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Delay and disruption claims involve a complex process that often result in disputes, unnecessary expenses and time loss on construction projects. This study aims to review and synthesize the contributions of previous research undertaken in this area and propose future directions for improving the process of delay and disruption claims.

This study adopted a holistic systematic review of literature following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines. A total of 230 articles were shortlisted related to delay and disruption claims in construction using Scopus and Web of Science databases.

Six research themes were identified and critically reviewed including delay analysis, disruption analysis, claim management, contract administration, dispute resolution and delay and disruption information and records. The systematic review showed that there is a dearth of research on managing the wide-ranging information required for delay and disruption claims, ensuring the transparency and uniformity in delay and disruption claims’ information and adopting an end-user’s centred research approach for resolving the problems in the process of delay and disruption claims.

Complexities in delay and disruption claims are real-world problems faced by industry practitioners. The findings will help the research community and industry practitioners to prioritize their energies toward information management of delay and disruption claims.

This study contributes to the body of knowledge in delay and disruption claims by identifying the need for conducting more research on its information requirements and management. Subsequently, it provides an insight on the use of modern technologies such as drones, building information modeling, radio frequency identifiers, blockchain, Bigdata and machine learning, as tools for more structured and efficient attainment of required information in a transparent and consistent manner. It also recommends greater use of design science research approach for delay and disruption claims. This will help to ensure delay and disruption claims are the least complex and less dispute-prone process.

This study aims to provides the insights on the advantages and disadvantages of international franchising and licensing from the perspectives of legal and business considerations in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Using a quantitative research approach, the authors conducted a survey with 150 business owners and franchisees in the GCC and analyzed the data using descriptive statistics, structural equation modeling and frequency analysis.

The findings reveal that while international franchising and licensing offer significant benefits for business expansion and revenue growth, they also pose risks related to legal compliance, cultural differences and intellectual property protection. Indeed, the results of this study provide valuable insights into the advantages and disadvantages of international franchising and licensing in the GCC from both legal and business perspectives.

There is limited research on the legal and business perspectives of international franchising and licensing in the GCC. This study contributes to the literature by providing a comprehensive analysis of the legal and business perspectives of international franchising and licensing in the GCC.

This paper aims to analyze practices, processes and outcomes related to construction supply chain management (CSCM) in Brazil to identify opportunities and direct actions and strategies to improve the Brazilian sector through blockchain technology (BT).

The study collected empirical data through semi-structured interviews with consumers and distributors to identify how the CSCM functions today. The interviews were structured and analyzed around the following topics: processes, digitalization, quality and weakness of the activities performed. The opportunities for using BT in CSCM were identified by crossing these results with evidence in the bibliography.

The study identified deficiencies, gaps and good practices applied to information management in the sector. Also, it analyzed the features, drivers and barriers of BT from a practical perspective. The findings suggested that BT is feasible and promising, reducing costs and enhancing process transparency. The need to overcome cultural and economic barriers is a challenging task.

This study brings a new perspective on using BT in CSCM, relating it to the demands and particularities of the construction sector in Brazil. The study identifies a limited panorama of chronic CSCM concerns, given BT’s infinite opportunities. And it motivates a gradual transition toward installing a new technological culture based on BT that focuses on priority care for the sector’s chronic deficiencies. The results can guide practical actions for the successful insertion of BT in the CSCM, laying the foundations for significant future research.

The purpose of this research is to examine the relationship between employer and employees in a public power sector undertaking through the validation of CODE (compensation, organizational justice, dispute resolution and employee empowerment) and PLE (workforce productivity, employee loyalty and employee engagement) model.

A hypothesized research model was developed and validated by using structural equation modeling (AMOS 20). In total, 303 responses were accumulated by administering a structured questionnaire among the employees of a state-owned power sector.

The results revealed that a harmonious climate of employee relations is prevailing in the public power utility. Additionally, the findings suggest that the CODE and PLE model of employee relations are found to be positive and significant by investigating the impact of compensation, organizational justice, dispute resolution and employee empowerment as the predictors; and workforce productivity, employee loyalty and employee engagement as the critical outcomes of employee relations.

The study recommends some plausible insights for practitioners, decision-makers and policy formulators to develop strategies and policies for nurturing congenial employee relations and also to cultivate a facilitative work environment for generating contented and competent manpower.

