Developing world class construction companies in Singapore

The construction industry in Singapore is under pressure to improve its performance and the quality of its products and services. The Government is looking to see Singapore develop into a knowledge-based economy, and construction cannot be left behind. A recently published report about re-inventing construction has called on the industry to become a world-class industry. This study examines the attitudes and views of contractors, operating in Singapore, on how and where developments should be focused to bring about such a transformation. The results show that local contractors are not overly enthusiastic about becoming worldclass. The study found also that contractors expect the development to be Government led, with policies and incentives to support such an effort. At the same time there is a feeling that current Government policies are not effective in enabling the industry to become world-class.     

Strategic groups and firm performance: the case of Spanish house-building firms

A central theme in strategic management is the theoretical relationship between strategic groups and firm performance. However, the empirical evidence is conflicting. The aim of this research is to study this linkage by examining business strategies in the Spanish construction industry. This paper defines several groups based on Porter's generic strategies of 88 house-building firms, and studies performance differences between groups. The empirical findings demonstrate that significant differences in performance do not exist among groups. Implications of this research for Porter's generic strategies in construction are then discussed.     

Research scene

This opinion survey about the future of international construction concerns several time horizons, but only the five-year horizon is discussed in this paper. The analysis focuses on construction market attractiveness - a measure obtained by combining opinions about the rate of growth, profitability and openness to foreign competition - and construction industry competitiveness with respect to both services and materials. The results of the survey rank attractiveness of construction markets by country and city. The analysis of competitiveness of construction services and materials largely points to the same countries and indicates some important medium-term trends in the international construction market.

Cette étude d'opinions sur l'avenir de la construction internationale s'intéresse à plusieurs horizons mais seul l'horizon à 5 ans est examiné dans ce document. Cette analyse se concentre sur l'attractivité du marché de la construction - que l'on mesure en combinant les opinions sur le taux de croissance, la rentabilité et l'ouverture à la concurrence internationale et sur la compétitivité de cette industrie en termes de services et de matériaux. Les résultats de l'étude classent l'attractivité des marchés de la construction par pays et par ville. L'analyse de la compétitivité des services et des matériaux de construction met nettement en eéidence les mêmes pays et indique certaines tendances à moyen terme qui se dessinent sur le marché de la construction internationale.     

The future of international construction

This opinion survey about the future of international construction concerns several time horizons, but only the five-year horizon is discussed in this paper. The analysis focuses on construction market attractiveness - a measure obtained by combining opinions about the rate of growth, profitability and openness to foreign competition - and construction industry competitiveness with respect to both services and materials. The results of the survey rank attractiveness of construction markets by country and city. The analysis of competitiveness of construction services and materials largely points to the same countries and indicates some important medium-term trends in the international construction market. Cette etude d'opinions sur l'avenir de la construction internationale s'interesse a plusieurs horizons mais seul l'horizon a 5 ans est examine dans ce document. Cette analyse se concentre sur l'attractivite du marche de la construction - que l'on mesure en combinant les opinions sur le taux de croissance, la rentabilite et l'ouverture a la concurrence internationale et sur la competitivite de cette industrie en termes de services et de materiaux. Les resultats de l'etude classent l'attractivite des marches de la construction par pays et par ville. L'analyse de la competitivite des services et des materiaux de construction met nettement en evidence les memes pays et indique certaines tendances a moyen terme qui se dessinent sur le marche de la construction internationale.     

Should governments fund construction research?

This paper considers the role played by government in stimulating innovation to improve quality, profitability and competitiveness in construction activities. It questions whether governments should fund research and development in construction, and if so, what level and types of support might be appropriate to meet emerging needs. It addresses this with reference to the current debate on the public funding of science, citing Kealey and Pavitt. The author considers specific construction-related issues and changing conditions, indicating the need for more, rather than less funding by both private and public sectors. In conclusion, the author develops a third way, different from Kealey's and Pavitt's approaches. Construction requires a strong and vibrant research base, partly funded by government. Simultaneously, the state requires a research and knowledge base in order to fulfil its roles such as for governance of technologies in the built environment. A complementarity effect arises from both public and private funding - which is therefore greater than the sum of the parts. L'auteur examine le role joue par le gouvernement en vue de stimuler l'innovation pour ameliorer la qualite, la rentabilite et la competitivite dans le secteur du batiment. Il s'interroge sur le fait de savoir si les gouvernements doivent financer la recherche et le developpement dans ce secteur et, si la reponse est positive, quel niveau et quels types de soutien seraient appropries pour repondre aux besoins qui se font jour. A cet effet, il se refere au debat public qui s'instaure actuellement sur le financement public de la science et cite MM. Kealey et Pavitt. L'auteur s'interesse aux questions specifiquement liees a la construction ainsi qu'a l'evolution de la situation qui militent en faveur d'une augmentation du financement public et prive plutot que d'une diminution. Pour conclure, l'auteur propose une troisieme voie, differente des methodes preconisees par MM. Kealey et Pavitt. La construction doit s'appuyer sur une base de recherche solide et dynamique, financee en partie par le gouvernement. Simultanement, l'etat a besoin d'une base de recherche et de connaissances pour tenir son role, par exemple, de gerant des technologies relatives au cadre bati. Il se degage un effet de complementarite des financements publics et prives qui est superieur a la somme des deux parties.     

