Deconstructing dynamic capabilities: the role of cognitive and organizational routines in the innovation process

A better understanding of innovation processes might lead to productivity improvements. By focusing on a specific, economically relevant sector (construction) and on a specific type of firm (small to medium-sized enterprises, SMEs), the dynamic capabilities framework is extended by clarifying the roles of cognitive and organizational routines in organizational innovation processes. Insights generated from an in-depth case study of a medium-sized construction firm reveal that dynamic capabilities might diminish the relevance of an explicit innovation focus, because such capabilities have the potential to trigger emergent, incremental innovations. Accordingly, for construction SMEs, a development, rather than research, mode of innovation appears relatively more critical, as manifested in conscious cognitive routines and functional/integrative organizational routines.     

Reasons for overrun in public sector construction projects in Nigeria

Construction activity requires major investment outlays in most developing countries, yet most construction projects in these countries are characterized by overruns in cost and time. In an attempt to identify the reasons for such overruns, an extensive survey was carried out in a typical developing country, Nigeria. An interim report is presented on the survey, suggesting that the major underlying problems are the lack of prompt payment by agencies to contractors and fluctuations in material, labour and plant costs.     

Renewal in construction projects: tracing effects of client requirements

Several studies identify clients as important drivers of innovation in the construction industry. How clients contribute to innovation is however less investigated. In two case studies of health care construction projects, we investigate how client requirements create renewal in the form of intra- as well as inter-project effects. Using an inter-organizational framework of actors, resources and activities (the ARA model), it is possible to identify a variation of effects. The paper concludes that both client requirements and their associated renewal effects are results of interaction in time as well as space. Renewal effects crossing individual projects are dependent on relationships among two or more actors that continue to interact in subsequent projects. In addition, these effects relate to several dimensions of interaction and include how actors relate in new ways, how resources are combined and how activities are organized. Thus, by adopting an interactive perspective, it is possible to reveal how construction clients can contribute to renewal such as innovation and learning, directly and indirectly, within and across projects. Finally, we suggest that managers need to consider the role of long-term business relationships in achieving increased renewal in construction.     

对中国城市公共交通私营化有关问题的思考

在中国社会主义市场经济条件下 ,私营化城市公共交通将变得越来越重要 ,弥补了传统的公营化城市公共交通的不足。必须要充分运用市场经济规律来管理中国的城市公共交通。首先 ,要开放市场和鼓励竞争 ,通过竞争提高公共交通的运行效率 ,降低成本 ,改善经营状况。传统的低票价制度将被受市场供需关系调节的灵活票价制度所代替。其次 ,要兼顾经济效益和社会公平 ,对低收入者实行适当的财政补贴 ,方便他们使用公共交通。政府要加强对私营公共交通公司的监督和管理使其在追求利润的同时更好地为乘客服务。第三 ,要加强公共交通私营化的立法 ,使得公共交通私营化多样化、规范化和法制化 ,形成政府、私人机构、乘客三赢的局面。第四 ,公共交通规划、设计和施工单位的私营化是一个重要的发展趋势 ,政府机构的功能将逐步转变成财政资助 ,项目管理 ,监督执行 ,质量控制和协调发展     

Project capabilities for operational outcomes in inter-organisational settings: The case of London Heathrow Terminal 2

Project and strategic management scholarship recognises the importance of project capabilities that allow firms to deliver projects. Although work on project capabilities is a fast-growing line of inquiry, little is still known about how clients assemble project capabilities to achieve operational outcomes in inter-organisational settings. This study seeks to apply theoretical work on project capabilities to the domain of infrastructure project delivery in order to understand how the assembly of project capabilities in temporary inter-organisational settings contributes to the delivery of operational outcomes. The empirical enquiry takes place in the context of the delivery of London Heathrow Terminal 2. Through an inductive theory building approach drawing upon semi-structured interviews with client-side project leadership, internal documents, publicly available data and ongoing engagement with the field, we identified three key capability-enabling mechanisms that help explain the genesis of project capabilities in inter-organisational settings: (1) reconfiguring project capabilities, (2) adapting project capabilities and (3) maintaining project capabilities. We discuss and expand these findings by engaging with theoretical ideas from project studies, and mainstream strategy, organisation, and management research to induce a dynamic model that can be helpful to guide future research, policy and management practices relating to the client side management of project capabilities.     