Validation of CODE and PLE model of employee relations in the new perspective of power sector undertaking is an epoch-making and novel contribution that offers significant empirical evidence to the extant literature. Moreover, the exploration of employer–employee relations in this context is a unique and innovative effort toward existing research.

Problems such as information asymmetry and a lack of trust among construction practitioners damage the quality and progress of construction projects. The decentralization, transparency, traceability and temper-proof nature of blockchain technology (BCT) can provide solutions and facilitate multiparty cooperation. However, BCT acceptance in the construction industry is relatively low, and there are few pilot projects adopting BCT. Most relevant literature focuses on BCT acceptance at the industry and organizational levels, but the impact of non-managerial practitioners executing BCT or the traditional approach in day-to-day work tends to be disregarded. This study aims to establish a theoretical model of BCT acceptance, identify key influencing factors and paths of behavioral intention to adopt BCT and promote strategies to enhance BCT adoption.

A new BCT acceptance model for construction practitioners was proposed. A survey was performed with 203 construction practitioners in Shenzhen, China and post-survey interviews were conducted with four BCT experts for validation. Covariance-based structural equation modeling was used to examine the influence paths and moderating effect analysis was performed to check practitioners’ differential perceptions.

Performance expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions and perceived behavioral control significantly and positively influence behavioral intention to accept BCT, while impacts from effort performance and risk are negative. Overcoming obstacles related to the effort required for BCT adoption and effective risk management will be essential to unlocking BCT’s transformative potential. Then, the moderating effects of respondents’ gender, degree and BCT knowledge as well as the project type involved were analyzed. Continued adoption of BCT in the construction industry has the potential to revolutionize project management, transparency and trust among stakeholders.

The findings of this research can help practitioners and government agencies understand crucial influencing factors and pathways of BCT acceptance. Targeted measures, such as increasing practitioners’ benefits and sense of BCT usefulness, conducting pilot projects and increasing publicity, were proposed for project leadership teams to enhance BCT adoption. This may lead to increased efficiency, reduced disputes and more streamlined and secure construction processes, ultimately enhancing the industry’s overall performance.

Few studies have explored BCT acceptance from the perspective of non-managerial construction practitioners. The BCT acceptance model proposed in this study is a novel adaptation of previous technology acceptance models, with new factors (risk and perceived behavioral control) and moderating variables (degree, BCT knowledge and project type) added for better understanding of non-managerial practitioners’ perceptions and differences.

We study the potential effects of pension underfunding on corporate investment, financial constraints and improved employee bonding using 10 Pacific-Basin countries (including the United States, Australia, and eight Asian countries) at heterogeneous economic development stages and different regulatory environments. We document that corporate pensions are significantly underfunded in most countries of our sample in the period of 2001–2017, when interest rates were ultralow in most countries. In addition, firms from countries with stronger employee protection and more generous retirement benefits tend to show higher levels of underfunding in their defined benefit (DB) pension plans. To the extent of pension underfunding imposing constraints on corporate investment, we find that firms in these countries can face more constraints on investment when their pension is underfunded.

This study aims to investigate Australian civil tribunal decisions to ascertain compliance with decisional quality standards in Australian law, with a particular focus on strata and community title cases.

An orthodox doctrinal legal analysis and assessment of cases and tribunal policies was adopted. All Australian jurisdictions were surveyed, including federal, state and territory jurisdictions. The case law in each jurisdiction was screened to identify whether the principles applicable to decisional quality were engaged and then analysed as to the extent of that engagement.

Where a party presents a substantial, clearly particularised argument relying upon established facts, tribunals are obliged to address those facts and the arguments by way of an active intellectual process. However, appellate decisions disclose a degree of deference not often accorded to judicial officers, and there is a need for a more disciplined approach to ascertain whether any errors have been made by a tribunal lie on the critical path to the decision. As strata and community title disputes become more complex, the importance of decisional quality standards can only increase.

Up to date as of 1 March 2023.

The present position would appear to be that where a party presents a substantial, clearly particularised argument relying upon established facts, a tribunal must address its mind to those facts and the arguments by way of an active intellectual process. The requirement is limited to circumstances prescribed by a statute and factual and legal issues which are necessary to be determined in order for the tribunal to be satisfied as to circumstances prescribed by a statute. However, where the errors are not gross and plainly obvious, appeals from defective tribunal decisions are unlikely to succeed. There is a degree of deference not often accorded to judicial officers. That deference is unfortunate when tribunals are allocated jurisdiction over what quite often are significant property disputes.

