To learn or not to learn from project monitoring feedback: In search of explanations for the contractor's dichromatic responses

Organizational learning (OL) seems to be a legitimate contractors' response to project monitoring feedback. However, findings from previous studies reveal that contractors' responses to feedback are mercurial and difficult to model by using conventional approaches. This study applies catastrophe theory to model the contractors' learning behavior in response to feedback. An industry survey was conducted in Hong Kong for data collection. To test the conceptual model, Cusp fit program was employed. The results indicate that not until they perform worse than the client's anticipation, the contractors may not practice double-loop learning as a response to the project monitoring feedback. Contractors' learning from feedback may be conditional. This study demonstrates a new approach to model a dynamic characteristic of the contractors' learning behavior.     

Impact of pre‐construction planning and project characteristics on performance in the US electrical construction industry

The mild recession experienced in the early part of this decade forced many US electrical contractors to reduce their profit margins as a way to win jobs and survive economically. However, to make up for lower profit margins, contractors turned to ‘better planning’ as a method for improving their efficiency and increasing their profitability. In general, contractors believe that better planning contributes to better project performance, but the evidence has been mostly anecdotal. A study was conducted recently that transformed anecdotal evidence about the impact of pre‐construction planning on performance into quantitative evidence. The research resulted in the development of a model pre‐construction planning process that was based on outstanding projects that were well planned and performed well. The study quantified the relationship between pre‐construction planning activities, project characteristics and performance, and a separate validation study found that those projects that performed a comprehensive planning process similar to the model planning process were more likely to achieve their estimated work hours, profit, budget and completion goals.     

A comparative study of top British and Chinese international contractors in the global market

While British contractors have one of the longest history and experience in the international construction market, Chinese contractors are relative newcomers where the global market is concerned. This study compares the performance of top British and Chinese contractors based on the OLI+S model, which incorporates the ownership (O), locational(L), internalization (I) and specialty (S) factors. The study suggests that the international involvement of top British contractors has declined from a peak in 1996, while that of the top Chinese contractors has grown steadily since the 1980s. All the OLI+S advantages of top British construction firms were higher than those of their Chinese counterparts even though the number of Chinese construction firms ranked in the top 225 international contractors by the US-based Engineering News Record was higher than that of the British firms. This study further recommends that the internalization and specialty advantages of top British firms and some of the ownership advantages of top Chinese firms may provide them with opportunities to work together in many areas.     

Financial viability of school retrofit projects for clients and ESCOs

The energy performance contracting market is potentially substantial but very little work has been undertaken to understand the characteristics of successful projects. This study uses a probabilistic analysis of four hypothetical projects in the UK schools sector under the 2014 policy regime, combined with qualitative interviews with practitioners, to explore the conditions for a viable project. It finds that the proposed approach has the potential to allow more detailed exploration of project structures and scope for creating greater understanding of likely returns and the factors affecting them. Evidence is found that the use of deterministic risk screening techniques such as simple payback results in viable opportunities being overlooked. The risk profiles for clients and contractors (energy service companies – ESCOs) are not symmetrical and they will each find different projects more attractive. The results suggest that greater consideration needs to be given to the precise risk allocation between client and contractor to ensure that likely returns are properly understood. This study demonstrates a method for exploring project characteristics that can be used to understand their impacts on the financial returns for clients and contractors.     

Mitigating the health and safety influence of subcontracting in construction: The approach of main contractors

Subcontracting is noted for its adverse health and safety (H&S) influence in construction. Using interviews with five of the top 20 UK contractors and one medium-sized contractor, this study explored how main contractors manage the H&S influence of subcontracting with a focus on their in-house measures. Some in-house measures found are: restricting the layers of subcontractors on projects; working with a regular chain of subcontractors; implementing a H&S reward scheme for subcontractors; and insisting on non-working subcontractor foremen who have direct responsibility for the safety of workers in their trade. These measures appear to be influenced by clients, industry peer groups, and the moral justification for occupational H&S, and they offer inter-organisational learning opportunities for contractors in devising measures to mitigate the H&S influence of subcontracting. These findings should also allay concerns that removing some of the legislative hurdles in connection with on-going red tape debate will result in poorer H&S.     

