Construction mediation and its hybridization: the case of the Hong Kong construction industry

In view of the sophisticated nature of construction disputes, specialized dispute resolution mechanisms are of pivotal importance to the satisfactory settlement between disputing parties. Among the various construction dispute resolution mechanisms, mediation has been increasingly gaining recognition and acceptance. Its hybrid, namely mediation-arbitration (med-arb), has also emerged and has started receiving attention and appreciation. With special reference to the construction industry practice in Hong Kong, a commentary on the respective merits and demerits of construction mediation and construction med-arb, as well as the ways forward, are presented in this article

A composite index to measure sustainability of supply chain management in construction companies

Companies in the construction sector are increasingly aware of the importance and challenges of sustainability. In recent years, construction companies have introduced some sustainability initiatives and have embraced the concept of sustainability indicators. However, measuring a company’s performance on a wide range of sustainability indicators is challenging. Integration of supply chain sustainability indicators is required. This article presents a methodology for easily consolidating existing supply chain indicators into a single analysis that requires minimal resources. First, the list of 38 sustainability indicators of the supply chain was defined and divided into 7 sustainability groups. The experts were then asked to rank the sustainability groups and the supply chain sustainability indicators within each group according to their importance using the rank sum weighting method. The survey questionnaire was distributed to the respondents via paper or email to 24 academics and top/middle managers of construction companies. Global normalized weights were employed to determine the final indicator rankings. For normalization, target values were suggested for each indicator. Finally, a composite sustainability index for a construction company’s supply chain was developed. The developed composite sustainability index provides a global view of sustainable supply chain management in construction companies, allowing supply chain indicators to be related to their objectives. The developed composite index can be used by supply chain managers in construction companies to assess their organization’s contribution to supply chain sustainability

A staged approach for energy retrofitting an old service building: a cost-optimal assessment

Office buildings built before the pre-1960 age constitute a relevant group for analyzing the energy performance of the Portuguese building sector. A dynamic energy simulation was used to assess the energy performance of an existing office building located in the town of Bragança, Portugal. By using a staged renovation approach, two passive technologies applied to the building envelope and an efficient domestic hot water system were selected and a financial evaluation through the net saving (NS) method was undertaken to choose the best efficiency measures/packages for improving the building’s energy performance. Real discount rates of 3% and 1% were used in the financial evaluation. Considering the real discount rate of 3%, the results showed that only two out seven retrofit options had a positive financial return. By using the real discount rate of 1%, all retrofit options were found to be financially efficient. The results of the study corroborated those of earlier works that found that the financial profitability of energy renovation investments is very sensitive to the discount rate used in the analysis. The results of the study also suggested that the staged renovation approach used in the analysis is economically feasible, and that this approach is an alternative to one-step renovation approach to help to achieve the country´s energy and climate targets by 2030. Suggestions for future research conducted for office buildings in the different climate zones and other age groups in Portugal are proposed.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A rule-based decision support system for real estate brokerage service evaluation

Real estate brokers or realtors are expected to possess superior knowledge of their local markets, and typically require commissions in return for their services. The evaluation of their performance is an important issue in justifying their commissions. We develop a learning-oriented decision-making process for evaluating real estate brokerage services, which concentrates on understanding the nature, the role and the interaction of the evaluation aspects of real estate brokerage service quality by integrating cognitive maps and the Decision EXpert (DEX) approach. Results suggest that this framework permits new rudiments to be considered in the realtor decision-making and sales process, facilitating transparency and understanding of realtor functions that may lead to recommendations to improve the performance and quality of these functions. Avenues for future research are also presented.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A novel sorting method topsis-sort: an applicaiton for tehran environmental quality evaluation

