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The study aims to build up knowledge for collateral exploration of the classical Delphi survey method for assessing the industrial sustainability-related correction factor using a real field study in Nigeria.

The paper elicits the character and the operational approaches using an example study to provide a critical review of the method. It estimates the correction factor for appraisal purposes by transforming expert opinion into a valid group consensus.

The work considers the specific parameters of the method, design and analysis for interpretation to prove the reliability and the validity for the research results. Moreover, it emphasises that the validity of the traditional Delphi research demands cautious theoretical and practical applications by the coordinating researcher. The paper establishes the current validity and effectiveness of the classical Delphi method of foresight and streamlines their efficient implementation for theory building despite its numerous weaknesses.

It explores desirable futures for the method while analysing what is possible and probable.

The highest number of accidents in proportion to the employment rate is found in construction industry among all industries in Pakistan. The purpose of this paper is to identify and prioritize the contributory factors of accident causation that can significantly reduce the rate of accident in the construction industry.

In total, 32 contributory factors of accident causation were identified through a triangulation strategy comprising eight face-to-face semi-structured interviews with the academic and industry experts coupled with a comprehensive literature review. Delphi survey was then conducted among the four respondent groups (clients, contractors, safety official and academia) to prioritize these factors. A consensus was achieved among the respondent groups after conducting two rounds of Delphi survey. Finally, the results were validated using the technique of inter-rater agreement (IRA) analysis.

All the shortlisted accident causation factors were graded as “important” to “extremely important”. Moreover, a “moderate” to “strong level” agreement was developed among the respondent groups. The three most significant factors were highlighted as “poor enforcement of safety rules and regulations by the Government agencies”, “insufficient allocation of safety budget and safety incentives by the client”, and “insufficient provision of safety training and resources by the contractor”.

The findings will help the key stakeholders to prioritize their energies towards achieving zero accident in the construction industry. Moreover, addition of academic experts as one of the respondent groups will enhance the linkages between the academia and the industry practitioners.

Besides highlighting the underlying causes of construction accidents in Pakistan, a detailed methodology is presented in this study for the analysis and validation of the Delphi survey data, which can be extrapolated in other regions and industries for elements prioritization. The findings of the study can also be generalized for other developing countries having similar work environment. The results validation through the use of IRA analysis is an addition to the field of construction safety research. The study also authenticates the applicability of IRA analysis to assess the agreement level among the respondents.

Across country and regional borders firms are faced with the question whether to address individual markets on a stand-alone basis or cooperatively. In order to support such strategic decisions, this paper aims to develop a decision framework accounting for the most relevant market dynamics affecting joint venture (JV) decisions, particularly in the truck industry. Moreover, the authors apply the framework to an expert Delphi and scenario approach to back a Western original equipment manufacturers (OEM’s) JV decision in the truck industry in Russia. Based on country-specific projections structured along the globally applicable decision framework, the authors serve executives’ individual information demand in an institutionally unique emerging market environment.

Online real-time expert Delphi study; scenario analysis; and expert workshops were used in this study.

Among other insights, the results predict hard times for Russian OEMs as they will likely face strong foreign competition, leading to decreased sales volumes and market shares. Although some experts doubt the survival of several Russian truck manufacturers, the Delphi sheds light on possible strategic responses, including consolidation, cooperation or focusing on new markets. Based on the Delphi results and an additional expert workshop, we draw multiple scenarios addressing, particularly, uncertain aspects of the industry’s development and their likely impact on the key stakeholder groups.

Although there are some studies following a similar methodological approach as that in this study (von der Gracht and Darkow, 2010; Gnatzy and Moser, 2012), the authors break new ground in developing a JV-dedicated decision framework and applying it to a special emerging market industry setup.

