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The purpose of this article is to determine safety culture indicators that can improve the health and safety performance of small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) contractors in Ghana.

A three-round Delphi method was used. The first round consisted of 31 experts out of which 18 of them rated their agreements with a set of 87 potential safety culture indicators using a 10-point Likert scale of importance (1 = important and 10 = very important) and the 16 experts who completed the final round were given the opportunity to suggest other indicators. The 87 indicators were categorised into 14 core health and safety elements. Indicators that attained a group median value of 5–10 for 50% or more expert ratings were accepted.

At the end of the third round, a consensus was reached on the indicators when they attracted median scores of 5–10 for at least 50% or more of the health and safety experts rated the indicators between 5 and 10. Out of a total of 87 indicators at the start of the Delphi process, the consensus was reached on 70 that were retained.

The health and safety experts were not given the opportunity to add new indicators to the structured questionnaire until the third round.

This is the first study, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, to have a consensus by health and safety experts on leading indicator metrics of positive culture of construction safety in Ghana for improved SME construction company’s health and safety performance in Ghana. If these indicators are adopted and used effectively in Ghana, they would ensure positive culture of construction safety and subsequently help to protect construction workers.

This paper aims to investigate the impact of integrating Sustainable Enterprise Resource Planning (S-ERP) systems and lean manufacturing (LM) practices on sustainability performance, especially in Egypt as an emerging country.

The authors carried out an experimental study with a sample of 144 professional accountants of MPA, MBA and DBA students at two of the top universities in Egypt.

The results provide significant evidence that the integration of S-ERP systems and LM practices implementation improve sustainability performance. However, there is no significant evidence that S-ERP adoption contributes to the success of LM practices implementation.

Because of the chosen research approach, this study is limited to use of a laboratory experiment design. Empirical evidence based on quasi experiments on a field setting would add value to the current literature.

Findings provide practical insights for the manufacturing sector managers into the benefits of integrating S-ERP systems and LM practices for sustainability performance improvement (e.g. reducing cost and waste, increasing operational efficiency). For ERP vendors, findings highlight how ERP vendors introduce “enablers” that incorporate LM best practices into their ERP systems and also how those vendors conform to the software sustainability criteria in the design of ERP applications.

Contrary to previous studies that addressed the individual impact of S-ERP systems and LM practices on performance, this paper experimentally gives an indication of the impact of concurrent implementation of S-ERP and LM practices on sustainability performance, especially in developing countries.

Several studies have shown that the mechanism of labour-intensive construction (LIC) projects can mitigate high unemployment and create skilled development, especially in developing nations. The guidelines and practices for implementation may have faced some encumbrances in some countries. Whether the current guidelines and practices for municipal infrastructure support agent (MISA) to execute LIC projects face hindrances in South Africa has yet to receive in-depth studies. Thus, this study attempts to proffer policy solutions to improve the proposed revised guidelines and practices for MISA in LIC project execution in South Africa.

The study's objectives were accomplished via a combination of 16 virtual interviews of built environment professionals and government officials involved in LIC project execution in South Africa and supported by the analysed documents. A thematic approach was used to analyse the data and presented two main themes.

Findings show lax enforcement of discretionary funds, lax institutional capacity and inadequate individual skills, among others, as the gaps in existing South Africa's LIC guidelines and practices. Also, policy solutions to address the gaps were proffered.

The suggested feasible policies will improve the proposed revised guidelines and practices for MISA in LIC project execution in South Africa. This guide will promote the development of individual skills, institutional capacities and increase employment across South Africa.

This study promotes the use of LIC to create employment and contribute to proffering measures that will improve the proposed revised third edition of the guidelines and practices for MISA to execute LIC.

Amid rapid technological progress, the construction industry is embracing Construction 4.0, redefining work practices through emerging technologies. However, the implications of Construction 4.0 technologies to enhancing well-being are still poorly understood. Particularly, the challenge lies in selecting technologies that critically contribute to well-being enhancement. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the implications of Construction 4.0 technologies to enhancing well-being.

A list of Construction 4.0 technologies was identified from a national strategic plan on Construction 4.0, using Malaysia as a case study. Fourteen construction industry experts were selected to evaluate the implications of Construction 4.0 technologies on well-being using fuzzy Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). The expert judgment was measured using linguistic variables that were transformed into fuzzy values. Then, the collected data was analyzed using the following analyses: fuzzy TOPSIS, Pareto, normalization, sensitivity, ranking performance and correlation.

