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11 – 20 of over 91000George Denny-Smith and Martin Loosemore
The purpose of this paper is to explore the barriers to entry for Indigenous businesses into the Australian construction industry.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the barriers to entry for Indigenous businesses into the Australian construction industry.
Design/methodology/approach
A national survey was conducted with 33 Indigenous businesses operating in the Australian construction industry.
Findings
The findings show that Indigenous enterprises face similar challenges to many small non-Indigenous enterprises wishing to enter the industry. These include adjusting to unique construction industry cultures and practices, breaking into existing business networks and building social capital and being under-cut by industry incumbents and competitors when tendering for projects. These barriers are similar to those faced by other non-Indigenous social enterprises, although Indigenous enterprises do appear to experience relatively greater difficulty in starting-up their businesses and in securing sufficient capital, finance and assistance to enable them to scale-up and tender for normal work packages at a competitive price.
Research limitations/implications
The results are limited to Australian Indigenous businesses. The survey does not allow a comparison of non-Indigenous and Indigenous businesses, although comparison of results with existing non-Indigenous research into small to medium-sized firms in construction does allow some tentative insights. These need to be explored further.
Practical implications
These results indicate that there are significant barriers to be addressed within the Australian construction industry if government indigenous procurement policies are to achieve their stated aims of increasing the number of Indigenous firms in the industry. The results also have important implications for Indigenous businesses and for non-Indigenous firms operating in the Australian construction industry.
Social implications
This is an important gap in knowledge to address if countries like Australia are to redress the significant inequalities in income and health suffered by Indigenous populations.
Originality/value
In countries like Australia, with significant Indigenous populations, governments are seeking to address persistent disadvantage by using new social procurement initiatives to create quasi construction markets for Indigenous enterprises to participate in the construction industry. While there is an emerging body of research into the barriers facing mainstream small to medium-sized enterprises and, to a lesser extent, social enterprises in construction, the barriers to entry facing Indigenous construction enterprises have been largely ignored.
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Ashish Goel, L.S. Ganesh and Arshinder Kaur
Recent research on construction project management (CPM) envisions addressing wider social good while delivering value to the funding organizations. It is complemented by a…
Abstract
Purpose
Recent research on construction project management (CPM) envisions addressing wider social good while delivering value to the funding organizations. It is complemented by a growing body of knowledge on social sustainability in construction projects. These two literature streams are currently scattered and there is a lack of holistic guidance on integrating social sustainability with CPM. The current study addresses this knowledge gap through a critical review of these two bodies of literature and thereby proposing a conceptual framework for socially sustainable CPM.
Design/methodology/approach
A conceptual modelling approach, involving sequential steps of knowledge acquisition, and knowledge abstraction and representation, has been used. Knowledge acquisition was based on a systematic search and short-listing of research articles and knowledge abstraction was performed through thematic analysis of the 81 shortlisted articles. The categories abstracted through thematic analysis were integrated and presented as the framework.
Findings
A framework for socially sustainable CPM, consisting of four social sustainability characteristics and six areas of social sustainability integration in CPM (SSI-CPM), has been proposed. It presents possibilities of integrating social concerns in CPM processes at various levels – ranging from permanent firms that provide resources to the temporary (project) organization that delivers value.
Originality/value
This study seeks to bridge the gap between theory and practice of realizing social good through construction projects. To this end, a conceptual framework has been proposed along with an agenda for future research encompassing social sustainability and CPM.
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Kangning Liu, Bon-Gang Hwang, Jianyao Jia, Qingpeng Man and Shoujian Zhang
Informal learning networks are critical to response to calls for practitioners to reskill and upskill in off-site construction projects. With the transition to the coronavirus…
Abstract
Purpose
Informal learning networks are critical to response to calls for practitioners to reskill and upskill in off-site construction projects. With the transition to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, social media-enabled online knowledge communities play an increasingly important role in acquiring and disseminating off-site construction knowledge. Proximity has been identified as a key factor in facilitating interactive learning, yet which type of proximity is effective in promoting online and offline knowledge exchange remains unclear. This study takes a relational view to explore the proximity-related antecedents of online and offline learning networks in off-site construction projects, while also examining the subtle differences in the networks' structural patterns.
Design/methodology/approach
Five types of proximity (physical, organizational, social, cognitive and personal) between projects members are conceptualized in the theoretical model. Drawing on social foci theory and homophily theory, the research hypotheses are proposed. To test these hypotheses, empirical case studies were conducted on two off-site construction projects during the COVID-19 pandemic. Valid relational data provided by 99 and 145 project members were collected using semi-structured interviews and sociometric questionnaires. Subsequently, multivariate exponential random graph models were developed.
Findings
The results show a discrepancy arise in the structural patterns between online and offline learning networks. Offline learning is found to be more strongly influenced by proximity factors than online learning. Specifically, physical, organizational and social proximity are found to be significant predictors of offline knowledge exchange. Cognitive proximity has a negative relationship with offline knowledge exchange but is positively related to online knowledge exchange. Regarding personal proximity, the study found that the homophily effect of hierarchical status merely emerges in offline learning networks. Online knowledge communities amplify the receiver effect of tenure. Furthermore, there appears to be a complementary relationship between online and offline learning networks.
