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 baby and the bathwater: research methods in construction management

This note is written in response to Seymour, D., Crook, D. and Rooke, J. (1997) Construction Management and Economics, 15 (1), 117-19. We argue against their narrow focus on the interpretative approach. Also, Seymour et al. are incorrect in implying that the ‘rationalist approach’ is necessarily quantitative. Our contention is that the choice of research approach in construction management depends on the nature of the problem. However, whatever choice of approach is adopted, it is important that the problem and associated key concepts are defined clearly and that the methods used, underlying assumptions and limitations are transparent and defensible. It is difficult to argue in favour of any single approach based purely on epistemological grounds as what constitutes knowledge is still an unsolved philosophical issue. Since construction management is a practical subject, we suggest that the choice of approach should be a pragmatic one: the approach that is likely to generate practical solutions should be adopted. Seymour et al.'s suggestion serves only to limit our choice of research tools. Furthermore, a lot of the research issues in construction management are practical problems which involve generalization of experience and formulation of hypothesis that can generate empirically testable implications. For problems of this nature, testability of hypothesis and reproducibility of results are important, and the naturalist approach (which is labelled ‘rationalist paradigm’ in Seymour et al.) of discovering causal relationship is more likely to produce general practical solutions. However, this does not deny the value of the interpretative approach, as it may be more suitable for certain types of problem. Moreover, in practice, an understanding of human behaviour ‘from within’ often provides useful insights for formulation of empirically testable hypotheses, despite the philosophical incompatibility of the interpretative and naturalist approaches.     

Practices,barriers and benefits of risk management process in building services costs estimation: comment

This note is a comment on Mok, C.K., Rao Tummala, V.M. and Leung, H.M. (1997) Practices, barriers and benefits of risk management process in building services cost estimation, Construction Management and Economics, 15 (2), 161–75, which describes research into the risk perceptions and risk management practices of building services engineers in Hong Kong. The note questions statements made in the paper and parts of the research design and data analyses.     

A needs based methodology for classifying construction clients and selecting contractors-a rejoinder

Our original article (Chinyio et al., 1998a) ‘A needs based methodology for classifying construction clients and selecting contractors’, Construction Management and Economics, 16 (1), 91-98 discussed the empirical classification of construction clients and illustrated a new methodology for selecting contractors. The techniques we adopted have not been applied in a construction scenario before and thus their implementation may face teething difficulties as differences between construction and the disciplines from which the techniques were adopted are ironed out. Due to brevity we did not highlight some of the potential problems their implementation would encounter, as we could not explain everything on the subject matters in one article. Skitmore and Mills (1999) in a comment, Construction Management and Economics, 17 (1), 5-7, highlighted some anticipated difficulties and posed some insightful questions concerning the applicability of our concepts. From an optimistic perspective we have addressed most of the sundry issues raised by Skitmore and Mills wherein ‘Decision Analysis’ was reviewed as a basis for responding to the comments.     

Human research ethics – is construction management research concerned?

Construction Management Research (CMR) depends upon human beings participating in research, the quality of treatment of participants having direct effect on the quality of their participation, in turn that of the research itself, making treatment of humans and the ethical dilemmas that can ensue an important area of competence for CM (Construction Management) researchers. Does the growing field of CMR demonstrate appropriate concern for human research ethics? Evidence of typical CMR research is taken from the online Cooperative Network for Building Researchers (CNBR), particularly a search for “informed consent” collateral. It was found that there was little concern with human research ethics, which we argue is also evident in the lack of research on this matter in CMR-related literature, or any reference to these matters in the relevant professional and institutional bodies. Reasons as to why this might be are proposed. The consequences of the apparent level of concern are that participants can be exposed to “wrongs”, despite pressures for compliance from institutional ethics boards. However, the discipline of critically evaluating human research approach through a framework of ethical considerations is not only morally correct, at least according to the morality that is concerned for consequences to participants, but is also objectively useful to researchers, improving the reliability and validity of their research and lowering barriers to participation.     

Construction Management and Economics: A review of the first ten years

Construction management and construction economics are internationally recognized research fields which enjoy support from a strong and growing community of researchers, scholars and practitioners. Specialist academic and professional journals which serve the fields are relatively new. One of the prime journalsConstruction Management and Economics, celebrated ten years of continuous publication in 1992.

In the ten years since its inceptionConstruction Management and Economicshas grown and has become more international. Whilst it has sharpened its focus on project-level production-oriented issues it has reflected the varied activities and interests of those involved with construction management and economics research and scholarship. Analysis of the pattern of publications in the journal and of their citations suggests a strengthening of the academic base of papers although there is little evidence that this is achieved by approaches to research that are clearly driven by, or contribute to, theory. In addition, patterns of citations suggest that studies are becoming increasingly inward-looking.

Whilst there has been remarkable stability in the general characteristics of papers there have been significant changes in the identities of frequent authors and of key contributing institutions. A new generation of contributors has emerged.

The paper documents these developments in the journal. In addition, through the design of a meta-classification model, it makes tentative proposals of dimensions by which research in the discipline can be defined and described.     

