Managerial identity work in action: performative narratives and anecdotal stories of innovation

Innovation is invariably accepted as a central component of construction sector competitiveness. Yet, there remains a paucity of empirical research, which explores the gap between the way innovation is promoted in the policy discourse and how it is interpreted in practice. We follow the “narrative turn” in organization studies to explore the ways in which senior executives in the UK construction sector ascribe themselves with informal roles while advocating the cause of innovation. Empirical data is derived from narrative interviews with 32 senior executives who self-identify as “innovation champions”. When talking about innovation, the respondents were found to oscillate between performative narratives of innovation and more personalized stories derived from their own experience. The narratives were invariably pre-rehearsed often to the point of being monotonous. In contrast, the personalized stories tended to be engaging and emotionally laden. The tendency for senior executives to oscillate between narratives and stories is seen as an important means through which they search for meaning while at the same time legitimizing their self-identities as “innovation champions”. Of particular note is the way in which senior managers self-ascribe themselves with informal roles which are notably at odds with those described in more formalized narratives.     

Rough set theory for distilling construction safety measures

There are numerous construction safety measures adopted by the local construction industry in Hong Kong. The purpose of this study is to distil the more significant measures from all these practices. To achieve this, the rough set theory, a data mining technique by applying the rule induction method, is proposed to distil the rules that determine the safety performance of construction firms. Rough sets represent a different mathematical approach to vagueness and uncertainty. It is based on the assumption that lowering the degree of precision in the data makes the data pattern more visible. Under such an assumption, the rough set theory can provide the ability of classifying vague and uncertain data. A practical example is used to illustrate its application to distil these safety measures and highlight those which are most effective and important in combating site accidents. There are three decision rules identified; the best one is companies with a comprehensive safety orientation programme and good safety award campaigns for senior management staff which give the lowest accident rate and the best safety performance. Safety management rules can be successfully reduced, facilitating contractors to direct their limited recourses effectively.     

浅谈施工组织在成本管理中的作用

企业以盈利为目的，施工企业也不例外。施工企业往往在完成一项工程时，需要达到的不仅是经济效益，要达到业主既定的各项目标和企业高层预期盈利之外的目标，也是一项艰巨的任务。企业在施工方面的管理水平影响各项目标的顺利完成。     

基于物联网感知的工程项目安全管理趋势分析

结合建筑行业的特点,分析了国内外工程安全管理研究和实践的现状,提出了开展物联网安全感知研究和实践的重点工作,指出开发利用物联网感知技术来辅助提升建筑项目中的安全管理工作是有必要的。     

The internationalization of British construction companies 1990-96: an empirical analysis

The internationalization of British construction companies is not a new phenomenon. A recent stated aim of some of the larger companies has been to increase their overseas activities in an attempt to counteract some of the problems within the domestic construction market. This paper examines the international performance of British construction firms during the period 1990–1996, and is based on a questionnaire survey of senior executives of the largest British construction companies in an attempt to analyse their perceptions of the overseas market. The survey was concerned with the companies' general views, reasons, objectives, conditions, location and future expectations with regard to their overseas operations. The principal findings indicate that British firms had increased their overseas activities during the study period. However, despite theory to the contrary and relatively high levels of construction demand in some developing countries, they had tended to conduct the major share of their overseas work in developed countries. The reasons given for this bias were that developed countries provided: a secure environment in which to evaluate risks; financial security; and less corruption. The results suggest further that shareholder influence is an important factor affecting the respondent companies location overseas. It was concluded that while market demand is a factor for overseas location by British construction companies, it is only one of many.     

Skills for managing safety risk,implementing safety task,and developing positive safety climate in construction project

The aim of this research is to understand what skills project management team should develop in order to manage construction safety risks, implement safety tasks, and develop safety climate. A review on current literature was conducted to develop a hypothetical skill model. Structural equation modelling method was used to test the hypotheses and develop the skill model. The results supported the research hypotheses by showing that the skill components positively influence safety management task implementation and safety climate development. The results further revealed that self-awareness, visioning, and apparent sincerity are the foundation skills and precursors of scoping and integration and self-management, which are the first-tier mediator skills. The second tier mediator skills include social awareness, social astuteness, and relationship management. It is suggested that construction organisations incorporate the training of these skills in their human resource development programs and that tertiary education institutions consider these skills in their construction management related curriculum.     

