495 research outputs found
Recommended from our members
Whole life thinking and engineering the future
Whole-life thinking for engineers working on the built environment has become more important in a fast changing world.Engineers are increasingly concerned with complex systems, in which the parts interact with each other and with the outside world in many ways – the relationships between the parts determine how the system behaves. Systems thinking provides one approach to developing a more robust whole life approach. Systems thinking is a process of understanding how things influence one another within a wider perspective. Complexity, chaos, and risk are endemic in all major projects. New approaches are needed to produce more reliable whole life predictions. Best value, rather than lowest cost can be achieved by using whole-life appraisal as part of the design and delivery strategy
Recommended from our members
Diversification in the international construction business
Economic globalization has created an interdependent market that allows companies to transcend traditional national boundaries to conduct business overseas. In the international construction market, companies often adopt diversification as a strategy for growth, for risk management or for both. However, the diversification patterns of international construction companies (ICCs) as a group are barely clear. The primary aim of this research is to cover this knowledge void by mapping ICCs’ diversification patterns in both business sectors and geographical dispersal. It starts from a literature review of diversification theories. Based on the review, a series of hypotheses relating to ICCs’ diversification are proposed. Data are gleaned from Engineering News-Record, i.e. Bloomberg and Capital IQ, ranging from 2001 to 2015. By testing the hypotheses, it is found that larger ICCs prefer to diversify than their smaller counterparts. Most of the ICCs tend to diversify to geographical markets with similar cultural or institutional environment. Market demands drive ICCs to diversify to different geographical markets while they are more prudential in venturing into new business sectors. The research provides not only valuable insights into diversification patterns of ICCs, but also a solid point of departure for future theoretical and empirical studies
Recommended from our members
Auto ID-Bridging the physical and the digital on construction projects
This book looks at how auto-ID has evolved and how it can be used in the construction industry and across projects from the perspective of all the stakeholders, from owners to design consultants, contractors and the supply chain. It could help to improve efficiency, reduce costs, ensure quality, protect the environment, and enhance safety
Recommended from our members
Managing information complexity using system dynamics on construction projects
The increase in e-commerce, the digitisation of design data and the interchange and sharing of information have made the construction sector more reliant upon IT infrastructure and systems. The design and production process is complex, dynamic, interconnected and dependent upon greater information mobility, requiring seamless exchange of data and information in real time. Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in particular, specialty contractors, can utilise cost-effective collaboration technologies, such as cloud computing using software as a service, to help in the effective transfer of information and data. The system dynamics (SD) approach gives a better understanding of the dynamics of complex systems. SD methodology is used as a modelling and analysis tool to understand and identify the key drivers in the absorption of cloud computing for SMEs. The aim is to determine how the use of SD can improve the management of complexity of information flow, leading to improved performance for SMEs. SD is shown to be a viable tool to manage information complexity using cloud computing for performance improvement in construction
Recommended from our members
Managing the complexity of information flow for construction small and medium-sized enterprises (CSMEs) using system dynamics and collaborative technologies
With the increase in e-commerce and the digitisation of design data and information,the construction sector has become reliant upon IT infrastructure and systems. The
design and production process is more complex, more interconnected, and reliant upon greater information mobility, with seamless exchange of data and information in real time. Construction small and medium-sized enterprises (CSMEs), in particular,the speciality contractors, can effectively utilise cost-effective collaboration-enabling technologies, such as cloud computing, to help in the effective transfer of information and data to improve productivity. The system dynamics (SD) approach offers a perspective and tools to enable a better understanding of the dynamics of complex systems. This research focuses upon system dynamics methodology as a modelling and analysis tool in order to understand and identify the key drivers in the absorption of cloud computing for CSMEs. The aim of this paper is to determine how the use of system dynamics (SD) can improve the management of information flow through collaborative technologies leading to improved productivity. The data supporting the use of system dynamics was obtained through a pilot study consisting of questionnaires and interviews from five CSMEs in the UK house-building sector
Recommended from our members
Code of quality management - guide to best practice construction quality management
The Code offers a generic quality management process
to provide the basis for a project-specific plan with
assigned responsibilities, lines of communication,
documentation details, storage and tracking of
information for an audit trail.
Responsibility for quality control is often confusing.
Prescriptive regulation and guidance are not always
helpful; bureaucracy reigns and sometimes the worker
feels ground down by paperwork that adds little to
quality control. An outcomes-based framework requires people who are part of the system to be competent, to think for themselves, rather than blindly following guidance, and to understand their responsibilities to deliver and maintain quality
Recommended from our members
Guide to quality management in construction: site production and assembly
Quality matters, it is the legacy that underpins a modern, innovative, and respected construction industry. Quality is at the core of everything the construction industry does, whether delivering projects with zero defects, ensuring conformity with standards and legislation, and providing the level of service provided. Culture and behaviour underpin the delivery of a quality product. The focus is on how quality management is achieved during the site production process, including the requirements for ensuring quality is managed through the supply chain. A transformation and improvement challenge are needed to bring quality to the fore for the construction industry. Quality engineering should be an integral part of the construction industry by moving away from checking and remedying defects towards defect prevention
Recommended from our members
Understanding the competitiveness factors of Korean contractors in the international construction market
The international construction markets (ICM) are constantly changing with new pressures creating opportunities and threats., Enterprises from advanced major advanced economies have been successful in venturing overseas and winning projects by exploiting their design, engineering, technological, and managerial competencies. Construction markets have changed with Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Turkish construction enterprises securing more projects overseas. Understanding and exploiting the competitive advantage possessed by enterprises from major advanced economies is being challenged by enterprises from newly industrialised economies. This study investigates the competitiveness factors of the Korean construction (KOC) enterprises to understand how they have been successful in exploiting their competitive advantages. The competitiveness evaluation model (CEM) is developed using system dynamics which compares the project performances between the models generated by general and Korea-featured competitiveness factors in winning work in the ICM. The findings reveal that ownership of the enterprise, government strategy and support for the construction industry enterprises, strong leadership, technology-intensive, and special characteristics of large Korean enterprises (Chaebol system) could be critical factors for creating competitive advantage
Recommended from our members
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
Recommended from our members
New code of estimating practice
The Code sets out guidelines and best practice for estimating construction works. In Section 1 it embraces the principles, theory, and background to estimating. In Section 2 it considers the process and practice of estimating, setting out how materials, labour, plant and equipment, and overheads can be calculated. Construction has become more complex, but the need to have a reliable and robust estimating systems remains at the core of the industry. New pressures and responsibilities require attention to how work will be undertaken in a highly regulated and controlled industry
- …