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The financial management of the construction procurement process is dependent on the performance of the managers involved. This paper describes an analysis of pre‐tender building price forecasts (estimates) made by a Hong Kong consulting organisation for a series of 89 building projects from 1995 to 1997 to identify factors influencing the accuracy of the forecasts made for possible improvement in performance. This involved the consideration of two distinct sets of models, the purpose of which was: (1) to identify and explain the underlying systematic causes of errors; and (2) to assist in improving the predictive ability of the forecasts. The analysis for (1) used ANOVA to detect significant differences between the errors grouped according to building size (value), building size (floor area), forecasting (estimating) method (approximate quantities and superficial), nature of the work (new build and alteration work), type of client and type of project. This was followed by a Gunner‐Skitmore price intensity theoretic analysis. For (2), MRA was used by using cross‐validation analysis to simulate the ex‐post errors.

Consultant commissions in two envelope fee bidding are awarded on the basis of fee and quality (i.e. technical score). Consultants' fees and technical score are combined using a pre‐designated formulation and predetermined weightings to form a total score. Procurers seem to be having difficulties with existing formulations in controlling the extent to which two envelope fee competitions are dominated by fees. This is because, in most cases, fees vary more than technical scores and the predetermined weightings applied are not sufficient to correct the variability imbalance. The analysis in this paper shows that in fee dominant competitions lower fee‐lower technical scoring consultants are more likely to be successful in winning commissions. The analysis shows that this can be corrected by balancing fees and technical score. Although procurers are likely to pay higher fees when balancing fees and technical scores they normally benefit from getting higher technical scoring consultants.

In order to compete successfully, international contractors need to have an understanding not only of the make‐up of the different competitive environments within each country, but also of contractors' competitive behaviour within those environments. Contractors' mark‐up decision making in public sector contracting is directly compared in two construction markets – Hong Kong and Singapore.

Regression analysis is used to compare the lowest percentage mark‐up in both markets against four mark‐up decision factors that fall into two groups – market‐environment factors (i.e. number of bidders, market conditions) and project‐specific factors (i.e. type and size of project). Data were gathered using a designed bidding experiment.

In line with de Neufville et al.'s “good year‐bad year” study, the effect of market conditions was found to be independent of the number of bidders in both markets; contractors' mark‐up decreases as the number of bidders increases, with lower mark‐up in recession. In addition, this study provides evidence that contractors' mark‐up behaviour varies in different markets: Hong Kong contractors' mark‐up behaviour is more straightforward, in that only the market‐environment factors are significant. However, Singapore contractors' mark‐up behaviour is affected by project type in addition to the market‐environment factors. Project size was not found to be significant in either market.

The empirical findings provide a valuable insight into contractors' mark‐up behaviour, especially those contractors intending to bid for jobs in these two internationally renowned construction markets.

In this chapter, we inquire into our ever-unfolding experiences as teachers and with teacher research participants in order to explore the complexities of curriculum making in teacher education. In doing so, we lay the foundation for understanding narrative inquiry as both theory and method as such, frame our work in this volume. Curriculum making, a term introduced by Joseph Schwab, reflects the dynamic process of learning in which the teacher, learner, subject matter, and milieu interact. Moreover, we think about the ways people make sense of themselves, identity-making, in the process of curriculum making. Through Derek’s experiences with Lee, a previous Grade five student, and Cindy’s work with Jesse, a research participant, we inquire into their curriculum making and identity-making. We argue that in schools, there are multiple curricula in the making, going beyond the formal notions of curriculum as grade-level standards or classroom objectives. In our inquiry process, we consider experiences in schools through Aoki’s understanding of curriculum-as-plan and lived curriculum. In his writing, Aoki noted that the lived experience of curriculum in schools is much more complex and varied than the planned curriculum that is meant for a generalized audience; students and teachers bring their lives with them into particular contexts that indelibly shape the ways that curriculum is lived out. As well, we think about the ways experiences and places shape teachers and researchers and the ways we see the world.

This paper introduces the findings of a recent benchmarking study on the use of information technology (IT) among quantity surveying (QS) companies in Hong Kong. The study was conducted through a questionnaire survey among 15 QS companies registered in Hong Kong, representing around 50 per cent of the total number of companies in the profession. The study focused on how QS companies use IT in their daily operations, including information flows among business partners, the use of computer hardware and software, IT expenditure and training, management support, the perceived benefits of IT applications, perceived obstacles in IT implementation, and major criteria used in software selection. The content validity and measurement reliability of the questionnaire survey have been evaluated, and both of them have shown satisfactory results. This study provides an up‐to‐date and holistic view of the current state of IT applications among QS companies in Hong Kong, in terms of how well they have equipped with IT and their attitude towards adopting this technology. These findings provide a strong foundation for subsequent benchmarking studies to identify best practices among the quantity surveying profession in the construction industry. Based on the findings, this paper suggests major areas for improving IT usage in this sector of the construction industry.

In this chapter, I explore my autobiographical beginnings as a means of better understanding what brought me to the research I explore throughout this text. As Clandinin and Connelly as well as Clandinin and Caine suggested, examining our own stories along with the stories of our research participants is essential to understand the identity-making process. Autobiographical beginnings within narrative inquiry bring to the surface those factors influencing the researcher’s perspectives, thus locating the researcher within the inquiry as well as within a larger life context. The experience of metaphorically travelling back into the muskeg where I grew up in Northern Saskatchewan and then writing about it shaped the structure of my reflections on this inquiry into identity-making and curriculum making on the edges of community. In this chapter, I refer to the edges of community as a metaphorical space or spaces occupied by people positioned or constructed as marginalized from a dominant norm positioned or constructed as central to a community. I suggest a reframing of our understanding of spaces conventionally referred to as marginalized as well as contend that the notion of marginalization, itself, is a metaphor. In my inquiries into identity-making and curriculum making, I attend to the ways in which people’s positioning within communities is complex and shifting. As this chapter illustrates, our individual identities are multivalent and inextricably intertwined with who we are, who we were, and who we wish to become, whether we are researchers, teachers, or pre-service teachers.

In this chapter, the process of doctoral research is discussed in relation to narrative inquiry. I was the doctoral supervisor for Cindy and Derek while they completed their PhDs. I examine in this chapter my experiences alongside Derek and Cindy. I consider the process of recruitment, field text collection and generation, the writing process, and considerations based on the methodology on narrative inquiry, with attention focused on the Deweyan ontology of experience, the three-dimensional narrative inquiry space, co-composition of research texts, narrative threads, living and telling narrative inquiries, and the relational quality of narrative inquiry. This chapter closes with thoughts about who we are in relationship with each other in the graduate process and the fluid nature of research.

Introduction Consider a hi‐fi loudspeaker manufacturing company acquired on the brink of insolvency by an American multinational. The new owners discover with growing concern that the product range is obsolete, that manufacturing facilities are totally inadequate and that there is a complete absence of any real management substance or structure. They decide on the need to relocate urgently so as to provide continuity of supply at the very high — a market about to shrink at a rate unprecedented in its history.