Balancing value creating logics in construction

Construction companies apply different logics to create value. Some companies are organized according to one primary logic, while others are based on multiple logics. Different value creating logics have different cost and value drivers according to the type of activities involved and the interdependencies between them. Where multiple logics coexist, the different cost and value drivers may generate tensions. The purpose of the paper is to study how construction companies maintain a balance between multiple logics and how they handle tensions between them through a case study from the Norwegian construction industry. Both project management and supply chain management perspectives have been used to explain construction practice. By applying a ‘value configuration analysis’, it is clear how value creation is achieved in construction practice by balancing the needs of both the project and the supply chain. Both intra‐ and inter‐organizational interactions are vital in creating value across different logics. The contribution of the study lies in applying this framework to the construction area by adding knowledge about the underlying principles of different logics, including the tensions between them. Furthermore, the case study illustrates how these may be handled in order to create value in construction.     

Coordinated construction logistics: an innovation perspective

Coordinated construction logistics is an increasingly discussed topic in the Swedish construction industry. It is suggested as a means to increase efficiency in transportation, decrease material usage, coordinate health and safety on-site, etc. Much research on construction logistics has been done from a supply chain management perspective, often highlighting construction logistics as a necessary rational tool to improve efficiency in construction industry. However, could there be other ways to study this phenomenon? The purpose of this paper is to map empirically found coordinated construction logistics models and explore them as different types of innovation. The findings suggest that coordinated construction logistics models should be regarded as not being a fully embedded innovation as they have not yet changed the processes in the way they set out to do initially. Furthermore, differences are identified between company-based models, project-based models and system-based models, and suggest that differences in, for example, development, impact and objectives should be regarded both when conducting research on and when implementing coordinated construction logistics in practice. Finally, it is concluded that commitment, communication and cooperation are important when implementing coordinated construction logistics, which is in line with findings within the supply chain management literature.     

建设项目全过程工程造价管理和控制的探讨

在建筑工程行业经济发展形势和观念都国际化的形势下,施工全过程的造价管理与控制成为了普遍被认可的一种提高竞争力的方式。那么,建筑工程施工全过程造价管理与控制的实现方法都有哪些呢?     

Construction and capital formation in less developed economies: unravelling the informal sector in an African city

Sub-Saharan Africa is the poorest and least developed region in the world today. It is also the most rapidly urbanizing, with the greatest need for investment in new infrastructure and buildings. In Kenya, as well as in a number of other countries, the adoption of economic adjustment programmes has led to a sharp decline in publicly funded construction projects. What activity there is takes place in the private sector. The shift from public to private investment has been accompanied by a noticeable fall in the volume of work passing through the more formally organized construction system and an increase in activity in the ‘informal’ system. The informal construction system is characterized by a much closer relationship between building owners and building labour, with owners purchasing materials as and when they have the funds and engaging directly the services of small enterprises and self-employed workers. In Nairobi (Kenya) substantial multi-storey projects are now being implemented in this way by a myriad of small firms. This paper examines these devel8 opments and assesses their implications for our understanding of ‘the construction industry’ and the process of capital formation.     

A test of a linear programming model of agriculture

Conclusions The pattern of agricultural production and land use specified by the linear programming model was greatly different from the actual pattern existing in 1963. I believe that the application of this model or similar models to other areas would not approximate actual patterns of production or resource use. Therefore, it is concluded that the assumptions upon which the model is based are inadequate for the construction of models aimed at estimating the economic feasibility of water resource investments. Further work on the model itself is necessary before it can be properly used in the predictive sense required in economic feasibility studies.In order to improve the model, it will be necessary to quantify additional constraining relationships that are generally encountered by the type of economic units being studied. Care should be taken not simply to build empirical realities into the model so as to reduce differences between the model results and existing production and resource use. Rather the type of constraints needed appear to require such studies as how economic units tend to react to opportunities for increased profits in situations where changes in habits would be required for the realization of these increased net returns.Studies which accurately estimate the economic efficiency of water resource investments need to consider how economic units will react to changes in water resources. The use of mathematical programming models in these studies serves to make this need more apparent.Richard Howes and Associates     

