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The purpose of this paper is to examine the human dimension of project management by establishing the extent to which social networks influence the commitment of project stakeholders. Up to date, project managers still identify inadequate stakeholder commitment to project undertakings as a key antecedent of project failure and so efforts aimed at addressing this challenge are highly valued. The paper therefore explores the use of social networks as one of the possible strategies to enhance project-stakeholder commitment.

The paper adopts a quantitative, cross-sectional study design. Based on responses from 172 project stakeholders who took part in a sample of 92 citizenship projects conducted by major commercial banks in Uganda, hierarchical regression was used to indicate what happens to a model as different predictor variables are introduced The use of specific type of projects minimizes bias in results due to the unique nature of specific projects hence enhances reliability of results.

The results from statistical analysis reveal that social network elements (network transitivity and network degree) are significant predictors of project stakeholder commitment. The results also suggest that network transitivity is a better significant predictor of project-stakeholder commitment than network degree

Project-stakeholder commitment has been widely studied in relation to project performance and the study makes a number of contributions to the theory and study of projects. First and foremost, the paper studied project social networks and project-stakeholder commitment in citizenship projects in commercial banks in Uganda which is a developing country. The study therefore contributes to an understanding of project social networks and project-stakeholder commitment in citizenship projects of commercial banks in a developing country. The implication of the findings is that it provides a different view point of understanding the aspects that affect project commitment. A lot of focus has been placed on improving project performance in Uganda, but none has specifically focussed on building project-stakeholder commitment through the use of project social networks.

Earlier attempts to investigate the impact of social networks on commitment in projects did not study commitment among individuals. Also, no previous empirical study in less developed countries has given special attention to the effect of social networks on project-stakeholder commitment especially in the domain of citizenship projects which have gained a lot of momentum around the globe. The study results indicate that getting concerned with the nature of social networks the project creates and the means it uses to maintain such networks has implications for project-stakeholder commitment.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of project communication on project‐stakeholder commitment. Earlier studies have emphasized the significant influence of project‐stakeholder commitment to project success; and to date, lack of stakeholder commitment is still listed as a key cause of project failure. In an effort to improve project stakeholder commitment, the paper investigated project communication as a key antecedent of project‐stakeholder commitment.

The study adopted a cross sectional study design and results were drawn from a sample of 92 citizenship projects conducted by 16 commercial banks in Uganda. Data collection was based on a specific type of project in order to obtain context‐specific responses.

The results obtained after running a hierarchical regression indicated that intra‐project communication and extra‐project communication had a positive combined predictive potential of project‐stakeholder commitment with a Beta coefficient of 0.54. It was recommended that project management should create an atmosphere for effective project communication as one of the primary means of ensuring commitment of various project‐stakeholder commitment.

This is the first paper to document the effect of project communication on stakeholder commitment in Uganda. Many people in projects in Uganda have lacked commitment to projects due to inadequate information, attributable to gaps in the communication system. The results indicate that project communication has implications for project commitment.

Owing to limited space, reducing the waste going to landfills has become a pressing issue in Hong Kong. As most of the solid waste was generated from construction activity, the Hong Kong Government has instituted a number of measures aimed at reducing waste from this source. However, it appears that the application of these measures has been of limited effectiveness. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of implementing regulatory measures for reducing construction waste in Hong Kong.

The data used for the analysis are from a survey to construction professionals in the local industry by means of questionnaire, interview discussions and case studies. The survey examined the commitments and responsibilities imposed on project participants for implementing seven major regulatory waste management controlling measures: legislative controls; controlling public filling facilities; controlling landfill areas; providing on‐site sorting facilities; implantation of a environmental management system; implementation of a waste management framework plan; and implementing recycling scheme.

The results of the investigation illustrate that legal commitments have been mainly allocated to contractors. Insufficient commitments and responsibilities are allocated to other project participants such as project clients, designers and consultants. The study has also found that existing waste control ordinances allow for skewed distribution of commitments and responsibilities of controlling construction waste among project stakeholders. The results demonstrate that there is need for a balanced allocation of responsibilities and commitments among all project stakeholders.

Revision and further development of legal measures are necessary to ensure that all project stakeholders play an active role and share commitments in waste control and reduction. This research provides references for studying construction waste management in other construction industries.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of partnership in integrating the corporate social responsibility (CSR) of project stakeholders towards better housing affordability.

A research methodology, consisted of literature review and field studies, is designed to accomplish four objectives. First, to provide a comprehensive literature review of the concepts of affordable housing, project stakeholders, CSR and partnership; second, to present and synthesis the results of relevant field studies examined the experiences of CSR and partnership among selected construction firms and the Government of South Africa (SA) in affordable housing projects; third, to develop a CSR‐partnership model (and its action plan) that integrates the CSR of project stakeholders to achieve greater housing affordability; finally, to draw some conclusions and recommendations to improve the practice of CSR and partnership among government authorities and construction professionals.