PMBOK、ICB与《建设工程项目管理规范》之比较

就国际上两大项目管理知识体系——美国的PMBOK、欧洲的ICB与我国《建设工程项目管理规范》在其目的和内容上进行详细的比较,阐述了《建设工程项目管理规范》的历史性和局限性,使之有利于人们对项目管理更深刻、更全面的了解,并有利于中国项目管理的理论体系及项目管理水平更好的发展和完善。     

4所美国高校BIM标准简介

BIM作为是一种新兴的技术,可以帮助建筑师和承包商更好地设计和建造。美国大学设施管理部门2008年来开始探索在在自己的校园建设上使用BIM,并建立大学自己BIM标准。本文简要介绍了4所美国高校(洛杉矶社区大学区、印第安那大学、普林斯顿大学以及麻省理工)的BIM标准。这些标准或者指南,大体上分为BIM目标、要求、实施的流程以及成果交付的要求等几部分,大多都建立了自己开发的文件分享的软硬件平台。本文旨在借鉴美国高校实施BIM的成功经验,为我国的高校基建部门以及建筑行业实施BIM标准作一些的有益参考。     

日本政府建筑建设标准的经验及其对我国的启示

以日本《关于国家机关的建筑物及其附属设施的位置、规模和构造的标准》、《新建一般政府建筑面积确定标准》、《政府建筑设施建设的法律》、《营造修缮项目管理要领》为例,介绍了日本政府建筑建设标准的经验,从建设标准的地位、内容体系、编制原则、编制方法、制订模式、标准实施、管理、更新等方面提出改进我国政府投资工程项目建设标准的相关建议。     

Putting theory to work: the use of theory in construction research

Attention to epistemology, theory use and citation practices are all issues which distinguish academic disciplines from other ways of knowing. Examples from construction research are used to outline and reflect on these issues. In doing so, the discussion provides an introduction to some key issues in social research as well as a reflection on the current state of construction research as a field. More specifically, differences between positivist and interpretivist epistemologies, the role of theory in each and their use by construction researchers are discussed. Philosophical differences are illustrated by appeal to two published construction research articles by Reichstein et al. and Harty on innovation (Reichstein, Salter and Gann, 2005 Reichstein, T., Salter, A.J. and Gann, D.M. (2005) Last among equals: a comparison of innovation in construction, services and manufacturing in the UK. Construction Management and Economics, 23, 631–644.10.1080/01446190500126940[Taylor &; Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]; Harty, 2008 Harty, C. (2008) Implementing innovation in construction: contexts, relative boundedness and actor-network theory. Construction Management and Economics, 26, 1029–1041.10.1080/01446190802298413[Taylor &; Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]). An analysis of citations for each highlights different cumulativity strategies. The potential contribution of mixed research programmes, combining positivist and interpretivist research, is evaluated. The paper should be of interest to early researchers and to scholars concerned with the ongoing development of construction research as an academic field.     

Practice world

Vytantas Stankevi?ius, Head of the Laboratory of the Lithuanian Scientific Research Institute of Architecture and Construction, at Kaunas and his colleagues, J. Karbauskaité and G. Dapkus, report on the studies they have carried out on the microclimate of special services spaces which are distinguished by higher air temperatures and relative humidity of up to 80%. The authors confirm that higher thermotechnical standards should be set for such spaces.     

普通商品住宅成本构成典型样本分析

普通商品住宅是国家住宅市场管理建设体系的主体,其健康运行发展是关系国计民生的大事;飞涨的房价促使人们更加关注其成本构成的各个项类。该文通过普通商品住宅成本构成典型样本的分析研究,得出其成本控制的最佳策略,进而实现其优质低价的开发建设目标。     

Can information regarding previous sales stabilize the house price index? Evidence from a field experiment in Spain

We compare the impact of two different listing price strategies for residential homes on the purchasing price of a property. Previous literature on anchoring effect (Tversky and Kahneman in Science 185(4157):1124–1131, 1974) has encountered a direct relation between the listing price and the sale price. Among the listing prices, the asking price, proposed by the seller, has been found to systematically influence the final purchasing price (Bucchianeri and Minson in J Econ Behav Org 89:76–92, 2013; Han and Strange in J Urban Econ 93:115–130, 2016). In this paper, we study the effect of another possible anchor, the last sale price, given its extended use in important housing markets, such as the US. By means of a controlled field experiment carried out in a real estate agency, we find that when the previous purchasing price is available, buyers’ offers are characterized by a smaller variance from the average offered price, compared to when only the asking price is reported. This result suggests that the previous sale price is a stronger predictor of purchasing price than the asking price is and could be a valid instrument for policy purposes.

     

Construction economics and economics journals

It has been asked whether construction economics has achieved the position of an academic (sub-)discipline. The main question addressed here is if there are signs of a widening gap between construction economics and mainstream economics. Full text searches in three top economics journals and in Construction Management and Economics have been performed, as well as an analysis of how a broader range of economics journals have combined the construction industry topic with other topics. Results include that authors in the three top economics journals never cite articles in Construction Management and Economics, although citations in the opposite direction are frequent. Economics journals in general are found to combine the Journal of Economic Literature L74 code (Construction) mostly with codes from financial economics, macroeconomics and economic development. For 2013–2016, the strongest new combinations with construction are with Firm Behaviour – Empirical Analysis, Accounting and Climate – Natural Disasters and their Management. Finally, the importance for construction economists of access to big data is emphasized.     

