Building a better future: An exploration of beliefs about climate change and perceived need for adaptation within the building industry

The present research explored beliefs about climate change among an important yet relatively understudied population: representatives of the building industry. We also assessed the perceived adequacy of current climate-related actions within the industry and the perceived need for developing new practices. The results of a survey administered within a large engineering firm suggest a fairly high level of concern about climate issues within this sector: participants perceived climate change to be an important issue, current practices to be inadequate, and a need to develop new ways of addressing climate change. Despite this, there was notable and consequential variability in how participants thought about climate change. Higher levels of seniority were associated with greater satisfaction with current practices, and the belief that climate change was a natural rather than man-made phenomena was associated with a reduced support for the idea that changes to current practices were necessary. In addition, when thinking about climate relevant actions (whether current practices or the alternatives) participants focussed almost exclusively on mitigation rather than adaptation. The implications of these patterns for innovation around climate change within the building industry are discussed.     

Explosive construction in a micro‐state: environmental limit and the Bon curve: evidence from North Cyprus

The dynamo role of the construction sector in North Cyprus is documented on the basis of an empirical estimation of backward and forward linkages during the period 1998 to 2005. This was a period when the North Cyprus economy experienced an economic boom in the aftermath of the UN Peace Plan known as the Annan Plan for settling the Cyprus problem. The latest input–output table for the North Cyprus economy is 1998 and we had to derive backward and forward linkages for 2005 from a detailed breakdown of inter‐industry transactions per unit of construction output using the most significant purchases and deliveries, normalizing these transactions for comparability between 2005 and 1998. The results reflect radically different pattern of inter‐industry transactions in 2005 compared to 1998. This work also has general interest in highlighting the possibility of a modified Bon curve for micro‐states, such as North Cyprus, in which environmental constraints may be encountered earlier implying an inverted V‐shaped Bon curve in place of an inverted U‐shape.     

Perspectives on experiences of innovation: the development of an assessment methodology appropriate to construction project organizations

The UK construction industry is in the process of trying to adopt a new culture based on the large‐scale take up of innovative practices. Through the Demonstration Project process many organizations are implementing changed practices and learning from the experiences of others. This is probably the largest experiment in innovation in any industry in recent times. The long‐term success will be measured by the effectiveness of embedding the new practices in the organization. As yet there is no recognized approach to measuring the receptivity of the organization to the innovation process as an indication of the likelihood of long‐term development. The development of an appropriate approach is described here. Existing approaches to the measurement of the take up of innovation were reviewed and where appropriate used as the base for the development of a questionnaire. The questionnaire could be applicable to multi‐organizational construction project situations such that the output could determine an individual organization's innovative practices via an innovation scorecard, a project team's approach or it could be used to survey a wide cross‐section of the industry.     

建筑企业的技术创新与竞争优势——基于竞争战略的思考

中国建筑市场日益激烈的竞争促使中国内资建筑企业思考如何采取竞争战略并获取竞争优势。理论分析表明,技术创新能够成为企业竞争优势的来源。但建筑行业本身的一些特点带来了技术创新障碍。为了考察在不利的创新环境下中国建筑企业的技术创新表现及其与竞争优势的关系,本文以中国上市建筑公司为样本进行实证研究,发现一部分公司已经开始意识到技术创新的重要性并从事一些技术创新活动,但建筑公司整体的技术创新意识和能力还有待加强。另外,分析也表明技术创新一定程度上有助于建筑公司的成长发展及整体实力的提高。因此技术创新战略是中国建筑企业获取竞争优势的一条可行战略,建筑企业应该认清现实、克服障碍,坚持技术创新。     

Enabling and measuring innovation in the construction industry

Innovation is vital to successful, long-term company performance in the construction industry. Understanding the innovation process, how innovation can be enhanced and how it can be measured are key steps to managing and enhancing innovation. The factors that affect innovation on a project were identified, as well as how these factors can be used to measure the level of innovation on a project, and the practices and processes that encourage and facilitate innovative changes. Case studies of construction projects in the United States revealed three necessary components of innovation: idea generation, opportunity and diffusion. A variety of practices are used to optimize each component including support and commitment from the owner/client and firm upper management, workforce and project team integration and diversity. Applying the practices identified in the research leads to enhanced innovation through better communication among project team members, integration of the design and construction disciplines, more efficient designs, development of unique ways of completing work and sharing of the lessons learned. The end result of innovation will be projects that successfully meet and exceed cost, quality, schedule and safety goals.     

