journal article
Open Access Collection
Home
El‐Sheikh, Ahmed; Pryke, Stephen D.
doi: 10.1080/01446193.2010.506643pmid: N/A
Project success and client satisfaction are results of collaborative actions by project actors throughout the entire project life cycle. One principal factor in project success is the application of effective management tools. Gap analysis helps to achieve client satisfaction. However, gap analysis is unable to deal with the organic nature of information exchange between project actors. Social network analysis (SNA) enables the identification and analysis of information exchange and communication patterns in synergy with projects. Two case studies were carried out to identify gaps in the current linear project management approach. Gap analysis and SNA were used to analyse each project and to examine the research hypothesis on the use of SNA to identify network management gaps in projects. The gap analysis showed gaps of execution and conformance, which were confirmed by SNA. There was little evidence of project governance outside the project contractual arrangements during project execution. The current application approach of different management tools is limited in providing a whole‐project view. The combined application of gap analysis and SNA can help practitioners to exceed client expectations.
doi: 10.1080/01446193.2010.519781pmid: N/A
Underground subways are constructed in major cities across China to overcome the transportation problems in the urbanization process. The aim is to develop a comprehensive risk checklist associated with subway projects and a methodology to assess the risks at the early stage of a project. Based on the analysis of accidents that have happened in previous projects, a review of current literature and the results of interviews, a comprehensive risk checklist was developed, followed by proposing a risk analysis methodology using fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (AHP). Then the Nanjing Subway Line 2 project was analysed using the proposed risk checklist and fuzzy AHP method. The data were obtained through interviews and two rounds of questionnaire surveys with the personnel directly involved in the Nanjing Subway Line 2 project. The results of risk identification and assessment are presented and their managerial implications are discussed. The information presented here should be relevant to both academics and practitioners in the field of subway project management.
Kokkaew, Nakhon; Chiara, Nicola
doi: 10.1080/01446193.2010.521755pmid: N/A
In integrated project delivery methods such as build‐operate‐transfer (BOT), a thorough financial risk analysis model should incorporate completion risk analysis into operation risk analysis as the timing of financial events such as refinancing and debt servicing depend on the construction completion date. During construction, project managers always have opportunities to react to negative events and to take corrective actions whenever possible to recover late‐running schedules. These opportunities to react are ‘real options’ embedded in the construction process. However, current models of completion risk analysis ignore this feature of project managers. A reliable construction completion risk model for project feasibility studies should capture a manager's option to react to unforeseen, negative events. A novel approach for modelling construction completion risk analysis is developed by combining stochastic critical path method with the envelope method (SCP‐EM). The SCP‐EM approach can model the option‐like feature of management feedback reactions in a straightforward fashion. The proposed approach, if applied correctly during the project feasibility study stage, enhances the project finance risk model by helping analysts properly evaluate financial risk arising from completion delay.
Wong, James M.W.; Ng, S. Thomas
doi: 10.1080/01446193.2010.487536pmid: N/A
Reliable short‐ to medium‐term prediction of the tender price index (TPI) is crucial to construction stakeholders, and this has stimulated the interest of the research community to seek a more analytical method for TPI forecast. The purpose of this study is to establish an econometric model for accurately predicting the tender price movements based on a group of associated financial and macroeconomic variables. Applying Johansen’s method for multivariate cointegration analysis, the tender price was found to be cointegrated with the gross domestic product, construction output and building cost. A vector error correction (VEC) model imposing the cointegration restriction was then developed for the purpose of forecasting. The model was verified against various diagnostic statistical criteria and compared with the Box‐Jenkins and regression models. With a mean absolute percentage error for a three‐year ahead forecast at 2.9% level, the developed VEC model outperforms the Box‐Jenkins and regression models, and is proven to be efficient and reliable in forecasting the short‐ to medium‐term tender price movements. The model can assist estimators to predict the TPI pattern in advance, and it can also help the public sector in planning for the construction workload to improve the stability of the construction market. Although the VEC model developed focuses on the Hong Kong construction market, the econometric technique can be applied to modelling other economic variables.