Originality/value
Proximity offers a novel relational perspective for understanding the formation of knowledge exchange connections. This study enriches the literature on informal learning within project teams by revealing how different types of proximity shape learning networks across different channels in off-site construction projects.
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Legalists and social scientists have not been able to explain the expansion of gay rights in a conservative age because they refuse to respect the special qualities of judicial…
Abstract
Legalists and social scientists have not been able to explain the expansion of gay rights in a conservative age because they refuse to respect the special qualities of judicial decision making. These qualities require the Supreme Court to look simultaneously at the past, present, and future, and, most importantly, to determine questions of individual rights through a consideration of how citizens are to live under a continuing rights regime. Unless scholars understand how and why Supreme Court decision making differs from that of more directly politically accountable institutions we can expect no greater success in explaining or predicting individual rights in the future.
Saba Jokar, Payam Shojaei, Kazem Askarifar and Arash Haqbin
Social risk management has recently come to the fore as a significant feature of project management. This prominence is particularly evident in urban construction projects that…
Abstract
Purpose
Social risk management has recently come to the fore as a significant feature of project management. This prominence is particularly evident in urban construction projects that take place in cultural heritage and tourism historic sites. Accordingly, this study aims to adopt social network analysis (SNA) to investigate social risks in construction projects occurring in urban districts rife with historically and culturally significant tourism sites.
Design/methodology/approach
The present study analyzed a real case study in Iran as an emergent economy and a developing country. Primarily, the study reviewed previous literature on social risks and relevant stakeholders. Next, the judgments of experts through the content validity ratio analysis confirmed 12 social risks and 9 key stakeholders. Finally, SNA is used to determine the relations between the social risks and stakeholders as well as the significance of each risk.
Findings
The investigation demonstrated that the most important social risks in the construction projects of the case study are “Psychological disorders”, “Environmental pollution” and “Cultural conflicts”.
Practical implications
The findings could help policymakers, urban planners and project managers in developing countries with a rich cultural heritage to reduce social risks and improve the efficiency of their projects.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the present study is one of the first instances to investigate construction projects implemented in densely populated urban areas hosting cultural heritage and historic tourism sites.
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Xiuyu Wu, Qinzhen Qian and Meng Zhang
Leaders' behavior has a critical impact on workers' safety behavior. However, previous studies have shown contradictive views on the effect of different leadership styles on…
Abstract
Purpose
Leaders' behavior has a critical impact on workers' safety behavior. However, previous studies have shown contradictive views on the effect of different leadership styles on safety behavior. One reason may be that the effectiveness of leaders' behavior varies according to diverse contexts. This study examines the effect of transformational and transactional leadership (TsL) on the safety behavior of on-site workers under different levels of social capital in construction projects.
Design/methodology/approach
Safety behavior is divided into three types: safety compliance (SC), organizational-oriented safety participation and individual-oriented safety participation (ISP). Questionnaire survey data were collected from 302 construction workers in the Chinese construction industry.
Findings
The results indicate that the positive effect of transformational leadership (TfL) of frontline supervisors on the two types of construction workers' safety participation is enhanced when social capital is high, although TfL has no significant effect on SC behavior. In contrast, TsL can promote construction workers' SC behavior and organizational-oriented safety participation and social capital positively moderating these relationships. TsL has no significant effect on ISP, but its interaction with safety behavior is positively related to ISP.
Research limitations/implications
This study explains the inconsistent findings of previous research related to the role of leadership in safety behavior by introducing the social capitaltheory and distinguishing safety participation into two typesThis study is confined to one specific country, future research may benefit from investigating whether the conclusions of this study will be different in other nations with diverse cultures.
Practical implications
The findings of the study provide frontline supervisors with new insights into improving workers' safety and the efficiency of leadership in safety management.
Originality/value
This study explains the inconsistent findings of previous research related to the role of leadership in safety behavior by introducing the social capital theory and distinguishing safety participation into two types.
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Construction sustainability (CS) is a strategic reaction to the sustainability expectations of the construction industry's external stakeholders. The extant literature has viewed…
Abstract
Purpose
Construction sustainability (CS) is a strategic reaction to the sustainability expectations of the construction industry's external stakeholders. The extant literature has viewed the environmental, social and economic dimensions of CS as having independent effects on financial performance. Due to the influence of common stakeholders, however, interactions in these dimensions will be present in their effect on financial performance. Accordingly, this study identifies the mechanisms of the interactions between the three CS dimensions and how they jointly affect financial performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Content analysis of GRI reports of 60 large construction organisations, followed by a hierarchical regression analysis was used to identify the interactions between environmental, social and economic CS in their effect on financial performance.
Findings
Economic CS was found to indirectly, and not directly, affect financial performance, the effect being mediated by both environmental and social CS. Environmental CS was found to have a strong negative effect on financial performance, whilst social CS was found to have a strongly significant positive effect on financial performance.
Practical implications
The motivation for engaging in CS is that investment in economic CS will have a positive effect on both environmental and social CS outcomes, which, in turn can have a combined effect on financial performance.
