Search results

Despite long-term, sustained research and industry practice, predicting construction labour productivity (CLP) using existing factor and activity modelling approaches remains a challenge. The purpose of this paper is to first demonstrate the limited usefulness of activity models and then to propose a system model approach that integrates factor and activity models for better prediction of CLP.

The system model parameters – comprising factors and practices – and work sampling proportions (WSPs) were identified from literature. Field data were collected from 11 projects over a span of 29 months. Activity models based on the relationship between CLP and WSPs were created, and their validity was tested using regression analysis for eight activities in the concreting, electrical and shutdown categories. The proposed system model was developed for concreting activity using the key influencing parameters in conjunction with WSPs.

The results of the regression analysis indicate that WSPs, like direct work, are not significantly correlated to CLP and fail to explain its variance. Evaluation of the system model approach for the concreting activity showed improved CLP prediction as compared to existing approaches.

The system model was tested for concreting activity using data collected from six projects; however, further investigation into the model’s accuracy and efficacy using data collected from other labour-intensive activities is suggested.

This research establishes the role of WSPs in CLP modelling, and develops a system modelling approach to assist researchers and practitioners in the analysis of productivity-influencing parameters together with WSPs.

Administrative processes play a crucial role in various sectors, often contributing to cost overruns and delays. While lean concept has been extensively applied in many industries, there is a recognized need for further research on the integration of lean in administrative processes. To address this research gap, this study aims to systematically analyse the implementation of lean in administrative processes, providing a sector-wise comparison to explore its prospects for the construction industry.

A systematic literature review was conducted by adapting the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses method. Eighty-six research papers are subjected to descriptive and content analysis on different tools applied in lean integrated administrative processes in health care, education, public administration and other sectors.

The research study reveals common lean tools irrespective of sector. Moreover, specific tools used for a particular sector are analysed. Out of the various lean tools and techniques, value stream mapping, 5S and Kaizen are highly acknowledged tools in every sector of lean intervention. Furthermore, ECRS is applied explicitly in the education sector. Furthermore, it is noted that Suppliers, Inputs, Process, Outputs and Customers (SIPOC), 5whys, load levelling and control charts are identical to administrative processes in lean health care. Furthermore, Spaghetti charts and Kaikaku are only adapted to administrative processes in the public administration sector, and causal loop diagrams are used explicitly in administrative processes in the construction sector.

This study contributes to research by developing a guideline to design lean intervention for a lean-integrated administrative process in any sector which still needs to be transformed into lean. Hence, this study will be a cornerstone for incorporating lean principles for administrative processes in construction sector.

Accelerating the influences of external stakeholders in any construction project is inevitable. Studies on external stakeholder influence on construction projects and literature on external stakeholder management in irrigation infrastructure projects executed with donor funds are scarce. Thus, this study aimed to investigate how to manage the external stakeholders' influence on donor-funded irrigation infrastructure projects effectively.

A mixed approach consisting of 17 semi-structured interviews and two rounds of questionnaire surveys was adopted to rank the following: the types of external stakeholders who can significantly influence irrigation infrastructure projects, significant influencing strategies used by those stakeholders, and significant strategies that can be adopted to manage external stakeholder influence on the projects.

In total, 12 of external stakeholders who can significantly influence irrigation infrastructure projects were identified; 17 significant influencing strategies used by external project stakeholders and 22 significant strategies used to manage external stakeholder influence on the projects were identified. The influencing/management strategies specific to each external stakeholder type and those that are common to all external stakeholder types were identified separately. The grievance redress mechanism should be activated for managing external stakeholder influence on donor-funded irrigation infrastructure projects.

This study contributes to theory by identifying significant strategies that can be used to manage external stakeholder influence on donor-funded irrigation infrastructure projects during the planning and design stages. The study will help project teams to handle external stakeholder influence on the projects successfully, accomplish project objectives, and make maximum utilization of the donor funds received.

This chapter discusses the role of energy production in the global capitalist economy and its relationship to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with particular focus on SDG 8 – ‘Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all’ – and SDG 12 – ‘Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns’. It achieves this by first introducing the Club of Rome report the Limits to Growth which utilised a system dynamics computer model to simulate the interactions of five global economic subsystems (population, food production, industrial production, pollution and consumption of nonrenewable natural resources) (Meadows, Meadows, Randers, & Behrens III, 1972), the results of which posed serious challenges for global sustainability, to better understand and contextualise unconventional (also referred to as ‘extreme’) and ‘renewable’ energy production as examples of the paradoxical nature of sustainable development in the global capitalist economy. Demonstrating that unconventional energy production methods are much less efficient, more carbon intensive, more environmentally destructive and just as unsustainable, and that renewable energy relies on the extraction of nonrenewable natural resources such as lithium that result in similar environmental and social issues, this chapter will interrogate this and ask the question – is the capitalist system in its current form capable of making ‘sustainable development something more than the oxymoron it appears?’.

The complexities in strait-crossing cable-stayed bridge project are increasing the risks. This study aims to identify and analyze the significant and worth-considered construction risks of the first, biggest and longest spanned strait-crossing bridge project in Indonesia.

As many as 32 risk events were identified and determined as the risks that exist and can be represented in the Suramadu bridge project context. Data was collected through a design-based questionnaire disseminated to experts involved in the project as well as semi-formal interviews. Several quantitative methods were applied to analyze the significant risks, such as relative importance index, Spearman’s rank correlation test and Mann–Whitney U test.