Affordable housing is one of the greatest challenges that face countries around the globe, especially developing countries. The complexity of the problem hinders governments, alone, from achieving their plans for sustainable development. Project stakeholders must have social responsibilities towards supporting government initiatives for affordable housing development. The five‐domain CSR‐partnership model developed by the authors will help integrating the CSR of project stakeholders as an approach for developing affordable housing project.

Because of the conceptual nature of the proposed model, it has to be tested and validated to ensure its capability to integrate the CSR of project stakeholders as an innovative approach for overcoming the difficulties facing governments in providing housing for the poor.

The conducted review provides better understanding of the issue related to the practice of social responsibilities and partnership of project stakeholders, both worldwide and in SA. Through its five domains (government, society, economy, law, and technology), the proposed CSR‐partnership model and its action plan are expected to serve as a foundation for optimising the partnership of project stakeholders with government authorities towards better housing affordability. This ideology has received scant attention in construction literature. The developed model represents a synthesis that is novel and creative in thought and adds value to the knowledge in a manner that has not previously occurred.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to develop a performance evaluation framework for construction and demolition waste management (CDWM); second, to investigate feasible and effective strategies to improve the CDWM performance.

A review of the literature highlighted a lack of comprehensive research to evaluate CDWM performance of key project stakeholders, like owners, contractors and consultants. After the identification of 22 performance variables through a pilot study, a first questionnaire survey was conducted to investigate the views of respondents toward CDWM performance. The 132 responses were analyzed using factor analysis to determine specific CDWM performance factors, which formed a conceptual performance evaluation framework of CDWM. Furthermore, a practical index (PI) was proposed to integrate the feasibility and effectiveness of CDWM strategies. The values of PI were employed to prioritize CDWM strategies from data collected in a second questionnaire survey.

The validated results from factor analysis revealed that the conceptual performance evaluation framework of CDWM consists of six factors; and the attitude toward CDWM emerged as the foremost critical factor. The prioritization of PI values indicated that raising CDWM awareness among construction stakeholders was the most feasible and effective strategy for CDWM.

This CDWM performance evaluation framework is one of the first to holistically evaluate CDWM from key stakeholder perspectives. In addition, the PI firstly enables quantitative integration of the feasibility and effectiveness of CDWM strategies.

The purpose of this paper is to examine, by means of case studies, the mechanisms by which relationships can be managed and by which communication and cooperation can be enhanced in sustainable supply chains. The research was predicated on the contention that the development of a sustainable supply chain depends, in part, on the transfer of knowledge and capabilities from the larger players in the supply chain.

The research adopted a triangulated approach in which quantitative data were collected by questionnaire, interviews were conducted to explore and enrich the quantitative data and case studies were undertaken in order to illustrate and validate the findings. Handy's view of organisational culture, Allen and Meyer's concepts of organisational commitment and Van de Ven and Ferry's measures of organisational structuring have been combined into a model to test and explain how collaborative mechanisms can affect supply chain sustainability.

It has been shown that the degree of match and mismatch between organisational culture and structure has an impact on staff's commitment level. A sustainable supply chain depends on convergence – that is the match between organisational structuring, organisation culture and organisation commitment.

The study is a proof of concept and three case studies have been used to illustrate the nature of the model developed. Further testing and refinement of the model in practice should be the next step in this research.

The concept of relationship management needs to filter down to all levels in the supply chain if participants are to retain commitment and buy‐in to the relationship. A sustainable supply chain requires proactive relationship management and the development of an appropriate organisational culture, and trust. By legitimising individuals' expectations of the type of culture which is appropriate to their company and empowering employees to address mismatches that may occur, a situation can be created whereby the collaborating organisations develop their competences symbiotically and so facilitate a sustainable supply chain.

The culture/commitment/structure model developed from three separate strands of management thought has proved to be a powerful tool for analysing collaboration in supply chains and explaining how and why some supply chains are sustainable, and others are not.

This study explores the challenges of access to finance from local financial institutions (LFIs), i.e. local banks, for public–private partnership (PPP) infrastructure project delivery in Nigeria. The aim is to provide useful insights that could inform policy solutions to ease the local funding of PPP infrastructure projects in Nigeria and, by extension, other developing economies.

Adopting a qualitative research methodology, the study engaged PPP stakeholders involved in securing funds for PPP infrastructure projects in Nigeria. A total of 15 PPP stakeholders, drawn from the public and private sectors, were purposively selected and their views on the research problem obtained through recorded telephone interviews. The opinions of the research participants were subsequently analyzed and the results discussed with the outcome of the examination of relevant literature.

The study found that the significant factors affecting access to local finance for PPP infrastructure projects in Nigeria include low capital base by LFIs, weak project viability, lack of capacity to manage PPP-related activities, inconsistent government policy, poor legal framework and public perception of PPP.

Insights from this study are useful for PPP stakeholders in mitigating the barriers that influence access to local finance for PPP infrastructure projects in Nigeria and other developing economies. This study is also useful in enhancing the current policy structure in developing countries as a way of revamping the existing infrastructure framework through LFIs.

This study provides clarity on the peculiar challenges impeding access to finance from LFIs for PPP infrastructure projects in Nigeria and will be useful for debt providers and policymakers in evaluating the bankability of PPP infrastructure projects in Nigeria and other developing countries.

