IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science最新文献

{"title":"Exploring Empowerment in Construction: Discovering Challenges of self-managed Workers","authors":"Christopher Görsch, Eelon Lappalainen, Jaakko Riekki, Olli Seppänen, Antti Peltokorpi","doi":"10.1088/1755-1315/1389/1/012037","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1389/1/012037","url":null,"abstract":"Traditionally, production planning and control (PP&C) approaches in construction have been hierarchical and rigid. These PP&C approaches have often been reported to insufficiently provide task preconditions in a dynamically changing production environment, ultimately causing stress and dissatisfaction to workers. Modern organizational and management theory promotes more agile and dynamic decentralized decision-making structures. These support workers’ access to the organization’s resources and provide preconditions to implement their individual ideas. Such empowerment is linked to increased subjective well-being and project performance. However, several studies present workers’ perceptions of their own task responsibility and decision-making as empowered, self-managed, and decentralized, while satisfaction remains low and productivity rates stagnated over the last decades. Thus, this research studies qualitatively factors promoting empowerment of workers and what kind of challenges workers face in perceived decentralized work environments. Semi-structured interviews with 14 mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) workers were conducted and analysed using an empowerment-level framework. This study suggests that leadership dynamics among MEP workers are contingent on the tasks and their preconditions, transitioning from centralized in design stages to decentralized during execution. Empowerment structures mirror this shift, evolving through actions either delegated or seized based on individuals and groups managing task demands effectively. The findings suggest that the level of leadership and empowerment is tacitly and collectively coordinated by management and workers through informal verbal exchanges and situational cues, which often leads to unclear and chaotic situations. In summary, the study highlights the advantages and disadvantages of undifferentiated empowerment structures and emphasizes the need for advanced in-depth understanding and exploration of dynamically changing empowerment and leadership structures.","PeriodicalId":14556,"journal":{"name":"IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142200602","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Examining the financial uncertainty of an alliance project from the perspective of the contracting parties","authors":"Pertti Lahdenperä","doi":"10.1088/1755-1315/1389/1/012019","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1389/1/012019","url":null,"abstract":"A project alliance is a project delivery system in which the owner and service providers share the risks associated with the project. The aim of this paper is to increase understanding of the functioning of the payment bases of alliance projects, especially from the perspective of diverse uncertainty. The work is based on the plans and contracts of one of the implemented alliance projects and on modelling the project’s payment system. The developed model was simulated taking into consideration the multiple uncertainties associated with the project. The compensation paid by the owner to the service providers and the service providers’ consortium fee were examined in particular. Alongside the original model based on the project’s contract, some alternative instances were also defined. The focus was on the effect of the cost escalation and on the transfer of the corresponding risk to the alliance, as according to the contract the inflation risk of the project lay with the owner. In addition, the model was examined in situations where uncertainty increases significantly, or risk events tend to co-occur. At their most extreme, the risks were assumed to be so high that the service providers’ loss limitation clause could have steered the determination of compensation. The contribution of the work is in illustrating the effect of different contractual solutions and broadening our understanding of the functionality and sensitivity of the alliance payment system.","PeriodicalId":14556,"journal":{"name":"IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142200620","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Trade associations in Nordic construction – their role in procurement and project delivery","authors":"O J Klakegg, H T Ingason, K Aaltonen, P Lahdenperä, A Kadefors, C Thuesen, S C Gottlieb","doi":"10.1088/1755-1315/1389/1/012016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1389/1/012016","url":null,"abstract":"A trade association is a not-for-profit organization made up of companies and/or individuals with common interests or who work in the same industry. They act as a representative body for the industry they represent. As the ‘industry voice’, trade associations speak on behalf of their members to government, agencies, regulators, the media, and other opinion formers. There are several trade associations connected to the construction industry in all Nordic countries. The purpose of this paper is to investigate what role they play in improving procurement and project delivery in the Nordic countries. Based on interviews with trade association representatives across all Nordic countries, the paper maps their structures, roles, and strategies for involving in procurement and project delivery across the construction industry in each country. Similarities and differences are analysed and discussed considering the situation in each country. The result shows that trade associations have important and similar roles in each country, motivated by the wish to support their members. The first observation is that most trade associations across the Nordics are actively involved in developing procurement trends and knowledge accumulation. The motivation for engaging in procurement and project delivery is the well-being of members. They all depend on fair competition and access to market, and they all need to be associated with successful projects. The second observation is that it seems generally accepted across the trade associations that it is important to promote more collaborative procurement strategies and project delivery methods. The third observation is that all trade associations across the Nordics take an active role in gathering, analysing, and distributing knowledge and experiences connected to this development. Dissemination is both possible and probable through the trade associations effort.","PeriodicalId":14556,"journal":{"name":"IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142200624","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Unlocking project success: The crucial role of interpersonal skills in project management","authors":"Asmamaw Tadege Shiferaw","doi":"10.1088/1755-1315/1389/1/012026","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1389/1/012026","url":null,"abstract":"In