Analysis of criteria for contractors’ qualification evaluation

Selecting a construction contractor is a major decision which may influence the progress and success of any construction project. The paper analyses criteria used to evaluate qualification of contractors in Lithuania and abroad. Both in Lithuania and abroad, the bid price of construction works is the main criterion for evaluation of con‐tractors. The lowest price often cannot guarantee commitments on quality and duration of a construction project. Therefore, when selecting a contractor, a client must not only compare bid prices but also set other criteria for evalua‐tion of qualification and determine their weight. A contractor must be selected according to both quantitative and qualitative criteria, and bids should be compared. Only on the basis of quantitative and qualitative evaluation criteria and by comparing bids of contractors it is possible to select a qualified, competent and reliable contractor, to evaluate its qualification, economic and financial condition and technical capability and skills and to achieve relevant results in a construction project. The paper provides an investigation of Lithuanian companies, which analyses issues related to evaluation of contractors’ qualification. The paper is completed with a discussion of the investigation results and delivery of proposals based on expert estimations of the weight of criteria for evaluation of contractors. Rangovų kvalifikacijos vertinimo kriterijų analizė Santrauka Rangovo parinkimas yra labai svarbus veiksnys, turintis įtakos statybos projekto eigai ir sėkmei. Analizuojami Lietuvoje ir užsienio šalyse rangovų kvalifikacijai vertinti taikomi kriterijai. Ir Lietuvoje, ir užsienio šalyse svarbiausias rangovų atrankos kriterijus yra siūloma statybos darbų kaina. Dažnai mažiausia kaina neužtikrina įsipareigojimų dėl statybos projekto kokybės ir trukmės vykdymo. Todėl užsakovas, rinkdamasis rangovą, turi lyginti ne tik pasiūlymų kainas, bet nusistatyti ir įvertinti kitus kvalifikacijos vertinimo kriterijus, atsižvelgti į jų svarbą. Tik remiantis kiekybiniais ir kokybiniais vertinimo kriterijais ir lyginant rangovų pasiūlymus tarpusavyje, galima pasirinkti kvalifikuotą, kompetentingą ir patikimą rangovą, įvertinti jo ekonominę ir finansinę būklę, techninį pajėgumą ir gebėjimus, kvalifikaciją, pasiekti gerų statybos projekto rezultatų. Straipsnyje pateikiamas Lietuvos įmonių tyrimas, kuriame nagrinėjami rangovų kvalifikacijos vertinimo klausimai, pabaigoje aptariami tyrimo rezultatai bei, remiantis ekspertiniais vertinimais, pateikiami pasiūlymai dėl rangovų vertinimo kriterijų svarbos. Reikšminiai žodžiai: rangovo kvalifikacija, vertinimo kriterijai, kriterijų svarba, tyrimas. First Published Online: 21 Oct 201

Evaluation of critical success factors for construction projects – an empirical study in Lithuania

This paper aims to identify a comprehensive list of critical success factors for construction projects in Lithuania. Based on the available literature review, this paper identified 71 success factors under 7 broad groups. Based on the survey results, ten factors including project manager competence, project management team members' competence, project manager coordinating skills, client clear and precise goals/objectives, project value, project management team members' relevant past experience, project manager organising skills, project manager effective and timely conflict resolution, client ability to make timely decision, and project manager experience were determined as the most important success factors for construction projects. These critical success factors are of great significance both to researchers and industry practitioners

Analyzing the determinants of e-commerce in small and medium-sized enterprises: a cognition-driven framework

The increasing use of information technology in enterprises’ daily operations has led to multiple innovative ways to run a business, including electronic commerce (hereafter, e-commerce). However, firms with fewer resources, such as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), are more reluctant to use electronic channels during transactions. This aversion to contemporary business models is a result of these companies’ lack of knowledge and capabilities regarding e-commerce. To improve their businesses, SMEs’ managers and decision makers could benefit from a methodological framework that fosters a deeper understanding of the determinants of e-commerce. This study sought to explore the use of fuzzy cognitive mapping to address this need. The results are grounded in the knowledge and experience of a panel of experts in e-commerce. The fuzzy cognitive map (FCM) developed shows that entrepreneur profile, market, operational management, marketing and promotions, website and digital platform, and products present the highest centrality indices as determinants of SME e-commerce. The findings offer a better understanding of the cause-and-effect relationships between these determinants. The advantages, limitations, and shortcomings of our constructivist proposal are also discussed.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Foreign direct investment and growth: analysis of the construction sector in the Baltic States

In the construction industry of the Baltic States, the aftermath of the economic crisis poses new questions as to what occasioned the crisis. The paper analyses a causal relationship between foreign direct investment in construction (CFDI) and the contribution of the construction industry to gross domestic product (GDP) using data obtained in the Baltic States (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia) for the period from 2000 to 2011. The conducted research includes the initial econometric analysis of variables, which involves the verification of seasonality and stationarity with the help of time series plots, a unit root test and Granger causality test. The study has found that, in the case of Lithuania and Estonia, CFDI is not the Granger cause of the construction industry’s contribution to GDP growth; conversely, value added by the construction sector is not the Granger cause of FDI into the sector, and there is one-way causality from value added by the construction sector to CFDI, and the construction industry’s contribution to GDP does not influence CFDI in Latvia

Identification and evaluation of the critical success factors for construction projects in Lithuania: AHP approach

