Paving the Road for Sustainable Construction in Developing Countries: A Study of the Jordanian Construction Industry

There is an increasing pressure on governments of developing economies to support sustainable construction procurement. In exploring this issue, this research asks three related questions: (1) how is sustainable procurement perceived in developing economies, (2) how can government regulation influence its application, and (3) what is the role of performance measurement in stimulating sustainable procurement practices? Answers are sought via an investigation exploring the underlying issues and challenges facing the construction industry of a developing country looking to address sustainable procurement. Using primary and secondary data sources, this research presents a case study of the Jordanian construction industry. Findings show that whilst sustainable procurement practices are promoted, it is still in its infancy - in part due to ineffective procurement frameworks and a lack of performance measurement. Current government regulations and policies are identified as an underlying cause, discouraging the development and adoption of sustainable procurement methods. As the Jordanian construction industry shares characteristics with other developing economies, it is expected that the findings of this paper will be of interest to professionals in those construction industries attempting to initiate sustainable procurement via performance measurement

Quality management and profitability linkage: Does the length of QM adoption act as the moderating variable?

Manufacturing companies in Malaysia have never had it so tough. They are now confronting increasing prices of oil and raw materials, high advancement in innovation and technology, as well as high customer expectation on the quality of products and services. In addition, managers of these companies are well aware of the increasing competitive pressures in the world market. It is clear today that these pressures are due largely to the increased performance of those firms that have successfully implemented quality improvement.This paper presents the findings from an empirical study examining the relationship between quality management (QM) practices and profitability in the electronics and electrical industry in Malaysia. It is said that QM has the potential to not only enhance production efficiency and effectiveness, but also improves bottom-line results. Much has been written about the relationship between QM and performance. However, the link of QM practices to profitability in the electronics and electrical industry in Malaysia has not been fully addressed in empirical studies. To address this issue, this paper investigates the impact of QM practices on profitability in the Malaysian electronics and electrical industry using correlation, multiple regression,and hierarchical regression analyses. The findings revealed that quality measurement, supplier relations, and benchmarking in particular, appear to be of primary importance and exhibit significant impact on profitability. Findings of the study provided a striking demonstration of the importance of implementing effective QM practices for the electronics and electrical industry in Malaysia in enhancing its profitability. However, the study failed to provide the statistical evidence of the existence of the moderating effect of the length of QM adoption on the QM and profitability linkage

The Evolution of Balanced Scorecard in Healthcare: A Systematic Review of Its Design, Implementation, Use, and Review

During the last few years, the interest in performance measurement increased within the healthcare sector. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare systems needed to boost performance measurement systems to become more resilient and improve their capability in monitoring key performance indicators. Since the 1990s, the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) model has been widely used among private and public organizations as it is the most adopted model to measure performance. The current paper aims at understanding the evolution of BSC in healthcare. The systematic literature review has been carried out by searching keywords according to PRISMA guidelines. By analyzing papers through one classification of BSC adoption phases, the results reveal that studies focused mainly on the BSC design process, rather than BSC implementation, use, or review. However, there is no agreement about the perspectives to be adopted in healthcare. Concerning BSC implementation and use, on one side especially leadership, culture and communication enable the BSC implementation. On the other side, monitoring and strategic decision-making are the most widespread objectives for using BSC. Concerning BSC review, however, the paper highlights a need for additional research. Finally, the paper provides further research opportunities concerning the phases suitable for implementing a BSC in healthcare

A model to understand digital capabilities, shadow IT and individual performance in the context of remote work

In recent years, remote work has grown enormously, as has the adoption of digital technologies and shadow IT. There has never been a situation where workers could choose to use their own devices and cloud-based applications. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, large numbers of workers suddenly found themselves at home. Understanding how this shift to remote working has impacted digital resources, the use of shadow IT and individual performance is of great importance to academics and professionals. This study seeks to analyze the relationship between digital capabilities and shadow IT usage on the one hand and individual performance on the other in the context of remote working. To do so, a survey was carried out among a sample of 188 IT and non-IT executives from Brazil working remotely. The resulting data were analyzed using IBM-SPSS 24 exploratory analysis and PLS-SEM software to test the measurement and structural model. In the study we identified that shadow IT usage is positively related both to digital capabilities and individual performance. The main findings reveal that to understand the behavior of employees and how these systems are being used is essential for the individual performance of company employees to be maintained or even improved