The effect of experience on contractors' competitiveness in recurrent bidding

This paper considers the relationship between bidding competitiveness, organizational learning and experience and it measures the effect of contractors' bidding experience on competitiveness in recurrent bidding, a notion that conceptualizes a continuous decision-making process in which experiential learning plays a key role. The data analysis demonstrates that contractors who bid more frequently over a six-year period are more competitive than contractors who bid occasionally. It is found that greater bidding competitiveness is positively correlated with the frequency of bidding attempts. An analysis of contractors' bidding performance on a pairwise basis supports this finding. Not only does the pairwise analysis show that the bidding competitiveness of experienced contractors who bid frequently is greater, but also that experienced contractors' bidding attempts fall within a relatively small competitiveness range when compared with that of contractors who only bid occasionally. A key finding of this paper is the existence of some experienced contractors, who may be perceived as being ‘experienced market players’, having the attribute of a more competitive and consistent bidding performance. This research should be useful to procurers looking to prequalify contractors on the basis of experience and to contractors in analysing their bidding performance and/or their competitors' bidding performance.     

Learning approaches for housing,service and infrastructure project organizations

Capturing and sharing experiences that may be applicable in several projects is generally recognized as a way of enhancing the performance of construction projects. Several studies have reported difficulties in applying learning approaches that could be applicable for a wide range of projects. The learning behaviour in three types of construction project: housing, service and infrastructure, is examined by the means of a questionnaire study including 51 construction projects and more than 800 responses from clients, designers, contractors’ managers, contractors’ workers and subcontractors. The effects of leadership, openness and influence are considered. Based on a factor analysis, three approaches to learning were identified: organizing for learning, experimenting and networking. While housing project organizations do not demonstrate any specific preferences, service project organizations show a focus on networking and infrastructure project organizations show the highest interest in experimenting. On the basis of these results it can be concluded that learning approaches are dependent on the type of project. Thus adopting different learning approaches for different types of construction project seems to be a more relevant strategy than implementing a ‘one size fits all’ learning approach for all construction project organizations.     

Design-and-build contractors' service quality in public projects in Singapore

In the construction industry, total quality comprises corporate service quality, project service quality and quality of the constructed facility. This study investigates the project service quality of design-and-build (D&B) contractors when undertaking projects for public sector clients in Singapore. Service quality is operationalized into five determinants: reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy and tangible. From these, 34 attributes that may affect project service quality in D&B projects are identified. A questionnaire is used to ascertain clients' service quality expectations of these 34 attributes. The clients were also asked the extent to which D&B contractors achieve project service quality. It is found that D&B contractors did not meet clients' expectations in all the five dimensions of service quality. This means that D&B contractors are not giving clients the satisfaction that they hope for. This study offers D&B contractors feedback relating to clients' expectations of their service delivery and the areas of service that need to be improved in order to provide quality service that will satisfy public sector clients.     

The impact of contract duration on the cost of cash retention

Cash retention is a common means of protecting an employer from a contractor's insolvency as well as ensuring that contractors finish the work that they start. Similarly, contractors withhold part of payments due to their sub-contractors. Larger contracts tend to be subjected to smaller rates of retention. By calculating the cost of retention as an amount per year of a contract, it is shown that retention is far more expensive for firms whose work consists of short contracts. The extra cost is multiplied when the final payment is delayed, as it often is for those whose work takes place at the beginning of a project. This may explain why it is that main contractors are a lot less interested than sub-contractors in alternatives to cash retention, such as retention bonds.     

