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The role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) fulfillment is critical when building resilience of project-based organizations (PBOs). However, fulfilling CSR to build a highly resilient PBO remains a black box problem. This study explores the different CSR combinations that enhance PBO resilience.

This study defines CSR in terms of shareholder, employee, and social CSR, and analyzes corporate characteristics in terms of corporate scale and nature. Data are collected from Hexun.com and the China Stock Market and Accounting Research Database (CSMAR). The qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) method is used to analyze 48 listed construction and engineering companies from China to explore the CSR configurations for PBOs in enhancing organizational resilience.

A large firm size is a necessary condition for high organizational resilience. We find six paths to build high and non-high resilience in PBOs, and the driving mechanisms of high and non-high resilience exhibit an asymmetric relationship.

This study cracks the black box of CSR fulfillment and PBO resilience. It reveals the CSR configurations that enhance or inhibit the resilience of PBOs. It also provides scientific basis for PBOs in their fulfillment of CSR in response to crises, and the enhancement of organizational resilience. Future research can be expanded to other industries, as the study sample is only limited to civil engineering construction companies. Since this study uses cross-sectional data, time series can be introduced in the future to further explore the relationship between CSR and organizational resilience.

This study provides targeted suggestions that can help decision-makers of construction companies to determine how they can fulfill CSR to enhance organizational resilience. At the same time, it can provide intellectual support for PBOs to cope with systemic crises and promote the fulfillment of CSR.

In terms of theoretical value, on the one hand, this study verifies the relationship between CSR fulfillment and PBO resilience, revealing its mechanism of action and multiple paths; on the other hand, it provides a new way of thinking for management research methods and enriches the theoretical study of organizational resilience.

This study aims to develop an interface management risk interaction modeling and analysis methodology applicable to complex systems in high-speed rail construction projects, reveal the interaction mechanism of interface management risk and provide theoretical support for project managers to develop appropriate interface management risk response strategies.

This paper introduces the association rule mining technique to improve the complex network modeling method. Taking China as an example, based on the stakeholder perspective, the risk factors and significant accident types of interface management of high-speed rail construction projects are systematically identified, and a database is established. Then, the Apriori algorithm is used to mine and analyze the strong association rules among the factors in the database, construct the complex network, and analyze its topological characteristics to reveal the interaction mechanism of the interface management risk of high-speed rail construction projects.

The results show that the network is both scale-free and small-world, implying that construction accidents are not random events but rather the result of strong interactions between numerous interface management risks. Contractors, technical interfaces, mechanical equipment, and environmental factors are the primary direct causal factors of accidents, while owners and designers are essential indirect causal factors. The global importance of stakeholders such as owners, designers, and supervisors rises significantly after considering the indirect correlations between factors. This theoretically explains the need to consider the interactions between interface management risks.

The interaction mechanism between interface management risks is unclear, which is an essential factor influencing the decision of risk response measures. This study proposes a new methodology for analyzing interface management risk response strategies that incorporate quantitative analysis methods and considers the interaction of interface management risks.

This study explores the current status of risk management (RM) in Sri Lanka and the obstacles in implementing RM in Sri Lankan small construction projects.

The current research study adopted a quantitative research method. Using a purposeful sampling strategy, 100 construction companies engaged in small construction projects in Sri Lanka were selected and a questionnaire was distributed among top managerial employees of these companies. Employees belonging to 47 companies responded to the survey which provided information relating to 812 construction projects. The collected data were analyzed using the RM implementation index (RMII) and other quantitative measures such as mean, median and percentages.

The research findings indicated that RM incorporation was at a lower degree in small construction projects in Sri Lanka. The findings further indicated that RM incorporation was relatively high in the public construction projects compared to the private construction projects. The main obstacles identified through the survey for RM implementation were: “lack of funding”, “lack of time”, “low profit margin”, “not economical” and “lack of knowledge”.

The study was limited to exploring RM implementation in small construction projects in Sri Lanka. The study was limited to the building construction companies under the 150-million-rupee (approx. below 450,000 USD) financial limit registered with the construction industry development authority in Sri Lanka.

RM in small construction projects in developing countries is a relatively less explored domain. Sri Lankan construction industry is another relatively less explored domain in terms of new management technique implementation such as RM and value management. The quantitative approach used for the study revealed that RM implementation is at a lower degree in the small construction projects. Moreover, several obstacles pertaining to RM implementation were recognized through this study. These findings will be useful for the construction stakeholders to overcome the recognized barriers and effectively use RM in their respective construction projects.

