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1 – 10 of over 1000Md. Mohaimenul Islam Sourav, Mohammed Russedul Islam, Sheikh Mohibur Rahman and Md. Istiak Jahan
In Bangladesh (BD), delays in infrastructure are common. Many previous studies have explored the causes of infrastructure delays. However, this study investigated the causes of…
Abstract
Purpose
In Bangladesh (BD), delays in infrastructure are common. Many previous studies have explored the causes of infrastructure delays. However, this study investigated the causes of delays by taking responses from the stakeholders who are responsible for planning, design, funding, approval and implementation. There are few studies that have related infrastructure project delays to heterogeneity in stakeholders’ perceptions.
Design/methodology/approach
A structural equation (SE) model is developed with 350 normally distributed data points to understand the heterogeneity in stakeholders’ perceptions regarding delays in infrastructure projects in BD. Additionally, the relative importance index (RII) approach is used to assess the responses, validating the SE model.
Findings
The study finds that among the three latent variables, “Project itself related delay” has more influence on delays in infrastructure projects. Among the observed variables under the “project itself related delay” latent variable, “DPP approval process” has the most significance. From the heterogeneity analysis, the study found differences in responses among the stakeholders from “the Engineering Department,” “the Planning Office” and “the Construction Firm/Industry.” An important class of stakeholders believes that their stage is not being delayed and that other stages require attention.
Research limitations/implications
The data sample is 350. More data can improve the accuracy of the findings. Most of the respondents are civil engineers (74%) and represent the owner of the project. Sample data from more stakeholders’ will enhance the accuracy of the result.
Practical implications
This study addresses the requirements of Bangladeshi project stakeholders and how their interactions cause delays in projects. Furthermore, the opinions of other stakeholders are taken into consideration when determining the specific factors of individual stakeholders that are causing delays. Practically, the distance between stakeholders should be reduced. A project manager can play a role in this regard. Initiatives should be taken on how to complete the project quickly by eliminating the requirements discussed among the stakeholders and bureaucratic complications. Instead of placing blame on one another, stakeholders should take the initiative to figure out how to work together to finish the project on schedule. The Planning Commission’s approval of the Development Project Proposal (DPP) and Revised Development Project Proposal (RDPP) should be obtained as soon as possible by owner stakeholders. In order to avoid frequently changing the DPP, owners should also exercise greater caution when choosing contractors. Contractor stakeholders should use efficient and proper manpower and equipment so that unexpected delays are not created during the execution of work. Since the role of the contractor stakeholder is the most important among the three types of stakeholders, the contractor should raise awareness and urge the owners to get the RDPP approved quickly.
Originality/value
The findings from the study can help mitigate delays in infrastructure projects in BD, taking into account the perceptions of various stakeholders.
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Suhaib Arogundade, Mohammed Dulaimi, Saheed Ajayi and Ali Saad
The decisions of contractors could impact the reduction of construction carbon footprint. These decisions are linked to the belief of contractors which equally affects how they…
Abstract
Purpose
The decisions of contractors could impact the reduction of construction carbon footprint. These decisions are linked to the belief of contractors which equally affects how they behave while delivering projects. This study aims to investigate the behavioural tendencies of contractors that could lead to carbon minimisation during the execution of construction projects.
Design/methodology/approach
An industry survey was performed amongst 41 UK construction professionals. Spearman’s correlation and factor analysis were used to analyse the data.
Findings
The result of the Spearman’s correlation gave rise to 14 contractors’ carbon reduction behaviour (CCRB) variables and their factor analysis yielded two distinct factors, namely, contractors’ consummate carbon reduction behaviour and contractors’ pragmatic carbon reduction behaviour. The findings suggest that in the UK, contractors are willing to take voluntary practical steps to decrease the carbon footprint of construction projects.
Practical implications
This finding might be unexpected to construction stakeholders, especially construction clients who may believe that infusing strict carbon reduction obligations in contracts is sufficient in nudging contractors to lessen the carbon impact of projects.
Originality/value
The study attempted to quantitatively derive CCRB, thereby extending the breadth of knowledge in the construction carbon reduction domain.