Taking on a wider view: public value interests of construction clients in a changing construction industry

For financial and strategic reasons, public and semi-public construction clients increasingly depend on private parties to carry out public service delivery. They subcontract operational responsibilities to private parties while remaining socio-politically responsible for ensuring public values. Public administration literature mainly addresses the importance of procedural and performance values in safeguarding public values. However, safeguarding the quality of the built environment also requires a focus on product values. In this study, we aim to increase the understanding of the meaning and significance of public values in the daily practice of public construction clients and identify the challenges they face in commissioning these seemingly opposing values. A set of semi-structured interviews with the public administrators of a variety of public and semi-public construction client organizations in the Netherlands shows that both internal and external factors influence the collaborative practices between clients and contractors. This causes a value shift from an emphasis on procedural values to managing performance and product values, indicating that clients need to take on a wider view on public values. Six main public value dilemmas were found that complicate the task of developing an open, transparent and sustainable long-term client–contractor relationship. The current contractual system, however, lacks the flexibility to facilitate this product-based value view in construction.     

高层住宅公共部分面积优化设计

从对《高层民用建筑设计防火规范》的认识出发,分析了高层住宅公共面积的构成,提出了高层住宅建筑设计过程中对公共部分面积做到最优化应遵循的原则,以减少高层住宅公共部分的建筑面积。     

论公共关系在施工企业发展中的作用

从施工企业的知名度、企业形象、决策、内外关系协调等方面对公共关系在施工企业发展中的作用进行了详细阐述,指出施工企业内部人员应树立正确的公共关系意识,充分发挥公共关系的管理职能,树立企业的良好形象,以达到企业经营管理目标。     

深圳市大型公共建筑能耗监测系统运行维护及检测数据案例分析

介绍了深圳市大型公共建筑能耗监测系统的运行维护情况,对监测数据进行了分析.一方面,总结了监测系统运行维护工作量大的原因,提出了相应的解决措施;另一方面,通过分析典型办公建筑能耗监测数据,提出了建筑在设备选型、用能管理、用户行为等方面的改进意见.为大型公共建筑能耗监测系统的运行维护和数据分析提供借鉴.     

大跨度连续刚构桥有限元建模与动力特性分析

本文采用有限元软件ANSYS建立某大跨连续刚构桥有限元模型,通过该模型的模态分析结果和实桥的环境振动测试结果的比较,得出一些有意义结论。     

启发教学在建筑领域公共关系教学中的应用

针对建筑领域公共关系学的学科性质,通过对几种较为典型的启发教学方式的论述,意在把抽象的内容形象化、具体化,拓展学生专业学习的知识面,使学生认识到该门课程在建筑行业实践中的重要性,以期达到促进专业学习的教学效果。     

城市大型公共建筑机动车出入口布局方法

分析了大型公共建筑机动车出入口布局原则与布局方式,结合交叉口作用区、出入口影响区和出入口通行能力约束,提出了出入口布局选址方法,以使城市大型公共建筑机动车出入口布局更合理,从而促进城市规划与建设的发展。     

Third-party logistics in construction: the case of a large hospital project

The construction supply chain is of temporary nature and complex, with many interactions between multiple actors in different construction projects. This challenging context typically leads to relatively higher costs and lower productivity, compared to other industries. Supply chain management (SCM) has been put forward as a mean to better handle this challenging context. As a part of SCM initiatives some construction industry stakeholders have turned to third-party logistics (TPL) providers, especially in large construction projects. The use of TPL providers is a new, and under-investigated, phenomenon in the construction industry. The main purpose of this study is thus to explore the use of a TPL provider in a large construction project and to analyse its resulting effects. Driving forces and possible concerns for implementing TPL are identified and the possibility for TPL to be a facilitator for implementing SCM in construction is investigated. The research is based on a literature review and an explorative case study of a large hospital project in Sweden, where the client and the main contractor have initiated the use of a TPL provider to coordinate sourcing and materials handling activities on site. The results show positive effects on establishing an effective interface between the construction site and the supply chain. The results also show that a TPL solution facilitates an increase in productive work at the construction site itself, a reduction of costs and an increased utilisation of site assets. On the downside, the study also shows a lack of SCM knowledge amongst the involved actors in the project, hindering them to reap the full potential of TPL.     

应用动态规划安排施工计划

利用系统工程的动态规划理论对施工组织设计的施工方案和施工计划进行优化决策，以达到选择最佳方案的目的。     

Factors constituting the innovation adoption environment of public clients

Construction clients exert direct and indirect influences on the potential of construction projects to generate innovative solutions. Understanding their innovation adoption behaviour is thus crucial for the successful diffusion of new ideas. Although it is acknowledged that clients can support as well as suppress construction innovation, little is known about the circumstances that form their innovation adoption behaviour. On the basis of a client classification scheme and three cases of innovative construction projects in the Netherlands, the factors that constitute the adoption decision environment of professional public clients were investigated. A key finding is that professional public clients will adopt a new idea if they perceive that it performs better in meeting social requirements than traditional solutions, without compromising the client's social responsibilities. This perception is formed only if public professional clients rely on project-independent knowledge in order to cope with the project-dependent uncertainty. The diversity of construction clients in terms of needs, experiences and motivations largely influences the potential of construction innovations to be implemented. Moreover, innovating firms need to address the complex decision environment of construction clients more consciously.

