Search results

The purpose of this paper is to report on primary research findings that sought to investigate and analyse salient issues on the implementation of 5D building information modelling (BIM) from the UK contractors’ perspective. Previous research and efforts have predominantly focussed on the use of technologies for cost estimation and quantity takeoff within a more traditional-led procurement, with a paucity of research focussing on how 5D BIM could facilitate costing within contractor-led procurement. This study fills this current knowledge gap and enhances the understanding of the specific costing challenges faced by contractors in contractor-led projects, leading to the development of 5D framework for use in future projects.

To develop a fully detailed understanding of the challenges and issues being faced in this regard, a phenomenological, qualitative-based study was undertaken through interviews involving 21 participants from UK-wide construction organisations. A thematic data analytical process was applied to the data to derive key issues, and this was then used to inform the development of a 5D-BIM costing framework.

Multi-disciplinary findings reveal a range of issues faced by contractors when implementing 5D BIM. These exist at strategic, operational and technological levels which require addressing successful implementation of 5D BIM on contractor-led projects adhering to Level 2 BIM standards. These findings cut across the range of stakeholders on contractor-led projects. Ultimately, the findings suggest strong commitment and leadership from organisational management are required to facilitate cost savings and generate accurate cost information.

This study highlights key issues for any party seeking to effectively deploy 5D BIM on a contractor-led construction project. A considerable cultural shift towards automating and digitising cost functions virtually, stronger collaborative working relationship relative to costing in design development, construction practice, maintenance and operation is required.

By analysing findings from primary research data, the work concludes with the development of a 5D BIM costing framework to support contractor-led projects which can be implemented to ensure that 5D BIM is successfully implemented.

Innovation during project delivery is contested space. The aim in this research is to empirically explore the theory of this contested space and how project implementation can be optimized by the contractor to deliver better outcomes. It is hypothesized that project innovation has a proportional and measurable relationship to contractor success.

Based on a novel conceptual framework, this research applies a case study methodology to analyse 31 construction projects undertaken by a single Australian middle-tier contractor. Benefits from innovation are not often equitably shared. There are risks and rewards. The project innovation zone is defined as a combination of three key performance indicators – efficacy, efficiency and margin – merged into a single index that most likely shows evidence of “working smarter”.

Client–contractor project innovation (c2pi) is demonstrated to be strongly correlated with head contractor success (HCS), yielding an r² value of 71%. Innovative projects mostly show positive change in efficacy, efficiency and margin when comparing “planned” and “actual” outcomes. Across the cases studied, 35% demonstrated likely evidence of innovative delivery and 52% demonstrated evidence of success from the construction contractor's perspective.

These findings verify that, within the studied sample, the pursuit of innovation leads to projects that are likely to also have greater success for the head contractor, evidenced by the mix of five critical success factors: finishing on schedule, making profit, and having less defects, less accidents and higher quality workmanship. These outcomes arguably also apply to sub-contractors, where the head contractor assumes the role of “client”.

In a departure from the efficiency theory assumptions implicit in most supply chain risk management (SCRM) literature, this study aims to explore the role that external neo-institutional pressures play in shaping the risk management strategies deployed to mitigate transaction cost risks in construction supply chains (CSC).

A theory-elaborating case study is used to investigate how regulatory, normative and mimetic neo-institutional pressures underpin SCRM strategies in state-led and private-led CSC in China.

The study finds that institutionalized Confucianist networks serve as proxies for regulatory accountability and thereby create a form of dysmorphia in the regulatory, normative and mimetic drivers of SCRM strategies in state-led and private-led CSC in China.

The findings reveal that relational costs such as bargaining, transfer and monitoring costs underpin SCRM in state-led CSC. Behavioral costs associated with search, screening and enforcement are the core drivers of SCRM in private-led CSC. These differences in transaction cost drivers of SCRM arise from the risk-buffering effect of personalized Guanxi networks, creating variants of institutional pressures on actors' risk analysis, identification and treatment strategies in China. Considering China's global hegemony in construction and related industries, this study provides valuable insights for practitioners and researchers on the need for a constrained efficiency view of SCRM in global CSC.

This paper aims to disseminate the knowledge integration process modelling throughout the phases of the early contractor involvement (ECI) procurement methodology, to optimise the benefit of ECI procurement method. The development of the model was aimed at taking advantage from the associated benefits of integrating knowledge and of ECI procurement. ECI provides contractors with an alternative means to tendering, designing and constructing projects. Thus, this paper explores knowledge interconnectivity and its integration involving numerous disciplines with various stakeholders to benefit from the collaborative environment of ECI.

The methodology implemented in the research includes a thorough literature review to establish the characteristics of the ECI tender stage as well as the characteristics of knowledge to be integrated in an ECI setting. Following this, an embedded case study research methodology was used involving three healthcare ECI projects undertaken by a Western Australian commercial contractor through 20 semi-structured interviews and project archival study, followed by the development of knowledge integration process models throughout the ECI process of the studied cases.