加入WTO后我国建筑企业国际竞争力的变化

建筑企业国际竞争力是建筑产业发展的关键因素之一,本文尝试运用因子分析和聚类分析法,通过对入世以后我国建筑企业国际竞争力的变化情况进行综合的评价与分析,找出其在竞争中的优势和劣势要素。这对我国政府部门及各类建筑企业制定科学的发展策略和有效提高国际竞争力的对策,具有重要的现实意义。     

滚轧直螺纹接头在铁路桥梁工程中的应用

滚轧直螺纹接头俗称套筒连接,以下统称套筒连接。本文通过研究套筒连接在铁路特大桥中的应用,总结了套筒连接在铁路桥梁工程中的适用条件。同时,也采用其他钢筋连接方式与套筒连接进行比较,得出套筒连接技术具有操作简便、简单易学、安全可靠、质量易控制、施工速度快、节约钢筋等特点。因此建议在铁路桥梁施工中推广使用套筒连接,但也必须注意到它的局限性。     

Developing construction logistics management: the French experience

To recover from the construction crisis, major French construction firms started developing ‘;package building’ strategies at the beginning of the 1990s. Today, their desire to open up continues, but they have also shown renewed interest in the management of construction site activities and production engineering, as witnessed by the practices of ‘logistics management’. How can we justify this inward-looking attitude to construction? What place is there for innovation? Along what lines must this new approach to production management develop? These questions are addressed with reference to the analysis recently produced by a panel of experts led by the authors. The study of various experimental construction sites shows that although it may not yet be well established, this approach has resulted in significant changes in the way construction projects are organized. It places the emergence of new forms of coordination both within and between firms right at the heart of the quest for production efficiency.     

Globalization and construction industry development: implications of recent developments in the construction sector in Asia

Recent developments in the construction sector in the Asian region demonstrate three trends: (1) larger private sector participation in infrastructure projects, (2) increasing vertical integration in the packaging of construction projects, and (3) increased foreign participation in domestic construction. This paper attributes the trends to the globalization and deregulation of markets necessitated by fiscal, technological and managerial constraints. Although these trends present intra-Asian opportunities, there are also areas of concern. The trends have helped polarize the financial and technical superiority of the developed countries and the corresponding inferiority of the developed countries in the region of the developing ones. In the long term, this gap could be filled through technology transfer. In the short term, however, there are concerns that imported construction services could grow at the expense of the indigenous sectors of the developing countries. This paper illustrates this dilemma with the case of Japan as a world leader in international construction services. Its dominance has apparently come through the orchestration of industrial and corporate policies, implemented in a highly regulated and protected domestic market. However, construction industries in other Asian economies (such as China) will have to leapfrog in technology, finance and management know-how (e.g. through joint ventures with developed countries' construction companies) before they can become formidable powers in an environment that has become much more global, more de-regulated, more open and more competitive than before.     

价值工程在工程项目中的运用

建筑业既是传统产业,也是支柱产业。建筑企业根据自身的价值取向,应用价值工程分析企业工程投标与实施阶段的功能与成本的关系,用最低的成本实现企业的经济效益和企业的品牌效应。     

Globalization and construction industry development: research opportunities

Raftery, J., Pasadilla, B., Chiang, Y. H., Hui, E. C. M. and Tang, B. S. (1998) Construction Management and Economics, 16, 729–37 review recent developments in the construction industries in Asia. They discuss the main causes and effects of key trends in globalization and their impact on the industries. This paper considers some of the points raised by Raftery et al. It starts with an overall review of their paper. It then considers construction industry development in general, technology transfer and joint ventures, and the impact of policy reform on the industries. It suggests additional relevant issues, and highlights some areas where further research would be appropriate.     