The impacts of industrialization on construction subcontractors: a resource based view

Industrialization of the construction process is increasing around the world due to its potential to improve safety, sustainability, effectiveness, productivity and efficiency. While there has been research into the impacts of various forms of industrialized construction on the construction sector, surprisingly there has been little research into the impacts on subcontractors. The lack of subcontractor’s voice in the industrialization debate is important to address since they operate at the coalface of the industry where the impacts of such changes will have a significant impact. The resource based view of the firm (RBV) is used as a theoretical lens to study these potential impacts through interviews with senior executives and managers of six major subcontracting firms which have worked with off-site bathroom pod technologies in Australia. It is found that the key subcontractor resources affected by this off-site technology are human, financial, intellectual and social and that subcontractors will need to pursue strategies which develop new skills, knowledge, networks and deeper supply chain collaborations if they are to turn the potential risks associated with off-site into potential opportunities to achieve competitive advantage.     

浅析施工现场安全管理

为了确保施工现场安全生产管理目标的实现,从加强对安全生产工作的领导、施工安全管理保证体系、目标控制、安全设施的投入等方面进行了分析探讨,并提出了改进方法,以真正做到安全生产。     

基于合同能源管理的公共建筑节能改造的激励机制分析

建筑业是我国三大能耗大户之一,公共建筑能耗高而且节能潜力巨大,对公共建筑节能改造是推行我国建筑节能的重要步骤,合同能源管理是一种基于市场的节能新机制。文章分析了公共建筑节能改造采用合同能源管理模式的必要性与可行性;在合同能源管理基础上建立了公共建筑节能改造激励模型;对激励机制的基本原则、激励目标、激励对象、激励方案展开了分析,提出了不同节能主体的激励政策,这对我国全面推进公共建筑节能改造工作具有一定的指导意义。     

工程项目安全管理体系的构建

分析了我国工程项目安全管理体系建设现状,并结合工作经验总结出安全管理中存在的问题,阐述了工程项目安全管理体系构建应注意的几个方面,对提高企业利润、降低施工风险、提升建筑施工行业整体水平具有重要意义。     

谈矿井建设工程的安全管理

结合目前山西省矿井建设现状,探讨了矿井建设工程的安全管理工作,从监理公司,现场监理,施工准备,施工过程控制入手,阐述了具体的矿井建设安全管理措施,以期指导实践。     

A framework for managing organizations in complex environments

The complex environments of today’s markets makes managing organizations in complexity and turbulence a concern for senior managers, and necessitate developing a dynamic strategic framework to cope with complexity in managing organizations. This paper demonstrates a study that was conducted to value a structured set of management principles and sub-elements by a panel of experts to develop a conceptual framework to manage in complex and very high dynamic environments. The panel consisted of 22 senior level managers of grade “A” companies in the construction industry in Qatar State using a two-round Delphi technique. The study developed two frameworks. The first framework is for managing complexity in the construction sector. The second one is the primary general framework, which forms a basis for a generalized framework for other industries. This study participates in developing valuable management practices in complex environments to tackle uncertainty, unpredictability, disorder, rapid changes and non-linearity, which would be of great help for leaders, senior managers and practitioners who operate in complex environments.     

试论公路工程施工安全管理

从内部与外部两个角度分析了公路工程施工过程中的不安全因素,结合公路工程施工安全管理长期性、复杂性、精细性以及社会性的特点,论述了公路工程施工安全管理的有效对策,以消除施工过程中存在的危险因素。     

浅析监理单位如何实施建设工程安全监理

阐述了加强建设工程安全生产的重要意义，介绍了建设工程安全监理的内容及其四个阶段，提出了确保施工安全的危险控制技术，指出施工现场安全监理工作是一项动态管理工作，应长效管理，确保安全。     

