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The paper aims to provide an efficient dispatching schedule for ready-mix concrete (RMC) trucks and create a balance between batch plants and construction sites.

The paper focused on developing a new metaheuristic swarm intelligence algorithm using Java code. The paper used statistical criterion: mean, standard deviation, running time to verify the effectiveness of the proposed optimization method and compared its derivatives with other algorithms, such as genetic algorithm (GA), Tabu search (TS), bee colony optimization (BCO), ant lion optimizer (ALO), grey wolf optimizer (GWO), dragonfly algorithm (DA) and particle swarm optimization (PSO).

The paper proved that integrating GWO and DA yields better results than independent algorithms and some selected algorithms in the literature. It also suggests that multi-independent batch plants could effectively cooperate in a system to deliver RMC to various construction sites.

The paper provides a compelling new hybrid swarm intelligence algorithm and a model allowing multi-independent batch plants to work in a system to deliver RMC. It fulfills an identified need to study how batch plant managers can expand their dispatching network, increase their competitiveness and improve their supply chain operations.

This research presents a comprehensive review of the literature on the barriers to incorporating indoor environmental quality (IEQ) principles into building designs. The aim was to identify these barriers in the literature and subsume them under broad categories for the development of a framework showing the interrelationships among the barriers.

The research design used a systematic desktop review which comprised of three levels of screening. The first level allowed for a broad selection of papers; the second level of screening was done to limit the results to papers within the construction industry, and the third level of screening limited the documents strictly to the publication period of 2000–2021.

Twenty-four (24) barriers were identified in the literature, including lack of integrated design teams, which ranked the highest in appearance, high initial costs, poor market for IEQ buildings and higher design charges among others. The identified barriers were classified into six (6) categories namely capacity barriers, economic barriers, process-related barriers, cultural barriers, client-related barriers and steering barriers.

The findings of this study would enable practitioners and policymakers to better understand what is preventing the widespread adoption of IEQ designs in the built environment and devise actionable strategies to overcome them. It adds to the body of knowledge on IEQ research by categorizing the various barriers that prevent the delivery of IEQ projects.

The developed barriers in this research can serve as a useful checklist to future researchers who may want to validate the barriers to IEQ designs in empirical studies and in different settings.

The interconnectivity revealed by the web-like framework allows for an appreciation of the various barriers of IEQ adoption which would help in expanding the current knowledge on IEQ beyond the narrow scope of isolated barriers. The fact that the papers selected in this study are not limited geographically, underscores the wide applicability of the findings in the global construction industry.

Taking a business lens of telehealth, this article aims to review and provide a state-of-the-art overview of telehealth research.

This research conducts a systematic literature review using the scientific procedures and rationales for systematic literature reviews (SPAR-4-SLR) protocol and a collection of bibliometric analytical techniques (i.e. performance analysis, keyword co-occurrence, keyword clustering and content analysis).

Using performance analysis, this article unpacks the publication trend and the top contributing journals, authors, institutions and regions of telehealth research. Using keyword co-occurrence and keyword clustering, this article reveals 10 major themes underpinning the intellectual structure of telehealth research: design and development of personal health record systems, health information technology (HIT) for public health management, perceived service quality among mobile health (m-health) users, paradoxes of virtual care versus in-person visits, Internet of things (IoT) in healthcare, guidelines for e-health practices and services, telemonitoring of life-threatening diseases, change management strategy for telehealth adoption, knowledge management of innovations in telehealth and technology management of telemedicine services. The article proposes directions for future research that can enrich our understanding of telehealth services.

This article offers a seminal state-of-the-art overview of the performance and intellectual structure of telehealth research from a business perspective.

This research compares consultants' and contractors' professional practices and perspectives on the use of specifications in the engineering of built environment projects.

The study initiates with a review of literature, toward realizing (1) the need for inclusion of specifications, throughout the projects' stages (design, tender, construction and handing over), as well as the (2) causes and effects of defective specifications in design and execution of engineered projects. Additionally (3) the study investigates the challenges and causes of specification variations to projects' design and execution. The systematic methodology adopted in this research utilizes frequency indicators, to rank and correlate the perspectives of 60 professionals, who are experienced in consulting and contracting of mega public and private projects.

The research considers the uncertainties and differences that could be present in engineering developments and use of design specifications for projects' execution and handing over. The two groups of experts' (consultants and contractors) perspectives are usually observed as conflicting, in practice. Practices comparison of their experiences with engineering projects' specifications usability provides unique empirical findings. The analysis and assessment of the experts' knowledge, this research addresses gaps identified in the literature, providing valuable insights.