Six Construction 4.0 technologies are critical to enhancing well-being: cloud & real-time collaboration, big data & predictive analytics, Internet of Things, building information modeling, autonomous construction and augmented reality & virtualization. In addition, artificial intelligence and advanced building materials are recommended to be implemented simultaneously as a very strong correlation exists between them.

The novelty of this study lies in a comprehensive understanding of the implications of Construction 4.0 technologies to enhancing well-being. The findings can assist researchers, industry practitioners and policymakers in making well-informed decisions to select Construction 4.0 technologies when targeting the enhancement of the overall well-being of the local construction industry.

This paper aims to assess the behavioural intention of construction organisations to use unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the delivery of construction projects. Using the unified theory of technology adoption and use of technology (UTAUT) model, the study strives to improve project delivery by adopting beneficial digital technologies.

The study adopted a postpositivism philosophical stance through a quantitative research approach using a structured questionnaire administered to construction organisations in South Africa. Primary data gathered was analysed using frequency, percentage, mean item score, Mann–Whitney U-test and confirmatory factor analysis, where the latter sought to deductively confirm the variables within the UTAUT model.

Construction organisations were found to rarely use UAVs in the country and furthermore, most of the participating organisations are unsure about using UAVs for their project delivery. Factors impacting on an organisation’s intention to use UAVs were identified as social influence, performance expectancy, effort expectancy and facilitating conditions. However, factors surrounding resistance to using and perceived risk cannot be overlooked as they also proved to be significant (at p = 0.05) to the behavioural intention of organisations to use UAVs.

Practical guidance for industry practitioners is offered in terms of insight into the key factors that must be considered for the effective utilisation of UAVs and the realisation of concomitant benefits.

This study bridges the knowledge gap in extant literature by exploring the practitioner’s behavioural intention to use UAVs. As an aside, an emergent theoretical backdrop for future works on UAVs is provided (particularly in developing countries where such a study has not been previously explored).

The purpose of this study is to investigate the influences of the characteristics of procurement strategies, in this instance labour-only, on project performance concerning health and safety (H&S), a project performance indicator.

Using non-probability purposeful and snowballing sampling methods, questionnaires were used to collect data from construction professionals in Nigeria. This was then analysed using descriptive (frequency and mean scores) and inferential statistics (Mann–Whitney-U and Kendall's Tau_b tests).

The findings indicate a statistically significant negative correlation between ‘the level of client involvement and ‘fatalities' and a positive one with ‘conducting of health and safety risk assessment' and ‘conducting employee surveys on health and safety attitude’. Poor hygiene is found to be the worst lagging indicator, while conducting of inspection is the most adopted leading indicator of project health and safety performance. It also emerged that there is no significant difference in the health and safety performance of projects procured through the procurement strategy in urban and rural areas.

The study provides valuable insight into the complexities in H&S management due to the high level of client involvement in labour-only procurement system (LoPS) projects and the level of diversity in their responsibilities therein. It creates a fundamental direction for developing a detailed framework or guidance notes for client involvement in the integration of H&S into LoPS projects.

This is the first study that examines the influence of the characteristics of procurement strategy on project health and safety performance. Evidence in the literature shows that project delivery outcomes significantly improve if procurement is strategically used, including when it is considered early in projects. However, integrating H&S into procurement strategies has received little attention.

The delay in real estate projects in India is pervasive. Organization and management (O&M) and project management (PM)-related challenges are argued to contribute to project delays. This study examined the O&M and PM factors that cause delays, the level of implementation of various O&M and PM aspects in real estate projects and how the challenges can be alleviated.

Perception surveys among the consumers and relevant stakeholders engaged in real estate projects in the Bhubaneswar and Cuttack regions of India were conducted to collect data on the factors of delay and implementation of the O&M and PM aspects. Relevant statistical methods and structural equation modeling (SEM) were used for data analysis.

Findings suggest that from the O&M point of view, poor decision-making, mishandling of finance, concurrent execution of many projects, diversion and misuse of finance for unrelated activities, lack of PM personnel and poor management contribute to the delay. Further, although the project initiation is satisfactorily done, most of the PM principles are not largely used, thus leading to delay.

