The Challenges for Micro, Small and Medium Sized Construction Enterprises Operating in the International Construction Markets

The paper is about international construction, and the nature of how companies that ventures overseas, face the challenge of operating in changing environments, because of the way that micro, small, and medium sized enterprises (MSME) are integrated into the supply chain for international projects using outdated processes. MSME play an important role in the international construction industry. They are a source of entrepreneurial skills, employment opportunities, and innovation. Large companies receive all the publicity on international projects, all the industry awards, and all the credit, but for most projects, they rely upon their supply chain comprising both local and overseas MSME’s to build the project and provide the work force. Principal contractors have become organisers and managers of complex supply chains, particularly when working on overseas projects. The old world was about directly employing a workforce; the new world is about managing complex supply chains. The change presents new challenges for the design, procurement, and management of construction projects in the international construction market. The fundamentals of managing cost, time, quality, and compliance need new organisational, financial, and management models when operating internationally. Human and financial capital, and productivity are at the root of the challenge. The research considers the challenge of how MSME can improve performance on the job site when operating internationally; the hypothesis is that the contribution by the MSMEs’ uses outdated and inappropriate organisation, financial, and management systems. Observation, semi-structured interviews, document reviews within selected case studies have been chosen for this research. MSMEs’ characteristics, challenges and their reflection to supply chain management have been considered to set up the main outcome of the research

The hubs of transformation dictated by the innovation wave: Boston as a case study

Cities have become the nodes of global networks, standing at the intersection points of the flows of capital, goods, workers, businesses and travellers, making them the spots where innovation, progress and economic development occur. Design emerges as an essential feature in this process that this manuscript defines “laboratorisation of cities”, a cutting-edge urban development paradigm that emphasises cities as dynamic laboratories for innovation and experimentation. This paper then aims at exploring the spatial hubs of transformation within the knowledge economy, providing an overview of the current models of innovation spaces, before focusing on the innovation district of one of the cities that are riding the innovation wave, namely, Boston, USA. Information will be gathered from observations, exploratory interviews to key stakeholders, and on-desk data. The study has significant implications, spanning from informing global urban development strategies to impacting regional economic planning and national policies. It provides valuable insights into how design, innovation, and urban development are interconnected, potentially reshaping how cities and regions approach their growth in a knowledge-driven era. Useful lessons are drawn from the analysed case study, allowing to define precious tools for policymakers, a forward-looking perspective on the future of laboratorisation of cities and the evolving role of design, providing a roadmap for cities aiming to position themselves as global innovation hubs

Balanced approach for tendering practice at the pre-contract stage: the UK practitioner’s perspective

Tender documents often lack clarity and are incomplete, making it difficult for contractors to appropriately price projects. A general view is that the quality of tender documents has declined, which has affected the bidding strategies of contractors. However, the academic literature has focused mainly upon the views of contractors. To obtain a more balanced view of tendering practices, in-depth interviews were conducted with 10 practitioners (client, consultant, and contractor) who are involved in a common project at the same time in the UK construction industry. The contractor was satisfied that the quality of tender documents had been consistent. By contrast, both the client and the consultant agreed that the quality of tender documents is an ongoing issue. During the study it was revealed that tendering practice is influenced by the relationship between stakeholders or the unbalanced access to information rather than the accuracy and analysis of tender documentations. Tendering practices and proposed efficient ways of improving the bidding environment were examined. Using the awareness of other project stakeholder’s perspectives, this study can help the contractor to establish suitable tendering practices, and to mitigate tender risk at the bidding stage, which could effectively be implemented in the UK construction industry

The Paradigm Shift Needed by Micro, Small and Medium Sized Enterpsies to Operate in The International Construction Market

Commercial burdens and dogmas are not always on the same path, especially in the construction sector. In a constantly changing working environment, with strong market fluctuations that need to be absorbed, Micro, Small and Medium sized construction companies might need to seek new market sections overseas. In order to do so, they would need to leverage strong competitive advantages to establish themselves in different contexts, outside of their domestic markets. This paper focuses on the paradigm shift needed by Micro, Small and Medium size construction companies serving the sector venturing overseas. It will be explored the existing gap between theory and practice, before highlighting some of their main features, including their entrepreneurial mind-set when it comes to considering construction technologies and specialist services. After overviewing patterns, values, challenges and features of these companies, the focus will then be on the competitive advantage features and the paradigm shift characteristics to build a framework able to allow these companies to operate in international markets. A mixed methodology gathering information from observations, semistructured interviews, document reviews about specific case studies, will be put in place. It emerged the importance to raise MSMEs’ awareness about how to fit their features to international market

Contractor-led design risk management in international large project: Korean contractor’s perspective

In contemporary international large-scale projects (LSPs), where heavy responsibilities are placed on the contractor, the contractor needs to manage all design-related issues for production activities, unlike traditional design management. To mitigate the contractor’s design-related risks from the bid stage, this study identifies the design risk management (DRM) factors and analyzes them in terms of importance weight and application preference. Through the questionnaire survey and statistical analysis using SPSS, “Integrated design management team on-site [F11]”, “BIM application/ simulation [F27]”, and “Design-related value engineering [F04]” are recognized as the most important factors with over the 4.00 mean value and their application preferences are ranked 6th, 4th, and 17th, respectively. And then, the factor interrelationship analysis is carried with 18 high-rank DRM factors in order to investigate the structural features of design-related project elements. Overall, high application preference factors have diverse relationships with other factors, whereas high importance weight factors show a strong and direct relationship. Factor interrelationships of the highrank application preference factor (5.16) show more than twice of the average factor relationship (2.29). Finally, a causal loop diagram is generated using System dynamics based on factor interrelationships to verify the interrelationship structure among DRM factors. With the awareness of detailed DRM factors and their interrelationship structure, the contractor can understand how design-related risk issues are interconnected with various production activities on site and prepare suitable management methods according to the project's situation from an early project stage