The analyses reveal that “unexpected natural behavior” confirmed by both contractor and consultant parties is the most significant and crucial risk event. Another risk event found to be significant is the “delayed payment.” On the other hand, it is also found that several risks within the legal category are found to be less significant compared to other major risk events.

The results of the present research should be interpreted in the context of several limitations. Given these possible concerns regarding the generalizability of the findings, along with the relatively low rate of participants in the current research, additional studies are needed to provide a more complete picture of stakeholder perceptions who are involved directly in the construction environment as well as to identify more construction risks specifically in the large-scale bridge project.

This study has provided fundamental contributions to the body of knowledge and practical implication to promote and assist decision-makers toward developing a comprehensive risk assessment of a large-scale bridge project.

The analyses of outcomes and discussion, as well as the findings of this research, have shed light on the construction risks understanding, which contributes to delivering a theoretical framework for achieving large-scale bridge project success.

Most projects are facing delays, and accelerating the pace of project progress is a necessity. Project managers are responsible for completing the project on time with minimum cost and with maximum quality. This study provides a trade-off between time, cost, and quality objectives to optimize project scheduling.

The current paper presents a new resource-constrained multi-mode time–cost–quality trade-off project scheduling model with lags under finish-to-start relations. To be more realistic, crashing and overlapping techniques are utilized. To handle uncertainty, which is a source of project complexity, interval-valued fuzzy sets are adopted on several parameters. In addition, a new hybrid solution approach is developed to cope with interval-valued fuzzy mathematical model that is based on different alpha-levels and compensatory methods. To find the compatible solution among conflicting objectives, an arithmetical average method is provided as a compensatory approach.

The interval-valued fuzzy sets approach proposed in this paper is denoted to be scalable, efficient, generalizable and practical in project environments. The results demonstrated that the crashing and overlapping techniques improve time–cost–quality trade-off project scheduling model. Also, interval-valued fuzzy sets can properly manage expressions of the uncertainty of projects which are realistic and practical. The proposed mathematical model is validated by solving a medium-sized dataset an adopted case study. In addition, with a sensitivity analysis approach, the solutions are compared and the model performance is confirmed.

This paper introduces a new continuous-based, resource-constrained, and multi-mode model with crashing and overlapping techniques simultaneously. In addition, a new hybrid compensatory solution approach is extended based on different alpha-levels to handle interval-valued fuzzy multi-objective mathematical model of project scheduling with influential uncertain parameters.

International construction joint ventures (ICJVs) will fully realize their potential for success and effectively monitor performance when an adequate and suitable performance benchmark is established. However, existing studies fall short of adequately providing a mutually acceptable benchmark for assessing the performance of ICJVs. This study aims to develop an adequate and suitable performance measurement framework for ICJVs.

A twofold structured questionnaire survey, supplemented by semi-structured interviews, was used to collect data from the practitioners of ICJVs hosted in the developing country of Ghana. The data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and a hybrid-fuzzy logic approach.

A list of 30 performance indicators (PIs), defined by project performance, perceived satisfaction, company/partner performance, socio-environmental performance and performance of ICJV management, was validated and proved to be significant. Only 22 out of the 30 PIs, focusing on project efficiency, societal improvement and organizational goals are realized by the ICJV practitioners. Further, suitable determinants and viable quantitative ranges for measuring each PI are established to prevent different interpretations of the meanings of PIs and objectively express the level of success in quantitative terms. The results call for further investigation of the convergence between the practice of and research into some PIs (e.g. socio-environmental performance) and a range of different performance levels (PLs) in a more scientific manner.

This study not only advances the knowledge base and practice of performance measurement in ICJVs but could also assist stakeholders and decision-makers to assess, compare and monitor the performance of different ICJV projects on common grounds objectively.

This study not only comprehensively assessed PIs – what to measure – but also systematically determined suitable determinants – how to measure – for each PI.

This chapter aims to examine whether the intransigence of consumers is leading to exploitative conditions in developing countries. It focuses on Bangladesh where the situation is dire for workers in the apparel industry, as they work tirelessly to supply the needs of consumers in the developed world.

The chapter adopts an analytical approach to identify and analyse the key issues within the apparel sector. It assesses the issues on the basis of the ethical trade practices and the duty care theory in determining the roles, if any, that retailers and consumers play in the generation of these mishaps. It uses secondary sources obtained mainly through the media and the literature to review the current debates within the sector.

The chapter presents evidence that shows that the rationale for engaging with and supporting workers in developing countries are important strategic reasons for undertaking global investments. The chapter found that problems within the apparel business could be rectified if people at all stages of the supply chain take responsibility for their actions and inactions. This is particularly relevant in the context of weak states, where negative externalities such as human rights abuses, poor working conditions and low pay levels are often found.

The chapter makes a case for compelling firms to ensure the welfare of workers from those countries they source from. In particular, by focusing on Bangladesh, the chapter has attempted to link the national and local context to global forces in which ethical concerns are seen to have become susceptible to pressures of economic considerations. Such a situation underscores the need to explore the tensions that exist between global governance regimes and national regulations, and how they are likely to become more critical during times of economic development. More specifically, the chapter also believes further research can be done to assess how we should discharge our responsibilities to others within the supply chain of the apparel industry.

The chapter contributes to a discussion that has been of considerable concern to many international retailers, consumers and contractors in the garment industry of late. Its importance lies in the fact that it examines critically the competing claims as to who should take the blame for mishaps in the garment industry. It brings to the fore the ethical obligations that stakeholders have and suggests avenues for a series of engagements that can drive the cause for achieving just and compassionate care relations in the broadest sense within the business environment.