Search results

The Toyota Way was developed as an efficiency framework to streamline Toyota Motor Corporation’s operational procedures. The collection of Toyota Way principles is often termed “lean”. Over the last few years, nonmanufacturing organisations have begun to recognise the value and applicability of lean methods for their operations. Architectural and engineering design (AED) firms are no exception. This study aims to explore the perspectives of employees at AED firms on the implementation of lean production principles (LPPs) into their operations. Due to the limited resources available to facilitate our measurement of employees’ views regarding the adoption of lean approaches, this study adopts a more scoped approach to employees’ perceptions of these principles within AED firms.

Fifty-two respondents participated in the survey. The interviewees were from firm A and firm B, an architecture firm and an engineering firm, and were chosen to help us gain a more in-depth understanding of their views regarding the LPPs.

Our study indicates that AED offices were unfamiliar with the concepts of lean principles, even though they were aware of its importance in their daily operations. Despite their scepticism about the implementation of lean concepts, some lean principles are implemented in their own fields of work.

This study complements earlier work on lean design that investigated the use of a particular lean technique by looking at the lean principles where some are implemented to a large extent, and some are not.

Traditional construction materials and methodologies are often perceived to be unproductive, labour-intensive and detrimental to the environment. Mass-engineered timber (MET) is a new structural material that is capable of overcoming numerous issues that otherwise affect the built environment. This study was formulated to assess the current attitude and perception of young Singaporeans towards the concept of Engineered Timber Residential Buildings (ETRBs).

The study employs the mixed-method approach. Questionnaires were used as the primary mode of data gathering. These were disseminated to Singaporeans between the age of 18 and 35 years. A total of 179 valid responses were gathered. Semi-structured interviews were subsequently conducted with six individuals with different demographics in order to gain further insightful opinions and to allow cross validation of responses.

Statistical analysis revealed that 80% of respondents were willing to accept ETRBs, but a lack of awareness and knowledge of MET and the presence of misconceptions, such as an association with deforestation, may present concerns. The study also revealed that individual acceptance of ETRBs is not affected by demographics.

The production of MET involves lower overall carbon emissions than that of conventional materials, and this also allows adoption of the Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DfMA) concept and offers the benefit of carbon sequestration. Residential buildings are the second most common building type in Singapore; significant benefits can be gained if MET is used as the primary material for residential buildings. In general, young stakeholders in Singapore welcome the concept of ETRBs, despite possessing uncertainties about ETRBs—understandable given that the material lacks a track record of usage. Public authorities are thus advised to explore the feasibility of materialising the concept of ETRBs as an option for public housing.

There has been an increasing use of prefabricated prefinished volumetric construction (PPVC) in the construction of high-rise flats to enhance productivity and sustainability, but there have been little studies to evaluate if the use of PPVC satisfies construction quality and overall satisfaction with the flat. This study aims to evaluate how homeowners perceive living in PPVC flats after they have moved into their homes. This is done with a post-occupancy evaluation (POE) looking at total building performance (TBP) mandates covering spatial performance (SP), acoustics performance (AP), visual performance (VP), indoor air quality performance (IAQP) and thermal performance (TP).

Data were collected through the use of a survey questionnaire which was developed based on literature review. The data gathered from 145 respondents were then analysed quantitatively using Jeffrey’s Amazing Statistics Program (JASP), Microsoft Excel and Comma-Separated Values (CSV) files. The data analysed were further validated through the use of interviews with industry professionals.

Based on descriptive and inferential statistics, the key findings of this study are that most respondents are satisfied with their PPVC flats in terms of quality of construction, satisfaction, IAQP, TP, AP and VP. However, they are less satisfied with the interior of their PPVC flats.

This is the first ever POE in the world conducted with homeowners living in high-rise flats built using PPVC. The findings from the study highlighted homeowners’ concerns regarding the quality of construction, SP, and AP, particularly in the interior areas of the flats, and underscores the importance of considering homeowners' experiences and perceptions in the design and construction of PPVC housing.

This study is devoted to examining the peer effects of engineering enterprises’ internationalization from the viewpoint of industry subdivision and how information and competition alter peer effects. Furthermore, the heterogeneity of peer effects is analyzed based on manager characteristics.