The study provides in-depth recommendations and discusses possible trends and methods for enhancing specifications' usability in design engineering and execution of built environment projects. The analysis and recommendations present and assess experts' knowledge while bridge gaps identified from the literature.

The purpose of the research is to investigate whether corporate social responsibility awareness (pCSR), environmental concerns (EC) and consumer environmental knowledge (CK) will have an impact on sustainable purchase intention (SPI). Furthermore, this paper also contributes to surveying the mediating impact of consumer attitudes (CAs) between intention and the three factors mentioned above.

SmartPLS (version 4.0) structural equation modeling (SEM) and quantitative methods were used to analyze 457 responses from consumers. The survey sample consisted of individuals between the ages of 18 and 34, with a male-to-female ratio of 70 to 30. The study aims to examine and put into practice new directions for manufacturing firms in the fields of fashion, food and consumer products. At the same time, provide more convincing evidence about the use of these fields in the research.

The study showed a favorable link between pCSR, EC, CK and SPI through the proposed hypotheses. The research additionally showed that CAs mediate between the aforementioned variables.

The important and distinctive results of this study encourage both consumers and enterprises to make changes in their perceptions of society. Consumers should gradually change their daily lifestyle by consuming more sustainable products. As a result, this outcome will provide the impetus for manufacturing businesses to alter their operational procedures in order to support the shift from the production of products to more friendly processes, with the help of all levels of management within the business.

This paper aims to examine the housing market responses to two outbreaks of respiratory diseases in Hong Kong during the Information Era – the 2003 SARS and COVID-19 outbreaks.

The authors first investigate the aggregate housing price changes during SARS and COVID-19. Next, the authors conduct a battery of univariate analyses pertaining to the relationship between district-level housing price movements and geographic and demographic patterns during the pandemic periods. Finally, to shed light on the housing price dynamics at the micro level, the authors conduct an estate-level analysis with the data of 234 residential estates from 2003 to 2020, focusing on the impacts of SARS and COVID-19 on the idiosyncratic volatility of residential estates.

Overall, SARS and COVID-19 outbreaks are negatively associated with housing prices. However, unlike SARS, the impact of COVID-19 on housing prices was moderate and transient. The geographic imbalances of the epidemic-induced underperformance are observed at the district and estate levels. Finally, the estate-level analysis presented in this paper indicates that the average idiosyncratic volatility of residential estates is 1.5% higher during the SARS period but 3.7% lower during the COVID-19 period. Lower volatility during COVID-19 is likely explained by household learning from the SARS period.

Regulators and investors could resort to efficient information disclosure to attenuate idiosyncratic volatility's adverse impact on housing market returns.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the authors are among the first to examine housing market responses to the 2003 SARS and COVID-19 outbreaks using the Hong Kong housing market as a laboratory.

This study was conducted to achieve the following objectives: (1) determine the differences and reasons for using outgroup OSNs by gender, age and student groups (Mainland and Hong Kong [HK] students); (2) uncover the impact of online social networks (OSNs) on the development of Mainland–HK friendships and (3) determine the roles of different OSNs (social networking sites [SNSs] and instant messaging platforms [IMPs]) in the development of intercultural friendships in the real world.

To explore how OSNs facilitate (or inhibit) intercultural interactions, 198 students completed a questionnaire and 24 students participated in follow-up semi-structured interviews examining the role of OSNs in intercultural friendship development.

Results revealed that demographic and motivational preferences for using outgroup-OSNs differed among students. Both IMPs and SNSs helped students maintain friendships using little effort, whereas it tended to strengthen their existing social networks, rather than helping to start new friendships. IMPs helped develop a sense of “presence awareness”, strengthening pre-existing friendships and solidifying offline connections. SNSs also assisted students in exploring their shared interests while revealing their values and cultural differences.

The authors’ findings offered empirical evidence on social exchange theory and anxiety-uncertainty management theory regarding the perceived benefit of OSNs on students' friendship development.

The study sheds light on the differences between Mainland Chinese and HK students, including participants' perceptions of different friendship stages.

This study is interested in the roles of different SNSs and IMPs in intercultural friendship development, especially their strengths and weaknesses as perceived by students. Also, the authors are curious about how students select and use IMPs and SNSs differently according to their individual preferences and needs. To the authors’ knowledge, the dynamic link between online communication and intercultural friendship development has not been thoroughly examined in the field of intercultural communication.