Search results

The Outlook project based in Manchester offers a range of activities, support and skills training to people over the age of 17 with ongoing or previous drug or alcohol issues. The programme was originally implemented in 2002 in response to identified need for a comprehensive dedicated outreach service to cater for the diverse needs of problematic drug and alcohol users across the east Manchester area (Iredale, 2002). The catchment area for service users has since been extended to include the rest of Manchester city centre (ONS census 2003 estimates that the Manchester city area has a population of approximately 432,400 people).The programme is based on a community model, reaching out especially to ‘hard to reach’ groups of local people in many socially excluded areas of Manchester. The indices of Multiple Deprivation show that Manchester has an exceptionally low ranking position in the North West compared with the rest of the UK when accounting for factors of income, employment, education, health, skills and training, barriers to housing and services, and crime.

The paper aims to evaluate the real research and development (R&D) options value through the proposed model that can jointly consider the two types of risk management activities, i.e. hedging risks and making use of risks. Hedging is an important risk‐management tool that can diversify R&D risk internally since R&D organizations cannot transfer technological risks to another entity by conventional loss financing methods. Making use of risks means R&D organizations can benefit from proactively managing risks, and then can create management‐flexibility value from the real option reasoning viewpoint.

Using the real options pricing approach, the paper provides an applicable assessment method for R&D projects that can jointly consider the aforementioned two types of risk management activities. The paper also investigates the value‐enhancing effects of R&D risk management activities via interviews survey and secondary data analyses in the pharmaceutical industry of Taiwan.

Through numerical analyses, the results indicate that the hedging management can serve to be effective mechanisms of risk reduction as well as value enhancement for R&D projects. Additionally, the value‐enhancing effect of hedging management is more significant for those R&D projects with even higher risk‐level. The results of empirical study also are consistent with the model prediction.

To achieve great performance of R&D risk management, R&D organizations need to implement both the types of risk management activities. By this real‐options valuation approach incorporating together those risk management activities, R&D projects portfolio can be evaluated adequately.

Discusses the value, workings and effectiveness of international project teams. Proposes a model to enable the creation of an effective team and process. Points out the need to manage diversity, intercultural differences and different nationalities. Uses a case study from Raleigh International to illustrate.

Due to its key role in the successful delivery of construction projects, construction productivity is one of the most researched topics in construction domain. While the majority of previous research is focused on the productivity of labor-intensive activities, there is a lack of research on the productivity of equipment-intensive activities. The purpose of this paper is to address this research gap by developing a comprehensive list of factors influencing the productivity of equipment-intensive activities and determining the most influential factors through interview surveys.

A list of 201 factors influencing the productivity of equipment-intensive activities was developed through the review of 287 articles, selected from the ten top-ranked construction journals, by searching for construction productivity in the articles’ titles, abstracts or keywords. Next, the most influential factors were determined by conducting interview surveys with 35 construction experts. To ensure that the interviewees were aware of the research objectives and the distinction between labor- and equipment-intensive activities, an information session was held prior to conducting the surveys, and the surveys were conducted in interview format to allow for clarification and discussion throughout the process.

Project management respondents identified foreman-, safety- and crew-related factors as the categories with the most influence on productivity; tradespeople respondents identified foreman-, equipment- and crew-related factors as the most influential categories. In total, 14 factors were identified, for which there was a significant difference between the perspectives of project management and tradespeople regarding the factors’ influence on productivity.

This paper provides a comprehensive list of factors influencing the productivity of equipment-intensive activities. It identifies the most influential factors through an interview survey of 35 construction experts, who are familiar with the challenges of equipment-intensive activities based on their experience with such activities in the industrial construction sector of Alberta, Canada. Additionally, the differences between the factors that influence the productivity of labor- and equipment-intensive activities are discussed by comparing the findings of this paper with previous research focused on labor intensive activities.

The purpose of this paper is to present a framework approach to guide the identification of potential public private partnership (PPP) renegotiation outcomes is presented. The framework is applied to a road concession project under renegotiation in Greece.