In this study, multiple regression analysis was conducted on a sample of 38 Chinese engineering enterprises listed in the Engineering News-Record’s top 250 international contractors over the period of 2013–2021. This study collected the paired data from the enterprise annual reports and the China Stock Market & Accounting Research database.

The results reveal that (1) there exist peer effects within the subdivided industry of the engineering field; the quality of information disclosure of peer enterprises and degree of market competition moderate the peer effects; (2) the peer effects of internationalization are more pronounced in engineering enterprises with managers who have lower ability, hold greater power or are older.

The findings of this study contribute to understanding the peer effect in the process of internationalization of engineering enterprises, and help enterprises to effectively supervise the irrational behavior of top managers, so as to develop better internationalization strategies.

The results extend peer effects to the subdivision industry of the engineering field. Furthermore, this study also enriches the relevant research on peer effects among enterprises by empirically supporting the moderating role of information and competition as well as analyzing the heterogeneity of the peer effects from the perspective of manager characteristics.

The effects of the COVID-19 outbreak on the construction industry were formidable and far-reaching, as the construction sector is a major contributor to the gross domestic product (GDP), which balances various sectors of the global economy, and to infrastructure growth, which is a primary gauge of a nation’s advancement. The outbreak led to workforce disruptions, worker deficits, dwindling efficiency, elongated project durations, and scarce opportunities for training and mentorship, and despite endeavors to mitigate these challenges, construction timelines experienced significant interruptions. Various researchers have pinpointed contributing elements, but few have constructed a predictive model to gauge the degree of impact.

Therefore, this research intends to fill by introducing an ordinal logistic regression method to forecast the impacts of a pandemic or other similar type of crisis. To achieve this, an online survey was developed and distributed to collect the perceptions of the construction engineers and managers about the diverse contributors to the exceeding project timelines during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak.

Findings from this study indicate that financial liquidity, modifications to original plans, delays in securing governmental clearances, and a shortage of competent labor have medium-to-high levels of impact on project schedules.

This study will furnish decision-makers with crucial knowledge that will give them the tools to refine their strategies and judiciously allocate resources to overcome the unique hurdles encountered by various construction segments and will enhance the industry's capability to respond more effectively to challenges inherent in this type of crisis.

Despite the global success of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) operations, they are frequently criticised for failing to improve a company’s financial performance. This study investigated and contrasted the financial advantages of LSS, Industry 4.0 (I4.0) and Lean Six Sigma 4.0 (LSS4.0) practices in China and the United States.

We conducted statistical analyses using online databases. We applied regression analysis to quantitatively analyse 32,813 responding organisation data from 3,691 A-share manufacturing companies in China and 5,931 responding organisation data from 570 publicly traded manufacturing firms in the United States.

This study discovered the following findings: (1) American companies are paying less attention to LSS, which is gradually becoming more important in Chinese business strategy. (2) There is a strong positive relationship between LSS implementation and financial performance in China. Nonetheless, the financial impact of LSS is less significant in post-industrial countries such as the United States. (3) There is compelling evidence in the Chinese context for the significant impact of higher LSS maturity levels on the financial performance of publicly traded manufacturing firms. However, the financial benefits of higher LSS maturity levels in the United States are less pronounced. (4) Despite frequent discussions in China and the United States, implementing I4.0 and related technologies has yet to yield the desired results, particularly in the United States. (5) LSS4.0 significantly improves organisational financial performance.

This study explored the impact of LSS, I4.0 and LSS4.0 on financial performance and conducted an international comparative study from a big data perspective.

The present study developed an integrated model to evaluate the relationship between service quality, brand image, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in the context of Myanmar’s construction industry.

Data on the study variables were gathered from a cross-sectional survey of 210 client organizations that own private buildings in Myanmar. A factor analysis-validated structural equation model was developed to assess the research hypotheses and conceptual framework.

The results supported an integrated model in which brand image partly mediated the effects of service quality on customer satisfaction. Besides, the brand image and customer satisfaction fully mediated the impact of service quality on customer loyalty. Brand image exerted indirect effects on customer loyalty through customer satisfaction. The study further identified the direct effects of service quality on brand image and customer satisfaction, brand image on customer satisfaction and customer satisfaction on customer loyalty.