This study aims to investigate the mediating role of “Big Data Analytics” played between “Project Performance” and nine factors including top management, project knowledge management focus on sustainability, green purchasing, environmental technologies, social responsibility, project operational capabilities, project complexity, collaboration and explorative learning, and project success.

A sample of 321 responses from 106 Indian manufacturing small and medium-scaled enterprises (SMEs) was collected. Data were analyzed using empirical analysis through structural equation modeling.

The result shows that project knowledge management, green purchasing and project operational capabilities require the mediating support of big data analytics. The adoption of big data analytics has a positive influence on project performance in the manufacturing sector.

This study is useful to SMEs managers, practitioners and government policymakers to develop an understanding of big data analytics, eliminate challenges in the adoption of big data, and formulate strategies to handle projects efficiently in SMEs in the context of Indian manufacturing.

For the first time, big data for manufacturing firms handing innovative projects was discussed in the Indian SME context.

This paper aims to explore the applicability of construction partnering in Mainland China, and to provide useful suggestions and possible implications for decision‐makers to adopt this collaborative approach to project procurement.

Document analysis was first employed to identify the favourable conditions and potential difficulties in the application of partnering in Mainland China. A series of face‐to‐face semi‐structured interviews targeting academic experts and industrial practitioners was undertaken to solicit their perceptions of the benefits and difficulties of implementing partnering in Mainland China, coupled with their overall assessment of the applicability of, and suggestions for, the implementation of partnering in the region.

The results of document analysis indicated that the cultural roots of co‐operation and mutual trust, together with the increasing need to improve the current state of project performance in Mainland China, underpin the application of partnering in the construction market, although its application and generalisation still encounter some significant difficulties. The perceived benefits, potential barriers and effective strategies for partnering application in Mainland China were determined from the interviewees. The interview results further supported the applicability of construction partnering and provided constructive and practical suggestions for possible implementation in the Mainland Chinese construction industry. The partnering approach is evaluated as being practicable and appropriate in this study for the construction industry in Mainland China.

Although it is essential to base the analysis of partnering applicability on a qualitative study, an empirical quantitative investigation of the benefits and difficulties of partnering application could further reinforce the quality of analysis. Future research could look into the project‐based assessment of partnering application in terms of the perceived benefits and potential difficulties of, and success factors for, partnering implementation in Mainland China.

Policy‐makers aiming for the introduction of the partnering approach could be equipped with stronger confidence from favourable cultural environment and industrial needs. Restrictions to the application of partnering underlying in the current working culture could be mitigated when appropriate strategies are taken by the initiators of the partnering approach.

Increased worldwide attention on construction partnering has shed light on the construction industry in Mainland China to achieve better value for money in project procurement and management. This paper provides valuable reference for decision‐makers to consider the adoption of partnering based on the qualitative analysis of the applicability of partnering in the construction industry in Mainland China.

This paper aims to review the knowledge management (KM) processes, knowledge conversion modes and critical success factors (CSFs) and contextualise them to the construction setting to guide effective KM implementation.

This paper is conceptual in nature. It begins with a review of issues faced by construction organisations, which led them to consider implementing KM. This is followed by a comprehensive review of KM processes, knowledge conversion modes, KM CSFs and their application to the construction industry.

Based on the socialisation, externalisation, combination and internalisation (SECI) model, the knowledge conversion modes are discussed, linking them to the KM processes of knowledge creation, sharing, storage and application. The KM CSFs identified from construction literature suggest that they can be categorised into two groups, namely, factors within organisational control (managerial influence, technological influence and resource influence) and factors beyond organisational control (social influence, political influence, environmental influence, economic influence, industry influence and construction technology influence). The resulting review is discussed in terms of how construction organisations can implement KM effectively to achieve the desired project performance outcomes in terms of time, cost and quality.

Although this paper has made some theoretical contributions, a quantitative analysis will further reinforce its value both in theory and practice, particularly in terms of applying the KM processes and CSFs to different organisational, industry and country settings. A quantitative research is being carried out in the major construction sector in Sri Lanka to establish the relationships between the KM processes, knowledge conversion modes and KM CSFs with project performance outcomes, which will be reported in a subsequent publication.

As the construction industry uses a considerable number of knowledge workers, implementing KM for project planning and execution is the key to sustaining the growth of construction organisations and industry, particularly when KM implementation is linked to project performance outcomes. Practical implications are provided in terms of what successful KM implementation entails.

Effective KM implementation can serve as a conduit for construction organisations to build capacity and develop the ability to react quickly to social challenges brought about by different stakeholders, even before the project commences, so that the project performance outcomes will not be affected. Another social implication is the role played by project team members, in which efforts have to be put in place to facilitate the use of KM processes, so that teams can align project activities to the general good of their organisations.

A comprehensive KM framework that guides the construction industry on KM implementation is long overdue. This research represents the first of such attempts to view KM from a wider perspective, both in terms of internal and external influences affecting construction organisations. Once the conceptual framework developed is validated, it is expected to bring enormous benefits to different stakeholders.