The construction industry in the economy of Trinidad & Tobago

The construction sector is generally one of the larger and more important sectors of a nation's economy. If economic policy is to achieve its desired objectives, it is necessary to have some understanding of how the economy will react to various changes that can be effected. Because the construction sector is large and responsive, it is a key sector for manipulating the economy and, hence, it is important to know what the role of the construction sector is in the economy. Some of the key issues here are the effect of changes in GDP on construction output and employment, as well as the effects of changes in money supply, inflation, expenditure on the public sector investment programme and the rate of approval of building plans. This paper sets out to see if there are relationships between these factors that justify further investigation and, as such, helps establish a research agenda for the industry, particularly in comparing developed and less‐developed countries.     

A comparative study on adopting human resource practices for safety management on construction projects in the United States and Singapore

Good project management outcomes include completing projects to an acceptable level of quality, within budget and on time. As construction accidents may cause project delays, safety management plays an important role in a project's timely completion. This study aims to undertake a comparative study of HR practices adopted for safety management on construction projects in the United States (US) and Singapore and to investigate the relationship between HR practices and construction safety management outcomes (severity and frequency of accidents). The research method included exploratory interviews and industry surveys of contractors in the US and Singapore by email and post. Data were collected using structured questionnaires. Compared to Singapore contractors, the results show that US contractors' project management practices place significantly more emphasis on highlighting organizational safety values to new workers and taking working experience into account during the selection process. On the other hand, Singapore contractors place more emphasis on providing appropriate rest areas for workers. Many HR practices are significantly correlated with safety management outcomes. These include: taking age into consideration during selection process and giving feedback to workers about their unsafe behaviour. It is recommended that project managers adopt relevant HR practices that lead to more effective safety management on construction projects.     

建筑业安全管理工作之探索

通过对建筑安全杂志的学习,结合从事建筑安全管理的经验,就建筑业施工现场安全管理工作进行了探索,从建立管理制度、提高从业人员素质和能力、构建长效机制等方面提出管理措施,为努力创建文明标准化工地奠定了基础。     

谈高速公路施工安全管理

结合高速公路施工专业性强、特种作业多、周期长、安全风险大等特点,根据多年的高速公路施工管理经验,对高速公路施工中的安全管理工作进行了总结研究,同时给出了安全管理措施,以期保证施工的顺利进行。     

建设工程业主对安全管理者激励模式的设计——基于双重委托代理理论

建设项目中,施工管理人员的安全管理效果直接影响着整个建设项目的生命财产安全,针对我国施工安全管理的现状,基于双重委托代理理论,构建了建设项目中包括业主、施工单位和施工管理者在内的双重代理多任务的委托代理激励模型,定量地研究了安全工作风险、业主的惩罚力度和安全工作绩效对管理者安全工作努力程度的影响。结果表明:风险规避的施工管理者,业主对安全绩效激励系数的增加以及增大的安全工作绩效系数都会促使其安全管理努力水平的增加,然而,安全管理努力水平会随着安全工作风险程度的增大而减小。业主可通过加大对施工管理者安全工作任务的激励系数来激励其更好地进行安全管理工作。研究结论对建设项目的安全管理具有一定的参考价值。     

基于系统动力学的消防安全监管能力建设研究

为分析消防安全监管能力的影响因素和动态发展情况,根据系统管理理论解构了消防安全监管能力建设,构建了消防安全监管能力建设指标体系。从5个子系统间的交互、逻辑关系出发,绘制了消防安全监管能力因果关系图与存量流量图。在此基础上,结合调研与问卷调查,确定了模型中的变量方程与常量参数,并利用模拟仿真着重考察了不同投入比例对消防安全监管能力增长的影响效果。研究结果表明：消防安全监管能力建设系统动力学模型可预测消防安全监管能力的提升效果,反映系统中变量间的作用关系;在火灾调查、法规建设投入与监督组织、宣传教育、公众监督、人员能力和信息化科技投入均衡分配的投入方案下,消防安全监管能力增长效果最佳;仅加大单一分支的投入不利于实现建设目标。该模型较符合消防安全监管工作实际,有一定的适用性和应用价值。