The framework combines the estimation of stakeholder payoffs with respect to the various strategic options available. Their potential acceptance is evaluated with respect to the power distribution within the stakeholder network. The contextual environment determines the respective power position of each stakeholder in the network.

The proposed framework is applied to a road concession case in Greece, under renegotiation as a result of the economic crisis. The analysis highlights the importance of the contextual environment and the limitations of solutions that seem “satisfying” for all stakeholders involved.

The framework is designed to guide both public and private parties involved in the renegotiation processes in identifying potential solutions or the inability to reach outcomes under specific contextual environments. Assessments are made based on expert knowledge rather than data collection, which is impossible during the renegotiation phase. The application proposed process limit renegotiation transaction costs.

The renegotiation framework based on stakeholder payoffs and power theory, is an approach especially useful for complex contract renegotiations, where multiple stakeholders influence the final outcome. The importance of the contextual environment is highlighted. In addition, the paper contributes to the empirical renegotiation literature.

The development of a model to promote sustainability literacy in construction students was described by the authors in a previous paper in this journal. This paper seeks to test the applicability of the model to determine whether it is successful in promoting sustainability literacy in a UK university.

A short intervention in the form of a project was designed to simulate the curriculum. Students were administered questionnaires before, during and after the intervention to track changes in their sustainable knowledge, skills and attitudes. A mixed method approach was used to analyse the data.

The model was successful in changing student attitudes significantly.

Construction educators may find the Paradigm for Sustainable Construction Curriculum Design model useful in revamping the way in which sustainable literacy is incorporated into construction courses which meet both student learning outcomes and professional body requirements.

This and the previous paper present a model which has been rigorously tested for its effectiveness and other higher education institutions may adopt the model to green their curricula.

This study examines the public participation in the implementation of the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL), a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) approach for urban development. HUL has six Critical Steps and four Tools Categories relating to community engagement, knowledge and planning, regulatory system and financial instruments. The HUL public participation component has materialized variably across the adopting cities, challenged by the local implementation capacity. In response, we have singled out two research questions revolving around the participants’ characteristics and participation methods.

This study instrumentalizes case studies as a research methodology and thematic literature as a theoretical context. The HUL projects for Ballarat, Australia and Cuenca, Ecuador have been selected as sources of published information because they exhibit comparative differences in completing community engagement. We have compared the community engagement accounts of the two cities.

The Ballarat and Cuenca HUL project accounts point out to commonalities and variances in responding to the HUL public participation mandate. The findings for the participants’ characteristics involve project setting, participants categories and participants empowerment; the findings for the participation methods involve initial preparation, domestic and international expertise and public conversation.

The results of the study help define public participation practices in HUL project implementations. The results present an opportunity for city officials, HUL project planners and field administrators for making informed decisions particularly in relation to the two public participation domains, the participants’ characteristics and the engagement methods.

The purpose of this paper is to explore commonalities and differences between projects and processes, and between project management (PjM) and process management (PcM), with a view to challenge this dichotomic typology, clarify the gray areas in between and propose better ways to classify and manage different endeavors.

The research compares different tools and techniques used in both fields, explores the respective literatures and uses various examples to bring out similarities and differences.

The current paradigms engender a number of organizational endeavors, which are actually complex processes being managed as projects, using the PjM body of knowledge. Because each instantiation takes a somewhat different form, it is treated as a one-of-a-kind undertaking; whereby many of the opportunities for learning and continuous improvement associated with PcM are lost. A reframing and typology is proposed to clarify the central notions involved.

The proposed model has not been tested empirically and the authors could not agree on all aspects of the paper, though existing differences are more about degrees, nuances and wording than about the basic findings of the paper.

The research makes the case that two research and practice communities that are evolving independently have much to gain by adopting a unified model and integrating their respective bodies of knowledge. Practitioners would thus access resources that are better adapted to the management challenges they are facing and gain a sustainable source of strategic advantage.

The paper challenges long-established paradigms between two distinct research streams. A new typology and classification criteria are proposed.