This paper proposes the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) as a tool to rank different critical success factors (CSFs) for construction projects in Lithuania. Considering the current lack of understanding of CSFs within the local context, this study is one of the first attempts to gain an understanding of the CSFs in the local industry. Our study revealed that, for construction projects in Lithuania, clear and realistic project goals, project planning, the project manager's competence, relevant past experience of the project management/team, the competence of the project management/team, clear and precise goals/objectives of the client, the project's value, the project's complexity and uniqueness, the project manager's experience, and the client's ability to make timely decisions are the top-ranking CSFs. In view of these findings, the study highlighted the key areas for successful implementation of construction projects in Lithuania

Framework for assessing technological innovation capability in research and technology organizations

This study aims to evaluate technology innovation capabilities (TICs) of research and technology organizations (RTOs) by applying Fuzzy-DEMATEL & ANP techniques, in order to provide a practical lookout for their firm’s requirement in this regard. Based on literature review, six main criteria and eighteen sub-criteria are extracted. Fuzzy-DEMATEL is applied to analyze the casual relationships among the criteria and subcriteria. After identifying the relations between the criteria a questionnaire is developed and distributed among sixteen experts to assess the validity of the questionnaire, then the relations are weighted by ANP. It is concluded that proposed model is a comprehensive model that integrates qualitative and quantitative approaches to develop a step by step model to reach to the main TICs criteria in RTOs. Although, there are many previous researches illustrating various models to evaluate TICs, there is no formidable one using these techniques combination. Based on the abilities of the techniques and the results emerged this paper has prepared a robust model available for other RTOs to adopt as a true reference to reach to their TICs

Risk assessment in tourism system using a fuzzy set and dominance-based rough set

The purpose of this study is to identify risks, discover rule base structure and the impact of risks by knowledge base system design in one of the Iran tourism destination. Based on tourism system approach, the factors of risks are divided in two dimensions: internal risks and external risks and seven criteria: political, economic, cultural-social, technological, environmental-health, functional and safe-security. Data were analyzed by fuzzy inference system and Dominance-based Rough Set Approach (DRSA) synthesizing to construction of forecasting risk assessment system. Tourists’ perspectives towards the possibilities of risks were first assessed within seven risk factors and converted into a systematic structure within the structure of rough sets. Designing of a fuzzy expert system was dealt with using the created knowledge database. Then, the system’s sensitivity analysis was examined. The results indicate that the system can be a good way to estimate the risks and their fluctuation rates and impacts on the development of tourism destinations. The technological, social, functional and safety-security risks had the highest values in the system designed for minimum travel repeatability. The research suggests that it is important impact of risks and their interaction with each other on the future development of tourism destination

Combination of fuzzy-AHP and DEMATEL-ANP with GIS in a new hybrid MCDM model used for the selection of the best space for leisure in a blighted urban site

Urban blight issues have transformed over time. Today, the focus is on the social context and such services as recreation and leisure. Considering that the insufficiency of leisure spaces in blighted urban neighbourhoods gives rise to social and cultural problems in Tehran, this research aims to identify the best leisure space in a blighted urban site. The selection process uses the combination of a new hybrid MCDM model and GIS. The integration of GIS and MCDM makes a powerful tool for the selection of the best leisure space in a site because GIS provides efficient manipulation, analysis and presentation of spatial data while MCDM supplies consistent weight of sub-criteria and criteria. The results show the interrelations between dimensions and criteria, also influential priorities and the most important sequences of those. Afterward, this study employs DANP to obtain the weight of each criterion and select a site for leisure using GIS, based on INRM from the DEMATEL method

Managerial opportunities in application of business intelligence in construction companies

In construction projects, managers make multiple decisions every day. Most of these decisions are relatively unimportant; some of them are critical and could lead to the success or failure of a construction project. To ensure construction companies make effective managerial decisions, decision making requires performing an initial technical and economic analysis, comparing different decision-making solutions, using a planning system, and ensuring project implementation based on the provided plans. Therefore, the use of powerful systems such as business intelligence (BI), which play a central role in management and decision-making, is essential in project-based companies. The current study aims to determine and evaluate the main managerial opportunities in the application of BI in project-based construction companies using a descriptive survey approach. An empirical research questionnaire consisting of 60 factors and 7 categories was adopted. The questionnaire, after confirming its validity and reliability, was distributed to 100 experts engaged in 5 active project-based construction companies who were familiar with BI topics. To analyse the data, a one-sample t-test and the Friedman test were performed using the SPSS software. The findings indicated that the importance of the identified opportunities for the use of BI in project-based construction companies is above average and that, in the case of using BI in such companies, these opportunities can be used to improve project performance. The results of the current study can help managers and other stakeholders as an effective decision-making tool to better implement BI in project-based companies

Analyzing the determinants of e-commerce in small and medium-sized enterprises: a cognition-driven framework

The increasing use of information technology in enterprises’ daily operations has led to multiple innovative ways to run a business, including electronic commerce (hereafter, e-commerce). However, firms with fewer resources, such as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), are more reluctant to use electronic channels during transactions. This aversion to contemporary business models is a result of these companies’ lack of knowledge and capabilities regarding e-commerce. To improve their businesses, SMEs’ managers and decision makers could benefit from a methodological framework that fosters a deeper understanding of the determinants of e-commerce. This study sought to explore the use of fuzzy cognitive mapping to address this need. The results are grounded in the knowledge and experience of a panel of experts in e-commerce. The fuzzy cognitive map (FCM) developed shows that entrepreneur profile, market, operational management, marketing and promotions, website and digital platform, and products present the highest centrality indices as determinants of SME e-commerce. The findings offer a better understanding of the cause-and-effect relationships between these determinants. The advantages, limitations, and shortcomings of our constructivist proposal are also discussed. First published online 10 April 201