Construction Management & Economics

Loosemore, Martin; Lim, Benson Teck Heng

doi: 10.1080/01446193.2017.1326616pmid: N/A

AbstractInterest in corporate social responsibility (CSR) is growing in response to societal and regulatory demands that construction businesses contribute positively to the environments and communities in which they build. While, CSR research in the construction and engineering industry is progressing there has been little research into whether and how firms in this industry operationalize CSR, how they incorporate CSR into their business vision, leadership and mission and strategies and what forms these strategies take. In addressing these gaps in knowledge, a survey of 104 firms from across the construction and engineering industry and its supply chain in Australia and New Zealand was undertaken. The results indicate that CSR in construction and engineering firms is largely informal, unsophisticated, compliance driven and in its early stages of development. There is little strategic focus in CSR initiatives and the potential social capital derived from better strategic relationships with communities appears to be largely wasted. Conceptually, it is concluded that there is a need to adapt current models of CSR practice, developed in a permanent business context, to reflect the transitional, nomadic and project-based nature of construction. Current models of CSR are inadequate at explaining how firms operating in the construction industry need to practically adjust and adapt their CSR strategies to fit with the constantly changing political, social, cultural, environmental and economic profiles of local communities and the requirements of clients and local governments.

Kokkonen, Anne; Vaagaasar, Anne Live

doi: 10.1080/01446193.2017.1347268pmid: N/A

AbstractCollaboration across company borders in multi-partner construction projects has proven to be challenging. An increasing number of projects aim to strengthen such collaboration by collocating project members from different companies in the same physical space. Yet we know little about the management practices required for taking advantage of such a collaborative space. To begin to remedy this shortcoming, we present an in-depth case study of a hospital construction project that applied a collaborative space and focus on the management practices influencing this space. With the help of affordance theory, we identified two types of management practices and show how they transform across project phases. These management practices included designing the physical elements of the collaborative space, and creating shared collaboration practices for the space. We contribute to the construction management literature by taking the first step in conceptualizing the connections between space, management and collaboration practices in the context of multi-partner projects. We suggest managers to consider carefully what kind of collaboration practices the space is expected to enhance and plan the physical and social space to support it.

Odoemena, Anthony T.; Horita, Masahide

doi: 10.1080/01446193.2017.1361039pmid: N/A

AbstractThe paper examines empirically what contributes to the problem of contract termination in public–private partnerships (PPPs) from the perspectives of theories on contracts, transaction costs and industrial organizations. Based on a theoretical exploration of a model of the holdup and underinvestment problems, we identified the profit-sharing mechanism as the contract type that most predisposes a PPP to the inefficiencies that lead to contract termination. We then conducted an empirical examination of a data-set of PPP contracts in sub-Saharan Africa. Using rough sets theory and the logic of explanatory power, we found that contract type outweighs other factors, such as sector and nationality, in the explanation of contract termination.

Olivieri, Hylton; Seppänen, Olli; Denis Granja, Ariovaldo

doi: 10.1080/01446193.2017.1410561pmid: N/A

AbstractCritical Path Method (CPM), a planning and controlling technique, is widely used in the construction industry. However, CPM is criticized for its lack of workflow and inability to schedule continuous resource usage. Location-Based Management System (LBMS) fill these gaps and has been implemented in many construction projects. We propose that LBMS will improve schedules and project performance, addressing CPM’s main shortcomings. This study is composed of three case studies. CPM schedules were analyzed and were improved using LBMS tools. The resulting schedules show improved workflows, crew balancing, resource usage and had fewer interruptions, without affecting project duration. Furthermore, LBMS schedules were optimized with only a few scheduling operations and fewer planning elements. The computational benefit of LBMS increases with the number of locations and tasks in a schedule. Project managers will benefit from a simpler scheduling process and better resource flow.