在大变局中研发风景园林学的新引擎

中国的风景园林学正处于大变局中。文明发展、政 治态势、生态环境、技术革新和教育改革的深刻变革决定了研 发风景园林学新引擎的必要性。学科的机遇和危机并重,其机 遇包含国民经济和社会发展目标的根本性转变、气候与生物多 样性治理的主流化,以及国家重大战略和重大工程的需求,其 危机则体现为对学科的刻板认识、研究硬核缺失、行业被边缘 化和教育的僵化。农业和工业文明时代中国风景园林学发展的 3项驱动力分别是中国本土风景园林知行传统、苏联和东欧风 景园林相关教育与实践,以及西方风景园林学学科思想。在生 态文明新时代,需要研发具有高站位的学科发展目标、聚焦的 学科发展关键问题、完整的学科核心竞争力结构3个基本属性 的风景园林学新引擎,其原动力是包含自然观、人文观和实践 观在内的价值观,助燃剂是基于复杂性科学的方法论,包含面 向国际前沿、国家重大战略和重大工程的导航组件,基于风景 园林科学研究的助推组件,从科学研究到规划设计的转换组 件,基于高质量规划设计实践的示范组件,以及以地境营造为 核心的风景园林教育组件。     

济南市建筑业发展战略研究

以科学发展观为统领,以行业和谐为主线,以体制机制创新为重点,系统研究济南市建筑业的发展战略问题.阐述了建筑业和谐发展内涵,分析了济南市建筑业发展的基本条件,确定了战略目标,提出了"四个坚持"与"四个构建"的发展思路,即坚持科学发展,构建和谐的发展模式;坚持改革创新,构建和谐的制度体系;坚持法治建设,构建和谐的市场关系;坚持以人为本,构建和谐的劳动关系.     

Concurrent engineering: a strategy for procuring construction projects

The construction procurement process has been heavily criticised for its fragmented approach toward the delivery of construction projects. This has affected project effectiveness inasmuch as current procurement practices do not effectively encourage the integration, coordination and communication between participants. In addition, there is an ephemeral shifting coalition of participants from which divergent goals and objectives often emanate. This inhibits the scope for creativity and innovation throughout the procurement process. To overcome the difficulties often associated with procuring projects, industry practitioners and researchers have turned to the manufacturing industry as a point of reference and a potential source of innovation. Accordingly, a concept known as Concurrent Engineering (CE) has become a focal point for research. Concurrent engineering is a holistic approach to the design, development and production of a product. A multi-disciplinary team approach is required, whereby participants are brought together during the design to determine how downstream issues may be affected by design decisions. This paper suggests that a CE approach in construction may significantly improve the way in which projects are procured. A simple model demonstrating how CE can contribute to project effectiveness is proposed.     

Thinking like Capital markets – Financialisation of the Australian Construction Industry

The concept of financialisation has not yet become a major subject in mainstream construction economics research. This is surprising since construction risk, risk management and project financing have long been important issues for researchers and practitioners. This paper introduces the concept of financialisation, outlines its causes in the construction industry and identifies some effects. An important dimension of financialisation in the construction industry can be seen in the growing conversion of illiquid built assets into liquid financial instruments that have become a distinct global asset class. These liquid construction assets have become important to current risk management and profit strategies of developers, major construction firms and capital market investors. Five key drivers of financialisation in the construction industry are identified. The article finds that a principal effect of financialisation in construction is to intensify competition for access to global capital, which in turn reinforces long-established tendencies for risk shifting in the contractual chain. The Australian construction industry has been an early adopter of the key drivers of financialisation and is used in this article as a case study. In developing the case study analysis the article also draws on observations by major Australian construction industry associations and financial institutions.     