Many real-life problems are multi-objective by nature that requires evaluation of more than one criterion, therefore MCDM has become an important issue. In recent years, many MCDM methods have been developed; the existing approaches have been improved and extended. Multi criteria decision analysis has been regarded as a suitable set of methods to perform sustainability evaluations. Among numerous MCDM methods developed to solve real-life decision problems, Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) continues to work satisfactorily in diverse application areas. In this paper, a novel sorting method (TOPSIS-Sort) based on the classic TOPSIS method is presented. In the TOPSIS-Sort approach an outranking relation is used for sorting purposes. The proposed approach uses characteristic profiles for defining the classes and outranking relation as the preference model. Application of the proposed approach is demonstrated by classifying 22 districts of Tehran into five classes (but none of the districts fits into Classes 4 and 5), representing areas with different levels of environmental quality. An analysis and assessment of the environmental conditions in Tehran helps to identify the districts with the poor environmental quality. Priority should be given to these areas to maintain and improve the quality of environment. The results obtained by the TOPSIS-Sort give credence to its success, because the results of sorting con firm our and specialists’ evaluation of the districts. This research provides appropriate results with respect to the development of sorting models in the form of outranking relations. The model, proposed by this study, is applicable to the other outranking methods such as ELECTRE, PROMETHEE, etc

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

Application of fuzzy fault tree analysis to identify factors influencing construction labor productivity: a high-rise building case study

The aim of this research is to develop a systematic approach to identify and prioritize the most influencing factors on labor productivity in a construction project, with respect to their interrelations, and also investigate different scenarios which can affect it. In the first step, factors influencing construction labor productivity were identified through reviewing previous researches. Applying a group of experts, the most important factors were then determined using their relative importance index in the second step. In the third step, the interrelations among factors were determined through several sessions and interviewing those experts. Finally, the efficiency of the proposed methodology is proved by implementing in a real high rise building construction project. In this step, the selected factors from previous steps were used subsequently for analyzing their impact on labor productivity through fuzzy fault tree analysis. The probability of occurrence of events was determined according to the opinions of four members of the project management team who involved in that project. The most critical causes were also identified using importance analysis. It is believed that using the proposed methodology, appropriate response strategies could be adopted against the identified critical events to enhance the overall productivity of a construction project

A multi-attribute framework for the selection of high-performance work systems: the hybrid DEMATEL-MABAC model

Research in strategic human resource management indicates that high performance work systems (HPWS) have a positive impact on the overall performance of an organization as a result of better human resource (HR) outcomes. Regarding the multi-dimensional and complex nature of these factors, common statistical models are not useful for examining the performance of HPWS. Using the capabilities of multi-attribute decision-making (MADM) methods to deal with various criteria that may be contradictory, this study proposes a MADM-based framework that provides the opportunity to prioritize HR practices. Based on this framework, high-performance HR practices and their related HR outcomes were identified after studying the theoretical literature and ascertaining the views of decision-makers and HR experts. Then, after looking at the interactions among HR outcomes, the weights of the criteria were calculated using the method of the decision making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL). Then, the alternatives were ranked using the multi-attributive border approximation area comparison (MABAC) method. Finally, the designed framework was implemented in an organization active in the banking industry. This framework can be used to improve employees’ performance and, consequently, the performance of the organization. Accordingly, taking into account the resource constraints organizations face, the priorities presented can be helpful in budgeting human-resource-management (HRM) improvement projects and making an appropriate resource allocation for this

Sustainable cloud service provider development by a Z-number-based DNMA method with Gini-coefficient-based weight determination

The sustainable development of cloud service providers (CSPs) is a significant multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) problem, involving the intrinsic relations among multiple alternatives, (quantitative and qualitative) decision criteria and decision-experts for the selection of trustworthy CSPs. Most existing MCDM methods for CSP selection incorporated only one normalization technique in benefit and cost criteria, which would mislead the decision results and limit the applications of these methods. In addition, these methods did not consider the reliability of information given by decision-makers. Given these research gaps, this study introduces a Z-number-based double normalization-based multiple aggregation (DNMA) method to tackle quantitative and qualitative criteria in forms of benefit, cost, and target types for sustainable CSP development. We extend the original DNMA method to the Z-number environment to handle the uncertain and unreliability information of decision-makers. To make trade-offs between normalized criteria values, we develop a Gini-coefficient based weighting method to replace the mean-square-based weighting method used in the original DNMA method to enhance the applicability and isotonicity of the DNMA method. A case study is conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. Furthermore, comparative analysis and sensitivity analysis are implemented to test the stability and applicability of the proposed method.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio