Construction Economics and Building最新文献

{"title":"Factors Inhibiting Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives Among Construction Companies","authors":"I. Osuizugbo, O. Oyeyipo, Rapheal A. Ojelabi, O. Oshodi","doi":"10.5130/AJCEB.V21I1.7359","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5130/AJCEB.V21I1.7359","url":null,"abstract":"Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is one of the best strategies that companies used in minimising negative societal and environmental impacts, enhancing economic development and improving social progress concurrently. However, there are many factors discouraging construction companies to implement or establish a CSR plan. Furthermore, there are few empirical studies in relation to CSR in construction, and the majority of empirical research on CSR implementation are rooted in the organisational and economic context of the developed world. Therefore, the current study seeks to investigate the factors inhibiting CSR initiatives among construction companies within the context of a developing country such as Nigeria. The study adopted a survey research method. Questionnaires were administered to a purposively selected group of managing directors, directors, other top construction professionals or management personnel involved in the operation of small, medium and large construction companies in Nigeria. A total of 196 questionnaires were administered among the sampled respondents out of which a total of 119 representing 61% were adequately filled and returned. The data collected were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results revealed corruption tendencies borne from lack of transparency between companies and government, lack of CSR benefits measurement, lack of financial resources, inadequate support from top management and lack of governmental support as the top five factors inhibiting CSR initiatives among construction companies in Nigeria. In addition, the results from the study revealed that, there is no statistically significant difference in factors inhibiting CSR in construction between indigenous and expatriate and partly indigenous/partly expatriate companies. The findings provide in-depth insight of the factors inhibiting CSR programmes in construction that can help top construction professionals and management personnel in construction companies facilitate development of strategies required to mitigate the factors inhibiting CSR programmes.","PeriodicalId":51729,"journal":{"name":"Construction Economics and Building","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2021-03-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48442185","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":"Digital and Social Media Marketing - Growing Market Share for Construction SMEs","authors":"Simon Malesev, Michael Cherry","doi":"10.5130/AJCEB.V21I1.7521","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5130/AJCEB.V21I1.7521","url":null,"abstract":"The construction industry has not been an early adopter of social media and digital marketing, due largely to lack of knowledge of and skills in these areas. Nevertheless, effectively deployed, digital and social media marketing can be a disruptive force allowing smaller residential construction companies to build brand awareness and win business from larger competitors. This study uses a qualitative approach - interviews with residential construction small to medium enterprises (SMEs) and adjacent industry actors - to obtain data addressing the key questions of the residential construction sector SMES' digital marketing attitudes and capabilities; whether digital and social media marketing is as or more effective than traditional marketing strategies; and the challenges facing SMEs in making effective use of digital marketing strategies. The findings confirm widespread recognition of the value of digital marketing strategies among SMEs but reveal that uptake and effective use of digital marketing is undermined by deficiencies in external environment analysis and a lack of the investment and training needed to plan, monitor and maintain effective and up-to-date marketing mixes, strategies and objectives. Based on the findings, recommendations are offered for improving residential construction SMEs’ uptake and effective use of digital and social media marketing.","PeriodicalId":51729,"journal":{"name":"Construction Economics and Building","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2021-03-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47761697","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":"Modelling Customers’ Perception of the Quality of Services Provided by Builders: A Case of Victoria, Australia","authors":"A. Gurmu, A. Galluzzo, John Kite","doi":"10.5130/AJCEB.V21I1.7501","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5130/AJCEB.V21I1.7501","url":null,"abstract":"Consumer satisfaction is essential for quality assurance, business survival and economic prosperity. It can also be used as an indicator of the occurrence of defects in the houses delivered by builders. The objective of this study is to compare the quality of services provided by volume and small builders, and to develop a model for predicting the chance of occurrence of structural defects in houses. A list of home builders was obtained from Australia’s Housing Industry Association media release 2019. Thereafter, customer reviews of 10 volume builders and 107 small builders were obtained from publicly available data. Overall, 2336 reviews for volume-builders and 2037 reviews for small builders were analysed quantitatively. Further, using the scores provided by customers, the probability-based regression model for the structural integrity of residential buildings was developed. Generally, the research found that for volume-builders, customers have the highest satisfaction level for ‘customer service’ and the lowest satisfaction level for ‘plumbing and waterproofing’ work. However, for small builders, customers have the highest confidence in the ‘structural integrity’ of their buildings and the least confidence in projects ‘timeliness’. Clients can use the stochastic-based model to predict the probability that a builder could deliver a house with low structural defects. The model showed that if a customer service score for a particular builder is less than 3.3, then there is a higher chance of having structural defects. This research contributes to the body of knowledge by developing and validating the logistic regression model that can be used as a tool to assess the quality of services provided by home builders. Moreover, the research provides useful information which can assist builders to improve the quality of services they provide.","PeriodicalId":51729,"journal":{"name":"Construction Economics and Building","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2021-02-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73704368","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":"Design