Which governs - the relationship or the contract?

According to the transaction cost economics literature, a firm’s external contractual relationships must be ‘fit for purpose’. What is a ‘fit for purpose’ contractual relationship should not be a normative decision, but an objective one, to be made with regard to achieving transaction cost efficiency, while defending the core competencies of the firm. Data from a Hong Kong case study is used to examine whether or not the client’s choice of contractual relationship is ‘fit for purpose’ and also to evaluate the impact of such a choice. The findings suggest that maintaining a relationship of high quality as a strategic policy not only reduces recourse to the contract but, also improves the quality and predictability of project performance and, is an antidote to ill-aligned contractual elements. These findings lend support to the growing trend towards relationship or relational contracting in construction

Balancing contractual and relational approaches for PPP success and sustainability

Useful synergies are targeted by proposing a convergence of hitherto parallel international endeavours towards: (1) developing better and sustainable relationships for more productive construction project teams, in general; and (2) optimising the necessarily long term contractual arrangements of PPPs in particular. Examples are drawn from Africa and Latin America to reinforce reported PPP experiences from other regions, in building up a case for injecting ‘relational contracting approaches’ in order to develop more productive and sustainable PPPs. Strong and sustainable relationships are shown to be essential, and complementary to appropriate contractual incentives, that would together empower PPP project teams to focus on developing sustainable infrastructure and ultimately on overall sustainable development. These propositions are merged into a basic model that merits further investigation and development, in order to ensure that planned PPPs benefit the community at large, in respect of both present and future generations

Taking forward public procurement reforms in Ghana

The construction industry in Ghana, like many others worldwide, has had its fair share of damning independent reviews. Huge and unsustainable foreign debt, excessive budget deficits, huge contractual payment arrears, poor construction performance, corruption and pressure from international financial institutions, forced the government to commit to a reform of public procurement, which culminated in the passing of the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663). The paper outlines the events leading to, and features of, the public procurement reform in Ghana and analyses its potential impact and the unique challenges it presents. Comparisons are also drawn from relevant scenarios in other countries. The paper concludes that while the Procurement Act sets out the legal, institutional and regulatory framework to secure fiscal transparency and public accountability, the sole reliance on traditional contracting and price-based selection limits the scope for the value for money achievable. Expanding the reforms to cover procurement and project delivery methods and strategies, with a focus on ‘best value’, will increase the potential and likelihood of achieving value for money in public construction in Ghana

Novel flow apparatus for investigating shear-enhanced crystallization and structure development in semicrystalline polymers

An instrument to study the effects of shearing on the crystallization process in semicrystalline polymers is described. It can impose transient stresses similar to those encountered in polymer processing and provides in situ monitoring of microstructure development during and after cessation of flow. Box-like wall shear stress profiles (rise and fall times under 50 ms with maximum wall shear stress on the order of 0.1 MPa) can be applied for controlled durations. A unique feature of our device is that it accommodates a wide variety of real-time probes of structure such as visible and infrared polarimetry and light and x-ray scattering measurements. The design also allows us to retrieve the sample for ex situ optical and electron microscopy. Data are acquired with millisecond resolution enabling us to record the extent of shear deformation of the polymer melt during the pressure pulse. Our device works with small sample quantities (as little as 5 g; each experiment takes ~ 500 mg) as opposed to the kilogram quantities required by previous instruments capable of imposing comparable deformations. This orders-of-magnitude reduction in the sample size allows us to study model polymers and new developmental resins, both of which are typically available only in gram-scale quantities. The compact design of the shear cell makes it possible to transport it to synchrotron light sources for in situ x-ray scattering studies of the evolution of the crystalline structure. Thus, our device is a valuable new tool that can be used to evaluate the crystallization characteristics of resins with experimental compositions or molecular architectures when subjected to processing-like flow conditions. We demonstrate some of the features of this device by presenting selected results on isotactic polypropylenes

GRAPHICAL TECHNIQUES IN DEBIASING: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY

Base rate and conjunction fallacies are consistent biases that influence decision making involving probability judgments. We develop simple graphical techniques and test their efficacy in correcting for these biases. Preliminary results suggest that graphical techniques help to overcome these biases and improve decision making. We examine the implications of incorporating these simple techniques in Executive Information Systems.Information Systems Working Papers Serie

