Publications from NIAS: January 1988-June 2013 (NIAS Report No. R23-2014)

This report has a bibliographic listing of all the publications from NIAS since inception till June 201

Impact of a Non-Traditional Research Approach

abstract: Construction Management research has not been successful in changing the practices of the construction industry. The method of receiving grants and the peer review paper system that academics rely on to achieve promotion, does not align to academic researchers becoming experts who can bring change to industry practices. Poor construction industry performance has been documented for the past 25 years in the international construction management field. However, after 25 years of billions of dollars of research investment, the solution remains elusive. Research has shown that very few researchers have a hypothesis, run cycles of research tests in the industry, and result in changing industry practices. The most impactful research identified in this thesis, has led to conclusions that pre-planning is critical, hiring contractors who have expertise will result in better performance, and risk is mitigated when the supply chain partners work together and expertise is utilized at the beginning of projects. The problems with construction non-performance have persisted. Legal contract issues have become more important. Traditional research approaches have not identified the severity and the source of construction non-performance. The problem seems to be as complex as ever. The construction industry practices and the academic research community remain in silos. This research proposes that the problem may be in the traditional construction management research structure and methodology. The research has identified a unique non-traditional research program that has documented over 1700 industry tests, which has resulted in a decrease in client management by up to 79%, contractors adding value by up to 38%, increased customer satisfaction by up to 140%, reduced change order rates as low as -0.6%, and decreased cost of services by up to 31%. The purpose of this thesis is to document the performance of the non-traditional research program around the above identified results. The documentation of such an effort will shed more light on what is required for a sustainable, industry impacting, and academic expert based research program.Dissertation/ThesisMasters Thesis Construction 201

An aesthetic for sustainable interactions in product-service systems?

Copyright @ 2012 Greenleaf PublishingEco-efficient Product-Service System (PSS) innovations represent a promising approach to sustainability. However the application of this concept is still very limited because its implementation and diffusion is hindered by several barriers (cultural, corporate and regulative ones). The paper investigates the barriers that affect the attractiveness and acceptation of eco-efficient PSS alternatives, and opens the debate on the aesthetic of eco-efficient PSS, and the way in which aesthetic could enhance some specific inner qualities of this kinds of innovations. Integrating insights from semiotics, the paper outlines some first research hypothesis on how the aesthetic elements of an eco-efficient PSS could facilitate user attraction, acceptation and satisfaction