This research investigates the study of service operations and information technology (IT) in order to observe the interaction between these two constructs. Phase I utilizes a Delphi study, involving 31 participants from 11 organizations, to provide initial specification of a service typology based on task requirements. Phase II of the research is a multiple case study that further refines the construct specifications and analyzes the dynamics of the interaction between components of the service task and IT. Results of the Delphi and case analysis suggest that differentiation within the service task construct occurs along an expertise‐based continuum that incorporates four primary task requirements. These requirements include knowledge‐base, level of standardization and two databased elements, data configuration and data interpretation. The case analyses further indicate the presence of three primary levels of task requirements – transaction processing, request fulfillment and problem resolution. Early results from the task‐IT interaction analysis suggest that the task‐IT relationship affects critical operations factors such as process innovation, IT diffusion rates, achievement of informational and operational advantage, performance measurement and elements of service quality.

The Nigerian construction industry is bedeviled with poor project performance and outcomes which value management (VM) could address if applied. The application of VM on Nigerian construction projects is very minimal due to certain obstacles, namely, lack of VM experts, paucity of knowledge on the techniques, etc., which inhibits the adoption into the construction industry. Therefore, this study aims to develop a conceptual framework of the adoption of VM on construction projects in a typical developing economy.

This study engaged 15 selected VM experts in two rounds of Delphi survey to develop a conceptual framework of VM adoption. The method of data analysis includes mean score, standard deviation, Kendall’s coefficient of concordance, chi-square (χ²) test, interrater agreement analysis and significant level analysis. The developed conceptual framework was sent to a team of local and international VM experts for validation.

This study reveals that the adoption of VM requires the collective effort of relevant stakeholders in the construction industry. The framework developed presents individual and collective activities to be undertaken by the stakeholders. The activities include training, legislation, government-funded research, etc. Thus, the adoption of innovative management methodology like VM requires the collaboration of academics, construction professional bodies and government parastatals. This will assist in the judicious use of limited construction resources and boost the relevance of the Nigerian construction industry among developing nations and in the global construction market.

This study used the opinions of few construction professionals that can be regarded as VM experts in Nigeria, as against engaging a pool of construction professionals who may not be knowledgeable in VM process. Engaging the few VM experts in the Nigerian construction industry is important to have a valid basis for drawing conclusion, as large questionnaire survey could be possibly filled by inexperienced or unqualified respondents if stringent criteria are not considered at the outset of this study.

This study is carried out to evaluate how well legal knowledge can be demonstrated by a built environment professional via the scenario-based approach to the learning of law modules.

A Delphi analysis of the advice provided by an MSC quantity surveying student, on a scenario-based legal problem arising due to a property contract, is carried out. The tendered legal advice was submitted as part of the assessment requirements for an MSc law module, following the university criteria, after the teaching of a law module. The student report, which attained an A-grade, and the assessment criteria used for marking/grading by the university were subsequently sent to 18 practicing lawyers, who were selected to constitute an expert panel, to independently judge the extent of legal knowledge demonstrated in the student report.

The Delphi analysis outcome showed that the expert panel holds a similar consensus view to the university on the level of legal knowledge demonstrated and by extension the effectiveness of the law module in imparting legal knowledge to a non-lawyer. The study outcome shows how well legal knowledge can be acquired and applied by a non-lawyer, within the context of the built environment, via scenario-based teaching of a law module.

This study serves as a preliminary step necessary to arouse further research toward empirically profiling the current outlook of a wider range of graduating students receiving scenario-based legal education in the built environment.

This study is aimed to identify the attributes for a valuation approach of flood risk exposure, in particular for residential property. With frequent flood events in Malaysia, there is a need for valuation methods to evolve and represent the increased risk of natural disasters.

This study employed the Delphi method which is a systematic and interactive research technique in obtaining variables for a valuation approach for residential property exposed to flood risk.

Results from the Delphi method revealed four categories of attributes, namely environmental, locational, structural and economical.

The findings from this research will transform the valuation approach in Malaysia to identify the value of residential property exposed to flood risk. The determination of variables will represent the current risk in valuations, especially for residential property in flood-prone areas.

Community resilience decides a lot on a city's ability to withstand an external shock. It has evolved naturally from a bounce-back approach to a more robust and meaningful bounce-forward process. The study explores gaps found in community resilience and finds that criteria specific to different disasters are absent.

The study uses a multi-criteria decision analysis technique, fuzzy Delphi, to select criteria. Derivation of the initial list of criteria was from a pilot study, a focus group discussion and other literature studies which was followed by the fuzzy Delphi survey.

