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Article
Publication date: 5 December 2017

Mandeep Saini, Mohammed Arif and Dennis J. Kulonda

The purpose of the paper is to investigate the critical success factors (CSFs) associated with the effectiveness of transfer and sharing of tacit knowledge in lean and agile…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to investigate the critical success factors (CSFs) associated with the effectiveness of transfer and sharing of tacit knowledge in lean and agile construction processes.

Design/methodology/approach

The study identifies ten CSFs that initiate the transferring and sharing of tacit knowledge. The CSFs are validated through quantitative study. This study recruited project managers, executives, consultants and other managers that are directly involved in the management of a construction project. It recruits the respondents those have background and experience from disciplines such as lean construction, agile construction, construction supply chain (CSC) and knowledge management in lean, agile and CSC. The data collected through self-administrative questionnaire are categorised as ordinal data to analyse in SPSS with frequency and Kruskal–Wallis H test, Spearman’s correlation analysis and a rank-order analysis is done to establish the level of importance of those factors.

Findings

Initially, “Trust between construction organisations” is identified as the foremost CSF. Moreover, other CSFs such as motivation, leadership capabilities, business strategies and organisational capabilities follow trust.

Originality/value

This is the first study that investigates and establishes the CSFs that are essential to initiate transferring and sharing tacit knowledge in a lean and in an agile construction processes.

Article
Publication date: 7 August 2017

Lovelin Ifeoma Obi, Mohammed Arif and Dennis J. Kulonda

This study aims to develop a success factor model to understand and facilitate improved cost management system (CMS) implementation in low-cost housing (LcH) project delivery in…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to develop a success factor model to understand and facilitate improved cost management system (CMS) implementation in low-cost housing (LcH) project delivery in Nigeria.

Design/methodology/approach

Literature findings highlight 13 drivers affecting effective implementation within the CMS and uses series of brainstorming sessions and questionnaire surveys to validate the drivers. Factor analysis (FA) identifies possible contextual relationships among the validated drivers and groups them into three success factors. The results of the FA are refined using interpretive structural modelling (ISM). The ISM identifies and models the influential drivers and aids the development of the success factor model.

Findings

Effective team qualities, information and management actions and a stable operational environment are the three essential success factors for effective CMS implementation.

Practical implications

The paper highlights effective team qualities as the most important CMS considerations for Nigerian LcH project delivery. This finding creates the needed awareness to guide project sponsors and project managers in the appropriate selection of the project management team (PMT) as well as the procurement system that facilitates their collaboration.

Originality/value

This study is a novel research using FA and ISM to investigate the influence of success factors needful for effective implementation within the CMS. It further develops a hierarchy model that aids the PMT with better understanding of the drivers and factors interrelationships for use on LcH projects within the Nigerian context.

Details

Journal of Financial Management of Property and Construction, vol. 22 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-4387

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 January 2019

Mandeep Saini, Mohammed Arif and Dennis J. Kulonda

This paper aims to investigate the potential challenges that hinder the effective transfer and sharing of tacit knowledge (knowledge communication [KC]) within a construction…

1012

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the potential challenges that hinder the effective transfer and sharing of tacit knowledge (knowledge communication [KC]) within a construction supply chain (CSC).

Design/methodology/approach

This study identifies six challenges (through literature review) with 15 positive correlations between them. Quantitative methodology is used to validate those challenges and correlations between challenges. First, data are collected through semi-structured e-survey questionnaire. Afterwards, a Frequency and Kruskal–Wallis H test is run for initial validation of identified challenges. A correlation analysis is used to highlight the taxonomic relations between those challenges. Finally, the study establishes the rank order of the first and following challenges.

Findings

This study highlights that traditional ways of working with construction organisations are the predominant challenge that hinders effective transferring and sharing of tacit knowledge. The cause of challenges is the fragmented nature of CSC. Also, it brings out the correlation between those challenges. The study draws the conclusion and recommendation to implement KC within a CSC.

