Managing project-to-project interfaces for large-scale programmes: A network study in world expo 2020

Effective interface management plays a critical role in project-to-project coordination for large-scale programme success. Given the substantial number and complexity of interfaces in a programme, identifying key project-to-project interfaces is essential to develop and implement the best management strategy. Utilising the case of project-to-project coordination in the World Expo 2020 programme, this research constructs a social network-based approach to manage project-to-project interfaces, with the unit of analysis being interface activities. Two dimensions (namely, interface interdependence and strategic influence) are used to create an interface management map that classifies the project-to-project interfaces into key, strategic, interdependent, and marginal interfaces. The results show that key interfaces are the most important interfaces given their high strategic influence on the programme and high interdependence with other activities. Interdependent interfaces are the most prevalent interfaces, which have high interdependence with other activities but limited strategic influence. Strategic interfaces accounted for the fewest but can greatly affect the programme's cost and schedule. Marginal interfaces have the lowest importance and influence on other events and the programme alike. Management strategies for each category are also provided in the proposed map, which helps to improve resource efficiency in interface management. This research extends the literature on both multi-project and interface management.     

So many projects,so little result: The self-perpetuating cycle of inter-institutional projects

This study aims to provide an explanation for the lack of implementation of innovation generated through publicly funded research. While previous scholars have categorized organizational cycles as either virtuous or vicious, cycles of inter-institutional projects can have simultaneous benefits for some organizations while causing drawbacks for others. Such a cycle was observed across inter-institutional projects in port logistics, where the primary objective was to implement innovation. During the investigation of ten projects, it became apparent that an excessive emphasis on certain practices at the expense of others, unintentionally resulted in delays in innovation implementation while collaborations continued to thrive. These practices led to a self-perpetuating cycle of inter-institutional projects that rarely resulted in implemented innovations. In contrast to the solutions proposed in existing literature to address organizational cycles, this study suggests that temporary hybridizing competing logics may be the root cause of cycles of inter-institutional projects.     

Service quality performance indicators for electricity distribution in Brazil

One key aspect of electricity quality is the continuity of supply, assessed based on duration and interruption frequency indicators. In Brazil, these indicators are used to assess utility performance, including tariff reviews. This paper proposes adopting a stochastic frontier analysis to benchmark the continuity indicators. Based on Bayesian inference, the model can consider the temporal dynamics of utility performance in terms of gains from economies of scale due to market expansion. The results show that performance targets defined by the proposed methodology are compatible with those defined by the regulatory body.     

An IoT-based autonomous system for workers' safety in construction sites with real-time alarming,monitoring, and positioning strategies

Civil construction sites are considered as one of the riskiest environments where many potential hazards may occur. To protect construction workers and prevent accidents in such sites, this paper proposes a novel design for an autonomous system that monitors, localizes, and warns site laborers who avail within danger zones. The proposed system is user-friendly, and its architecture is based on Internet of Things (IoT). The heterogeneous components of this architecture are seamlessly integrated into a middleware backend online server. To accurately detect and identify construction workers, the proposed system employs three combined techniques. They are 1) the 868 MHz radio frequency, 2) directional antennas, and 3) the 40 kHz ultrasound waves. Vehicle's rear is secured by a sensing unit that ensures good coverage along with a wearable device for workers. The design of the wearable device includes a set of components which are a radio transceiver (transmitter/receiver), a wake-up sensor, an alarm actuator, and a GPRS module. The wearable device has a power saving scheme with a current consumption as low as 0.5 μA at 3 V supply; thanks to our RF wake-up sensor. Via proximity, this wearable device becomes hybrid (active/passive) in which it remains in deep sleep mode until the presence of a radio frequency (RF) field. Consequently, the rechargeable battery's life gets increased by up to 2 days of autonomy before recharging. Furthermore, the paper presents an implementation of wireless nodes that are powered by light energy using photovoltaic cells. These nodes adopt energy management and storage schemes for continuous operation for indoor and outdoor environments.     

A Stackelberg game model for construction waste transportation

The transportation of construction and demolition waste (CDW) is an essential problem in waste management. The CDW generated in large construction projects is typically transported by designated trucks. However, the disposal of scattered CDW produced by individuals or small projects is typically not planned, leading to its illegal dumping. Hong Kong aims to recycle scattered CDW by an appointment-recycling mechanism that involves a three-layered transportation network consisting of construction sites, recycling locations, and disposal facilities. In this study, we develop a two-stage Stackelberg game model to minimize the social costs of this three-layered transportation network. In the first stage, we consider the optimal decisions regarding the recycling locations, assigned trucks, and transport routes from the perspective of the government. In the second stage, the delivery routes for small projects are identified based on the government decisions. We transform the proposed model into a single-level integer program (IP) and conduct numerical experiments to demonstrate its efficiency and effectiveness. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to focus on the collection of scattered CDW. Thus, our study contributes to the literature on CDW transportation. Moreover, this study helps address a practical problem, i.e., the illegal dumping of scattered CDW, which is a common concern in many cities. In particular, even small amounts of CDW must be appropriately treated because it may contain hazardous materials.     