Delays in Building Projects in India: Effects and Remedies","authors":"D. Das, F. Emuze","doi":"10.5130/AJCEB.V21I1.7453","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5130/AJCEB.V21I1.7453","url":null,"abstract":"Empirical evidence shows that design-related challenges influence delay in building projects in India. Based on case studies of building projects from the capital region of Odisha Province of India, the factors relating to consultants and design have been identified and policy interventions were compiled to reduce design linked delay. A survey method to collect data, statistical analysis and a Systems Dynamics modelling approach were used according to different scenarios to propose strategic interventions. The findings suggested that complexity of design and compilation of documents, and the combined complexity of both can cause substantial delay. The model results revealed that the combined effect of appointing competent consultants and communicating effectively could reduce delay significantly. The novelty of the study lies in using a systems approach to develop causal feedback relationships among variables, as opposed to considering one origin of the problem at a time. The study makes three contributions: (1) design-linked challenges and mechanisms of delay, based on causal feedback relationships in building construction, can be diagnosed to evolve appropriate remedial measures; (2) impacts of different interventions can be visualised quantitatively under different scenarios; and (3) an alternative methodology to examine the trend of the project period is offered.","PeriodicalId":51729,"journal":{"name":"Construction Economics and Building","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2021-02-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48389490","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":"Achieving Sustainable Procurement in Construction Projects: The Pivotal Role of a Project Management Office","authors":"Mahmoud Ershadi, Marcus Jefferies, P. Davis, M. Mojtahedi","doi":"10.5130/AJCEB.V21I1.7170","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5130/AJCEB.V21I1.7170","url":null,"abstract":"Environmental and ecological impacts associated with construction activities have become an ever-increasing concern, especially the considerable amount of waste generated on construction sites. Regulations and growing client pressure on meeting environmental standards have led contractors to adopt sustainable practices and try to embed this concept in their processes. Sustainable procurement management (SPM) as a potential solution takes the environmental consequences of procurement decisions into account and integrates sustainable practices into project procurement to bring positive environmental outcomes. Previous research has mainly focused on the public sector in achieving green procurement, yet this study attempts to highlight internal capacities that help private organisations manage the requirements associated with practicing sustainability. It is theorised that robust management structures, specifically project management offices (PMOs), would enhance the oversight capabilities of contractors in implementing the SPM process. The objectives of the current study are to (1) identify the requirements of a sustainable project procurement process in construction sites based on a literature review, and (2) explore the facilitative role of PMO units in achieving these requirements in the private sector. A literature review was conducted followed by a qualitative survey to solicit the viewpoints of construction professionals in principle contracting firms. As a result of the study, we identified 17 sustainability requirements and found that PMOs boost collaboration and improve the quality of decision making towards sustainable procurement. The findings (1) explain how PMOs support sustainability, (2) provide insights on implementing sustainable practices in project purchases, and (3) improve theoretical understanding of the SPM principles.","PeriodicalId":51729,"journal":{"name":"Construction Economics and Building","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2021-02-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48081625","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":"Challenges for Occupational Health and Safety Enforcement in the Construction Industry in Ghana","authors":"Elijah Frimpong Boadu, C. Wang, R. Sunindijo","doi":"10.5130/AJCEB.V21I1.7482","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5130/AJCEB.V21I1.7482","url":null,"abstract":"Many previous studies have reported that the occupational health and safety (OHS) enforcement is poor in developing countries, however these studies have mainly focused on the broader enforcement problems and not fully considered the challenges confronting the institutions responsible for enforcing OHS standards at workplaces.  In this study, twelve potential challenges were identified from an extensive literature review, then an empirical investigation was carried out via a questionnaire survey from OHS inspectors and professionals in the Ghanaian construction industry. The twelve challenges were confirmed and ranked. Also, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and correlation were used to determine the statistical significance of the responses and the relationships between the challenges. Based on these findings, this study provides practical strategies for government, OHS inspectors and other professionals within the construction industry to improve the OHS enforcement. The research findings can also be adopted as a basis to assess challenges confronting OHS institutions in other developing countries.","PeriodicalId":51729,"journal":{"name":"Construction Economics and Building","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2021-02-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85029472","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":"Further insights by project managers into the problems in project management","authors":"P. Livesey","doi":"10.5130/ajceb.v20i4.7121","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5130/ajceb.v20i4.7121","url":null,"abstract":"A Delphi study using twenty-three project practitioners over six rounds is aimed to identify significant problems in project management, arising from the nature of projects other than those readily identifiable in a literature review. The study goes on to identify project managers’ behaviours which are recognised as having successful impacts on the delivery of projects. A Relative Importance Index for the problems and behaviours resulting from the issues identified in the study is calculated. This study continues by reporting the views of practitioners involved in the management of large projects on the everyday problems they experience in managing projects, problems that are not adequately addressed in current project