The research findings provide the basis to develop a knowledge integration process model throughout the ECI stages. The tender stage was found to be the most crucial stage for knowledge integration, particularly from the main contractor’s perspective to impart change and to influence the project outcome. The outcome of this research identifies the richness and interconnectivity of knowledge throughout the knowledge integration process in an ECI project starting from the intra-organisational knowledge integration process followed by the inter-organisational process of knowledge integration. This inside-out perspective of knowledge integration also revealed the need for mapping the implementation of knowledge integration from instrumental to incremental approach throughout the ECI stages in optimising the intended benefits of integrating knowledge.

This paper reports the development of a knowledge integration process model with the view to optimise the management effectiveness of integrating knowledge in ECI projects. Although knowledge integration and ECI can be considered existing and widely accepted concepts, the novelty of this research lies in the specific use of the knowledge integration process to analyse the knowledge flow, transformation and, hence, management in ECI projects. As it has been acknowledged that knowledge integration is beneficial but also a complex process, the methodology implemented here in modelling the process can be used as the basis to model knowledge integration in other ECI projects to further capitalise from ECI as a collaborative procurement method.

The key teaching objectives of the case are the following:▪ to develop an awareness of a megaproject’s external environment (through PESTLE) in terms of challenges from each source;▪ to introduce theory that allows students to identify, characterise and describe factors that can lead to inter-organisational conflict during construction projects;▪ to develop the ability to apply the typology of causal factors (identified in Objective 2) to a given context, answering why each factor may have contributed to the given contractual dispute;▪ to develop an understanding of the procurement and contract management process wherein contracts are not only the logical outcome of the procurement process but also the primary vehicles for clarifying responsibilities (for task completion) and risk transfer; and▪ to understand specific dynamics of construction projects that make disputes inevitable and ways to overcome these.

Priced at US$1.63bn (in 2015), the Orange Line Metro Train (OLMT) project in Lahore was one of Pakistan’s earliest (and costliest!) transport infrastructure megaprojects ever undertaken. Devised to ease congestion in Lahore, promote ecofriendly, efficient, modern and affordable transport systems and lead to improved mobility across Lahore, the OLMT was a socially, politically and economically important project.The case is seen through the eyes of the protagonist, Uzair Shah, a seasoned public servant and an experienced Transport Engineer. At the time of the decision, Shah was General Manager – Operations at the newly established Punjab Metrobus Authority (PMA – the project sponsor) and was also the project lead of OLMT’s Project Management Unit (PMU). Through Shah’s eyes, students approach the project at a juncture when the most serious contractual dispute in the project’s history has erupted. The parties at the interface were Lahore Development Authority (LDA), PMU’s technical interface with contractors and consultants and Maqbool-Colson Joint Venture (MCJV), one of the two civil work contractors hired for OLMT’s civil works.While quality issues had been emerging with MCJV for a few months, LDA had maintained unilateral communications and remained considerably adversarial in their dealings with MCJV. Eventually, in October 2016, this relationship had soured to such an extent that it appeared irreconcilable. It was only then that LDA had recommended Shah to take the contractor to court for non-performance.The decision that Uzair faced was whether to take LDA’s advice and take the contractor to court (terminate the contract, claim performance guarantee and appoint a new contractor) or negotiate and continue with the current contract. The decision had huge financial, legal, reputational, political and schedule-related implications. The decision needed to be taken by the protagonist in the context of all these factors.

The case was initially developed for use within a Procurement and Contracts Management course for a (business) executive audience. The case is intended for the business school audience or students enrolled in courses related to the construction management discipline.Courses where the case can be used include Construction Project Management, Public Sector Projects, Contracts and Procurement and Strategic Projects and Practice (or similar). The case can also be used within an MBA setting.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS: 9: Operations and Logistics.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how the client–contractor relationship affects the project performance in light the theory of relational contracting. The empirical study evaluates the effect of project trust (PT) mediating through the dyadic factors and procurement-specific factors (PSFs) on the project performance.

Research design is carried out in three phases. The first phase of review of literature has identified the key constructs of the study and the conceptual model is formulated. Subsequently, the constructs of the study are validated through expert opinion and pilot study. In the third phase, the questionnaire of the study is administered on 320 samples in various cities of India. The exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis is carried out on the two different sample sizes. The structural equation model is finally tested with satisfactory fit.

PT not only improves the dyad factors in construction supply chain (CSC), but also influences the project performance. However, project risk and relationship commitment are not associated with enhancing project performance directly. PSFs and dyad factors are the two mediators in transforming PT into relationship commitment and project performance. Client-led supply chain initiatives and contractor-led supply chain initiatives differ in the CSC.

The present research has employed behavioral data to understand the effect of project procurement on project performance. Nevertheless, future studies should use objective data to support the constructs of the study. This study outlines the common and socially rooted relational governance of the project. This study is useful to the clients, contractors and policy makers in understanding the interplay of various control mechanisms to ease the procurement of large and complex construction projects. Future studies should focus on separating client-led control mechanisms and contractor-led control mechanisms of the relational contracting and its effect on project performance.