Advantages and disadvantages of application of EVA (Economic Value Added) in public companies: case of Post and Telecommunication of Kosova (PTK)

The Competitive companies, irrelevant of being public or private, in order to remain competitive and performing well, need and must be interested towards developing and establishing adequate performance measurement and management systems. Given the revolution of economic profit that for several decades have joined the field of corporate finance, there is a need to review existing performance management systems and provide guidance in continuous use of existing systems, or provide another view of successful innovations used by other companies and explore opportunities in adopting for internal company use. This paper examines the existing performance management system in the Post and Telecommunication J.S.C., the biggest corporation in Kosovo. This paper elaborates the use of an innovative measure called EVA. It also discusses the importance of Value Based Management, EVA concept as well as the use of 6M’s. Paper concludes with several ideas on the advantages and disadvantages of EVA implementation and potential adoption as part of PTK’s performance management system, which due to being a publically owned company with a privatization perspective will face it difficult to comply with strict requirements of EVA implementation in regards to its performance management approach

The Return of Decentralization Greek Local Government Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic was one of the greatest crisis faced by humanity. It had a significant negative impact that affected public health, the society, the economy, and the performance of public administration. Although national administrative system's response to COVID-19 pandemic was set up, the performance and the resilience of strategic management patterns at national and local level was also initiated. This paper focuses on identifying and evaluating the strategies and models adopted by Greek local government to build resilience during the COVID-19 crisis. The results of the research are based on an empirical survey conducted in 27 municipal authorities in Greece, which showed that despite the various government policy initiatives and funding provided during the last decade and the formal introduction of crisis management and resilience focused planning models, urban resilience is downgrading due to the continuation of important implementation and compliance gaps in strategic planning and performance measurement adoption from the municipal authorities and the lack of an effective model of multi-level coordination among policy’s stakeholders

The human performance impact on oee in the adoption of new production technologies

Featured Application This research work proposes a framework for the evaluation of the initial adoption phase of new production technologies and its application to the introduction of a semi-automatic packaging machine in a relevant logistics company. The case study allowed the assessment of the machine ramp-up phase and provided valuable insights for reducing the length of this period by achieving a stable target production output. Moreover, it shows how the framework can be adopted, applied and interpreted for obtaining useful insights. Manufacturing systems in digital and interconnected industrial settings where human worker activity is required represents further potential applications of this paper. The initial adoption phase of new production technologies is the period between the first production run or technology reconfiguration and the achievement of a stable target output. This time frame is generally characterized by productivity unsteadiness, quality performance variability, and unexpected machine failures together with increasing production volumes due to the process setup and instability, which inevitably affects production output. In this context, human performance represents an additional source of variability and process instability that is dependent on the workers' productivity, learning curve and related training activities. Hence, to effectively assess the ramp-up phase of new production technologies, an appropriate evaluation of human performance is required. This paper proposes a comprehensive framework and criteria to perform a consistent assessment of the initial adoption phase of new production technologies by introducing two OEE measurement methodologies that distinguish between human performance, process configuration and technical features of the production technology. The proposed framework is then applied to and validated by a case study concerning the introduction of a semi-automatic packaging machine in a primary multinational company in the logistics industry. This case study shows the difference between the two OEE measures, along with the values interpretation and useful insights for achieving a stable production output

Internal Heat Exchanger Performance Quantification and Comparison Testing Methods Including Exploration of the Effects of Location of Measurements and Oil in Circulation

