Managing construction project change: a knowledge management perspective

In the information age, organization theories have addressed problem‐solving as an information‐processing activity. However, in this era, with the realization of knowledge‐based views of the organization, shared problem‐solving is increasingly recognized as a knowledge creation trigger. During shared problem‐solving, stakeholders bring different types of knowledge into the problem situation and it is captured, created and shared by the team members. In construction projects, shared problem‐solving often takes place through pragmatic problem‐solving on site, in particular, through managing project changes. However, this significant role of knowledge in managing project change is not well appreciated in the extant literature. Accordingly, to explore how knowledge is created during project changes in construction a case study approach was adopted using two change events in two collaborative settings within the UK construction industry. The case study findings revealed that different forms of knowledge are created during the project change process within construction projects. However, this knowledge remains largely tacit and does not disseminate to the wider organization due to imbalanced codification and personalization strategies existing in such settings. A knowledge management perspective is introduced to manage project change so that construction project teams can successfully resolve and learn from change events.     

Improving building project performance: how buildability benchmarking can help

Although the buildability of building designs has not been commonly taken as an important parameter in design quality assessment, previous studies have linked buildability to time, cost, quality and safety performance in many ways. Based on this observation, the question arises of how buildability can be benchmarked and which aspects of project performance can be improved. After identifying available benchmarking tools, the relative correlations are investigated between different buildability attributes and construction performance in terms of time, cost, quality and safety. Based on a questionnaire survey, it was found that construction time performance has strong positive correlations with buildability in the design of external wall elements, simplicity of assembly and installation considerations, while other design attributes affect cost, quality and safety performance to varying degrees. With this understanding, it is postulated that best practice can be promoted among design teams for enhancing buildability, which would in turn raise project performance. Three experienced practitioners have been interviewed for verifying the practicality of buildability benchmarking. As an incentive to improve buildability, benchmarking would help construction stakeholders reap their desired benefits by focusing on the related design attributes in the pre‐construction stage, particularly for functionally oriented buildings.     

Development of a framework of key performance indicators to identify reductions in energy consumption in a medical devices production facility

The consumption of energy in manufacturing operations is growing in significance and approaches to reduce the resulting environmental impacts are necessary. Whilst companies have focused on reducing energy at a facilities level, research indicates that specific production processes generate significant environmental impact through energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Potential energy savings have been identified in production processes; however the necessary tools are missing. The development of energy performance indicators have been described in theory but there is little evidence of their successful application in practice. This research proposes the application of a normalised co-efficient to view production and energy data and the development of a rolling energy performance co-efficient to provide alerts to ‘out-of-control’ production operations. Implementation of the approach in a large medical devices manufacturing facility has identified significant savings. Key consideration in the development of energy key performance indicators for production operations are described.     

Beyond the ‘iron triangle’: Stakeholder perception of key performance indicators (KPIs) for large-scale public sector development projects

Performance measurement criteria vary from project to project. Despite much work on the subject, there is no commonly agreed framework of performance measurement on mega projects. To bridge this gap, this research targets to investigate the perception of the key performance indicators (KPIs) in the context of a large construction project in Thailand. The study explores the significance of key performance indicators in perspective of various construction stakeholders (client, consultants, and contractors). Findings indicate that the traditional measures of the iron triangle (on-time, under-budget and according to specifications) are no more applicable to measuring performance on large public sector development projects. Other performance indicators such as safety, efficient use of resources, effectiveness, satisfaction of stakeholders, and reduced conflicts and disputes are increasingly becoming important. This implies that the Thai construction industry is slowly departing from the traditional quantitative performance measurement to a rather mix of both quantitative and qualitative performance measurement on large-scale public sector development projects.     