Documentation plays a key role in navigating the costs of construction projects. Traditional document management systems (TDMS) used in developing countries, however, hinder the achievement of expected cost targets. Although the electronic document management system (EDMS) has been implemented to improve documentation, the Sri Lankan construction industry has failed to effectively adapt to it. Hence, this study aims to provide strategies for the effective application of EDMS to the cost management of Sri Lankan mega construction projects.

This study uses a qualitative approach followed by 12 semi-structured expert interviews. Quantity surveying experts were selected through judgemental sampling. Manual content analysis was used to analyse the data.

The EDMS is more suitable for megaprojects than traditional methods of documentation in terms of functionality, neutrality, interoperability, space, reversibility and delivery speed. However, there are contradictory views about cost and security. Furthermore, five transitional challenges of EDMS have been identified under the three key themes of cost, stakeholder perception and technical difficulties. Four reasons were also identified as causing these five challenges. Seven suggestions were made to deal with these transitional challenges and three key feasible solutions for the Sri Lankan construction industry regarding the EDMS were identified. Development of Sri Lankan software with low initial cost was highlighted as the most feasible solution.

This is a novel study to investigate the applicability of EDMS to cost management mechanisms of megaprojects in Sri Lanka. The findings reveal transitional challenges and appropriate feasible solutions for EDMS adaptation. This can be applied to the cost management of megaprojects in other developing countries as well.

The poor quality of construction work in war-affected regions is a significant issue. The large-scale destruction to the existing infrastructure from the war necessitates cost and time-efficient delivery of construction projects during and post-war to bring normalcy to affected lives and places. Consequently, there is always a tendency to finish construction projects in the shortest possible time on a limited budget without following the proper quality management processes. However, the poor quality of construction projects continues to affect the country's development, growth, credibility, reputation, and public safety for several years after the war. To this end, the present study was conducted to evaluate the significant attributes and factors contributing to the poor quality of construction projects in the war-affected Afghan construction sector.

A total of 31 attributes influencing construction project quality were ranked based on 110 completed survey responses collected from Afghan construction professionals. Moreover, independent samples t-test, Spearman's rank correlation test, and exploratory factor analysis were conducted.

The study found a moderate consensus between clients and contractors on attributes' rankings. In addition, the independent samples t-test showed statistically significant differences in means values of responses from clients and contractors for eight attributes. Based on factor analysis, 19 important attributes (median value greater than or equal to four) were classified into 4 latent factors – (1) poor-quality assurance and control, (2) unethical practices, (3) design and drawing errors, and (4) knowledge and skills gap.

Evaluating the factors affecting the quality of construction projects will help clients, government departments, and construction practitioners improve the construction quality management practices. The findings will also inform the policies and procedures of international aid providers.

The research problem in this study is how a client (as a project owner) should organise early stakeholder involvement and integration in the front-end phase of a project. This study aims to create normative managerial statements as propositions from the client's perspective and to combine them into a set of activities enabling efficient organisation in the front-end phase of a hospital construction project.

Action design research (ADR) was carried out in a large hospital construction project where the first author acted as an “involved researcher” and the other authors acted as “outside researchers”.

The authors created seven normative managerial propositions that were verified by the case project stakeholders and developed a managerial framework describing the client's essential stakeholder involvement and integration activities in the front-end phase of a hospital construction project based on these propositions. The authors have also depicted the subphases of the front-end phase: value definition phase in the client permanent organisation, value proposition phase in the client Programme Management Office (PMO) and finally development phase in the alliance organisation ending on the final investment decision.

The collaborative contract delivery model enables the early involvement and integration of stakeholders. It has been somewhat surprising to note the extent to which collaborative contracts change the client role in the project front-end. The results offer practical activities for how clients can manage front-end activities in collaborative contracts.

The case project offered a platform to analyse how the collaborative contract delivery model changes the emphasis of activities in the front-end of a project. One of the key benefits of collaborative contracts is that development, design and delivery occur partially in parallel, thereby enabling contributions from production to be included in the design and development. The benefit of having a real-life case under study provides the possibility to triangulate and analyse rich data, however limited by the qualitative case method.

The construction industry shows an increased interest in how to manage logistics within construction projects. Often construction logistics is outsourced to a logistics service provider (LSP). However, construction logistics is normally approached either as a strategic decision or as an operational issue and rarely as a tactical concern. The purpose of this study is to explore how to organize the logistics outsourcing decision at strategic, tactical and operational levels.

This study is performed as a single-case study within a construction corporation, containing (amongst others) a building contractor (BC) and a construction equipment rental company (CERC) offering logistics services.

The study shows that to procure construction logistics service successfully, BCs need logistics capabilities at strategic and tactical levels to maintain an alignment between the use of logistics services and operational characteristics. Simultaneously, CERC’s need to design their service offerings to correspond to the needs of the BC.