Justification and Interlaced Knowledge at ATLAS, CERN

We report on a longitudinal study of the emergence of the ATLAS detector, a complex technological system developed at CERN, Geneva. Our data show that the coordination of initial architectural choices was driven by cycles of contestation and justification that resulted in the creation of what we term interlaced knowledge-pockets of shared knowledge interwoven within and across subsystem communities at ATLAS. We also found that these justifications were possible because of the presence of a boundary infrastructure that served as a common substrate of knowledge for all ATLAS participants. Together, the boundary infrastructure and interlaced knowledge enabled participants to make co-oriented technological choices, address latent interdependencies, and minimize the incidence and severity of glitches when integrating the various subsystems

Optimisation of Diesel Engine for Hybrid Military Tracked Vehicles using Matlab-Simulink

The demand in the technology requirements for diesel engines is growing keeping hybrid vehicles in mind. In future the diesel engine no longer drives the wheels directly; as a result the engine can be engaged at a limited number of operating points, thus, offering an opportunity to optimise the fuel efficiency and performance at those operating points. The extent to which this optimisation is possible is limited by practical considerations. Also if the positive and negative power peaks in vehicle during mobility (e.g. acceleration and regenerative braking respectively) can be accommodated by high-power batteries, then the size of the engine can be considerably reduced. The engine’s operating points depend on the power-control strategy. The consequences of modifications to these operating points will have an effect on performance and efficiency. As in series hybrid only a limited number of operating points are involved and dynamic performance requirements are not imposed on the diesel engine, significant improvements can be achieved by the optimisation of the diesel engine at these operating points. The feasibility of optimisation of the engine at these operating points can be done by modification on the injection systems, the valve timings and other such parameters. This kind of approach requires the use of complex and repeated experimental analysis of the engine which is costly, cumbersome and time consuming. An alternative to this kind of experimental approach is to develop a simulation model of the engine with the generator in Matlab- Simulink

Perspectives on disruptive innovations

Everyday experiences speak to the accelerated pace of innovation in this era of continual change. Sometimes, innovations enhance the value of existing products and services. At other times, they render existing business models obsolete, disrupt value‐networks, prompt providers to rethink who their customers are, and lead customers to rethink what they value. What does it mean to manage in such a world of disruptive changes, and how might we research this phenomenon? Together with the contributors to this special issue, we anchor, explore and extend the meanings associated with the concept of disruptive innovation. In particular, we discuss several perspectives on disruption – evolutionary, relational, temporal and framing – that culminate in a performative (as opposed to a predictive) approach to thinking about the phenomenon. In doing so, our intention is to open up the agenda for both researchers and practitioners

The disruptor's dilemma: TiVo and the U.S. television ecosystem

Firms introducing disruptive innovations into multisided ecosystems may confront the disruptor's dilemma – they must gain the support of the very incumbents they disrupt. We examine how these firms may address this dilemma through a longitudinal study of TiVo, a company that pioneered the Digital Video Recorder. Our analysis reveals how TiVo navigated co-opetitive tensions by continually adjusting its strategy, its technology platform, and its relational positioning within the evolving U.S. television industry ecosystem. We theorize how (a) disruption may affect not just specific incumbents, but also the entire ecosystem, (b) co-opetition is not just dyadic, but also multilateral and intertemporal, and (c) strategy is both a deliberative and emergent process involving continual adjustments, as the disruptor attempts to balance co-opetitive tensions over time

Application of Relationally Integrated Value Networks in the Implementation of BIM for Better Life Cycle Considerations of Buildings

Track: TG80Emerging as an innovative tool with rapidly increasing usage in the construction industry, Building Information Modeling (BIM) can provide a platform to enable two dimensions of information exchange, namely i) information sharing among relevant participants within a certain project phase; and ii) information exchange between two or more project phases. The latter is of vital importance to help achieve potential life cycle benefits of BIM. However, a significant gap exists in information flows in current BIM implementation in Hong Kong, between 'Design & Construction' (D&C) and ‘Operation & Management' (O&M). This paper discusses the potential application of a relational management framework named 'Relationally Integrated Value Networks' (RIVANS) to guide the process of information exchange between ‘D&C’ and ‘O&M’ in a BIM system. Possible causes of the above information flow gap are explored and proposals are developed based on RIVANS principles to bridge this gap. Findings and recommendations presented in this paper should pave the way for enhancing information flow in BIM across various phases of a construction project, thereby enabling integrated efforts for improving building life cycle performance.published_or_final_versio