Integrated maintenance management of hospital buildings: a case study

Over the course of the past three decades, facilities management has become the subject of an increasing number of research and development efforts. The main objective of the present research was to examine the efficiency of maintenance under alternative maintenance policies and different sources of human resources. The research focused on the maintenance of public hospital buildings in Israel, with the objective of providing a model for multi‐system facilities operating in a dynamic environment. This paper describes the last three stages of the research: the establishment of key performance indicators, the implementation of these indicators in a case study in order to appraise them, and the validation of the indicators. Four key performance indicators were developed, as follows: the Building Performance Indicator (BPI), the Manpower Sources Diagram (MSD), the Maintenance Efficiency Indicator (MEI) and the Managerial Span of Control (MSC). This paper illustrates a case study in which the four developed indicators were implemented in practice. Characteristics of the case study hospital are presented and analysed. Finally, the conclusions and recommendations drawn from the analysis of the hospital case study are discussed, validated and deliberated upon. The approach presented in this paper integrates performance, financial, human resources and organizational aspects to facilitate an improved evaluation method of the parameters affecting the execution of maintenance activities.     

Coordinated construction logistics: an innovation perspective

Coordinated construction logistics is an increasingly discussed topic in the Swedish construction industry. It is suggested as a means to increase efficiency in transportation, decrease material usage, coordinate health and safety on-site, etc. Much research on construction logistics has been done from a supply chain management perspective, often highlighting construction logistics as a necessary rational tool to improve efficiency in construction industry. However, could there be other ways to study this phenomenon? The purpose of this paper is to map empirically found coordinated construction logistics models and explore them as different types of innovation. The findings suggest that coordinated construction logistics models should be regarded as not being a fully embedded innovation as they have not yet changed the processes in the way they set out to do initially. Furthermore, differences are identified between company-based models, project-based models and system-based models, and suggest that differences in, for example, development, impact and objectives should be regarded both when conducting research on and when implementing coordinated construction logistics in practice. Finally, it is concluded that commitment, communication and cooperation are important when implementing coordinated construction logistics, which is in line with findings within the supply chain management literature.     

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.     

On-site energy management challenges and opportunities: a contractor's perspective

Although numerous policies encourage CO₂ and energy consumption reduction within the UK non-domestic sector, most measures are primarily focused towards reducing operational impacts, but largely overlook embodied impacts, particularly within the construction process. On-site construction refers to the energy consumed during the installation of materials up to project practical completion and represents the largest share of construction process CO₂ emissions. Contractors have a pivotal role to play in reducing CO₂ and energy consumption due to their significant involvement in project procurement and on-site construction. The key challenges and opportunities are investigated for delivering on-site energy management within UK non-domestic projects from a contractor's perspective. A case study is presented of a large UK principal contractor's on-site energy management practices, based on a wide geographical sample of non-domestic projects and operatives. Shortcomings are found within the contractor's current on-site energy management procedure across the three reporting levels (director, operations and project). Findings identified the lack of data authentication as a significant challenge, whereas capturing additional project variables to facilitate future benchmarking was deemed as a key opportunity for on-site energy management enhancement.

Bien que de nombreuses politiques encouragent une réduction du CO₂ et de la consommation d'énergie dans le secteur non résidentiel au Royaume-Uni, la plupart des mesures visent principalement à réduire les impacts opérationnels, mais négligent largement les impacts intrinsèques, en particulier dans le processus de construction. La construction sur chantier fait référence à l'énergie consommée de l'installation des matériaux jusqu'à la réalisation concrète du projet et représente la part la plus importante des émissions de CO₂ au cours du processus de construction. Les entrepreneurs ont un rôle crucial à jouer dans la réduction du CO₂ et de la consommation d'énergie du fait de leur importante implication dans la passation des marchés et dans la construction sur chantier. Les principales difficultés et opportunités sont examinées pour que soit assurée une bonne gestion de l'énergie sur les chantiers dans les projets non résidentiels britanniques du point de vue de l'entrepreneur. Est présentée une étude de cas portant sur les pratiques de gestion de l'énergie sur les chantiers d'un important maître d'?uvre britannique, sur la base d'un large échantillon géographique de projets non résidentiels et de modes opératoires. Il est constaté des insuffisances dans la procédure actuelle de gestion de l'énergie qui est utilisée sur les chantiers par les entrepreneurs sur l'ensemble des trois niveaux hiérarchiques (directeur, exploitation et projet). Les constatations ont identifié le manque d'authentification des données comme un défi important à relever, tandis que la saisie de variables supplémentaires des projets pour faciliter l'évaluation future des performances a été considérée comme une opportunité essentielle pour l'amélioration de la gestion de l'énergie sur les chantiers.

