Structured approach to measure performance in construction research and development: performance measurement system development

Purpose of this paper: This study explore Performance Measurement applications within construction research and development (R\&D) to develop a structured approach to measure the performance of collaborative construction R\&D projects during its lifecycle from initiation, conceptualising, development and launch stages and at the project management. Design/methodology/approach: During the exploratory phase of the study, semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire survey were carried out to develop the performance measurement system (PMS). During the explanatory phase, the developed PMS was refined with a series of semi-structured interviews. The data was gathered from principal investigators, researchers and industrial partners involved in collaborative construction R\&D work. Findings: Main finding is the developed PMS to measure the performance of construction R\&D that consists of critical success factors, performance indicators and performance measures during the lifecycle of a R\&D project. Practical implications: The PMS developed through the study provides critical success factors, performance indicators and measures that need to be considered during the construction R\&D projects to measure the performance. Thus, through the implementation of the PMS, this study contributes to practice by assisting the performance improvement within construction R\&D projects. What is original / value of paper?: The developed PMS to measure the performance of construction R\&D project will provide value for those who are engaged in R\&D work (Principle investigators, researcher and industrial partners) to ensure the success of their projects

Client’s championing characteristics that promote construction innovation

Purpose: clients or users of products, processes or services are being identified as potential sources of innovation in construction. There are concerns on the degree of innovation within the construction industry, despite having potential to be innovative. The role that can be played by the construction client to promote innovation in the industry is well documented. However, lack of knowledge on the desirable characteristics of the construction client was identified as one of the barriers for the construction client to be an effective innovation promoter. Accordingly, the paper evaluates the characteristics of the construction client that promotes innovation. Research Methodology: the multiple holistic case studies were used as the research strategy and semi-structured interviews were used as the principal data collection technique. Code-based content analysis and cognitive mapping were used to analyse the interviews. Data analysis was supported by two computer aided software namely NVivo and Decision explorer. Findings: clients can increase the efficiency of work carried out towards the construction process, stimulate team dynamics and team action through the championing characteristics which in turn can strengthen the innovation process that lead to the innovative product. Being a team player, promoting respect for people, and knowledge and information dissemination are identified as constituents of the championing characteristics of clients that promote innovation in construction projects. The personal skills of clients such as competence, value judgement, flexibility, and self motivation will energise the success of the championing characteristics. Originality/value: the client characteristics identified from the study widen the knowledge base of the client to successfully engage in construction innovation

The role of research and development in achieving excellence in construction

Even though the contribution of the UK construction industry towards the economy and society is significant, many studies have shown that the industry is behind its optimal performance. One of the main reasons behind the under performance of the industry is being recognised as insufficient research and development (R&D) activities and innovation. Construction industry faces various challenges due to the changing market needs of the customers, health and safety issues, growing concern on sustainable work practices, government regulations etc. In order to face these challenges while raising the profile of the construction industry, it is essential to invent new ways to deliver the construction output in an economically, socially, and environmentally acceptable manner. In this regard R&D is a key factor behind the development of effective and efficient construction processes, new materials, advance technologies, new procurement routes, and managerial structures. Further, successful implementations of R&D activities create the opportunity for the construction organisations to be competitive in the global market. Hence, R&D plays a significant role by focusing and directing the construction industry towards achieving its excellence. Accordingly, this paper presents a literature synthesis on the role of R&D in achieving excellence in construction. Further, how the Performance Measurement could enhance the construction R&D activities are also discussed

Performance measurement applications within the UK construction industry: A literature review

The significance of performance measurement (PM) in any organisation is long being realised. As a result PM has been incorporated in the management agenda. PM can be defined as a “process which determine how successful organisations or individuals in achieving their objectives”. Limitations of traditional performance measures challenged their application in the modern business environment. This stimulated towards a new era of PM, leading the path to the development of many PM frameworks. Research done during the past decades, revealed many issues in the UK construction industry. Thus, the industry is under tremendous pressure to improve its performance. This paper provides a literature review on the current applications in PM, highlighting the limitations of traditional measures, features of good PM systems. Further, the problems in the UK construction industry and PM applications have been discussed with the aim of identifying the issues which are not addressed from the current PM applications

Structuring the unstructured data: the use of content analysis

Content analysis is a research technique used to organise large amounts of textual data into standardised formats which allows arriving at suggestions/conclusions. Content analysis can be carried out quantitatively by counting the words or qualitatively by coding. The former approach refers to counting the frequency of the keywords and the later refers to identifying similar themes or concepts from the data set. This paper discusses the use of conceptual content analysis by using computerised software to analyse data gathered from semi-structured interviews. The context of the research within which content analysis is used is to identify the influence of performance measurement towards construction research activities. The paper first explains the research methodology pertaining to this study by reasoning out the selection of case study research approach coupled with semi-structured interviews. The paper then discusses how the information gathered from semi-structured interviews is fed into the computerised software to identify and generate main concepts of the study

Measuring performance and the impact of research and development in the construction industry: Research methodological perspectives

Research and innovation in construction industry have a significant role to play in performance improvement while providing benefits to the industry as well as to its stakeholders. However, it has been identified that the nature of Research and Development (R&D) work has become complex. Due to the rising cost, time and other resource constraints, much attention is paid on the successfulness of R&D and the managers are under pressure to monitor and improve the performance. In this context, the use of performance measurement (PM) systems benefits R&D organisations by evaluating the successfulness of related activities. Accordingly, this paper highlights the aspects which will be covered when designing a feasible research methodology for the study under consideration. The paper illustrates how the philosophical issues directed the use of case studies as the suitable research approach. The importance of case study design in gaining the maximum outcome from the research is also discussed

Re-thinking post-contract cost controlling techniques in the Nigerian construction industry.

The challenges of cost and time overruns, construction disputes and client dissatisfaction have plagued the construction industry in Nigeria. This may be as a result of the approaches used in monitoring construction costs. The execution phase of a construction project relies on post-contract cost controlling techniques, such as cash flow monitoring, interim valuations, final account preparation, monitoring activities, site meetings and documentation of activities on site. These techniques are imperative for project success. The purpose of this paper is to assess the various techniques used in post-contract cost control in Nigeria, in terms of their effectiveness. The data was gathered from one hundred and thirty five (135) cost and project managers in Nigeria. The Kendall's coefficient of concordance was used to test the post - contract cost controlling techniques identified, through an extensive literature review along with one sample run test. The findings reveal that monitoring material cost was the most effective and important technique with a Kendall's W score of 1.33 and 11.44 respectively. Cash flow monitoring had the lowest score of 7.85 for effectiveness, while variation management had the lowest score of 6.88 for importance. The effectiveness of the techniques was further evaluated using one sample run test. The findings show that sixteen out of the eighteen techniques were not effective from an overall point of view. The cost controlling techniques used in the Nigerian construction industry are deficient and generally ineffective. Therefore, there is a need to research alternative post-contract cost controlling techniques for the construction industry in Nigeria

Capacity building for disaster risk reduction: Guest editorial

An increasing number of devastating natural disasters have occurred during recent years. Climate change is set to worsen their incidence and impacts even further making the risk of disasters a global concern. The increased extent and intensity of disasters has resulted in higher numbers of mortalities, social problems and economic losses. The growing complexity of disasters in terms of their diversity, magnitude, frequency and uncertainty, requires that even countries previously considered not being at high risk from disasters, have had to re-evaluate and strengthen their risk reduction strategies and capacities. Disaster risk reduction strategies aim to avoid (as in prevention) or limit (as in mitigation and preparedness) the adverse impacts of hazards, within the broad context of sustainable development (UNISDR, 2004)

Research and development, skills requirements, and achieving excellence in construction

The contribution from R&D to the development of the construction industry is immense as it leads the path to enhance the effectiveness of construction organisations and to raise the international competitiveness through technological advances and managerial developments. Further, R&D acts as a valuable input for the construction organisation by developing new products, materials, advanced construction processes, to meet the customer requirements and to address the economic, environmental and resource constraints. One of the essential inputs for successful R&D has been identified as skilled personnel. However, lack of skilled people particularly graduates and post graduates in the construction industry have led to a skills shortage to develop R&D activities. Further, lack of skilled people in construction organisations has resulted in reducing the absorption capacity and thereby the outcomes of R&D activities are not properly absorbed and put into practice. Therefore, skills shortage in the construction industry has been seen as the greatest threat to the long-term stability of the UK research base. Accordingly, the aim of this presentation is to visit the reasons behind the skills shortage in R&D organisations. Further, it will review the factors that can be contributed to success of the R&D personals and to identify the ways of managing them for the future advantage of the organisatio

Construction innovation: a literature review on current research

Innovation in construction is a subject being discussed during a considerable period of time. However current research and statistical data shows that construction is lagging behind other sectors in the aspects of productivity and efficiency for which lack of innovation is blamed. This paper is an effort to illustrate present status of construction innovation research and perceptions of researchers and practitioners based on a review of current literature. Emphasis was placed on identifying the prevailing nature of construction innovation with reference to enabling and disabling factors and ways to improve the performance of construction to address the stakeholder needs