The past will guide us: What the future could bring according to the last 40 years of IJPM?

This article examines all papers published in the International Journal of Project Management over the last 40 years (1983–2022), identifying research themes. By performing keyword co-occurrence analysis, keywords were clustered into five groups, which served for identification of the most prominent research themes shaping the Journal's publishing history - Performance Management, Risk and Construction Management, Project Governance, Project Planning and Control and Project Success. The results shed light on how these research themes developed and are interconnected over time, while the findings collected using a focus group method have provided the insightful understanding of the future trends in the field of Project Management, Organizing and Studies. It may be expected that future publishing brings a greater number of articles covering challenges of organizations, teams and individuals faced by the 4th Industrial revolution, digital transformation and sustainable development goals (SDGs), as well as articles on project finance and investment-related topics, and articles addressing a project's benefits and values. The main findings of this article may significantly contribute to researchers and PhD candidates in defining the thematic orientation of their studies, educators in creating programs which meet more accurate future demands in project management, and editors for specifying the scope of journals or conference proceedings in order to make them more influential in the research community. This paper may, moreover, serve in the phase of research-design modeling and for those performing bibliometric analyses within the other scientific areas with the intention to potentially anticipate the future research thematic-orientation in their analysis.     

Electricity production,government effectiveness eco-innovation,and public health: Novel findings in the context of sustainability policies

In the recent world of catastrophe, scholars and policymakers have empirically examined the influence of various economic and financial instruments on environmental quality. Still, the literature is limited in terms of displaying the factors affecting public health, particularly in case of China. This study aims is to examine the nexus between green electricity, government efficiency, and health issues to draw novel policies. The current study investigates role of electricity production, eco-innovation and institutional factors for overall public health in China using the data from 2000Q1-2021Q4, which is a novel contribution to the existing literature. For empirical analysis, the study employs cointegration analysis, quantile regression and fully modified ordinary least square methods. The empirical result found the validity of the long-run equilibrium relationship. However, the asymmetric distribution of all variables allows this study to use a non-parametric “quantile regression” approach. The empirics depicts that economic growth and renewable electricity production positively influence public health–increase health-related issues. On the contrary, eco-innovation and government effectiveness substantially reduces public health issues. The empirical results are authenticated by the applying three parametric approaches – fully modified ordinary least square, canonical cointegration regression, and dynamic ordinary least square. To explore the causal connection between the variables, this study uses granger causality test – validates the presence of unidirectional and bidirectional causalities between variables. This study suggests enhancement in government effectiveness, expenditure, and eco-innovation to reduce critical health issues in the country.     

Smart work package learning for decentralized fatigue monitoring through facial images

Monitoring the fatigue of construction equipment operators (CEOs) is critical for preventing accidents and ensuring precision construction occupational health and safety (COHS). However, there exists a theoretical dilemma between centralized technical efficiency and decentralized data privacy. Thus, this study introduces smart work package learning (SWPL), a decentralized deep learning approach to monitor CEOs’ fatigue without privacy exposure risks. To illustrate the feasibility of SWPL as the fatigue classifier, this study implements fatigue monitoring through noninvasive facial images, and SWPL merges the updated parameters of the model from each smart work package (SWP). These updates are then validated by SWPs in the blockchain network and stored on the blockchain. More than 356 videos were derived from 124 operators. The results present that SWPL on decentralized SWP networks outperforms the deep learning model on individual SWP. The computational novelty is SWPL's dynamic parameter aggregation mechanism to avoid parameter exposure in centralized or fixed aggregators. The proposed SWPL will open up advanced developments in precision COHS.     

An experimental study of ammonia decomposition rates over cheap metal catalysts for solid oxide fuel cell anode

Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) is an electrochemical device for power generation with high efficiency and low emission. Ammonia is a low-cost and carbon-free hydrogen carrier that can be directly used as a fuel for SOFC. To further improve the performance and stability of SOFC fueled by ammonia (NH₃–SOFC), the design of NH₃–SOFC anode for efficient and stable utilization of NH₃ is critical. In this paper, the decomposition rates of NH₃ over four kinds of cheap metal catalysts (nickel, iron, copper and 304 stainless steel) were tested based on metal flakes with known fixed dimensions, and the empirical correlations of the decomposition rate over different catalysts were derived. These correlations are independent of catalyst structure parameters and only related to the catalyst material and the decomposition temperature, which are important basis for realizing the oriented design of NH₃–SOFC anode.