Organisational culture profiles of construction enterprises in China

The vast economic growth in China in the past decade has brought forth opportunities for the development of its construction industry. However, the construction industry in China has been criticised for poor performance and low effectiveness in terms of quality and profitability in the face of challenges and uncertainties resulting from the fast changing economic environment. Given that organisational culture plays a significant role in work performance and effectiveness, the apparently low effectiveness of the construction industry may be related to the culture of the contractors' organisations. The culture–effectiveness (C‐E) relationship has received increased attention in organisational research and the aim of the study is to develop a culture–effectiveness model of the contractors' motivated behaviour towards performance. Results of cluster analysis of the culture profiles of Chinese construction enterprises show that hierarchy and clan cultures are dominant and that culture profiles of Chinese contractors may vary in different geographical regions.     

CP-DSS: DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR CONTRACTOR PREQUALIFICATION

A prototype decision support/expert system for contractor prequalification, CP-DSS, is described. The system firstly evaluates contractors’ capabilities according to project specific criteria. It then identifies any risks that may be caused by contractors. Finally, contractors are appraised according to their likely performance, management capability, reputation, resources, progress, competitiveness and activeness and ranked in order of selection priority.     

Effects of interpersonal relations on public sector construction contracts in Vietnam

Public owners and private contractors and consultants are expected to maintain arm’s length relationships with each other to avoid any accusation of corruption. In the context of public construction projects in Vietnam, this study examines: the relational contracting (RC) related behavioural patterns that lead to better interpersonal relations during the construction stage and at the end of the project among public project owners, and private contractors and consultants; and the extent to which better interpersonal relations affect project performance. Using a questionnaire survey, data were collected from public owners and private contractors and consultants in Vietnam. Correlation analysis shows that there exist several behavioural patterns that significantly affect interpersonal relations among project team members during the construction stage and at the end of the project, and the general harmony during the construction stage. It was also found that cost performance is significantly correlated with project harmony level. Schedule performance is significantly correlated with interpersonal relations between project team members during the construction stage, and at the end of the project. The findings indicate the important role that interpersonal relations play in project outcomes and vice versa. The behavioural patterns that are found to be significantly correlated with harmony during the construction stage and/or relationships among project team members suggest that concrete actions may be taken by owners, consultants and contractors to improve relationships, and thereby improve cost and schedule outcomes. It is recommended that owners, consultants and contractors adopt some of the behavioural patterns identified.     

Using neural network to predict performance of design-build projects in Singapore

Design-build (DB) project success may be operationalised into 11 performance metrics. 65 factors that may affect DB project success are identified. Using data from 33 DB projects, correlation analysis shows that there are several factors that affect each performance metric significantly. Artificial neural network (ANN) technique is used to construct the models to predict project performance, and these models are tested using data from five new projects.This study finds that six performance metrics can be predicted with a reasonable degree of accuracy: project intensity; construction and delivery speeds; turnover, system and equipment quality. The key variables that affect project performance may be attributed to both contractors and clients. To ensure project success, contractors should have adequate staffing level, a good track record for completion on budget, and ability in financial management and quality control. Consultants should have a high level of construction sophistication, and have handled DB projects in the past. Clients also play an important part in ensuring DB project success. They would need to have construction experience and handled DB projects in the past. In addition, they should decide on the optimal level of design completion when the budget is fixed and tenders are invited. It is recommended that owners and contractors take note of the factors identified in this study, which significantly affect DB project performance.     

国际工程承包商与竞争者协同进化 NKC 模型研究

动态能力是企业为应对复杂多变的环境,整合、建立和重构内外部竞争力以保持持续竞争优势的能力,国际工程承包商需通过提升动态能力以应对挑战并取得绩效。以研究国际工程承包商动态能力与竞争者协同进化的关系为目标,在建立国际工程承包商动态能力 NKC 模型基础上,应用系统动力学方法分析国际工程承包商动态能力路径变化趋势,并对国际工程承包商的适应度在有无竞争者影响两种情况下进行对比分析。基于动态能力、协同竞争和适应度景观理论分析国际承包商动态能力路径演化过程。研究发现国际工程承包商与竞争者协同进化对企业的适应度水平即绩效的正面影响效用,归纳提升国际工程承包商在国际市场中适应水平度的机制,通过这些机制有助于提高国际承包商在国际工程市场中的竞争力,帮助国际工程承包商获取更好的绩效回报。     