Mots clés: processus de construction, entrepreneurs, gestion de l'énergie, indicateurs de performance environnementale, non résidentiel, construction sur chantier     

A century of innovation in the Dutch construction industry

In recent years, the number of publications on innovation in the construction industry has increased. Many of these documents address qualitative issues, e.g. policies for innovation and present case studies. A more quantitative approach is taken in this paper, which is the continuation of a previous study. It focuses on main types and sources of innovation in the construction industry, and includes an analysis of 55 years of publications in two leading Dutch professional journals. The results show a recent increase in innovation, with two‐thirds of innovations coming out of supplying industries. Construction companies contribute mainly in process innovations. Innovation in construction remains to be technology‐ rather than market‐driven. Regulations have a surprising impact, as over one‐third of all counted new innovations are related to new regulations.     

Organizational behaviour and safety management in the construction industry

This research paper examines the relationship between organizational theory and accident causation/prevention theory as applied in practice to the construction industry. Part of the research work consisted of an information survey of groups of various categories of workers, managers and owners to establish their perceptions of accident causation. The findings indicate that the emphasis of current accident prevention measures in force is more suited to mechanistic organizations than to organic types of which the construction industry is one. The conclusions reached are that the emphasis must be concentrated more on education and training and the spread of information on the hazards of the working environment and their avoidance.     

Environmental performance measurement indicators in construction

Environmental management system (EMS) has been suggested for promoting effective environmental protection. Environmental performance assessment (EPA) is a critical tool of the EMS in checking, reviewing, monitoring and evaluating environmental performance of organizations. In order to implement EPA, performance measurement indicators (PMIs) that show the environmental performance outcome are required, which, however, are lacking in the construction industry. By conducting a structured survey, in the form of a questionnaire and interviews, this paper attempts to identify three key output indicators, namely “regulatory compliance”, “auditing activities” and “resources consumption”, and nine sub-indicators. On the basis of their relative importance, the top five sub-indicators are “fines and penalties”, “complaints/warnings”, “non-compliance records of inspection”, “non-conformance reports”, and “reports of marginal cases put under observations”. The first three sub-indicators fall into the “regulatory compliance” category and the latter two into the category of “auditing activities”.     

谈加入WTO后我国建筑业的技术创新

介绍了我国加入WTO后，建筑业将面临着前所未有的机遇，同时也面临着新的竞争形势和新的发展风险。从影响我国建筑业技术创新的因素，增强建筑业技术创新能力几方面进行了论述。同时指出只有建立高效率的现代管理模式，培育具有特色的企业精神和企业文化，才能搞好我国建筑业的技术创新。     

Charting corporate greening: environmental management trends in Sweden

In order to understand the long-term change processes, a longitudinal study of the Swedish construction industry is presented. This examines the long-term environmental attitudes and practices within this industry, particularly the trends and significant changes in corporate environmental management and performance. The results from three surveys undertaken in 2002, 2006 and 2010 indicate that environmental work is becoming institutionalized as a strategic part of the companies' business, environmental management activities and integrated within the companies' work practices. Also evident is a greater maturity and raised ambitions in companies' environmental actions. Legislative pressures have become a reduced driver; instead there is increased pressure from, and need for cooperation with, a larger variety of stakeholders and across disciplines. Environmental management systems have been widely adopted, meaning that practice relies on self-surveillance and voluntary actions. A consolidation of environmental management is observed within the companies, as well as an emerging business niche of environmental expert consultancy. The perceived effects on competitiveness and financial performance remain unclear, implying that there are other motivations for environmental change than financial and legal justifications.     