This study builds on a single-case study of a Swedish construction corporation. Further research is needed to better understand current logistics outsourcing and development practices and how these can be improved to foster better logistics management at the project level.

BCs find suggestions of different logistics organization structures and suitable outsourcing arrangements. CERCs and LSPs can use the findings to understand their customers’ needs and adapt service offerings.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first studies of how two companies within a corporation can work together to develop construction logistics service offerings.

Modular integrated construction (MiC) is an innovative and effective manufacturing-based method of construction that has become the mainstream development direction of projects in Hong Kong (HK). However, large-scale promotion of MiC practice still needs efforts. A pressing concern is that the impact of relevant policies on stakeholders during project implementation is rarely explored in depth. Therefore, to fill the research gap, this study aims to investigate the influence of policies on stakeholders to drive the successful implementation of MiC in HK.

This study uses a strategy of multiple methods. First, a comprehensively literature review and survey were adopted to identify critical policies and stakeholders. Second, semi-structured interviews with 28 experts were conducted to quantify their relationships. Third, three policy–stakeholder networks at initiation, planning and design and construction stages were established using social network analysis.

Environmental protection policy, COVID-19 pandemic policy and environmental protection policy and quality acceptance standard for project completion are found to be the most important policies of the three stages, respectively. The HK government and developers are highlighted as prominent stakeholders influencing policy implementation at all three stages. The dynamics of the influence stakeholders receive from critical policies at different stages of MiC are discussed. Valuable recommendations are accordingly proposed to enhance the successful implementation of MiC projects from the perspective of various stakeholders.

This study contributes to the body of knowledge by considering the mediating influence of stakeholders during policy implementation in the MiC uptake, and is valuable in helping policymakers to deeply understand the influence of policies to further forward successful MiC implementation and practicality in HK.

Uncertainty management (UM) in projects has been a point of attention for researchers for many years. Research on UM has mainly been aimed at uncertainty analyses in the front-end and managing uncertainty in the construction phase. In contrast, UM components in the design phase have received less attention. This research aims to improve knowledge about the key components of UM in the design phase of large road projects.

This study adopted a literature review and case study. The literature review was used to identify relevant criteria for UM. These criteria helped to design the interview guide. Multiple case study research was conducted, and data were collected through document study and interviews with project stakeholders in two road projects. Each case's owners, contractors and consultants were interviewed individually.

The data analysis obtained helpful information on the involved parties, process and exploit tools and techniques during the design phase. Johansen's (2015) framework [(a) human and organisation, (b) process and (c) tools and techniques)] was completed and developed by identifying relevant criteria (such as risk averse or risk-taker, culture and documentation level) for each component. These criteria help to measure UM performance. The authors found that owners and contractors are major formal UM actors, not consultants. Empirical data showed the effectiveness of Web-based tools in UM.

The studied cases were Norwegian, and this study focussed on uncertainties in the project's design phase. Relevant criteria did not cover all the criteria for evaluating the performance of UM. Qualitative evaluation of criteria allows further quantitative analysis in the future.

This paper gave project owners and managers a better understanding of relevant criteria for measuring UM in the owners and managers' projects. The paper provides policy-makers with a deeper understanding of creating rigorous project criteria for UM during the design phase. This paper also provides a guideline for UM in road projects.

This research gives a holistic evaluation of UM by noticing relevant criteria and criteria's interconnection in the design phase.

Construction organizations' investment in effective talent-development programs is a key strategy in attracting, developing and retaining staff. Such programs are especially important given the current challenges in the construction workforce, including labor shortages, an aging workforce, generational differences in the workforce, supply chain disruptions and the need to effectively train staff in the skills that are essential in a constrained labor environment. To address these challenges, this study proposes a performance measurement strategy that construction companies can use as input to design their talent development programs.

The strategy intends to assess the performance of project managers and develop criteria that define categories of their performance, including the top performers' category. This enables construction organizations to provide each project manager with individualized training that addresses areas of weakness and in turn, develops the skills that correspond with being top performers. The proposed strategy was developed and tested by surveying the immediate supervisors of 187 project managers working for general and specialty contractors in the United States. Principal component analysis was used to develop a single performance construct from seven performance criteria.

This construct was used to organize the project managers into the categories of top, above-average and below-average performers. According to the findings, top-performing project managers have well-rounded skills in the areas of leadership, communication, technical proficiency and overall job knowledge.

The outcomes of this study can help construction organizations focus their talent-development programs on the skills most associated with PMs being top performers.

This study provides construction organizations with a comprehensive performance-measuring construct to focus their talent-development programs on the skills most associated with top-performing project managers. Researchers can use this study as a foundation for further understanding how performance is related to various construction professions.