Start-up and steady-state learning in recurrent bidding

Is contractors' bidding competitiveness under the governance of the adaptive learning mode? The adaptive learning model suggests contractor organizations would regulate the use of a bidding strategy, which is deemed optimal in response to recurring and similar bidding situations. A data set on open tendering by a select group of contractors was gathered over six years by the Hong Kong government and used to test this premise. The behaviour of the eight newly listed contractors indicates that an upward trend of bidding competitiveness in initial bidding attempts is not a generic phenomenon. The theoretical construct of bidding behaviour in the start-up phase is therefore dubious. Data lend only partial support to the existence of rapid learning during the start-up phase. However, the five more experienced contractors (indicated by the largest number of bidding attempts) show high and consistent bidding competitiveness. This provides evidence that contractors display behavioural regularity when the optimal bidding strategy has been reached. Construction organizations are, therefore, urged to treat organizational learning strategically in their attempts to maintain high competitiveness in the bidding process.     

Systems analysis of project cash flow management strategies

Cash flow management is one of the most important determinants of the success of construction project management. Overdraft, retainage, financing, payment and billing policies constitute the most significant financial issues that contractors must plan, control and manage for the successful completion of construction jobs. Particularly, in an attempt to reduce project costs, contractors must balance cost savings of material discounts due to early payments and extra interest expenses because of additional overdraft. Through identifying feedback loops in project cash flows, a system dynamics model is developed for project cash flow management. The model is flexible to incorporate typical front‐end and back‐end loading cash flow management strategies and provides an interactive predication of project cash flows. A warehouse project is discussed to demonstrate how various cash flow strategies improve overdraft financing requirements and profitability. Especially, the analysis shows an 11% reduction on overdraft requirements while using an overbilling strategy, and 30% reduction if the trade credit strategy is implemented.     

承包商索赔机会分析与研究

基于承包商向业主索赔的难度及重要性,从承包商的角度出发,指出承包商应正确认识索赔、增强索赔意识,对建筑工程中一些干扰事件进行了分析,就如何有效地寻找索赔机会做出探讨,以达到工程各参与方正确认识索赔的目的。     

Start-up and steady-state learning in recurrent bidding

Is contractors' bidding competitiveness under the governance of the adaptive learning mode? The adaptive learning model suggests contractor organizations would regulate the use of a bidding strategy, which is deemed optimal in response to recurring and similar bidding situations. A data set on open tendering by a select group of contractors was gathered over six years by the Hong Kong government and used to test this premise. The behaviour of the eight newly listed contractors indicates that an upward trend of bidding competitiveness in initial bidding attempts is not a generic phenomenon. The theoretical construct of bidding behaviour in the start-up phase is therefore dubious. Data lend only partial support to the existence of rapid learning during the start-up phase. However, the five more experienced contractors (indicated by the largest number of bidding attempts) show high and consistent bidding competitiveness. This provides evidence that contractors display behavioural regularity when the optimal bidding strategy has been reached. Construction organizations are, therefore, urged to treat organizational learning strategically in their attempts to maintain high competitiveness in the bidding process.     

基于WPT的建筑废弃物管理费用研究——以珠三角地区为例

以珠三角地区注册的承包商为列,根据承包商的整体特征,调查研究承包商支付建筑废弃物管理费用的意愿,影响其支付意愿的决定因素,建立了一个基于支付意愿法的建筑废弃物管理费用多元回归模型。研究结果显示：国营企业的承包商比私营企业的承包商更愿意支付管理费;承包商的建设项目经验越丰富,建筑废弃物管理费反而支付得越少;承包商的规模越大,注册资金越多,废弃物管理费支付得越多。研究成果可以进一步完善我国建筑废弃物管理理论,为政府制定建筑废弃物管理经济补偿相关法律、政策提供理论依据。