Understanding the complexity of materials procurement in construction projects to build a conceptual framework influencing supply chain management of MSMEs

Purchasing is a fundamental step of materials procurement in the construction sector, and since materials can represent up to 70% of the project's construction costs, reducing wastage and improving productivity can have big benefits, both for the environment and the economy, especially for Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs). This manuscript will focus on the process of purchasing materials from these companies’ perspective, seeking to investigate the impact of effective materials management on site. In light of the acknowledged absence of system thinking for MSMEs, this research aims to build a new conceptual framework that illustrates the complexity of the materials purchasing process in construction and embodies the risks linked to materials, relationships, information, and cash flows. The conceptual framework aims to influence supply management in construction and is based on the recognition of five main levels, going from the specification of materials to data management and feedback. It is designed to illustrate the sequence, logical structure, and complexities of the purchasing process. Data from the literature, followed by on-site observations, feeds into the framework

Optimising the use of Materials for Construction MSMEs: Building a Comprehensive Framework for Decision-Making and Resource Allocation through an Analytic Hierarchy Process

The efficiency, governance, and compliance with environmental ideals in construction is made possible thanks to a decision support system that ensures Materials, Models, and Methods (3Ms) are adaptable and integrated. Recent advances in Information Technology (IT), for instance, facilitate the visualisation of sequences and production stages in construction. Yet, this falls short in giving compatibility among the 3Ms, their suitability and workability, and their financial and legislative viability. To this end, this manuscript rethinks the concept of productivity, and lays the foundation for a new decision support system that is simple, affordable, and portable enough to attract large enterprises and MSMEs. Ideally, an efficient construction project has good flow of workstreams, is least complex, cost minimised but with added value, timely and in symbiosis with natural health provisions of the ecosystem. A mixed methodology based on gathering data from document reviews, semi-structured interviews, and observations of selected construction MSMEs, will allow to carry out longitudinal research and then code, group, link and analyse the collected raw data through the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) Multi Criteria Decision Making technique. This technique is chosen to develop overall priorities for ranking the alternatives, measure, and monetise the impacting factors to draw out the main impediments to achieve good levels of efficiency. The outputs of the AHP analysis feeds into the novel decision support system, the concepts of which are introduced in this contribution

A Probabilistic Approach to the Spatial Variability of Ground Properties in the Design of Urban Deep Excavation

Uncertainty in ground datasets often stems from spatial variability of soil parameters and changing groundwater regimes. In urban settings and where engineering ground interventions need to have minimum and well-anticipated ground movements, uncertainty in ground data leads to uncertain analysis, with substantial unwelcomed economical and safety implications. A probabilistic random set finite element modelling (RSFEM) approach is used to revisit the stability and serviceability of a 27 m deep submerged soil nailed excavation built into a cemented soil profile, using a variable water level and soil shear strength. Variation of a suite of index parameters, including mobilized working loads and moments in facing and soil inclusion elements, as well as stability and serviceability of facing and the integrated support system, are derived and contrasted with field monitoring data and deterministic FE modelling outputs. The validated model is then deployed to test the viability of using independent hydraulic actions as stochastic variables as an alternative to dependent hydraulic actions and soil shear strength. The achieved results suggest that utilizing cohesion as a stochastic variable alongside the water level predicts system uncertainty reasonably well for both actions and material response; substituting the hydraulic gradient produces a conservative probability range for the action response only

Acute and post-acute phase of COVID-19: Analyzing expression patterns of miRNA-29a-3p, 146a-3p, 155-5p, and let-7b-3p in PBMC

Background: When a new pathogen, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, appears all novel information can aid in the process of monitoring and in the diagnosis of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The aim of the current study is to elucidate the specific miRNA profile which can act as new biomarkers for distinguishing acute COVID-19 disease from the healthy group and those in the post-acute phase of the COVID-19 disease. Methods: The expression level of selected miRNAs including let-7b-3p, miR-29a-3p, miR-146a-3p and miR-155-5p were evaluated in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of COVID-19 patients, in both the acute and post-acute COVID-19 phase of the disease and healthy groups, by real-time PCR assays. Specificity and sensitivity of miRNAs was tested by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis in COVID-19 patients. Results: The expression level of all miRNAs in COVID-19 patients was significantly higher than in the healthy group. Therefore, the expression pattern of miR-29a-3p, miR-146a-3p and let-7b-3p in the post-acute COVID-19 phase was significantly different from the acute COVID-19 phase. ROC analyses demonstrated that miR-29a-3p, -155-5p and -146a-3p may serve as the novel biomarker for COVID-19 diagnosis with high specificity and sensitivity. In addition, miR-29a-3p, and -146a-3p can maybe act as novel biomarkers for distinguishing acute from post-acute phase of COVID-19 disease. Discussion: The difference in miRNA expression pattern between COVID-19 patients and those in the healthy group, and between acute COVID-19 with post-acute COVID-19, suggested that cellular miRNAs could be used as promising biomarkers for diagnosis and monitoring of COVID-19. © 2021 Elsevier B.V