The awareness and practice of value management by South African consulting engineers: Preliminary research survey findings

The awareness of value management (VM) and the nature and extent of its practice by professional civil, electrical and mechanical engineers in the South African construction industry are investigated using a web-based, online questionnaire survey as the first part of a more extensive investigation. A primary objective of the early study is to test the UK-based assertion of Kelly et al. [Kelly, J., Male, S., Graham, D., 2004. Value Management of Construction Projects. Blackwell, Oxford] that VM is an established service with commonly understood tools, techniques and styles. The survey findings suggest that, while awareness of VM is reasonably prevalent among South African engineers, its practice is considerably less extensive. Where VM is undertaken, almost no attempt is made to benchmark VM activities against international standards nor does its use appear to conform to any standard methodology. Engineers prefer other ways of delivering value to projects, and do not generally employ VM to facilitate the client briefing process. The findings are important given the increasing globalization of construction services, especially given the international ties between designers, project managers and other professionals. Professional engineering associations in South Africa should adopt a proactive role in promoting the use of VM by engineers, possibly through continuing professional development programmes.     

The prospects for a production management body of knowledge in business schools: response to Koskela (2017) “Why is management research irrelevant?”

This article is a response to Lauri Koskela’s recent piece in Construction Management and Economics (“Why is management research irrelevant?” 35(1–2): 4–23) which reflects on the relationship between academic research and management practice in business schools. In particular, Koskela asks why production management research and teaching has disappeared from the business school agenda and why management research has failed to produce a consistent body of knowledge that is of use to management practice. In this article, I try to provide some alternative perspectives on the present and past contexts of management theory and production research. I argue that production research, if not teaching, is alive and well and the site of theory generation, problem-focused research and innovation. I also question the veracity and wisdom of a creating “body of knowledge” in relation to management research and practice-even if it were possible, which I believe it is not. My assessment of the state of research in business schools, at least in the U.K. and the U.S. and notwithstanding a lack of consensus over how to approach management research, is that it is eclectic and vibrant and of much more use to practicing managers in that state.     

建筑施工现场的4D可视化管理

应用4D-CAD技术,结合当前施工现场管理的实际需求,研究开发4D建筑施工现场管理系统4D-CSMS。该系统将施工场地及设施的3D模型与施工进度计划相链接,动态模拟施工过程和场地状况,实现了3D施工场地布置和施工设施的动态管理,为提高建筑工地的管理水平和工作效率,提供了科学、有效的管理方法和手段。     

Practice-based learning in construction projects: a literature review

Construction project managers often face problems when trying to change work practices. Management research addresses these problems by offering stylized and abstract models; unfortunately, they may say little about the actual work practices that managers want to change. Practice theory offers an alternative way to address practice-related managerial problems, arguing that learning is a central enabler of performing practices. While some early research on practice-based learning in construction management exists, an understanding of how this theory has been applied is lacking. To address this limitation, a systematic literature review of 15 published construction management articles was conducted, the articles being divided into five practice-related analytical categories: participation, context, meaning production, power and becoming a practitioner to identify the areas of theory discussed. Participation and context were discussed more in the published articles than meaning production, power and becoming a practitioner, which might suggest that the latter categories offer more possibilities for future research. Further, the articles were analysed through a Lakatosian research programme lens, showing that a progressive research programme exists in practice-based studies in construction management. These findings provide avenues for future construction management studies seeking to apply practice-based learning theory to understand learning in construction projects better.     

Proactive problem-solver for construction

Construction is an experience-based discipline. Knowledge or experience accumulated from previous projects plays a very important role in successful performance of new works. More and more construction organizations have adopted commercial Knowledge Management Systems (KMSs) to develop their own Knowledge Management (KM) functionalities. Most of the existing KMSs adopt Communities of Practice (CoPs) for knowledge sharing and exchange. Such an approach is found on the reactive problem-solver (RPS); that is, the problem raised by the questioner in the CoP has to “wait” for the “solution knower” to respond (or reply). Previous research indicated that the RPS approach may suffer in poor time and cost effectiveness. This paper proposes a Proactive Problem-Solver (PPS) approach for the problems encountered in construction engineering and management. Unlike RPS, the PPS proactively solves the problem based on lessons learned from previous projects. Should the solution be not available; the PPS dispatches the problem to the most appropriate domain experts so that the problem can be tackled timely and efficiently. A case A/E consulting firm is selected for implementation of the proposed PPS to demonstrate its applicability. It is shown that the proposed PPS improves more than 89.5% of efficiency both for timeliness and cost-saving of problem-solving. The proposed PPS demonstrates great potentials for improvement of emergent problem solving and enhancement of market competitiveness of a construction organization.