The study does have limitations, including its reliance on a perception survey of consumers and stakeholders, a limited sample size and a restricted number of projects. Nevertheless, the study highlights the need to address poor O&M and the insufficient application of PM principles to combat project delays in the Indian real estate sector.

Proper O&M and adequate application of PM will enable professional management of the projects and avoid delay.

Proper O&M and the application of adequate PM would reduce delays in real estate projects. Consequently, conflicts between the companies and consumers might be reduced and housing and infrastructure demands might be met.

The study manifested that the lack of adequate implementation of O&M and PM aspects leads to delays. So, it is theorized that O&M and PM play critical roles in the success of real estate projects. Appropriate implementation of the principles and best practices linked to these aspects might alleviate the challenges of delay in real estate projects in India.

Post-occupancy evaluation (POE) of office buildings, accommodating large number of users, is significantly demanded, to ascertain the provision and upkeep of users' requirements. This paper presents the findings of a POE of an office building located in Saudi Arabia, as a case study.

A mixed approach of qualitative and quantitative research activities were conducted to achieve the objective of this study. Previous studies were analyzed to identify 28 performance indicators, grouped under seven technical and functional performance elements in office buildings. A walkthrough served to gain familiarity with the building, and identify the obvious performance defects. Interviews were conducted to solicit the users' perceptions about the performance elements, and initiate discussions based on the findings of the walkthrough. A user satisfaction survey was then deployed to quantify the user's feedback on the performance of the building.

Users of the case study office building were generally satisfied with all the technical performance elements, except visual comfort. They were also dissatisfied with two functional performance elements, namely office layout and building equipment.

Recommendations were developed to improve the performance of the case study building. The approach followed and the defined indicators can be of practical value to design professionals, administrators and facilities managers, responsible for the design and operation of office buildings.

Office buildings are valuable business capital for their corporate organizations. This study contributes to the facilities management literature, through providing a systematic approach for the quality and performance appraisal of the performance elements of office buildings.

The purpose of this paper is to compare the sustainability dimensions reported on the websites of public and private universities in Ghana, an emerging economy.

The universities in Ghana were categorized under public and private universities. The top five under each category were chosen (by Edu Rank’s ratings), and data was gathered from the websites of the sampled universities. Data analysis was conducted using Global Reporting Initiative (GRI-G4) framework and sustainability tools for campus assessment. Findings were then analyzed through stakeholder theory’s lens and organizational characteristics such as ownership, students’ acceptance ratios, performance, size and age.

This study’s results show that the key aspects of sustainability disclosed on the websites of the sampled private and public universities in Ghana are more of economic and campus sustainability assessment indicators than the social and environmental dimensions. Contrary to the popular notion that private sector organizations do more sustainability reporting than those in the public sector, in the case of Ghana, the sampled public universities reported more than the privately owned universities. This study attributes the extent and variations of sustainability reporting among the public and private Ghanaian universities to the universities’ characteristics such as students’ acceptance ratios, performance, size, ownership and age.

The findings from this study indicate that in improving the value of sustainability reporting, stakeholders of the educational sector in emerging economies should encourage universities to adopt the GRI-G4 framework and campus sustainability assessment indicators in disclosing their sustainability initiatives.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this paper is the first study to compare the extent and variations in sustainability reporting between public and private universities in an emerging economy.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the Last-Planner-System’s impact on project cultures in terms of partnering.

A case study was performed using multiple data gathering approaches. The project cultures of three projects not applying the Last-Planner-System were compared with three projects that apply the Last-Planner-System. In total, 30 participants were involved in the study. Semi-structured interviews were held and analysed by applying qualitative content analysis. Also, the “organizational culture assessment instrument”, which belongs to the “competing values framework”, was used by means of an online survey.

The Last-Planner-System leads to increased levels of mutual understanding and control about the tasks and issues of the other parties. This detailed overview leads towards a more distinguished evaluation of the trustworthiness of individuals. This does not necessarily lead to a partnering project culture.

The contribution to research is that higher levels of transparency and mutual understanding do not necessarily lead to a high level of trust. Rather, transparency could be seen as a controlling mechanism that leads to better-founded estimations about the trustworthiness of others in the project.