Engineering Construction & Architectural Management

Upstill-Goddard, James; Glass, Jacqui; Dainty, Andrew; Nicholson, Ian

2016 Engineering Construction & Architectural Management

doi: 10.1108/ECAM-01-2015-0015

Purpose– Construction organisations are becoming increasingly aware of the impacts of their operations, from both an environmental and, more recently, a social viewpoint. Sustainability standards can enable an organisation to evidence a benchmarked level of performance against a particular issue. To date, research on standards has largely focused on the operational and administrative aspects of their enactment, rather than how they might affect – and be appropriated by – organisational actors. The purpose of this paper is to examine how capacity for learning can affect the success of implementing standards within two construction SMEs. Design/methodology/approach– Taking an organisational learning and absorptive capacity (ACAP) perspective, this research uses the case study approach and abductive logic to understand what role learning plays with regard to sustainability standard implementation. Findings– The results reveal that strong communication channels and commitment to training programmes increase the capacity for implementing standards, but that SMEs tend only to approach standards if they see immediate financial benefits stemming from their implementation. Practical implications– SMEs provide a challenging context for the implementation of sustainability standards unless there are significant external levers and extrinsic motivation for them to be embraced. Care should be taken in incorporating these aspects into the future design of standards that are more aligned with SME needs. Social implications– Stakeholders should seek to apply pressure to firms to positively influence engagement with sustainability standards. Originality/value– The role and importance of ACAP is an underdeveloped debate in the certification field. This study is the first that links the process of implementing a standard with the ACAP of an organisation.

Loosemore, Martin; Lim, Benson Teck-Heng

2016 Engineering Construction & Architectural Management

doi: 10.1108/ECAM-01-2015-0005

Purpose– Increasing workforce casualisation, under representation of women and other minority groups, racial discrimination, corruption and poor safety are just some of the documented examples of intra-organisational injustice in the industry. Typically these issues are problematised separately using different theoretical frameworks, yet at the most fundamental behavioural level they have a common cause which lies in the “unjust” treatment of one person by another. The purpose of this paper is to integrate the conceptual understanding of these hitherto separated but conceptually linked problems. Design/methodology/approach– A survey 135 consultants, contractors, subcontractors and suppliers from across the Australian construction supply chain. Findings– Surprisingly despite widespread academic concerns about injustice in the construction industry, there are not significant concerns within the industry community. Contrary to much research about the poor culture of the construction industry, the results indicate that the relatively low levels of perceived injustice are institutional rather than cultural. The research also highlights the plight of middle management, which appear to consistently suffer the highest levels of injustice across all its theoretical categories. Research limitations/implications– Sample size and Australian focus. Practical implications– Informs organisational policies to reduce injustice in the construction industry. Social implications– By reducing injustice, this research will improve the fairness of business practices in the construction industry. Originality/value– Application of justice theories to conceptualise unfair construction practices.

Lu, Wenxue; Zhang, Lihan; Bai, Fan

2016 Engineering Construction & Architectural Management

doi: 10.1108/ECAM-04-2014-0062

Purpose– The learning ability on critical bargaining information contributes to accelerating construction claim negotiations in the win-win situation. The purpose of this paper is to study how to apply Zeuthen strategy and Bayesian learning to simulate the dynamic bargaining process of claim negotiations with the consideration of discount factor and risk attitude. Design/methodology/approach– The authors first adopted certainty equivalent method and curve fitting to build a party’s own curve utility function. Taking the opponent’s bottom line as the learning goal, the authors introduced Bayesian learning to refine former predicted linear utility function of the opponent according to every new counteroffer. Both parties’ utility functions were revised by taking discount factors into consideration. Accordingly, the authors developed a bilateral learning model in construction claim negotiations based on Zeuthen strategy. Findings– The consistency of Zeuthen strategy and the Nash bargaining solution model guarantees the effectiveness of the bilateral learning model. Moreover, the illustrative example verifies the feasibility of this model. Research limitations/implications– As the authors developed the bilateral learning model by mathematical deduction, scholars are expected to collect empirical cases and compare actual solutions and model solutions in order to modify the model in future studies. Practical implications– Negotiators could refer to this model to make offers dynamically, which is favorable for the parties to reach an agreement quickly and to avoid the escalation of claims into disputes. Originality/value– The proposed model provides a supplement to the existing studies on dynamic construction claim negotiations.

Ajayi, Saheed O; Oyedele, Lukumon O.; Kadiri, Kabir O; Akinade, Olugbenga O; Bilal, Muhammad; Owolabi, Hakeem A; Alaka, Hafiz A