Originality/value

The study highlights the challenges that hinder KC in a construction process of a CSC. It establishes that the fragmented nature of the construction sector is not the first challenge that hinders implementation of transferring and sharing of tacit knowledge but somewhat traditional organisation structures and working processes. This is the first paper that investigates and tests the challenges in four dimensions and establishes the rank order of challenges with crucial distinction in a KC approach within a CSC.

Article
Publication date: 7 November 2016

Amal Abuzeinab, Mohammed Arif, Dennis J. Kulonda and Bankole Osita Awuzie

Sustainability has the potential to bring enormous benefits to our built environment. To release this potential, a change in business models is required. The purpose of this paper…

1085

Abstract

Purpose

Sustainability has the potential to bring enormous benefits to our built environment. To release this potential, a change in business models is required. The purpose of this paper is to investigate green business models (GBMs) transformation by adopting five essential elements of green value creation and capture: green value proposition (GVP), target group (TG), key activities (KA), key resources (KR), and financial logic (FL).

Design/methodology/approach

In this qualitative study, 19 semi-structured interviews were conducted. Interviewees were selected purposively. The emergent data were analysed with the aid of themes.

Findings

It was observed that significant effort was being made towards enabling the transformation of certain elements pertinent to green value creation: KA and KR. This was particularly so when compared to other elements like GVP, TG, and FL.

Practical implications

Findings from this study should encourage construction managers to align their extant BMs to green activities hence enabling new approaches to green value creation and capture. Furthermore, the study will aid in improving the environmental and economic positions of the value chain within the construction sector.

Originality/value

This research is one of the few empirical academic works investigating GBMs in the construction sector.

Details

Built Environment Project and Asset Management, vol. 6 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2044-124X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 1986

Dennis J. Kulonda and William H. Moates

Manufacturing and service supervisors share many similarities in their day‐to‐day activities, their beliefs about employees and their concern for doing a good job. However some…

Abstract

Manufacturing and service supervisors share many similarities in their day‐to‐day activities, their beliefs about employees and their concern for doing a good job. However some fundamental differences in attitudes are revealed by the National Survey of Supervisory Management Practices which surveyed over 8,000 supervisors in 564 different organisational units in 37 states in the USA. Service supervisors perceive themselves as having more authority, stronger management support and a broader and better developed range of skills. They also have stronger career aspirations. Manufacturing supervisors are less positive. The majority believe that people gain most of their satisfaction from non‐work activity. Few believe that good work results in promotion. They are inclined to accept traditional ways of doing things and less inclined to be confident with newer ways of management. The implications for manufacturing companies in the future are that they must invest in increasing the skills and confidence of their current supervisors, provide more attractive career paths in manufacturing management and recruit new talent from universities and in‐house.

Details

International Journal of Operations & Production Management, vol. 6 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-3577

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 November 2017

Amal Abuzeinab, Mohammed Arif, Mohd. Asim Qadri and Dennis Kulonda

Green business models (GBMs) in the construction sector represent the logic of green value creation and capture. Hence, the call to examine GBMs is growing ever louder. The aim of…

1161

Abstract

Purpose

Green business models (GBMs) in the construction sector represent the logic of green value creation and capture. Hence, the call to examine GBMs is growing ever louder. The aim of this paper is to identify benefits of GBMs by adopting five essential elements of the GBM from the literature: green value proposition; target group; key activities; key resources (KR); and financial logic.

Design/methodology/approach

In all, 19 semi-structured interviews are conducted with construction sector practitioners and academics in the UK. Thematic analysis is used to obtain benefits of GBMs. Further, the interpretive ranking process (IRP) is used to examine which elements of the GBM have a dominant role in providing benefits to construction businesses.

Findings

The benefits are grouped into three themes: credibility/reputation benefits; financial benefits; and long-term viability benefits. The IRP model shows that the element of KR is the most important when evaluated against these three benefit themes.

Practical implications

Linking GBM elements and benefits will help companies in the construction sector to analyse the business case of embracing environmental sustainability.

Originality/value

This research is one of the few empirical academic works investigating the benefits of GBMs in the construction sector. The IRP method is a novel contribution to GBMs and construction research.