Wang, Yinggang; Goodrum, Paul M.; Haas, Carl; Glover, Robert; Vazari, Sharam
doi: 10.1080/01446193.2010.524238pmid: N/A
The case for or against craft training in construction from the perspective of constructors, owners, governments, workers, and other stakeholders is not completely clear, despite several studies to date. The business case for investing in construction craft training is examined from the employer’s perspective on a construction project. A survey of 93 training directors and construction managers from throughout the US construction industry was used to collect quantitative estimates regarding craft training benefits and learning rates. Using these data, a benefit to cost ratio was calculated for a hypothetical typical industrial project (the CII model plant). According to the analyses, the estimated benefit to cost ratios range from 1.5:1 to 3.0:1. While these ratios are based on expert opinion, the results were triangulated with actual data from company training and project performance records as well as results from other research studies. The estimated benefit to cost ratios on the study’s hypothetical industrial project are sensitive to the craft workers’ employment duration, assuming that the training is provided by a single employer. Training durations are likely to be longer under a ‘community training’ model in which firms collaborate to sponsor training and workers have greater opportunities to continue in their training programme as they move from firm to firm. Nevertheless, the results contribute to a growing body of evidence that an investment in craft training is economically attractive for an employer, even over a typical project life cycle.
Zhang, Xiaoling; Skitmore, Martin; Wu, Yuzhe; Ye, Kunhui
doi: 10.1080/01446193.2010.508501pmid: N/A
Expenditure on R&D in China’s construction industry has been relatively low in comparison with many developed countries for a number of years—a situation considered to be a major barrier to the industry’s competitiveness in general and unsatisfactory as regards industry development of the 31 regions involved. A major problem with this is the lack of a sufficiently sophisticated method of objectively evaluating R&D activity in what are quite complex circumstances considering the size and regional differences that exist in this part of the world. A regional construction R&D evaluation system (RCRES) is presented, aimed at rectifying the situation. This is based on 12 indicators drawn from the Chinese Government’s R&D Inventory of Resources in consultation with a small group of experts in the field, and further factor analysed into three groups. From this, the required evaluation is obtained by a simple formula. Examination of the results provides a ranking list of the R&D performance of each of the 31 regions, indicating a general disproportion between coastal and inland regions and highlighting regions receiving special emphasis or currently lacking in development. The understanding on this is vital for the future of China’s construction industry.
doi: 10.1080/01446193.2010.509402pmid: N/A
The petroleum sector plays an important role in the Nigerian economy, as it is the single largest revenue earner of the country and one of the largest contributors to the gross domestic product (GDP). This study estimated the impact of petroleum and gas revenue on the performance of the construction sector using a polynomial distributed lag model. We extracted data on the petroleum and gas sector (PGS), the GDP and construction sector output (CNS) for this study from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Statistical Bulletin. The analysis employed econometric methodology, which includes testing for stationarity and co‐integration as well as estimating the distributed lag model. The result shows that the petroleum and gas revenue significantly affected construction output for three consecutive years starting from their year of occurrence. The study concluded that the PGS has a far‐reaching impact on the growth and development of the construction sector. It therefore recommends supporting the channelling of funds from the petroleum sector into development of constructed facilities infrastructure.
doi: 10.1080/01446193.2010.521760pmid: N/A
The increased participation of young workers in the construction industry is matched by a growing realization of the vulnerability of these workers in terms of occupational injury and disease. The impact of organizational issues on injury rates for young workers is examined. This is an under‐researched area where physical and psychological development influences have traditionally dominated. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics on labour force participation and work hours and data from the Queensland Injury Surveillance Unit on patients presenting at hospital emergency departments were used to examine incidence and severity of injuries sustained by young workers in construction on different shifts. Analyses indicated a different pattern of injury for young workers and workers outside this age category. Young workers were consistently more likely to be injured than all other workers, and this injury rate ratio increased significantly on night shift, suggesting that injury prevention strategies should consider the temporal pattern of work for young workers in construction.
Oo, Bee‐Lan; Drew, Derek S.; Runeson, Goran
doi: 10.1080/01446193.2010.520721pmid: N/A
Bidding strategies vary from contractor to contractor, each of which will have different degrees of sensitivity towards the factors affecting their bidding decisions. A competitor analysis using a linear mixed model is proposed for use by contractors as part of a more informed approach in identifying key competitors, and as a basis for formulating bidding strategies. The competitiveness between bids is examined according to: (i) project size, (ii) work sector; (iii) work nature; and (iv) number of bidders. The model was tested empirically by application to a bidding dataset obtained from a large Hong Kong contractor. Allowing for different degrees of sensitivity towards the four bidding variables across competing contractors (i.e. with the model parameters that varied across competing contractors), the results indicate that competitiveness in bidding of this contractor is generally greater than the majority of its competitors.
Showing 1 to 10 of 12 Articles