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Joseph Kuruneri and Wiston Zivanai
Governments worldwide seek to optimize value in public project bids. Social procurement (SP) has become a global tool for achieving project goals. The purpose of this study is to…
Abstract
Purpose
Governments worldwide seek to optimize value in public project bids. Social procurement (SP) has become a global tool for achieving project goals. The purpose of this study is to assess the understanding of SP among contractors and identify its drivers to optimize the value associated with public projects.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 15 major contractors were interviewed to obtain their views on SP, appreciate their current practices and identify the main drivers of SP in projects. A semistructured interview was used to gather relevant data. Neo-institutional theory is the lens of the study used to provide the focus of the research. The collected data were analyzed using the thematic data analysis technique.
Findings
The study found that SP is understood as corporate social responsibility and is not handled in a structured manner guided by policies or clearly defined procedures. Additionally, research has shown that compliance requirements, rather than value and goodwill, are the main inspiration for SP practices.
Research limitations/implications
The study’s limitation is the fact that it was conducted in the context of Botswana and only used the interview technique as the solo data collection method. The other limitation is the lack of empirical literature on SP concerning the lack of SP policy in Botswana.
Originality/value
This study raises awareness of the concept of SP among contractors in Botswana and eases its implementation within the industry.
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Shaoyan Wu, Mengxiao Liu, Duo Zhao and Tingting Cao
Although trust is generally taken as a fundamental factor in influencing relational behavior in contractor–subcontractor collaboration, the determination of an optimal level of…
Abstract
Purpose
Although trust is generally taken as a fundamental factor in influencing relational behavior in contractor–subcontractor collaboration, the determination of an optimal level of trust is still lacking. Trust with an optimal tipping point that matches dependence best is considered the optimal trust to improve relational behavior between general contractors and subcontractors. To fill the knowledge gap, this study explores how combinations of trust and dependence trigger relational behavior between general contractors and subcontractors through a configurational approach.
Design/methodology/approach
Questionnaires were administered to 228 middle management and technical staff members of the general contractor. The data were analyzed using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), and the inductive analytic method allowed researchers to explore configurations of different dimensions and levels of dependence and trust.
Findings
Necessity analysis results indicated that neither dependence nor trust was a necessary condition for facilitating relational behavior. Through sufficiency analysis, four configurations of optimal trust matched with dependence were identified in contractor–subcontractor collaboration. Even if contractors rely only on subcontractors for resources, the optimal trust between contractors and subcontractors should include both institution- and cognition-based trust. In the event that contractor–subcontractor collaboration involves relational dependence, both affect- and cognition-based trust are necessary for the optimal trust.
Originality/value
This study enhances existing research by delving deeper into a nuanced understanding of optimal trust in dependence scenarios, and enriches project governance theory by uncovering the internal transmission of relational governance. Practically, this study offers general contractors guidance on how to establish optimal trust strategies based on the dual dependence level with subcontractors, which can facilitate subcontractors' relational behavior, and ultimately improve contractor–subcontractor collaboration performance.
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Ling Zhang, Nan Feng, Haiyang Feng and Minqiang Li
For an entrant platform in the on-demand service market, choosing an appropriate employment model is critical. This study explores how the entrant optimally chooses the employment…
Abstract
Purpose
For an entrant platform in the on-demand service market, choosing an appropriate employment model is critical. This study explores how the entrant optimally chooses the employment model to achieve better performance and investigates the optimal pricing strategies and wage schemes for both incumbent and entrant platforms.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the Hotelling model, the authors develop a game-theoretic framework to study the incumbent's and entrant's optimal service prices and wage schemes. Moreover, the authors determine the entrant's optimal employment model by comparing the entrant's optimal profits under different market configurations and analytically analyze the impacts of some critical factors on the platforms' decision-making.
Findings
This study reveals that the impacts of the unit misfit cost of suppliers or consumers on the pricing strategies and wage schemes vary with different operational efficiencies of platforms. Only when both the service efficiency of contractors and the basic employee benefits are low, entrants should adopt the employee model. Moreover, a lower unit misfit cost of suppliers or consumers makes entrants more likely to choose the contractor model. However, the service efficiency of contractors has nonmonotonic effects on the entrant's decision.
Originality/value
This study focuses on an entrant's decision on the optimal employment model in an on-demand service market, considering the competition between entrants and incumbents on both the supplier and consumer sides, which has not been investigated in the prior literature.