2016 Engineering Construction & Architectural Management

doi: 10.1108/ECAM-06-2015-0095

Purpose– Competency-based measure is increasingly evident as an effective approach to tailoring training and development for organisational change and development. With design stage widely reckoned as being decisive for construction waste minimisation, the purpose of this paper is to identify designers’ competencies for designing out waste. Design/methodology/approach– Due to paucity of research into competency for construction waste mitigation, this study corroborates verbal protocol analyses (VPA) with phenomenological research. Findings– Combining findings from the two methodological approaches, competencies for designing out waste are grouped into five categories, three of which are largely task related and two being contextual competencies. The study suggests that design task proficiency, low waste design skills and construction-related knowledge are indispensable task competencies, while behavioural competence and inter-professional collaborative abilities are requisite contextual competencies for designing out waste. In concurrence with task-contextual theory of job performance, personality variables and cognitive abilities are found to influence one another. This suggests that both task and contextual competencies are not only important, they are less mutually exclusive with respect to designing out waste. Practical implications– This study implies that apart from commitment and dedication of designers to waste minimisation, design and firm practices are expected to be adapted to the industry’s standard. Originality/value– Basis for training needs of design professionals as well as redeployment criterion are further elaborated in the paper. By enhancing competencies identified in this study, construction waste would not only be significantly designed out, adequate cost saving could be made as a result of waste reduction.

Carbonara, Nunzia; Costantino, Nicola; Pellegrino, Roberta

2016 Engineering Construction & Architectural Management

doi: 10.1108/ECAM-07-2014-0099

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to develop a decision model for choosing the tendering procedure in PPP that minimizes the transaction costs borne by the public sector. Design/methodology/approach– A conceptual model that relates the procurement procedures described in the EU legal framework to launch PPPs and the transaction costs, considering the level of information managed by each procurement procedure has been developed. The authors use this conceptual model to develop propositions about the impact that specific project- and country-related factors have on the choice of the procurement procedure that minimizes the transaction costs. Findings– The application of the proposed model to the case of the Italian highway “Cispadana” shows its usefulness in orienting the public authority’s choice between the different tendering procedures, taking into account project- and country-related factors. Research limitations/implications– The present study fills the gap existing in the literature on transaction costs of PPP projects and the procurement procedure used to launch those projects by developing a model that relates the level of transaction costs with a set of key factors, namely the level of information managed during the tendering process, the number of bidders, the project size, the project complexity, and the institutional environment. Practical implications– As for practitioners, the main contribution of this study lies in offering a tool for supporting the public authority in the decision-making process about the tendering procedures in PPPs without imposing the selection of a specific procedure. Originality/value– The approach developed provides a new tool to support the contracting authority in the design and choice of the tendering procedures in PPP.

Manley, Karen; Chen, Le

2016 Engineering Construction & Architectural Management

doi: 10.1108/ECAM-06-2015-0084

Purpose– Collaboration is thought to offer significant benefits over traditional contracts, however there is little existing research concerning how these benefits can be optimized. To address this gap, a survey investigated the impact of client characteristics on the time and cost efficiency of collaborative infrastructure projects. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach– The survey of experienced senior practitioners of Australian collaborative infrastructure projects yielded 320 valid responses. Cluster analysis, one-way between group ANOVA tests and independent sample t-tests were used to confirm that three client characteristics are critical to time and cost performance: client sector (public/private); client experience with asset procurement; and client approach to price competition. Findings– Projects procured by experienced private sector clients were found to meet targeted levels of performance, regardless of their approach to team selection. Among projects procured by experienced public sector clients, groups of relatively low and high performing projects could be distinguished, regardless of their approach to team selection. Projects run by teams selected competitively on non-price criteria prior to the pricing stage exhibited significantly better performance than those run by teams that competed on the price of the project to win the work. Research limitations/implications– This study focussed only on analysis of three client characteristics. Future research may consider a broader range of contextual variables. Results are based on perceptual data rather than objective data. Practical implications– The findings show collaborative infrastructure clients in the construction sector should be less concerned about inexperience than they might have been, and more interested in single-team selection approaches than they might have been. Originality/value– The results indicate significant performance differences between client types. In particular, experienced public sector clients had more polarized performance outcomes, compared to the private sector.

Ho, Paul H. K.

2016 Engineering Construction & Architectural Management

doi: 10.1108/ECAM-12-2014-0165

Purpose– With many large-scale infrastructural and residential projects in Hong Kong, the construction industry is suffering from serious labour and skill shortages. The purpose of this paper is to identify practicable strategies for resolving these problems, assess the effectiveness of these identified strategies and finally develop a conceptual labour supply model. Design/methodology/approach– Data were collected qualitatively and quantitatively through discussion forums and questionnaire surveys. Comprising 30 expert members, two discussion forums were held to identify both practical response strategies and conceptual labour supply framework. Based on ten identified strategies, surveys were then conducted in the form of a web-based questionnaire. In total, 2,900 respondents were invited to take part and 438 questionnaires were completed. Grounded theory approach was adopted to develop a labour supply theory. Findings– In total, three identified strategies which could deliver quick results to the industry were increasing worker wages, importing foreign workers and engaging employers to provide training. Other identified strategies were also effective over the medium and long terms. Practical implications– Many of the identified solutions are enforceable. These are not only applicable to Hong Kong, but also transferable to other countries where voluntarily based measures under the free-market economy do not work in an effective manner. Originality/value– Unlike previous studies largely relied on voluntarily based measures, most of the identified strategies in this study are enforceable to ensure its effectiveness. In addition, based on the grounded theory approach, this study has developed a conceptual model for analysing labour supply issues in both local and overseas situations, thus contributing to the new knowledge in this area.