Cultural differences as an explanatory variable for adversarial attitudes in the construction industry: the case of Hong Kong

The procurement systems adopted in the construction industry are, by their very nature, fragmented and divided into sub‐organizations distinguished by the various sentient stakeholders. The industry has come to be regarded as adversarial and one in which cooperation is expected to take place in a set of circumstances that are not wholly conducive. There are many reasons why the industry has developed in this fragmented and adversarial manner. This paper reviews some of these reasons and suggests that a new approach for analysing the way the industry operates is required. The authors argue that the perspective that should be adopted to identify the determinants of cooperation should logically stem from the individual level because cooperation is the result of individual efforts and interactions with each other. Using social identity theory, the authors advance a framework for analysing the cooperative behaviour of project participants based on their cultural orientation. As far as the authors are aware this is the first attempt within the construction industry to use such an approach to explain how the industry operates and this paper provides a review of how social identity theory can be used in construction research.     

Mapping corporate social responsibility strategies in the construction and engineering industry

Interest 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.     

低碳城市建设中的绿色工业选择——以厦门市为例

目前我国正处于快速城市化的转型时期,低碳城市的建设是实现转型过程中城市可持续发展的必然途径。绿色工业作为产业升级与转型的产物,将会成为低碳城市的建设的新途径。尤其在以厦门市为代表的宜居城市发展进程中,如何平衡经济发展与环境保护成为了首要问题。本文将以厦门市为例,以厦门市的工业分部门增加值与能源消耗量为基础数据,进行碳排放与经济发展的相关性研究,从而选取适合厦门市的绿色工业作为下一步发展的重点选择,为建设低碳城市进行指引。     

Prediction of solvency in construction companies

This paper reviews two models for testing the financial security of construction companies. It discusses the utility of the ratio analysis technique and the Z model in predicting whether companies are heading for insolvency. It then applies these techniques to three construction companies which failed within the last 5 years to test whether the theoretical predictions prescribed in the techniques are applicable to the construction industry. It concludes that whilst the techniques are of value in predicting some difficulties they need to be used in conjunction with financial performance data of other construction firms, in this way comparisons may be made. The development of a refined and construction specific Z model is recommended.     

The globalisation of the construction industry—a review

The recent advances in transport and communication coupled with the protocols of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) have given access to markets that were previously insulated. The process that has come to be known as “globalisation” and is conceptualised as a situation where political borders become increasingly more irrelevant, economic interdependencies are heightened, and national differences are accentuated due to dissimilarities in societal cultures and central issues of business, is not new though. As railways and steamships lowered transport costs and Europe moved towards free trade during the late 19th Century, a dramatic convergence in commodity prices took place. Labour flows were considerably higher than usual, and millions of immigrants made their way from the old to the new world.These immigrants took with them their knowledge of construction that they employed in their new settlements, either as a hybrid with the local construction knowledge or supplanting the latter altogether. In this sense, the globalisation of construction had begun albeit unintentionally. Over the years, however, the construction industry has become well organised in similar ways to any other industry and WTO protocols have enabled firms to participate in cross-border markets unhindered. In principle, the unhindered access to international markets makes economic sense, but the reality is that only a few firms, particularly those based in advanced industrialised countries (AICs) can take full advantage of the open market. However, as globalisation is now an inescapable fact, firms based in both the newly industrialised countries (NICs) and least developed countries (LDCs) should adopt strategies that could enable them benefit from the open market.To enable comprehensive exploration of possible strategies that small firms in developing countries could adopt to benefit from the open construction market, this paper reviews the history of the globalisation of the construction industry and its current status. It concludes by pointing out the avenues that could be pursued by firms based in LCDs to benefit from the open construction market.     