The research study contributes in formalizing the governance structure of supply chain in dealing with the complex construction projects. The study has contributed in understanding the client-led initiatives and contractor-led supply initiatives of establishing the supply chain of construction projects. It has demonstrated the mediating role of dyadic factors and PSFs in improving the project performance.

As the complexity and uncertainty of megaprojects make it difficult for traditional management models to address the difficulties, this paper aims to design a performance incentive contract through IT applications, thereby promoting the formation of an information-based governance mechanism for megaprojects and facilitating the transformation and upgrading of the construction management model of megaprojects to informatisation.

This paper introduced IT applications into the performance assessment and used the proportion of IT applications replacing traditional manual management as a variable. It analysed different replacement ratios to obtain the optimal solution for the change of contractors behaviours and promote the optimal performance incentive for the informatisation in megaprojects.

The results show that under the condition of the optimal replacement ratio, achieving the optimal state of a mutual win-win situation is possible for the benefit of both sides. The counter-intuitive finding is that the greater the replacement ratio is not, the better, but those other constraints are also taken into account.

This study enriched the research of the performance configuration incentive from a practical perspective. It extended the research framework of IT incentive mechanisms in the governance of megaprojects from a management theory perspective. It clarified the role of IT applications in incentive mechanisms and the design process of optimal incentive contracts under different performance incentive states. The incentives made the contractors work harder to meet the owner's requirements, and it could improve the efficiency of megaprojects, thus better achieving megaproject objectives.

The purpose of this paper is to improve the understanding of what clients value from contractors’ services. Understanding client values and the way by which clients perceive value will contribute to client-perceived value within contracting services.

A literature review was conducted to understand how clients perceive value in the construction industry. In addition, conducting expert interviews and document analysis helped in achieving the research purpose.

The findings show that values associated with time, cost and quality can be considered as important client values, while they are not exclusive values for assessing contractor service anymore. Construction clients are concerned about health and safety, low rate of environmental impact, guarantees, creativity, technology transfer, value for money, reliability and tangibles of their contractors’ services. In addition, they value their contractors’ behaviour, attitude and professionalism.

The study has disseminated different client values, through classified outcomes, to make the knowledge area more available to construction service providers. This study’s findings helped in understanding client values and how clients perceive value from contractors’ services. With this information, contractors are able to provide better services to clients. Satisfactory delivery of the values identified in this study is believed to have the greatest impact on client-perceived value within contracting services. Developing a management strategy that recognises, prioritises and satisfactorily delivers these values is essential to ensure that highest level of client-perceived value is achieved.

The construction literature is focussed on traditional values related to time, cost and quality, while this study highlighted the role of values such as trust, commitment, communication and other non-result-ordinated values essential for achieving client satisfaction. This study’s findings proposed a new practical assessment concept to value construction contractor services.

This study aims to excoriate, define and delineate the main drivers of “change” in commercial construction projects and generate guidelines on how to minimise exposure to the associated adverse effects upon project stakeholders.

The research adopts mixed doctrines through a combination of epistemological lenses, embracing two primary philosophical stances: interpretivism, to identify the primary drivers of change based on a systematic literature review and a post-positivist, inductive approach to analyse the results of change within a Joint Contracts Tribunal (JCT) Design and Build (D&B) construction project case study.

The causal nexus of change during the construction phase is assessed and delineated; the key affecting factors are thematically grouped under headings: extent and severity; time in relation to implementing; instigating party; individual(s) responsible for managing the change; reason for the change; available resource; recoverable or non-recoverable; contract/project type; and type of client. Following this, the effects of change on key elements of the project are encapsulated and recommendations for adaptations which may provide improved experiences are offered.

The study tackles the common issue of managing the deleterious effects of change on commercial construction projects, defining management techniques to minimise stakeholder tribulation.

The purpose of this paper is first to examine the effect of client-led and contractor-led supply chain initiatives on project performance in the Indian construction industry and second to assess how the client-led supply chain initiatives complement the contractor-led supply chain initiatives.

In this study, the effects of the client-led supply chain initiatives (reward power and competence trust of the construction clients) and the contractor-led supply chain initiatives (contractor integration and calculative commitment of the contractor) on project performance in construction projects are examined. The data were collected from 346 construction professionals working in Indian construction projects using purposive sampling. The proposed hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling.

The contractor-led supply chain initiatives, in the form of contractor integration and the calculative relationship commitment of a contractor, were found to be strong mediators, indirectly affecting the project performance. On the other hand, the client-led supply chain initiatives, in the form of the reward power of the client and the competence trust of the client, directly influence the project performance.

This study reports the inevitable bias on the part of participants, who responded to the survey either in the capacity of client or contractor, although they might have executed projects in both capacities. Future studies could benefit from the use of objective data instead of behavioral data.

This study helps construction firms understand how to demarcate the client and contractor roles in the construction supply chain to improve the project performance.

The originality of this study lies in its investigation of the influence of client-led supply chain initiatives and contractor-led supply chain initiatives on project performance.