An evaluation of bricklayers' motivation and productivity

Different motivation theories have been developed in general management to explain workers' attitude to production. Collectively, these theories represent manufacturing workers more than any other set of workers. Attempts made to apply these theories to construction operatives have produced different and often confused explanations of the motives behind construction operatives' productivity. This research approached construction operatives directly in order to evaluate their motivation in relation to their productivity. The research aimed at proving or disproving a conceptualised positive relationship between construction operative motivation and productivity. Previous construction researchers assumed that there was a positive relationship between productivity and motivation without any empirical prove. This oversight was largely due to problems of quantifying abstract concepts such as motivation. This obstacle needed to be removed before the relationship between motivation and productivity could be empirically established. A technique based on the Subjective Expected Utility Theory was developed to quantify motivation. Productivity was measured by activity sampling. Relating them together gave a third order polynomial relationship indicating that there is a basic motivation in every bricklayer regardless of his working environment. The relationship also provided an empirical prove of an earlier conceptualised optimal motivation theory. The thesis shows that there is no significant causal relationship between motivation and work rate; rather, motivation significantly influences the proportion of working time spent productively. From a model of production output, motivation and skill, it was demonstrated that skill dominates productivity in bricklaying. Motivation accounted for 2.4% of the percentage variation in work rate and 25.3% of the percentage variation in percentage productive time. From a sensitivity analysis of the predominance of skill, critical activities controlling production output which could form the basis of a training programme for new bricklayers were identified. After testing all observations and findings for validity, they were combined into a list of propositions which form the basis of a theory of construction operative motivation. Based on the affirmation of the optimal motivation theory in construction operatives, a new concept of hyper-production was proposed

Challenges of urban housing quality and its associations with neighbourhood environments: Insights and exepriences of Ibadan City, Nigeria

A survey of housing quality and neighbourhood environments of Ibadan City, Nigeria was conducted to evaluate the housing infrastructure and to identify those areas where there is a likelihood of future incidences of disease and epidemics. Based on existing demographic and land use characteristics, the city can be divided into high, medium and low-density zones. Penalty scoring, rather than positive scoring, was used to assess the conditions and quality of houses and the neighbourhood environment in each of the zones.Houses in the high-density area have the worst property and environmental characteristics followed by houses in the medium-density area. Based on housing condition alone, approximately half of all the dwellings surveyed (n = 172) in the three zones are categorised as either substandard or unfit for human habitation. Based on neighbourhood environment, none of the high and medium-density housing areas and only one of the low density areas attained the good-scoring grade. This is attributed in part to many residents being polygamists which means the houses are overcrowded with perhaps up to eight persons per room and to tenant abuse by internal conversion to increase the occupancy rate. More than half of the houses surveyed have at least or more major defect.Recommendations include government directed infrastructure improvements; a regeneration-drive by private investors with possible displacement of residents fromthe high-density zone to new towns; a vigorous programme of housing and health education; enhanced collaboration between stakeholders to develop enforceable standards for existing housing stock and future builds

A fuzzy synthetic evaluation of the challenges of smart city development in developing countries

Purpose: This study presents a fuzzy synthetic evaluation of the challenges of smart city realisation in developing countries, using Nigeria as a case study. By defined and delineating the problems facing the country, more viable directions to attaining smart city development can be achieved. Design/Methodology/ Approach: The study adopted a post-positivist philosophical stance with a deductive approach. A structured questionnaire was used to gather data from built environment professionals involved in the delivery of Nigerian public infrastructures. Six dimensions of the challenges of smart cities were identified from literature and explored. These are governance, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal issues. Data gathered were analysed using Cronbach alpha test for reliability, Shapiro-Wilks test for normality, Kruskal-Wallis H-Test for consistency, and Fuzzy synthetic evaluation test for the synthetic evaluation of the challenges of smart city attainment. Findings: The findings revealed that all six assessed dimensions have a significant impact on the attainment of smart cities in Nigeria. More specifically, issues relating to environmental, technological, social and legal challenges are more prominent. Originality/Value: The fuzzy synthetic approach adopted provides a clear, practical insight on the issues that need to be addressed before the smart city development can be attained within developing countries

HyCon - a virtual reality design support tool for hybrid concrete structural frames

Hybrid concrete can provide high quality, cost effective structural frames in a variety of situations when compared to other, more conventional, solutions such as in-situ concrete and steel frames. The key players in the design and construction supply chain process for hybrid concrete are lead frame contractors and design engineers. The use of hybrid concrete, however, is sometimes not considered by contractors and designers during the initial stages of design. This is often because of a lack of reliable and accessible hybrid concrete cost and production time information. Without this information, contractors and designers may disregard hybrid concrete as a design alternative, potentially omitting the most appropriate solution before it has even been considered. This paper reports on a collaborative research project in the United Kingdom which has developed HyCon - a prototype design support tool which allows contractors and designers at the conceptual design stage to carry out "what if?" analysis in a virtual reality environment to consider various hybrid concrete alternatives against a range of 'hard' and 'soft' performance criteria. The 'hard' criteria allow contractors and designers to assess initial and whole life cycle cost and production duration implications. The 'soft' criteria encourage the whole project team to assess and prioritise the importance and performance of design alternatives against criteria such as physical form and space