While prior studies have explored service quality in the construction industry, no integrated model has been developed to identify the relationship between service quality, brand image, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in construction project settings. This study filled this critical gap in the literature by offering a unique perspective on the study variables and their interrelationships.

Design of architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) project organizations expose project management practitioners (PMPs) to poor mental health due to the influence of project organization designs on project management activities assigned to the PMPs. The AEC project organization design comprises the integration of permanent organization, project organization and external environment layers. In spite of the link between project organization design and mental health, limited studies have examined the impact of permanent organization factors, project organization factors and external environmental factors on mental health management practices. Therefore, this study aims to examine the interactive relationships between permanent organization factors, project organization factors, external environment factors and mental health management indicators.

Four organizational theories: institutional theory, agency theory and resource-based theory were integrated to develop a theoretical model guiding the aim of the study. Eighty-two survey data were collected from PMPs in AEC firms in Australia. Structural equation modelling was used to test the relationships between the constructs.

The study found that mental health management indicators are predicted by the interactive and direct effects of permanent organizational factors, project organizational factors and external environmental factors. The results of the interactive effects of the factors and mental health management indicators revealed that 20 of 26 proposed hypotheses were supported. Based on the established hypotheses, economic factors, technological factors, environmental factors, legal factors and organizational culture positively correlated with mental health management indicators. Likewise, human resources management (HRM), corporate governance, project governance and integrated project delivery (IPD) positively impact mental health management indicators. However, political factors, social factors, knowledge management and project management skills negatively impact mental health management indicators. Moreover, political factors, economic factors, technological factors, environmental factors, legal factors and organizational culture are positively related to corporate governance. Additionally, organizational culture positively impacts corporate governance, project governance and HRM, whereas project governance positively correlated with IPD and knowledge management.

The findings provide guidelines to AEC firms on achieving positive mental health management indicators through concentration on project organization design.

The construction business is widely recognised for its inherent complexity and dynamic nature, which stems from the nature of the job involved. The industry is often regarded as one of the most challenging industries globally in terms of implementing environmental, health and safety (EHS) practices. However, in the absence of EHS, the construction industry cannot be considered sustainable. Therefore, this study aims to identify the trends, knowledge gaps and implications of EHS research to enhance construction activities and knowledge.

The study adopted a science mapping approach involving bibliometric and scientometric analysis of 407 construction EHS publications from the Scopus database with the VOSviewer software. The study is based on journal articles from the Scopus database without restriction to any time range.

The main focus of construction EHS research identified in the study includes sustainability-related studies, risk-related, environmental issues, EHS management, integrated management systems studies, health and safety related and EHS in the construction process. Some emerging areas also identified include productivity, design, culture, social sustainability and machine learning. The most influential and productive publication sources, countries/regions and EHS publications with the highest impact were also determined.

Documents published in the Scopus database were considered for analysis because of the wider coverage of the database. Journal articles written in English language represent the inclusion criteria, whereas other documents were excluded from the analysis. The study also limited the search to articles with the engineering subject area.

The research findings will enlighten stakeholders and practitioners on the focal knowledge areas in the EHS research domain, which are vital for enhancing EHS in the industry.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this review-based study is the first attempt to internationally conduct a science mapping on extant literature in the EHS research domain through bibliometric and scientometric assessments.

The study investigates the impact of gender and age on the perception of organizational politics among construction professionals in Tamil Nadu, India, a region with unique sociocultural characteristics, which highlights the significance of a diverse, inclusive and equitable workplace.

A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from 251 construction professionals. The study focused on three key aspects of organizational politics perception: general political behavior, go along to get ahead and pay and promotion policies. Data were examined using descriptive statistics, the Mann-Whitney U test and regression analysis with the help of SPSS V23.

The study reveals that female professionals in the sample may be more sensitive to go along to get ahead and pay and promotion policies than their male counterparts, particularly those aged 29–38. The study also found significant gender-age interactions in organizational politics perception, with females experiencing a greater impact of age on general political behavior, go along to get ahead and pay and promotion policies.

The findings can help managers and practitioners design better interventions and policies to mitigate the negative effects of organizational politics, improve employee satisfaction and performance and foster a more diverse and fair work culture.

This is one of the first studies to explore the influence of gender and age on organizational politics perception in the construction sector, which is characterized by complexity and diversity. The study contributes to the literature on organizational politics and diversity in the construction industry.