The impact on community living of uncorrected poor quality tribunal decisions can be immense, depending on the degree of error. For example, water ingress into people’s homes might remain unremedied for many years, as, for example, occurred in the Marinko case.

The research and analysis is entirely original. A search of journals and textbooks did not identify any prior analysis, at least in the Australian context, relating to decisional quality standards of tribunals.

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic is the most severe threat we have faced since World War II. So far, there have been about 5 million recorded cases, with over 300,000 fatalities globally. The epidemic is also wreaking havoc on the corporate world. People are losing their jobs and money, and no one knows when normalcy will return. So, addressing the VUCA Leadership Strategies Model is important to get more insight into this topic.

Need for the Study: According to the International Labor Organization, the pandemic might cost 195 million jobs. Even when the immediate impacts wear off, the long-term economic impact will reverberate for years. All four volatile, unpredictable, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) characteristics apply to the issues we confront due to the coronavirus.

Methodology: Changes caused by COVID-19 occur daily, and are unpredictable, dramatic, and quick. No one can predict precisely when the epidemic will end or when a treatment or immunisation will be available. The pandemic impacts many parts of society, including health care, business, the economy, and social life. There is no ‘best practice’ that enterprises may utilise to tackle the pandemic’s issues. The VUCA leadership strategy models will be discussed and compared in this research study.

Findings: In this moment of transition, leaders must adhere to their fundamental values, core purpose, and ambition for big, hairy, and audacious goals.

Practical Implications: In this chapter, VUCA leadership strategy models will be discussed in detail for pre- and post-pandemic scenarios and their impact on different sectors, which will be very important for researchers in the same field.

This study investigates the optimum size for manufacturing firms and the impact of subcontracting on firms' likelihood of achieving their optimal scale in Vietnam.

Using data from the enterprise census in 2017 and 2021, the paper first estimates the production function to identify the optimum firm size for manufacturing firms and then, applies the logit model to investigate factors associated with the optimal firm size.

The study reveals that medium-sized firms exhibit the highest level of productivity. Nevertheless, a consistent trend emerges, indicating that nearly 90% of manufacturing firms in Vietnam operated below their optimal scale in both 2017 and 2021. An analysis of the impact of subcontracting on firms' likelihood to achieve their optimal scale emphasizes its crucial role, especially for foreign firms, exerting an influence nearly five times greater than that of the judiciary system.

The paper's findings offer crucial policy implications, suggesting that initiatives aimed at enhancing the overall productivity of the manufacturing sector should prioritise facilitating contract arrangements to encourage firms to reach their optimal size. These insights are also valuable for other countries with comparable firm size distributions.

This paper provides the first empirical evidence on the relationship between firm size and productivity as well as the role of subcontracting in firms' ability to reach their optimal scale in a country with a right-skewed distribution of firm sizes.

Practitioners have reported a minimal and non-use of building information modelling (BIM), especially in small and medium-sized organisations and BIM infant construction industries. This development calls for a reappraisal of organisations’ strength in capabilities required for BIM uptake towards the target of global construction digitalisation. This study aims to assess the BIM Level 2 uptake capability of organisations in a BIM infant construction industry and identify the underlying interactions between the capability criteria.

The study used a multivariable analysis of fifteen descriptors identified from the people, process, policy, finance and technology domain. Data collection was done in the BIM infant construction industry in Nigeria. Verification of the descriptors and an evaluation of BIM uptake capability in organisations was done. Seventy-three responses were received within the selected context, and data analysis was done with mean weighting and exploratory factor analysis. Maximum Likelihood extraction and Direct Oblimin rotation were used.

Factor analysis revealed three factors that explained 53.28% of the total variance in the BIM Level 2 uptake capability of construction organisations. The factors are workforce capacity and continuous development, an affinity for innovation and strength in physical and operational facilities.

This study provides an overarching and insightful discussion on BIM uptake capability and construction digitalisation with evidence from a BIM-infant construction industry.

The findings of this study are a piece of valuable empirical evidence on Level 2 BIM uptake capability. This empirical situation analysis will inform the advocacy for the advancement of BIM and enhanced utilisation of building information. Evidence on the capability performance of the BIM infant industry has been revealed.

The outcome is expected to stir debate on the preparedness of organisations to further exploit the benefits of BIM in the BIM infant construction industry. Examination of the capability for a particular phase of BIM is scanty in the literature.