Clients’ needs,wants and expectations from contractors and approach to the concept of repetitive works in the Northern Cyprus construction market

Intense competition existing in the construction market creates an industry that is dominated by the client groups. This paper provides insights into private clients’ needs, wants and expectations from contractor firms in the Northern Cyprus building construction market, by presenting survey findings of 91 clients regarding this issue. Moreover, it presents their perspective related to doing repetitive works with the same contractors in possible future works. The study has clearly confirmed the fact that the clients in the specified market place high emphasis on a wide variety of factors. The importance assigned to these factors varies according to the categories or characteristics of the clients within the private building construction sector. Another striking finding was the responding clients’ willingness to do possible repetitive works with the same contractors assuming that they are fully satisfied with the existing or past projects. This opportunity, if used properly by the contractor firms in this market, may be the key to beating the competition and lead to the easy path to increase a contractor firm's market share. Furthermore, it was found that the responding clients expect much more than quality, finishing on time and within budget for full satisfaction and continuing to do repetitive works. The importance and hence the contribution of a set of criteria related to achieving full client satisfaction, and leading to possible repetitive works is presented. Although it would not be reasonable to determine general strategies on just a single study, the contractor firms in the Northern Cyprus construction market will benefit from the framework given within this paper by recognizing what is important and essential to private building construction clients in particular situations and hence present the capabilities of the contracting or potential contracting organizations in ways that meet this to best advantage. Although the results given are based on input from the Northern Cyprus construction market, we believe that the contractor firms in other countries, who specialize in building works for private sector may also benefit from the findings or at least the approach of this research as well.     

建筑企业施工项目技术联盟伙伴选择策略分析研究

作为现代施工企业组织的创新形式,技术联盟已成为现代施工企业加强竞争力,提高核心能力的重要方式之一。其中的关键是伙伴选择问题。从建筑行业经常采用的联盟伙伴合作的形式及其要求入手,对于联盟伙伴的选择进行定性和定量的具体策略的分析。     

浅析勘察设计企业项目信息化管理体系的构建

坚持科技创新和信息化建设的导向,突出企业信息化管理体系的构建,始终坚持理论与实践相结合的研究模式,努力推进建筑产业现代化的发展,着力提升企业核心竞争力,促进建筑业持续健康发展。通过本文针对勘察设计企业项目信息化管理的研究成果,希望为建筑企业在进行信息化建设提供参考,如完善企业经营管理、增强企业竞争力、提高经济效益等方面具有较强实践的借鉴意义,为推动建筑业信息化建设奠定一定的理论与实践基础。     

Innovation in small construction knowledge‐intensive professional service firms: a case study of an architectural practice

Small construction knowledge‐intensive professional service firms (SCKIPSFs) are becoming increasingly important agents of innovation within the construction industry. The nature and process of innovation in SCKIPSFs, however, is generally considered through the constraining prism of research results generated from significantly different contexts, such as from manufacturing sectors or non‐project based firms. A theory of innovation for SCKIPSFs is developed from a longitudinal 22‐month case study of a small architectural practice. Two forms of knowledge‐based innovation were discerned from the empirical work: exploitative innovation and explorative innovation. ‘Explorative innovation’ was found to be located in immediate ‘new’ project domains, and entailed search, variation, experimentation, activity to solve project‐specific problems; while ‘exploitative innovation’ concentrated on developing generic organisational infrastructure to ‘refine’ and ‘improve the efficiency’ of the firm operations to nurture capability for future activity. The key challenge for SCKIPSFs is to develop and manage an appropriate balance between explorative and exploitative innovation over time in order to generate sustainable competitive advantage.     