today’s rapidly evolving world, marked by technological advancements, digitalization, and evolving environmental and social requirements, the construction industry is grappling with increasing project complexity. This complexity, in turn, impacts performance. Technical competences alone no longer ensure project success; instead, organizations with superior interpersonal skills are better positioned for success. Measures are being taken to enhance interpersonal skills in Norway’s construction industry. This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of these measures and to explore potential variations in the need for key interpersonal skills among primary project partners and across different project phases. Data were collected through a literature review and semi-structured interviews conducted with selected informants from two large Statsbygg projects. The findings of this study underscore the crucial role of interpersonal skills in project success, a role that becomes more significant as projects increase in size and complexity. Despite the acknowledged importance of these skills within the Norwegian construction industry, measures to enhance them have not yielded the expected success. This study first outlines current measures to improve interpersonal skills, including the integration of collaboration in turnkey contracts, promotion of teamwork, effective meeting facilitation, onboarding processes, and co-location. It then identifies obstacles to these initiatives, such as the perceived difficulty in acquiring these skills, budget and time constraints, and uncertainties about the initiatives’ effectiveness. The study also explores potential differences in the need for key interpersonal skills among project partners, uncovering a shared need for skills like collaboration, communication, and problem-solving, with strategic thinking being an exception, primarily linked to the client’s role in the project’s early stage. While the research is focused on a specific segment of the Norwegian construction industry, it provides valuable, broadly applicable insights. Future research could strengthen these findings by expanding the scope to include more case projects and interviewees.","PeriodicalId":14556,"journal":{"name":"IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142200605","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Closing the gap between good intentions and realized potential of end-user involvement","authors":"Tina Åsgård, Lene Jørgensen, Heidi Breistrand Bringsvor","doi":"10.1088/1755-1315/1389/1/012041","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1389/1/012041","url":null,"abstract":"Hospital building projects are highly complex and involve many different stakeholders. The physical lay-out of a hospital will affect the ability of healthcare personnel to perform their work and have consequences for patient safety, hence the involvement of end-users is crucial for project success. The inclusion and translation of perspectives and needs of end-users require a well-organized project planning process, with end-user involvement at every stage. However, earlier studies on end-user involvement are primarily based on the perspectives of designers, architects, contractors, facility and/or hospital management. This paper explores end-user involvement in a hospital building process from the end-user perspective in order to identify what barriers end-users face and concrete measures to overcome them. Data stems from interviews with 37 end-users of a hospital building project in Norway. The findings indicate that clarifying the role and level of end-user involvement, introducing a more agile and less fragmented project development strategy, interdisciplinary team building, and facilitation of input and feedback into project groups, are areas that can improve the value added by end-user involvement.","PeriodicalId":14556,"journal":{"name":"IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142200597","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Complexity in sports facility construction projects","authors":"J C Ørke, O Torp, T O Malvik","doi":"10.1088/1755-1315/1389/1/012030","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1389/1/012030","url":null,"abstract":"Sports facilities in Norway are often built by sports clubs. In such cases, the project team often lack competence and experience with planning, design, and construction. Complexity is a challenge in many construction projects and is frequently used to explain why projects went wrong. It is, therefore, relevant to assess the magnitude of complexity in sports facility projects and how this complexity should be managed. Such insight will help project teams carry out successful sports facility projects, ensuring the best use of the available resources and as much utility value as possible for the sports community. The purpose of the research was to increase knowledge about complexity in the management of sports facility projects. The paper was based on “model sports facilities” from the website godeidrettsanlegg.no. A workshop, a literature review and a survey were conducted. As a result, the Project Complexity and Risk Assessment tool was found to be a suitable framework for internal measurement of complexity, while simpler frameworks might be more suitable for external, statistical use. Our study indicates that sports facility construction projects have a high level of complexity. Lacking qualifications seems to be a cause of this, indicating that ensuring sufficient qualifications in project management is one of the best measures to handle the complexity.","PeriodicalId":14556,"journal":{"name":"IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142200604","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Portfolio Management of Infrastructure Projects","authors":"Emmanuel Emefu, Kulchandra Basnet, Arianna Minoretti, Ola Lædre","doi":"10.1088/1755-1315/1389/1/012031","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1389/1/012031","url":null,"abstract":"Project portfolio management (PPM) in guiding infrastructure development is often overlooked though it has crucial importance. PPM has been categorized into two phases. The first phase is about selecting the right projects in a portfolio while the second phase is about managing the selected projects to maintain strategic alignment with the organizational goals. The paper investigates the existing PPM practices in the Norwegian infrastructure sector to provide possible improvements for successful infrastructure project delivery. A literature review and structured interviews with selected experts in the infrastructural sector were carried out. The findings reveal that literature often focuses on criteria for portfolio selection, leaving the second phase of PPM with managing the selected projects unexamined. This happens despite all the interview respondents saying that portfolio management is important for maintaining strategic alignment with the organizational objectives. The interviews revealed that there is no standardized framework or guidelines yet for managing projects in