A systems thinking approach for incremental reduction of non-physical waste

This is an accepted manuscript of an article published by Emerald in Built Environment Project and Asset Management on 02/07/2020. The published version can be accessed here: https://doi.org/10.1108/BEPAM-10-2019-0100 The accepted version of the publication may differ from the final published version.Purpose: Continual cost reduction of overhead costs of building projects can realign the concept of post-contract cost control towards value driven construction projects and stakeholders satisfaction. This study synthesized and analysed the viable continuous improvement measures critical for waste reduction during the execution phase of a building project. Design/Methodology/approach: A review of existing literature facilitated a list of continuous improvement measures. This literature review findings enabled a Likert scale questionnaire which was administered to two-hundred and fifty (250) small and medium scale construction companies (SMSCC) in Nigeria. Multiple linear regression statistical tests deduced the significant cost reduction measure from which a causal loop diagram was designed to indicate continuous improvement measures during the execution phase of a building project. Findings: Cogent construction activities associated with overhead costs were deduced from the statistical tests as being payment of suppliers and subcontractors; and purchase orders. An all-inclusive casual loop model for cost reduction through waste minimisation in construction projects as a viable oriented mechanism for meeting clients��� requirements was developed. Practical implications: The causal loop continuous improvement model recognised external and internal factors which are crucial for SMSCC to focus on for their organisational growth and performance enhancement. Originality or value: A focus on non-physical waste in construction organisations potentially addresses behavioural challenges for continuous improvement

Cibernética organizacional para o diagnóstico e o design da governança multinível dos recursos hídricos

Despite numerous efforts to promote and implement more integrated approaches, problems of multi-level governance persist and compromise the sustainability of water resources in Brazil. This research presents an approach to guide the diagnosis and design of complex adaptive systems: a context-sensitive assessment of water governance at various levels. Combined with the specifications of a management process change, it fills the theoretical and methodological gaps observed between centralized and hierarchical forms of water resources management. It also addresses the urgent demand for recursively distributed structures, which use vertical and horizontal coordination as a primary alignment mechanism, suitable for dealing with the environmental complexity inherent to River Basin Organizations (RBOs). The approach aims to address challenges identified in the application of the formal institutional framework of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) and in the practice of water governance, combining the positivist and interpretivist traditions for the diagnosis, design and analysis of the Viable System Model (VSM) in the Formoso River Basin. The focus is on the processes of implementing the formal institutional framework of IWRM at a regional and local scale and its incorporation into a multi-level water governance system in a broader environmental and social context. Strategies consistent with the formalized representation of the current situation of water governance were proposed based on an extensive literature review and exploratory study of the Formoso River Basin (BHRF). The emerged conceptual and methodological framework served to the identification of a series of factors considered relevant for understanding the performance of environmental governance and RBOs. The framework offers a cybernetic approach to analyzing the complex and multifaceted phenomenon through the horizontal and vertical coordination of multi-level governance. The results include the identification of multiple paths that can lead to an improvement or a decline in the viability of RBOs.Apesar dos numerosos esforços para promover e implementar abordagens mais integradas, os problemas da governança multinível persistem e comprometem a sustentabilidade dos recursos hídricos. Este trabalho de pesquisa apresenta uma abordagem para orientar o diagnóstico e o design de sistemas adaptativos complexos. Uma avaliação sensível ao contexto da governança da água em vários níveis. Combinado com as especificações de um processo de gerenciamento para mudanças, preenche as lacunas, teórica e metodológica, observadas entre as formas centralizadas e hierárquicas de gerenciamento de recursos hídricos; e a urgente demanda por estruturas distribuídas recursivamente, que utilizam a coordenação vertical e horizontal como um mecanismo de alinhamento primário, própria para lidar com a complexidade ambiental inerente às Organizações de Bacias Hidrográficas (OBHs). A abordagem visa tratar desafios identificados na aplicação do framework institucional formal da Gestão Integrada de Recursos Hídricos (GIRH) e na prática da governança das águas, aliando as tradições positivista e interpretativista para o diagnóstico, design e análise do Modelo de Sistema Viável (VSM) na Bacia Hidrográfica Rio Formoso. O foco está nos processos de implementação do framework institucional formal da GIRH em escala regional e local e sua incorporação em um sistema de governança da água em vários níveis e em um contexto ambiental e social mais amplo. Estratégias coerentes à representação formalizada sobre a situação atual da governança das águas foi proposta com base em uma ampla revisão de literatura e estudo exploratório da Bacia Hidrográfica Rio Formoso (BHRF). A estrutura conceitual e metodológica possibilitou a identificação de uma série de fatores que se espera ser importantes para a compreensão do desempenho da governança ambiental e das OBHs. A estrutura, oferece uma abordagem cibernética para analisar o fenômeno complexo e multifacetado por meio da coordenação horizontal e vertical da governança multinível. Os resultados possibilitaram a identificação de múltiplos caminhos que podem levar a uma melhoria ou a um declínio da viabilidade das OBHs

Strategic realignment of the post-contract cost control process in the Nigerian construction industry using kaizen

Small and medium scale construction companies in Nigeria have many challenges such as management of construction works, employee management, competition in the construction industry and financial management of construction projects. New techniques emanating from lean thinking have helped to reduce cost during manufacturing. Continuous cost reduction or kaizen costing during the construction phase stems from kaizen, which is a sub-set of lean production. Kaizen is the Japanese word for continuous improvement, which has the proven benefits to reduce construction cost, provide quality products, increase profitability, enhance employee-employer relationship and competitiveness. The research methodology for this study involved literature review and surveys (quantitative and qualitative). The surveys involved questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Quantitative data was obtained from one hundred and thirty-five (135) respondents in Small and medium scale construction companies in Nigeria. Eleven (11) executives of small and medium scale construction firms were interviewed. The qualitative data were be analysed using NVIVO 10, while descriptive statistics, pie charts, graphs, Kendall’s W test, Spearman rho’s correlation, and factor analysis were used to analyse the quantitative data. The critical success factors for kaizen costing implementation identified management function; operational efficiency; construction business and ethics; and construction cost management as the major implementation factors. The critical success factors, effective post-contract cost controlling techniques and crucial activities for cost reduction during construction were used to produce the kaizen framework. The kaizen framework focused on activities before the construction phase required for effective post-contract control. The kaizen framework was developed using IDEF0, business process model and notation and capability maturity model. Overall, the validated strategic realignment of the post-contract cost control process in the Nigerian construction industry can be attained within five (5) to (6) years of implementing the framework