After two rounds of fuzzy Delphi analysis, the consensus among 65 experts resulted in selecting 125 sub-sub-criteria within seven criteria. Findings show that many criteria previously not discussed in other pieces of literature project high fuzzy scores such as “availability of drinking water post-disaster” and “cracking down fake news spreaders by the police”. In addition, positive cooperation between political and religious institutions have proven to expedite disaster recovery.

The future scope also includes weighing the selected criteria using analytical hierarchy process (AHP).

Policymakers in the disaster management domain can use the study findings in implementing effective disaster mitigation strategies.

The selection of criteria is based on the community resilience shown by the Kerala community during the floods of 2018 and 2019 (in Kerala). Measures demonstrated by the community need to be studied, which will help foster disaster mitigation better in future scenarios.

This study aims to address the current gap in knowledge of indirect procurement performance management. It attempts to argue the need for a specific and tailored performance management approach for the indirect procurement function that incorporates a balanced approach, beyond financial measures.

The case study approach evaluated key performance indicators from a balanced scorecard (BSC) perspective in the development of a performance measurement system (PMS) for a Middle Eastern university’s indirect procurement division. It initially reviewed the literature to assess potential indicators for this context. It used vision and mission statement analysis alongside expert interviews to augment the literature. The candidate indicators were then evaluated and ranked by an expert panel through applying a four-round Delphi technique.

Twenty-nine procurement-specific indicators are suggested in a BSC framework. The five highest-ranked indicators were not in the financial perspective unlike other BSC studies in the broader field of supply chain management (SCM).

The study suggests a framework and indicators for a procurement PMS for practitioners to consider. It also highlights there is no one-size-fits-all and that organisations need to tailor PM to the organisation and divisional strategy and operational needs. This study aids the development of guidelines for executives and procurement management that wish to develop indicators and a PMS.

This study contributes to knowledge by partly addressing the under-researched field of indirect procurement PM. The literature suggested that various roles in SCM require specific PM indicators. This study puts forward a BSC framework with 29 indicators specifically for indirect procurement. Fourteen of these indicators were derived from non-literature sources. This study enhances knowledge and contributes to the limited debate and evidence on indirect procurement PM and the broader PM literature.

To construct a scientific and reasonable indicator system, it is necessary to design a set of standardized indicator primary selection and optimization inspection process. The purpose of this paper is to provide theoretical guidance and reference standards for the indicator system design process, laying a solid foundation for the application of the indicator system, by systematically exploring the expert evaluation method to optimize the index system to enhance its credibility and reliability, to improve its resolution and accuracy and reduce its objectivity and randomness.

The paper is based on system theory and statistics, and it designs the main line of “relevant theoretical analysis – identification of indicators – expert assignment and quality inspection” to achieve the design and optimization of the indicator system. First, the theoretical basis analysis, relevant factor analysis and physical process description are used to clarify the comprehensive evaluation problem and the correlation mechanism. Second, the system structure analysis, hierarchical decomposition and indicator set identification are used to complete the initial establishment of the indicator system. Third, based on expert assignment method, such as Delphi assignments, statistical analysis, t-test and non-parametric test are used to complete the expert assignment quality diagnosis of a single index, the reliability and validity test is used to perform single-index assignment correction and consistency test is used for KENDALL coordination coefficient and F-test multi-indicator expert assignment quality diagnosis.

Compared with the traditional index system construction method, the optimization process used in the study standardizes the process of index establishment, reduces subjectivity and randomness, and enhances objectivity and scientificity.

The innovation point and value of the paper are embodied in three aspects. First, the system design process of the combined indicator system, the multi-dimensional index screening and system optimization are carried out to ensure that the index system is scientific, reasonable and comprehensive. Second, the experts’ background is comprehensively evaluated. The objectivity and reliability of experts’ assignment are analyzed and improved on the basis of traditional methods. Third, aim at the quality of expert assignment, conduct t-test, non-parametric test of single index, and multi-optimal test of coordination and importance of multiple indicators, enhance experts the practicality of assignment and ensures the quality of expert assignment.