The future of international construction: some results of 1992-1999 surveys

Since 1992, eight annual opinion surveys of international construction activity have been conducted. The annual survey questionnaires are sent to key individuals concerned with construction activity in their own countries and internationally. The principal interest of the ECERU opinion survey is the predicted future development of construction activity worldwide. The survey is concerned with construction and economic development in general, and with specific questions relating to the global construction market over the next 25 years, 5 years and 12 months. This paper analyses and assesses some of the survey results, identifying future construction market trends at the regional, national and metropolitan level. The principal findings suggest that, at the regional level, the survey respondents generally share the survey's optimism about Asia and pessimism about Western Europe and Africa. However they disagree with the survey's pessimism about North America, East and Central Europe and South America. At the national and metropolitan level China and cities within China are considered noteworthy. The paper concludes that the Asian construction market is still at the focus of attention worldwide despite the problems following the Asian financial crisis. Depuis 1992, on a organisé huit sondages d'opinion annuels sur les activités du secteur de la construction dans le monde. Les questionnaires ont été envoyés à des personnalités concernées par la construction dans leur pays et au niveau international. Le principal intérêt de ces sondages conduits par l'ECERU est d'obtenir des informations prévisionnelles sur le développement de la construction dans le monde. Les sondages portent sur la construction et le développement économique en général; des questions spécifiques ont trait au marché global de la construction à trois échéances différentes: 25 ans, 5 ans et 12 mois. La présente communication analyse et évalue certains des résultats de ces sondages et dégage les tendances commerciales futures du secteur de la construction aux niveaux régional, national et métropolitain. Les principaux résultats laissent à penser qu'au niveau régional les personnes interrogées qui ont rempli les questionnaires partagent, d'une manière générale, l'optimisme de l'ECERU en ce qui concerne l'Asie et son pessimisme pour ce qui est de l'Europe occidentale et de l'Afrique. En revanche, elles n'adhèrent pas au pessimisme de l'ECERU quant à l'Amérique du nord, l'Europe centrale et de l'est et l'Amérique du sud. Aux niveaux national et métropolitain, la Chine et les grandes villes chinoises sont dignes d'intérêt. Les auteurs concluent qu'en Asie le marché de la construction reste au centre de l'attention en dépit des problèmes qui ont découlé de la crise financière en Asie.     

城市地铁隧道常用施工方法概述

目前国内外修建地铁车站的施工方法有明挖法、盖挖法、暗挖法、盾构法等。主要阐述了修建地铁车站施工方法的原理、施工流程、优缺点,为我国各大城市修建地铁车站时选择合理的施工方法提供有益的参考。     

基于建筑信息模型的信息管理技术

本文针对当前建筑行业信息量大、类型杂、不方便管理的现状,介绍了基于BIM的信息管理技术,该技术实现了施工资源的动态管理和施工成本的实时监控,对建筑行业的信息化发展起到了推动作用。     

建筑结构施工图标准化和自动化平台的研究与实现

施工图标准化和自动化是实现BIM技术用于结构设计的关键。实用的结构施工图标准化和自动化绘图平台应支持主流有限元计算、绘图和预算软件, 以及各种版本的AutoCAD。本文阐述了研发该平台要解决自动化、个性化、平台化和联动化这四项关键技术。自动化要求出图速度快,图纸质量高;个性化要求功能设置适应不同单位图面表达上的差异要求;平台化是指开放的绘图平台要兼容各类常用绘图工具软件,并作为这些软件的运行平台;联动化就是修改一根构件,其它相关联图纸自动修改。最后,本文给出了设计单位建立结构施工图标准化和自动化绘图平台的流程。     

The construction industry and macroeconomy in Sub-Saharan Africa post 1970

This paper reports research aimed at the establishment of a model of interdependence between the construction sector and the national economy, based on a long term trend, for the developing countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. This study follows research undertaken by previous writers who have investigated the relationship between the construction sector and economic development and found a positive relationship between the share of construction in gross domestic product (GDP) and the level of per capita national income. In addition, recent economic and demographic trends in Sub-Saharan Africa are presented and significant events that have had a great impact in this region are highlighted. Evidence is presented that a long term decreasing growth in GDP per capita corresponds directly to a relative decrease in construction volume. The converse does not appear to be true.