Details

Construction Innovation, vol. 18 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1471-4175

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 2005

Mohammed Arif, Dennis Kulonda, Jim Jones and Michael Proctor

Enterprise resource planning (ERP), a technological approach for enterprise information systems, has many recorded case examples of lengthy and expensive implementations reported…

5252

Abstract

Purpose

Enterprise resource planning (ERP), a technological approach for enterprise information systems, has many recorded case examples of lengthy and expensive implementations reported in literature. This research has uncovered an alternative process‐driven and document‐based approach that may offer a simpler and more flexible solution compared with technology‐driven ERP. This paper investigates the differences and similarities of the two approaches, and also answers a related question: Is the enterprise system implementation an information systems effort performed to support the business processes, or is it a process re‐engineering effort required to implement the pre‐packaged software system?

Design/methodology/approach

To investigate the advantages and disadvantages of the two approaches to an enterprise information system, this research developed a unified modeling language (UML) process model of a manufactured housing company and used it as a basis for a conceptual level UML model for both an ERP‐ and a document‐based system.

Findings

In a designed experiment with UML‐fluent analysts, the process‐driven document solution to an enterprise information system was shown to be smaller, less complex and more flexible than an ERP solution at the conceptual design level.

Practical implications

Software specifications for the resulting document‐based system included only standard COTS software packages easily usable in companies of any size. Further, the potential for prototype as‐you‐go development offers opportunities for continuous refinement of the system in contrast with the episodic implementation of packaged ERP systems.

Originality/value

This alternative system highlights the desirability, for both academicians and practitioners, of concentrating on processes and then implementing the most suitable technology, rather than allowing the technology to impose constraints on processes.

Details

Business Process Management Journal, vol. 11 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-7154

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 July 2009

Mohammed Arif, Charles Egbu, Abid Haleem, Dennis Kulonda and Malik Khalfan

The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of a workshop organized in New Delhi to assess the current state of green construction in India and highlight the major…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of a workshop organized in New Delhi to assess the current state of green construction in India and highlight the major drivers and challenges faced by the construction sector.

Design/methodology/approach

The data collection for this paper is conducted through two sources; a survey and a facilitated brainstorming session. The survey provides an opportunity to compare practices in India to global trends and the facilitated sessions provides a platform to collect data on more subjective, experiential knowledge about green construction in India.

Findings

Some of the major findings of this endeavour are: there is an awareness about green construction in India; It is primarily driven by the governmental and international regulations; with the current energy crisis customers in India are actually willing to pay extra for going green; and there is a lack of accurate lifecycle cost assessment models which results in misconceptions about associated costs of going green.

Originality/value

This paper has provided a brief overview of green construction in India. It has also provided a list of major challenges and drivers for implementation of green. This list of challenges and drivers can provide practitioners, regulators, and academics knowledge about means to focus their future efforts in implementation of green.

Details

Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology, vol. 7 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1726-0531

Keywords

Content available
Article
Publication date: 10 July 2009

Theo C. Haupt

304

Abstract

Details

Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology, vol. 7 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1726-0531

Article
Publication date: 2 February 2015

Flevy Lasrado, Mohammed Arif and Aftab Rizvi

Although the corporations widely use the suggestion schemes to elicit the creative ideas of their employee, sustaining a suggestion scheme is still a challenge. Employee…

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Abstract

Purpose

Although the corporations widely use the suggestion schemes to elicit the creative ideas of their employee, sustaining a suggestion scheme is still a challenge. Employee suggestion schemes have been studied from many perspectives to illustrate its objectives, nature, content, process, significance and the benefits. Arguments have also been made with respect to the success and failures of the suggestion schemes. The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors to assess the sustainability of a suggestion system.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper thus explores the critical success factors of suggestion scheme through a literature review and filters the critical determinants for sustainability of suggestion using factor analysis. The data collection was done using a survey technique.

Findings

The results identity the five major factors as determinants to sustainability of a suggestion system as reported in the paper.

Originality/value

This paper has made an attempt to explore the determinants to assess the sustainability of a suggestion system and has contributed toward the new knowledge in terms of sustainability of a suggestion system.

Details

International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, vol. 32 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0265-671X

Keywords

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