portfolios for infrastructures. Significantly, the study found that there is a big contrast in the way the private and public organizations manage PPM. This study concludes that there is a need for further research to bridge gaps, enhance the practical applicability of the project portfolio management principles, and possibly establish a standardized framework fitted to the Norwegian Infrastructure projects.","PeriodicalId":14556,"journal":{"name":"IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142200600","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Lessons from ex-post evaluation of government investment projects","authors":"Morten Welde, Gro Holst Volden","doi":"10.1088/1755-1315/1389/1/012025","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1389/1/012025","url":null,"abstract":"Although public goods and services are increasingly delivered through projects, many studies have demonstrated that the success of projects in different sectors varies. In Norway, large government projects are subjected to extensive ex-ante appraisal with external quality assurance before budgets can be allocated, and each year, a sample of projects is also evaluated ex-post under the auspices of a research programme. The ex-ante processes and the evaluation of projects ex-post are unusual by international standards, which thus provides an interesting foundation for exploring how the knowledge gained from ex-post evaluations is used to improve the planning and delivery of future projects. This paper presents a study of how Norwegian ministries and agencies use ex-post evaluations of projects within their respective portfolios of responsibilities. Based on interviews with representatives of the target group for the evaluations, the authors examine whether the evaluations improve the appraisal and delivery of subsequent projects. The findings reveal that the use of the results has been limited and that many target group members are unaware of the evaluation. The authors suggest some changes to the evaluation process that might increase the use of ex-post evaluations.","PeriodicalId":14556,"journal":{"name":"IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142200599","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Value-adding collaborative design and construct sustainability work practices on increasingly complex AEC projects","authors":"L Kestle, A Day, T Puolitaival","doi":"10.1088/1755-1315/1389/1/012043","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1389/1/012043","url":null,"abstract":"There is a good amount of research on how collaborative design and delivery practices, such as design & build, integrated project delivery and alliances can help in achieving project goals, sustainability among other things. Although the understanding of these collaborative practices and their advantages has increased, a large part of construction projects are still conventional, design-bid-build projects. The industry is fragmented not only when it comes to separating the design stage from construction, but also when it comes to the number of subcontractors and suppliers in projects. This situation is not going to change any time soon, rather it looks the opposite. Construction projects are becoming more and more complex requiring companies to specify their expertise to a certain design, manufacturing or installation aspect. This is a discovery and theory-led case study that explores key problems and opportunities, and illustrates how theories are applied and adapted, or adopted, in a real-life setting. The focus is on how a top tier main contracting company in New Zealand is changing its practices to be more collaborative by involving the design and construct teams, the client and stakeholders, on a regular workshop basis at the pre-construction design stages in particular. The research question is “How to use collaborative design and delivery practices at the preconstruction and construction stages to achieve a circular economy?” The vision and aim is to explore-with project examples-alternative insightful design strategies, reduce waste to landfill, associated costs, as well as enhancing the environmental impacts on the community. One of the introduced tools so far is an Environment in Design (EiD) register, in conjunction with resource sorter training, and recording all waste data, to achieve the main contractor and key stakeholders’ sustainability goals.","PeriodicalId":14556,"journal":{"name":"IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142200558","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Collaborative project delivery and team performance during design and construction of a complex Norwegian swimming facility","authors":"K Narum, P Kals","doi":"10.1088/1755-1315/1389/1/012022","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1389/1/012022","url":null,"abstract":"Construction projects are experiencing an increase in complexity, and elevated emphasis on sustainability. The industry has much potential with regards to optimizing value creation and improving collaboration. This is especially true for large and transformative projects with significant complexity and uncertainty. Collaborative project delivery methods (CDMs) aim to optimize value creation through integrating inter-organizational participants towards collaboration for a common goal. There is a need for more research on the relationship between CDM elements and team performance. This paper seeks to fill the research gap through a longitudinal case study of the two-stage CDM of complex Norwegian swimming facility. The study was conducted through two months of daily observations, a document study, and twenty semi-structured interviews in the construction phase and operations phase with personnel from the client, architect, consultant and contractor. Contractual elements included early contractor involvement, procurement emphasising collaboration, target cost with shared bonus/malus, and open book, while organizational elements included integrated management, active client involvement, elevated levels of involvement of architects, consultants and subcontractors in collaboration, a co-located team, integrated project controls and collaborative workshops. Cultural elements included mutual goals, equitability and trust. In stage 1 on the CDM, team performance was challenging in the early stage during concept selection and the late stage during the negotiation of a target cost for stage 2. In stage 2, team performance was challenging during the construction of technical installations, and the reaching of a final settlement. To ensure optimal team performance in collaborative projects, it is recommended to involve key participants sufficiently early, have reasonable and mutually understood risk allocation in the target cost, and an active client leadership and integrated steering committee that ensures recruitment of collaborative personnel and the establishment and sustenance of a collaborative project culture.","PeriodicalId":14556,"journal":{"name":"IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142200568","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}