建筑业创新网络:吸收能力视角

研究建筑业创新网络有助于提高建筑业创新能力、技术和管理创新水平,增强企业核心竞争力。基于吸收能力影响利益相关者网络位置和关系强度的假设,以吸收能力对创新绩效影响的反馈结果为基准,说明吸收能力如何作用于网络机制。在此框架下,对建筑业创新网络机制的关键问题进行介绍,提出未来研究的建议。研究表明,吸收能力在促进创新网络知识转移和共享方面影响显著,对网络机制起调节作用。     

基于西安市地下综合管廊 PPP 项目的商业模式创新研究

面对国家密集启动城市地下综合管廊试点建设的战略机遇,如何创新商业模式,充分发挥全过程、全产业链专业集成的综合能力和比较优势,担负起中国城市地下综合管廊建设的核心责任,是领军建筑业企业亟待解决的一个重要问题。以国内单笔投资额最大、公里数最长,总投资额 140 亿元的西安市地下综合管廊 PPP 项目 I 标段为例,阐述中国建筑西北区域总部创新商业模式,在高端运作、集中资源、重点突破、多方共赢,实现企业跨越发展等方面的思考及典型做法,对领军建筑业企业创新商业模式具有一定的借鉴价值     

Women's self‐perception: an inter‐sector comparison of construction,legal and nursing professionals

The issue of gender in the construction industry has received considerable attention. However, most of the research has been from a male perspective and has considered how male perceptions of females act as an impediment to women's career progression. An understanding of women's self‐perception is important because it helps to explain how women make sense of the barriers and challenges they face in a male dominated culture and how they seek to attain positive outcomes for themselves. A comparison of women in the construction industry with women in other male‐dominated (legal) and female‐dominated (nursing) industries reveals little variation in self perceptions. Indeed, women in the construction industry emerge relatively positively, with the highest overall level of self‐esteem. This is encouraging and surprising, given the considerable evidence of significant barriers to entry and career progression for women in the construction industry, compared to other industries. It indicates that the construction industry is not a special case and that support strategies used in other industries are directly transferable, although the culture of the construction industry may make them more difficult to implement.     

Between hard and soft HRM: human resource management in the construction industry

The rapid change in the economic environment has not resulted in the development of sophisticated human resource management practices in the UK construction industry. There are similarities between personnel practice in construction and ‘hard’ models of HRM, particularly in relation to manual workers, but non-manual employment resembles more the conditions where ‘soft’ HRM might be expected. Focusing on the HRM levers developed by John Storey, HRM practices are examined in relation to the role of personnel departments, line management responsibility, performance management, and values and beliefs of personnel managers. The survey results suggest few signs of fundamental or far-reaching innovation in human resource management practice in the construction industry despite the changing shape of construction companies. There are some, though limited, signs of change in respect to expectations of training and employee development in the future.     

中国建筑业技术创新体制研究

采用理论分析与实证分析相结合的方法,研究了建筑业技术创新的特点和问题,分析了建筑经济活动组织形式对应用技术创新的障碍因素,以及建筑技术创新与新材料、新设备和I T技术的密切关系.提出了建筑业技术创新体制应具备的三项基本功能并就有关政府部门的职能和建筑业产、学、研各方在技术创新中的分工协作关系提出了具体的建议,进而以权益为核心讨论了建筑业技术创新的机制与动力,对提升中国建筑业的技术创新能力和有效性具有重要的应用价值.     

Industrialized construction in the Swedish infrastructure sector: core elements and barriers

Improving productivity and innovation is a central challenge in all industries, but particularly in construction where improvements have been slow. To meet this challenge, a recent investigation into the actions of Swedish government clients has recognized needs to improve planning during project procurement phases, increase numbers of turnkey contracts and raise industrialization of the sector. In response, the Swedish Transportation Administration has launched a research and innovation programme to foster an industrial approach and identify ways to increase the standardization of products and processes. However, increasing industrialization has been difficult to achieve in the project-based construction industry except in the process-based housing sector. Further, there has been little research on the concept of industrialized infrastructure construction and barriers to its implementation. Opinions and attitudes of clients, consultants and contractors in the infrastructure sector were investigated in relation to the core elements of industrialized construction, and the barriers hindering its development. Opportunities and obstacles related to both product and process standardization for continuous improvements and the relationships between clients and contractors are revealed. Hence, the implementation of industrialized construction requires tightly focused governance at the outset of projects and profound changes to established attitudes, norms and regulations.