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Emmanuel Dele Omopariola, Abimbola Olukemi Windapo, David John Edwards, Clinton Ohis Aigbavboa, Sunday Ukwe-Nya Yakubu and Onimisi Obari
Previous studies have postulated that an advance payment system (APS) positively impacts the contractor's working capital and is paramount to ensuring an efficient and effective…
Abstract
Purpose
Previous studies have postulated that an advance payment system (APS) positively impacts the contractor's working capital and is paramount to ensuring an efficient and effective project cash flow process. However, scant research has been undertaken to empirically establish the cash flow performance and domino effect of APS on project and organisational performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The epistemological design adopted a positivist philosophical stance augmented by deductive reasoning to explore the phenomena under investigation. Primary quantitative data were collected from 504 Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) registered contractors (within the grade bandings 1–9) in South Africa. A five-point Likert scale was utilised, and subsequent data accrued were analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM).
Findings
Emergent findings reveal that the mandatory use of an APS does not guarantee a positive project cash flow, an improvement in organisational performance or an improvement in project performance.
Practical implications
The ensuing discussion reveals the contributory influence of APS on positive cash flow and organisational performance, although APS implementation alone will not achieve these objectives. Practically, the research accentuates the need for various measures to be concurrently adopted (including APS) towards ensuring a positive project cash flow and improved organisational and project performance.
Originality/value
There is limited empirical research on cash flow performance and the domino effect of APS on project and organisational performance in South Africa, nor indeed, the wider geographical location of Africa as a continent. This study addresses this gap in the prevailing body of knowledge.
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Junying Liu, Zhixiu Wang, Jiansheng Tang and Jingcong Song
While there is a general belief that a defective institutional environment will lead to higher compliance risk, the current state of knowledge about how the institutional…
Abstract
Purpose
While there is a general belief that a defective institutional environment will lead to higher compliance risk, the current state of knowledge about how the institutional environment affects enterprises' compliance is equivocal. This study aims to explore how does the host country's institutional environment affect the compliance risk perception of international engineering contractors and how to mitigate this impact.
Design/methodology/approach
This study empirically tests the impact of the institutional environment from the two dimensions of the institutional environment: legal completeness reflects whether the formal regulations are clear, detailed and comprehensive and legal effectiveness reflects whether rules and policies can be implemented effectively when the proper legal codes are provided. Based on 213 questionnaire data, this study uses partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM) and Smart PLS software to test the hypothesis.
Findings
This study finds a negative relationship between the host country's legal completeness (LC) or legal effectiveness (LE) and a contractor's compliance risk perception. Further, the results show potential absorptive capacity (PAC) and realized absorptive capacity (RAC) of a contractor are critical for mitigating the impact of low LC in the host country, but not when LE is low.
Practical implications
The findings will be useful for international engineering contractors to respond to the compliance risk of the host country, both in choices of overseas investment locations and compliance capacity building.
Originality/value
This study reveals the impact of the host country's institutional environment on the compliance risk perception of international contractors, and provides theoretical guidance for how to alleviate the compliance barriers brought by the host country's institutional environment to international engineering contractors.
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Yixi Zhang, Bee Lan Oo and Benson Teck-Heng Lim
Contractors of different scales, operating in different construction industries of varying institutional and economic settings, have different considerations when making bid or…
Abstract
Purpose
Contractors of different scales, operating in different construction industries of varying institutional and economic settings, have different considerations when making bid or no-bid and mark-up decisions. Focusing on the large and medium-sized contractors in the Jilin province, China, the purpose of this study is to examine important factors affecting their decision to bid (d2b) and mark-up decisions and investigate differences between large and medium-sized contractors in evaluating the importance of the various factors affecting their d2b and mark-up decisions.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used a survey design for timely data collection from a large population. Contractors’ bidding attitudes was collected using an online survey questionnaire with a list of 40 key factors. Statistical analytical methods were applied for comparing the two groups of contractors.
Findings
The results of this study indicate that factors related to client conditions are most critical for both large and medium-sized contractors in their d2b and mark-up decisions. The results also show statistically significant differences between the two groups of contractors on a subset of factors affecting their d2b and mark-up decisions. The large contractors have placed more emphasis on projects' potential financial and strategic benefits. Another notable finding is that both groups of contractors have placed great emphasise on “government legislations” in their d2b and mark-up decisions.