The Internal Heat Exchanger (IHX) is widely known for its potential to improve the performance of air conditioning systems.  The adoption of alternative, more environmentally friendly, refrigerants such as R744 has brought elevated attention to IHX development due to relatively large performance increases from IHX usage compared to conventional refrigerants. In addition, the increasing need for even small incremental improvements in systems using conventional refrigerants has driven the expanded development and implementation of IHXs. The focus of this study is the quantification and comparison of the performance of internal heat exchangers and the effects of location of measurements and oil in circulation rates on the measurement accuracy and actual IHX performance. Typical IHX performance measurements yield the heat exchanger capacity, effectiveness, and the refrigerant pressure drop across each side of the heat exchanger. Existing test standards vary widely on the required test conditions, allowable oil in circulation rates, and instrument locations. The goal of comparison testing is of course to accurately quantify performance while also achieving repeatable results which allow for a fair and useful comparison between IHXs. Test conditions and temperature measurement location can have a large effect on both the accuracy and repeatability of measurements. Conditions close to the saturation dome, i.e. low subcooling or superheat, can make it difficult to accurately determine and control the state point. Thermal stratification across the cross section of the IHX tubes can also lead to measurement difficulty depending on the temperature probe placement. Oil in circulation rates directly factor into the heat exchanger capacity calculations but also can affect the actual heat exchanged as well as the measurements themselves. This paper will discuss these effects and their implications on standard development and test facility design

On the Adoption Dynamics of Internet Technologies: Models and Case Studies

Today, more than any time in history, our life-styles depend on networked systems, ranging from power grids to the Internet and social networks. From shopping online to attending a conference via P2P technologies, the Internet is changing the way we perform certain tasks, which incentivizes more users to join the network. This user population growth as well as higher demand for a better access to the Internet call for its expansion and development, and therefore, fuel the emergence of new Internet technologies. However, many such technologies fail to get adopted by their target user population due to various technical or socio-economical problems. Understanding these (adoption) problems and the factors that play a significant role in them, not only gives researchers a better insight into the dynamics of Internet technology adoption, but also provides them with enhanced guidelines for designing new Internet technologies. The primary motivation of this thesis is, therefore, to provide researchers and network technology developers with an insight into what factors are responsible for, or at least correlated with, the success or failure of an Internet technology. We start by delving deeply into (arguably) the salient adoption problem the Internet has faced in its 40+ years of existence, and continues to face for at least a foreseeable future, namely, IPv6 adoption. The study is composed of an extensive measurement component, in addition to models that capture the roles of different Internet stakeholders in the adoption of IPv6. Then, we extend it to a broad set of Internet protocols, and investigate the factors that affect their adoptions. The findings show performance as the primary factor that not only affected the adoption of IPv6, but also plays a role in the adoption of any other network data plane protocol. Moreover, they show how backward compatibility as well as other factors can affect the adoption of various protocols. The study provides a number of models and methodologies that can be extended to other similar problems in various research areas, such as network technology adoption and design, two-sided markets, and network economics

Eco-innovation practices’ adoption in the automotive industry

Eco-innovation is a construct that is gaining increasing interest from academics and researchers since it is commonly considered in the literature as one of the strategies that allow manufacturing companies not only to significantly reduce the negative impacts on the environment but also the generation of pollutants. However, little is known about the adoption of eco-innovation practices in manufacturing companies, particularly in the automotive industry. Therefore, this research has as main objective to fill this gap in the literature and explore the interdependence between eco-innovation of products, processes and management. The study is conducted through a research framework consisting of 3 measurement scales, 14 items and 3 hypotheses and an extensive review of the literature. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to a sample of 460 companies in the automotive and auto parts industry in Mexico. Data were analyzed through Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Descriptive Statistics and Structural Equation Modelling. The results obtained show that product eco-innovation, process eco-innovation and management eco-innovation are good indicators for the adoption of eco-innovation practices for companies in the automotive and auto parts industry. The paper addresses a research gap in the academic literature in the eco-innovation field by providing evidence on the interdependence between eco-innovation of products, processes and management and the implementation of their practices in the automotive industry.N/