Originality/value
This is one of the first studies investigating the effect of interactions between the environmental, social and economic CS dimensions on the financial performance of construction organisations. It is also one of the first studies that applies a sociotechnical framework to this relationship.
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Brandsford Kwame Gidigah, Kofi Agyekum and Bernard K. Baiden
Though the Public Procurement Act of Ghana makes room for specific socio-economic policies (environmental, social, economic and other policies which are intended to promote social…
Abstract
Purpose
Though the Public Procurement Act of Ghana makes room for specific socio-economic policies (environmental, social, economic and other policies which are intended to promote social and economic impact), there is no explicit definition and provision for social value as an evaluation criterion, culminating in the absence of a definition in the Act. This paper elicits the conception and understanding of social value from stakeholders in the Ghanaian construction industry.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopted a qualitative method that relied on a semi-structured interview of 30 participants purposively drawn from Western, Western North and Central regions of Ghana. An inductive thematic analysis approach, which involved identifying repetitions, exploring similarities and differences, noting linguistic connectors, and a framework were employed to analyse the data.
Findings
The study established no single definition or explanation for social value in the construction industry in Ghana. However, it was revealed from the study that the concept of social value could be defined from the functional perspective of the definer, particularly from the perspective of a Procurement Officer, Works Engineer, and a Quantity Surveyor. A new insight from the study that differs from the body of literature is that participants equated benefits derived from physically constructed projects as social value.
Social implications
The study has implication for public administration and practice regarding the decision-making process in the construction industry in Ghana. It provides a vital awakening on social value as a criterion in evaluating construction works procurement in Ghana. The ability of participants to equate the benefits derived from executed construction projects as social value creates a new perspective on understanding the meaning of social value in the procurement of works construction.
Originality/value
The study contributes to the state-of-the-art and ongoing discourse on the concept of social value globally. The findings create an important catalyst for social value research in the Ghanaian construction industry.
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Jianyao Jia, Guofeng Ma, Shan Jiang, Ming Wu and Zhijiang Wu
Although social media use at work has made great impact on employee work performance, little is known about the effect of social media use at work on construction employees…
Abstract
Purpose
Although social media use at work has made great impact on employee work performance, little is known about the effect of social media use at work on construction employees, especially construction managers. In this way, the purpose of this study aims to investigate the impact of social media use at work on construction managers' work performance based on the enabler-process-intermediate outcome-performance framework.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopts the knowledge seeker's perspective to empirically investigate the mechanism through which social media use at work impacts construction managers' work performance. Questionnaire survey was conducted with 210 construction managers to test the research model proposed in this study. A component-based structural equation modeling technique was employed to analyze the data.
Findings
Results show that social media use at work positively influences knowledge acquisition both internally and externally, and knowledge acquisition promotes task self-efficacy and creativity, which in turn improve construction managers' work performance. In addition, the interaction of task self-efficacy and creativity is found to negatively influence work performance.
Originality/value
These findings contribute to a comprehensive understanding about the impact of social media use at work on construction managers' work performance. This research also provides informative insights for practitioners on how to improve work performance.
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Geoff Woolcott, Martin Loosemore, Robyn Keast, Ariella Meltzer and Suhair Alkilani
Construction is one of Australia’s largest employers of young people and the industry is facing a major labor shortage, with young people expected to account for much of the…
Abstract
Purpose
Construction is one of Australia’s largest employers of young people and the industry is facing a major labor shortage, with young people expected to account for much of the shortfall. Surprisingly however, there been little research into the pathways for young people into construction employment. The aim of this paper is to address this gap in research by exploring whether project-based intermediaries can support the development of disadvantaged young people’s trust in the often-problematic systems which are meant to help transition them into employment in construction.
Design/methodology/approach
Employing an in-depth case study approach, this research mobilizes theories of personalized and generalized trust to report the results of interviews with 15 sectoral leaders; focus groups with 12 young people working in construction; and interviews with 11 young people being transitioned into construction employment through a unique project-based intermediary developed by a major Australian construction company as part of its social procurement requirements.
Findings
Findings show that project-based intermediaries can play an important trust-building role in transitioning disadvantaged young people into work in construction. They do this by bridging a young person’s strong social ties (family and friendship) and weak social ties (with government and construction industry organizations), both of which can be problematic when used in isolation to seek employment in construction. By performing a crucial bridging role between a young person’s individual self-interest in acting alone to find work and their collective interest in being part of a collaborative group, the project-based intermediary creates a new form of linking social capital, enabling social procurement policies which target young people to work while also addressing wider systemic problems in Australia’s employment systems.
Originality/value
This research addresses the lack of employment research into young people in construction and the paucity of theory in social procurement research more broadly. It takes an original approach in aligning theories related to a duality of personalized trust and generalized trust seen against the duality of individual intentionality and agency (self-focused) and shared intentionality and agency (group-focused). By doing so it provides new conceptual and practical insights into the important role that construction project-based intermediaries like the one studied here can play in providing innovative cross-sector and collaborative solutions to the world’s growing youth unemployment crisis.
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