality/Value

This research has produced a novel method for the quality evaluation of construction schedules.

Details

10th Nordic Conference on Construction Economics and Organization
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83867-051-1

Keywords

Open Access
Book part
Publication date: 1 May 2019

Gustav Gunnerud, Sondre Evjen, Rune Søfting, Ola Lædre, Nina Kjesbu and Jardar Lohne

The study aims to address the seemingly unexplored scope of action for project managers to conduct work-related crime in the Norwegian construction industry.

Abstract

Purpose

The study aims to address the seemingly unexplored scope of action for project managers to conduct work-related crime in the Norwegian construction industry.

Design/Methodology/Approach

Literature review: In-depth interview with 13 senior officials. Document study.

Findings

Broad scope of action to contract criminal subcontractors seems to be exploited intentionally and unintentionally.

Research Limitations/Implications

Limited number of interviewees. The scale of intentional exploitation unknown. Research could be used as basis to further research on incentives and countermeasures.

Practical Implications

Need for industry wide effort to improve barriers to avoid crime and contracting criminal subcontractors.

Originality/Value

Unexplored field globally and in Norway. Little to no documentation found in previous research.

Details

10th Nordic Conference on Construction Economics and Organization
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83867-051-1

Keywords

Open Access
Book part
Publication date: 14 November 2017

John E. Tyler, Evan Absher, Kathleen Garman and Anthony Luppino

This chapter demonstrates that social business models do not meaningfully prioritize or impose accountability to “social good” over other purposes in ways that (a) best protect…

Abstract

This chapter demonstrates that social business models do not meaningfully prioritize or impose accountability to “social good” over other purposes in ways that (a) best protect against owners changing their minds or entry of new owners with different priorities and (b) enable reliable accountability over time and across circumstances. This chapter further suggests a model – a “social primacy company” – that actually prioritizes “social good” and meaningful accountability to it. This chapter thus clarifies circumstances under which existing models might be most useful and are not particularly useful, especially as investors, entrepreneurs, employees, regulators, and others pursue shared, common understandings about purposes, priorities, and accountability.

1 – 10 of 224