Developing a technology roadmap for construction R&D through interdisciplinary research efforts

Construction projects are getting bigger and more complex while the average productivity at the industry level is not improving enough. It is essential to look at the means available, in order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the construction industry. Technology fusion, which refers to a truly interdisciplinary approach of combining different technology areas, is a new way of sparking off the currently stagnant level of construction technologies. This paper presents a comprehensive technology roadmap developed under the support of Korea Ministry of Construction and Transportation (KMOCT), where the needs for innovative future construction technology are well organized through the interdisciplinary research efforts. To succeed in developing a technology fusion-based construction research plan, four major approaches are adopted: technology foresight, socio-economic prediction, market needs identification, and benchmarking of other efforts. Through these integrated processes, research and development (R&D) programs that cover the entire life cycle of construction projects are proposed. KMOCT is expected to launch 14 of the proposed programs during the next five years on a priority base, funding a total of approximately US$ 5 to 15 million for each program.     

Graham Ive and the methodology of construction economics

Graham Ive’s central contribution to our methodological debate was his insistence on the firm as the analytical unit. Ive argues we should reject theories if the aspect of construction we are examining does not satisfy the assumptions of a particular theoretical model. We see this in his rejection of neoclassical economic theories in the two topics discussed in this paper: the adoption of innovations in construction; and microeconomic analysis as it relates to price determination in the market for construction. The former requires studying not just participants in the building process, but also participants in the innovation process, and the latter uses post-Keynesian pricing theory where prices are set according to mark-up procedures and vary with costs, but not directly with demand. This is in contrast to the general equilibrium, perfectly competitive price setting of neoclassical economics. Ive and his collaborators show a way towards better research in their emphasis on theory and the insistence that for construction economics the analytical units are the industry and the firm, not the project. Ive’s concern is that the processes involved in organizing the production of buildings should be seen as a distinctive and defining element of our analysis of the industry.     

Is construction an industry?

There has been a frequent misconception in analyses of construction sectors of the national economy: the tendency to describe these activities as ‘an industry’ or a small and stable set of ‘industries’. This has led to confusion. Construction was inappropriately assimilated to various forms of manufacturing industry. Characteristics of the construction process were treated as ‘problems’, to whose solution substantial energies were unnecessarily diverted. There has been muddle about the extent to which macro-level planning is appropriate, notably on R&D strategies and innovation for improved industrial efficiency. Construction projects increasingly use unfamiliar technological bases, comparable to ‘technology fusion’ in other sectors. A more fruitful emphasis may be to regard construction as organized as agglomerations of projects - rather than as a discrete industry or a fixed constellation of firms. The idea of the ‘demand chain’ is introduced.

The paper concludes that a ‘technological paradigm’ should replace the ‘industry paradigm’ and that an enduring question remains to explore what is meant by construction ‘capacity’.     

探究质量目标管理在建筑施工管理中的应用

随着我国经济飞跃式的发展,社会的不断进步,建筑行业也进入空前繁荣阶段。同时,建筑行业的施工管理也越来越引起了更多人的关注,如何提高建筑施工的效率和质量是最为重要的目标。目标管理是施工管理中一种非常有效的方式。     

Development of automated communication of system for managing site information using internet technology

The construction industry is highly fragmented compared with other manufacturing industries. The degree of this fragmentation is unparalleled in any other sector with significant impact on productivity and performance. Many research studies have developed and proposed a number of integrated process models. Unfortunately, they are unable to formalise how communication and information exchange within the construction process can be achieved, without duplication or lost in quality. A move away from the traditional sequential process to reciprocal interdependency processes no doubt place heavy demand on communication and information flow. This problem is widely acknowledged and many of the proposed IT solutions are less practicable to be attractive to practitioners in the industry. Any IT-dependent solution must start with optimisation and better uses of the readily available IT- hard- and software.This paper describes a collaborative research study being undertaken between the University of Teesside and an international contracting organisation based in the UK. The goal of the research is to develop a methodology and a system that will ease and improve communication and exchange of data and information between the construction project team. The paper reports on an IT-based tool for site document management as a first phase of the project. It provides an automated integrated environment for communication, retrieval, storage and distribution of project documents between the construction project team. The structure and development of the system are described with reports of its implementation and performance on the site.     