Dans le secteur de la construction, les clients exercent des influences directes et indirectes sur la capacité des projets de construction à générer des solutions innovantes. Il est essentiel de bien comprendre leur comportement en ce qui concerne l'adoption d'innovations pour la bonne diffusion d'idées nouvelles. Bien que l'on admette que les clients puissent également contribuer à la suppression de l'innovation dans la construction, on connaît peu les circonstances qui façonnent leur comportement lorsqu'il s'agit d'adopter des innovations. Sur la base d'un système de classement des clients et de trois cas de projets de construction novateurs aux Pays-Bas, on a étudié les facteurs qui constituent l'environnement dans lequel les clients professionnels du secteur public prennent leur décision d'adopter des innovations. Selon un résultat intéressant, les clients professionnels du secteur public adoptent une idée nouvelle s'ils ressentent qu'elle répondra mieux à des exigences sociales que les solutions traditionnelles, sans compromettre leurs responsabilités sociales. Cette perception n'existe que si les professionnels du secteur public s'appuient sur une connaissance indépendante du projet pour répondre à l'incertitude qui dépend du projet. La diversité des clients du secteur de la construction en termes de besoin, d'expériences et de motivations a une influence importante sur la capacité du secteur de la construction à mettre en ?uvre des innovations. De plus, les entreprises innovantes ont besoin d'aborder de façon plus consciente l'environnement décisionnel complexe des clients du secteur de la construction.

Mots clés: comportement du client, clients du secteur de la construction, environnement décisionnel, innovation, secteur public, innovation technologique     

试从社会秩序角度分析公共空间的建设

从社会秩序入手分析了城市公共空间在其形成和稳定两方面的作用,进而指出当前城市建设单一化对城市秩序的破坏作用,并指出恢复健康的城市秩序就只有满足公共空间多元化的需求。     

城乡统筹背景下农村公共服务设施建设

从宏观上阐述了城乡统筹发展的意义,从规划的角度对农村公共服务设施建设存在的问题及原因进行了分析,并从微观上针对城乡统筹背景下的公共服务设施建设进行了研究,以改变农村公共服务设施落后的面貌。     

Learning capabilities in organizational networks: case studies of six construction projects

Organizational learning is a key mechanism for adapting to changes in the organization's environment, sharing know‐how and experiences, and for providing innovative solutions. Practices of organization learning are examined in six Swedish construction projects. In the Swedish construction industry, organization learning practices are in many cases underdeveloped and therefore mechanisms for sharing know‐how, information, and experiences remain an organizational capability not fully exploited. Findings suggest that construction projects are primarily relying on informal and personal contacts rather than more formal reporting and computer‐based management control systems. The implications for management in the industry are that new arenas wherein various professional groups can share knowledge and information would be beneficial for construction projects in terms of enabling for joint learning and a better use of the intellectual resources employed the project.     

强夯法在水泥厂建设中的应用

近年来随着水泥行业的高速发展,水泥厂的建设分布于世界大部分地区,各种不同的地基处理方法也开始运用到水泥厂的建设工程中。强夯法由于具有效果显著、设备简单、施工方便、经济易行和节省材料等优点,应用较为广泛,但在水泥厂地基处理实际施工中对于原料粉磨、水泥粉磨等多台段车间强夯法也存在着一些不足。通过对强夯法加固机理及施工工艺的分析,结合华新集团塔吉克斯坦亚湾新建水泥厂项目强夯施工中的具体问题,对强夯法在水泥厂中的应用作一简单评论。     

From dynamic capabilities to ERP enabled business improvements: The mediating effect of the implementation project

This study explores whether an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation project mediates the relationship between dynamic pre-adoption capabilities and ERP-enabled business improvements. The results from our field survey of large ERP adopters in Austria suggest that the effects of the two out of three selected dynamic capabilities are dependent on the properties of the underlying organizational transformation project. While external information acquisition and IT governance capabilities are fully mediated by the performance of the ERP implementation project, decision making only directly impacts business capabilities. These results further our understanding about the role of the implementation project for ERP value creation and the different natures of capability relationships. We call for more research on co-presence conditions related to dynamic capabilities and IT transformation project performance.