management texts concerning the nature of projects. Five additional problems, not generally discussed in the literature, were identified together with seven interpersonal skills and behaviours that are major contributors to increasing the likelihood of a successful project delivery.","PeriodicalId":51729,"journal":{"name":"Construction Economics and Building","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2020-11-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49024061","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":"Project governance practices in urban public housing projects: a case study of public housing in Malaysia","authors":"A. Latiff, A. Jaapar, C. M. M. Isa","doi":"10.5130/ajceb.v20i4.7166","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5130/ajceb.v20i4.7166","url":null,"abstract":"The urban public housing project, especially for low-income people, is essential to cater to the increasing urbanisation rate in Malaysia. This study aimed to gain an understanding of the project governance practices in urban public housing projects in Malaysia, which will lead to better project delivery and the successful outcome of the projects. A single case study was conducted on a public housing project or known as Projek Perumahan Rakyat (PPR) in Kuala Lumpur, and data for this study was gathered using semi-structured interviews with six (6) public officials, document analysis, and observation. The findings of this study indicate the positive interplay between project actors guided by the elements of trust, stakeholder management, empowerment, and collective decision making, which create value for the project. Hence, this article contributes to the dynamic understanding of how public officials practice project governance in conducting their works related to urban public housing projects. The findings of the study will enable related public organisations to reinforce the underlying project governance elements towards the strengthening of urban public housing delivery DECLARATION OF CONFLICTING INTEREST The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. FUNDING The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. 120 system. Case study research in different models of urban public housing could extend the discovery of other project governance elements while validating the findings of this study from different perspectives. The findings of the study are limited due to the use of a single case study related to the urban public housing project and its contexts.","PeriodicalId":51729,"journal":{"name":"Construction Economics and Building","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2020-11-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.5130/ajceb.v20i4.7166","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47480335","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":"Energy and economic analysis of environmental upgrading of existing office buildings","authors":"D. M. Nguyen, G. Ding, G. Runeson","doi":"10.5130/ajceb.v20i4.7239","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5130/ajceb.v20i4.7239","url":null,"abstract":"Over many decades, buildings have been recognised as a significant area contributing to the negative impacts on the environment over their lifecycle, accelerating climate change. In return, climate change also impacts on buildings with extreme heatwaves occurring more frequently and raising the earth’s temperature. The operation phase is the most extended period over a building’s lifespan. In this period, office buildings consume most energy and emit the highest amount of greenhouse gas pollution into the environment. Building upgrading to improve energy efficiency seems to be the best way to cut pollution as the existing building stock is massive. The paper presents an economic analysis of energy efficiency upgrade of buildings with a focus of office buildings. The paper identifies upgrading activities that are commonly undertaken to upgrade energy efficiency of office buildings and a case study of three office buildings in Sydney, Australia has been used to analyse the results. The upgrading activities can improve the energy performance of the case study buildings from 3 stars to 5 stars NABERS energy rating in compliance with the mandatory requirement in the Australian government’s energy policy. With the potential increase in energy price, energy efficiency upgrading will become more affordable, but currently, most of them, except solar panels and motion sensors show a negative return and would not be undertaken if they did not also contribute to higher rental income and an increased life span of the building. The upgrading DECLARATION OF CONFLICTING INTEREST The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. FUNDING The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. 82 discussed in the paper represent a potentially attractive alternative to demolition and building anew.","PeriodicalId":51729,"journal":{"name":"Construction Economics and Building","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2020-11-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45901012","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":"Strategic determinants of big data analytics in the AEC sector: a multi-perspective framework","authors":"Sushil S. Chaurasia, Surabhi Verma","doi":"10.5130/ajceb.v20i4.6649","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5130/ajceb.v20i4.6649","url":null,"abstract":"With constant flow of large data sets generated by different organisations, big data analytics promises to be a revolutionary game changer for Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry. Despite the potential of Big Data, there has been little research conducted thus far to understand the Big Data phenomenon, specifically in the AEC industry. The objective of this research therefore is to understand the contributing factors for adopting big data in AEC firms. The investigation combined the perceived strategic value of BDA with the TOE framework (technology, organization, and environment), to develop and test a holistic model on big data adoption. A set of hypotheses derived from the extant literature was tested on data from structured surveys of about 365 firms, categorised as construction service firms (engineering and architecture) and construction firms (firms engaged in managing construction projects). The results indicated that the inhibitors and facilitators of BDA adoption are different in the construction services (architecture and engineering) and construction firms. For effective adoption of BDA solutions, the findings will guide the business managers to have realistic expectations of BDA integration challenges in AEC sector.","PeriodicalId":51729,"journal":{"name":"Construction Economics and Building","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2020-11-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89653373","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}