绿色建筑技术在工程设计中的运用

近年来,绿色建筑已成为建筑行业的发展方向之一,它的出现符合环境,经济,能源现状,受到越来越多业内人士的重视。建筑对于环境的影响有目共睹,因此,减少建筑建设及运行过程中的能耗及污染也势在必行。绿色建筑的相关技术与日俱增,如何切合实际的运用,是建筑师们应关注的方面。正确积极的使用绿色建筑技术,对于建筑行业及整个社会,都将带来极大的益处。     

An economic modelling approach for public sector construction workload planning

The effectiveness of public sector construction workload planning can be enhanced through employing an economic modelling approach to predict the impact of different workloads on tender price changes. The main problem associated with existing methods used for predicting tender price index (TPI) for construction projects is a lack of robustness when the market becomes unstable. This is due to limited consideration of market conditions in these methods. An economic modelling approach has been developed and applied for public sector construction workload planning in the States of Guernsey where forward planning was required. The developed model overcomes the problem of existing methods—lack of robustness—by correlating TPI of construction projects to demand over capacity ratio of the industry, which represents the industry's economic condition. The model generates the price changes under different planning options associated with different workloads over a five‐year planning period. The information is valuable to the public sector in estimating actually required investment. This ensures the feasibility of the plan and the possibility of contribution to the stability of the construction market. The model development and application process developed in this research can be used to assist a planning process for an industry where a demand, capacity and price relationship is applied.     

建筑工程精细化施工管控探讨

如何在建筑行业激烈的竞争当中取得最大的经济效益,是目前建筑行业最关注的问题之一。其中,最有效的方法就是在建筑施工的过程中实行精细化管理。本文结合笔者多年的建筑经验,探讨了建筑工程精细化管理管控技术,为同行提供了参考。     

中国建筑业新的经济增长点

通过建筑业与经济发展之间的关系确定出我国建筑业处于快速提升时期,指出在此过程中存在的问题,并构建建筑经济活动的三维空间结构,得到中国建筑业新的经济增长点应当是:通过建设开发和开发事业,创造建设需求;推动建筑企业国际化,增大建设输出的规模;通过工程服务新组合,增加自身在建筑产品中的附加价值.     

当今大学本科课程中的BIM课程

BIM作为一种方法已经在工程建设(AEC)行业引起了广泛的关注。它利用虚拟的模型涵盖了一个工程项目从设计到建造直至最终运行全生命周期中所有相关的信息。从模型中能够提取预算所需的工程量,定义施工计划需要的工程要素,还可以建立可持续性研究的模拟环境以及为后期设备管理制定工作流程。BIM是一种工具,有助于促进工程建设行业向协作性更强的建造过程转变。由于该行业缺乏精通BIM的资深人才,因此工程建设行业的管理专业毕业生应该为此做好充分准备。正是由于相关合格人才有缺口的预计,亚利桑那州立大学与FIATECH(一家非营利性建筑公司,物料供应商和学术研究的联盟)共同进行了一项研究,目的是了解在BIM日渐成为设计与承包商主要工具的情况下,学术界怎样为行业提供支持。通过调查和现场会议,我们对当前的教学计划进行了评估并提出一些建议,以帮助各个大学重新设定课程教学计划。主要建议包括讲授核心概念,再辅以自己动手实践和讲座结合的方式学习建造过程的方法。另外一个建议是:学校和行业保持紧密合作,将行业内的专业人士请到课堂上,介绍BIM在行业中的实际应用,以实例帮助学生了解未来获得成功所需要掌握的技能。为了进一步对有关BIM课程设置的指导,我们还通过一个班级和几个相关课程对老师教授BIM的方法做了评审。总之,本研究对目前课堂中设置和开发BIM内容的教学方法以及业界对此的希望都做了探究。