Research limitations/implications
These findings should be interpreted in consideration of several limitations. Firstly, the sample size is relatively small, and the focus was on a single province in the China construction industry. Next, this study only explores differences between large and medium-sized contractors in evaluating the importance of the various factors affecting their d2b and mark-up decisions.
Practical implications
Contractors could refer list of critical factors in competing for jobs in Jilin province or other provinces of similar institutional and economic settings. Construction clients, on the other hand, should consider the list of critical factors in the formulation of their competitive tendering procedures, thus enhancing the efficiency in their procurement of construction services.
Originality/value
Research on contractors’ bidding decision-making in the context of Chinese construction industry remains scarce; the research findings have implications for the industry stakeholders.
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Anna-Therése Järvenpää, Johan Larsson and Per Erik Eriksson
This paper aims to identify how a public client’s use of control systems (process, output and social control) affect innovation possibilities in construction projects.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to identify how a public client’s use of control systems (process, output and social control) affect innovation possibilities in construction projects.
Design/methodology/approach
Semi-structured interviews about six infrastructure projects were conducted to identify respondents’ views on innovation possibilities. These possibilities were then analyzed from an organizational control perspective within principal–agent relationships between the Swedish Transport Administration (STA) and their contractors.
Findings
How the client uses control systems affects innovation possibilities. Relying on process control could negatively affect innovation opportunities, whereas output control could have a positive influence. In addition, social control seems to have a weak effect, as the STA appears not to use social control to facilitate joint innovation. Public clients must comply with the Public Procurement Act and, therefore, retain the requirements specified in the tendering documents. Much of the steering of the execution is connected to the ex ante phase (before signing the contract), which affects innovation possibilities in the design and execution phases for the contractor.
Research limitations/implications
This study was conducted with only one client, thus limiting its generalizability. However, the findings provide an important stepping stone to further investigation into balancing control systems and creating innovation possibilities in a principal–agent relationship.
Originality/value
Although public procurement has increasingly been emphasized as a major potential source of innovation, studying how a public client’s use of organizational control systems affects innovation possibilities in the construction sector has received scant attention.
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Rouzbeh Shabani, Tobias Onshuus Malvik, Agnar Johansen and Olav Torp
Uncertainty management (UM) in projects has been a point of attention for researchers for many years. Research on UM has mainly been aimed at uncertainty analyses in the front-end…
Abstract
Purpose
Uncertainty management (UM) in projects has been a point of attention for researchers for many years. Research on UM has mainly been aimed at uncertainty analyses in the front-end and managing uncertainty in the construction phase. In contrast, UM components in the design phase have received less attention. This research aims to improve knowledge about the key components of UM in the design phase of large road projects.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopted a literature review and case study. The literature review was used to identify relevant criteria for UM. These criteria helped to design the interview guide. Multiple case study research was conducted, and data were collected through document study and interviews with project stakeholders in two road projects. Each case's owners, contractors and consultants were interviewed individually.
Findings
The data analysis obtained helpful information on the involved parties, process and exploit tools and techniques during the design phase. Johansen's (2015) framework [(a) human and organisation, (b) process and (c) tools and techniques)] was completed and developed by identifying relevant criteria (such as risk averse or risk-taker, culture and documentation level) for each component. These criteria help to measure UM performance. The authors found that owners and contractors are major formal UM actors, not consultants. Empirical data showed the effectiveness of Web-based tools in UM.
Research limitations/implications
The studied cases were Norwegian, and this study focussed on uncertainties in the project's design phase. Relevant criteria did not cover all the criteria for evaluating the performance of UM. Qualitative evaluation of criteria allows further quantitative analysis in the future.
Practical implications
This paper gave project owners and managers a better understanding of relevant criteria for measuring UM in the owners and managers' projects. The paper provides policy-makers with a deeper understanding of creating rigorous project criteria for UM during the design phase. This paper also provides a guideline for UM in road projects.
Originality/value
This research gives a holistic evaluation of UM by noticing relevant criteria and criteria's interconnection in the design phase.
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