A performance evaluation framework of development projects: An empirical study of Constituency Development Fund (CDF) construction projects in Kenya

The present work attempts to develop a multidimensional performance evaluation framework of development projects by considering all relevant measures of performance. In order to demonstrate the applicability of this performance evaluation framework, it has considered the case of Constituency Development Fund (CDF) projects constructed between 2003 and 2011 in Kenya and collected the viewpoints of 175 respondents comprising clients, consultants and contractors involved in the implementation of CDF projects with regard to their perception on 35 performance related variables. A five-point Likert scale was used as a response format for different variables with the assigned values ranging from 1 = Strongly Disagree to 5 = Strongly Agree. Exploratory factor analysis was applied to the collected data which gave rise to an instrument consisting of 27 items representing six factors. The findings further reveal that the items constituting these six factors essentially represent six key performance indicators (KPIs) namely time, cost, quality, safety, site disputes and environmental impact. The relative influence of each KPI towards overall performance of construction projects shows that time is the most important measure followed by cost while safety comes last in order of importance in the performance evaluation of CDF construction projects. The findings of this study have significant bearing on other similar kind of development projects undertaken in developing countries.     

Risk management in small construction projects in Singapore: Status,barriers and impact

Risk management (RM) should be implemented in construction projects to assure the achievement of project objectives, regardless of project size. This study aims to investigate RM in small projects in Singapore in terms of status, barriers and impact of RM on project performance. To achieve the objectives, a questionnaire survey was conducted and data were collected from 668 projects submitted by 34 companies. The analysis results indicated a relatively low level of RM implementation in small projects, and that “lack of time”, “lack of budget”, “low profit margin”, and “not economical” were prominent barriers. Also, the results reported the positive correlation between RM implementation and improvement in quality, cost and schedule performance of small projects, respectively. The findings of this study can provide an in-depth understanding of RM in small projects in Singapore and make benefits of RM convincing to the participants of small projects.     

我市国有建设项目造价变更监管的探讨与建议

在国有资金政府工程建设过程中,随着工程造价变更金额的日益庞大,监管部门如何监督管理就日益重要。应统一管理、分工合作,探索建立联动机制。     

Delays in construction projects: The case of Jordan

The construction industry is a major player in the economy, generating both, employment and wealth. However many projects experience extensive delays and thereby exceed initial time and cost estimates. A host of causes of construction delays in residential projects were identified and classified according to Drewin’s Open Conversion System. The most common causes were evaluated by using both, the data collected in a survey conducted to residential projects consultant engineers, contractors, and owners, and interviews with senior professionals in the field. Most correspondents agreed that, financial difficulties faced by the contractor and too many change orders by the owner are the leading causes of construction delay. Severe weather conditions and changes in government regulations and laws ranked among the least important causes.     

Collusion in the Dutch construction industry: An industrial organization perspective

Several investigations by parliament, cabinet, justice and antitrust authorities have shown a widespread use of cartels and structural bid rigging within the Dutch construction industry. The reputation of the Dutch construction industry has been dented with both the general public and clients. As a response, the Netherlands' parliamentary inquiry Committee on Construction Fraud adopted the guiding principle of ‘competition is good’ and urged the restoration of the proper functioning of the market. The proposed default approach to public sector procurement is design–bid–build with public tendering and selection of the lowest price. A concise overview of the investigations is provided, relating the collusions and their persistence to emerging insights from the field of industrial organization theory into underlying factors and causes. A tougher public sector procurement policy and the continued reliance on lowest bid prices may not contribute to the reform of the Dutch construction industry as intended. One-dimensional, price-oriented competition only provides a static, project-based efficiency. However, it neither addresses a number of organizational issues nor resolves the underlying pressures leading to collusion. An alternative approach allowing for a balance of competition and collaboration with a wider number of selection criteria variables would create a more dynamic, iterative competitive process over a longer timeframe and would develop an innovative, efficient and profitable industry. Although the inquiry committee acknowledges these new methods of procurement, it is expected that the overriding ambition to restore proper market function (through increased competition) will steer towards the more traditional procurement approaches.