Polymorphisms of −174G>C and −572G>C in the Interleukin 6 (IL-6) Gene and Coronary Heart Disease Risk: A Meta-Analysis of 27 Research Studies

OBJECTIVE: Elevated serum IL-6 level is a risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD). The -174 G>C and -572 G>C polymorphisms in the IL-6 gene have previously been shown to modulate IL-6 levels. But the association between the -174 G>C and -572 G>C polymorphisms and the risk of CHD is still unclear. A meta-analysis of all eligible studies was carried out to clarify the role of IL-6 gene polymorphisms in CHD. METHODS AND RESULTS: PubMed, EMBASE, Vip, CNKI and CBM-disc were searched for eligible articles in English and Chinese that were published before October 2010. 27 studies involving 11580 patients with CHD and 17103 controls were included. A meta-analysis was performed for the included articles using the RevMan 5.0 and Stata 10.0 softwares. Overall, the -174 C allele was not significantly associated with CHD risk (ORs = 1.04, 95%CI = 0.98 to 1.10) when compared with the -174 G allele in the additive model, and meta-analysis under other genetic models (dominant, recessive, CC versus GG, and GC versus GG) also did not reveal any significant association. On the contrary, the -572 C allele was associated with a decreased risk of CHD when compared with the -572 G allele (ORs = 0.79, 95%CI = 0.68 to 0.93). Furthermore, analyses under the recessive model (ORs = 0.69, 95% = 0.59 to 0.80) and the allele contrast model (genotype of CC versus GG, ORs = 0.49, 95% = 0.35 to 0.70) yielded similar results. However, statistical significance was not found when the meta-analysis was restricted to studies focusing on European populations, studies with large sample size, and cohort studies by using subgroup analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The -174 G>C polymorphism in the IL-6 gene is not significantly associated with increased risks of CHD. However, The -572 G>C polymorphism may contribute to CHD development. Future investigations with better study design and large number of subjects are needed

An evaluation of production outputs in key building trades in Nigeria

Construction planners and estimators in Nigeria often guess the outputs of building tradesmen. Since it is difficult to draw reliable construction programmes or make accurate cost estimates without an adequate knowledge of production output, it is suggested that outputs should be determined scientifically. The time study technique was adopted to evaluate production outputs in bricklaying, steel fixing and joinery trades. The tradesmen were also approached to estimate their outputs in selected tasks. From the operatives’ estimates and output measured through time study, it was found that there are varying degrees of excess production capacities yet untapped in the trades. © 1989, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved

Multi-criteria evaluation model for the selection of sustainable materials for building projects

Sustainable material selection represents an important strategy in building design. Current building materials selection methods fail to provide adequate solutions for two major issues: assessment based on sustainability principles, and the process of prioritizing and assigning weights to relevant assessment criteria. This paper proposes a building material selection model based on the fuzzy extended analytical hierarchy process (FEAHP) techniques, with a view to providing solutions for these two issues. Assessment criteria are identified based on sustainable triple bottom line (TBL) approach and the need of building stakeholders. A questionnaire survey of building experts is conducted to assess the relative importance of the criteria and aggregate them into six independent assessment factors. The FEAHP is used to prioritize and assign important weightings for the identified criteria. A numerical example, illustrating the implementation of the model is given. The proposed model provides guidance to building designers in selecting sustainable building materials. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

The impact of human resource management on knowledge management for performance improvements in construction organisations

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Tendering procedures, contractual arrangements and Latham: The contractors' view

The procedural and administrative aspects of UK tendering have remained largely unaltered for decades but this may soon change in light of the recent review of the construction sector, headed by Sir Michael Latham. This paper presents findings of a nationwide survey of UK construction contractors assessing their opinion of the Latham procurement recommendations, along with their opinion of the authors' proposals for alternative selection procedure. Contractor usage/opinion of current tendering methods, tendering documentation and contractual arrangements are also identified. Analysis techniques primarily involve the derivation of contractor preference, agreement and importance indices (Pri, Agi and Imi respectively). Results show that clients are attempting to cut costs by increased use of open tendering coupled with plan and specification tender documentation, but that savings are offset by clients ultimately paying for contractors' costs associated with their achieving contract award for only 1 in 5 bids. Generally, contractors are in tune with the ideals of the Latham review and characteristics pertaining to the HOLT (Highlight Optimum Legitimate Tender) selection technique. © 1996, MCB UP Limite