Mohamed Saad Bajjou and Anas Chafi
In the modern era, the concept of sustainability has become pervasive, permeating various sectors, including the construction industry. Driven by growing environmental concerns…
Abstract
Purpose
In the modern era, the concept of sustainability has become pervasive, permeating various sectors, including the construction industry. Driven by growing environmental concerns, construction organizations are increasingly compelled to seek operational excellence while realigning their practices towards environmental sustainability goals. Hence, this paper investigates the capability of lean construction (LC) principles in enhancing environmental performance (EP) within the construction industry using a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach.
Design/methodology/approach
The study employs SEM to explore the relationship between LC components and environmental performance factors in the construction context. This methodology integrates both empirical and qualitative analyses within a structured framework to explore the relationship between LC components and EP factors in the construction context. By collecting and statistically testing data from 307 Moroccan construction companies, the study evaluates the impact of five LC principles – process transparency and standardization, continuous improvement, waste elimination, planning and scheduling and material flow and pull – on four environmental performance indicators: material use, energy consumption, non-product output and pollutant releases.
Findings
The analysis reveals that, among the five LC principles – process transparency and standardization, continuous improvement, waste elimination, planning and scheduling and material flow and pull – the principles of waste elimination and planning and scheduling significantly contribute to environmental improvements. These practices were shown to impact positively four environmental performance indicators: material use, energy consumption, non-product output and pollutant releases.
Originality/value
This research fills a critical gap in empirical studies on the beneficial effects of LC practices on environmental sustainability in the construction industry. It provides theoretical insights and practical recommendations for managers and practitioners to effectively implement LC principles, thereby promoting more efficient and sustainable practices, particularly in developing countries.
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Sara Bayandor, Roohollah Kalatehjari, Reza Akherati and Jalal Kasebzadeh
Through a case study for Iran, this research seeks to pinpoint the dominant causes of delay and cost overruns in two standard Support of Excavation methods (Bracing strut and…
Abstract
Purpose
Through a case study for Iran, this research seeks to pinpoint the dominant causes of delay and cost overruns in two standard Support of Excavation methods (Bracing strut and top-down construction) in deep excavation projects from various points of view involving contractors, consultants and owners. This investigation identifies the root causes, compares them with existing literature to find similarities and differences with tunnelling and construction projects and proposes practical solutions.
Design/methodology/approach
The primary factors were identified after an extensive literature review and expert interview. Subsequently, a questionnaire was designed to classify related factors, considering impact indices, occurrence likelihood and overall significance. Eventually, the findings of the analysis were visually represented through cause-and-effect diagrams.
Findings
The results indicate that “inflation and exchange rate fluctuation” is the top-rated cause, followed by designers’ limited overall perspective of implementation issues. Also, comparing the roles of related teams shows that the contractor sector is the most responsible for delay and overruns in both methods. Finally, practical solutions are presented regarding the main affecting factors.
Originality/value
Prior research often addresses delay and costs in construction, but insufficient focus is given to deep excavation projects, particularly in Iran. This study not only fills the identified knowledge gap but also delves into the causes of delay, pursued until the fourth bone in some cases and proposes a solution framework derived from previous research, case studies and expert insights to mitigate construction delay.
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This study aims to investigate ground-related design deficiencies as potential avenues of avoidable cost overruns, discernible from the geotechnical practices of highway agencies…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate ground-related design deficiencies as potential avenues of avoidable cost overruns, discernible from the geotechnical practices of highway agencies in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.
Design/methodology/approach
The study deploys an interpretivist qualitative methodology to provide a detailed descriptive analysis of the design-related geotechnical practices of highway agencies during the pre-contract phase of highway projects. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with in-house professionals, consultants and contractors affiliated with the three highway agencies in the Niger Delta and thematically analysed to identify significant deviations from geotechnical best practices.
Findings
The study outcome shows that during the pre-contract phase, a chain of design-related geotechnical shortcomings has plagued highway projects executed in the Niger Delta. This view of practice uncovered in this study demonstrates a culture of significant deviation from best practice recommendations, which could plausibly contribute to the history of significant project cost overruns recorded in the region.
Originality/value
The study qualitatively spotlights gaps in the practice of highway agencies and reinforces the need for a re-orientation of the attitude to risk management, to give geotechnical concerns a priority in the financial management of highway projects executed in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.
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This paper aims to examine how different contextual contingency factors and organizational goals influence construction clients’ decision-making when procuring contractors in the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine how different contextual contingency factors and organizational goals influence construction clients’ decision-making when procuring contractors in the housing sector. More specifically, it investigates how clients’ choice of procurement strategies and organizational control systems is contingent upon various contextual factors and organizational goals.
Design/methodology/approach
It is based on an explorative interview study of clients and contractors in the Swedish housing sector underpinned by a review of organizational control literature.
Findings
The client's knowledge and resources, as well as project complexity and uncertainty, are the most important contextual contingency factors, while property management and sustainable development are the most important organizational goals that housing clients consider when designing procurement strategies.
Research limitations/implications
The paper contributes to the understanding of how construction clients choose procurement strategies, by providing new insights into effects of the mentioned contextual contingency factors and organizational goals on clients’ choice of control systems through their procurement strategies.
Practical implications
Property owners who continuously procure housing projects with sustainability requirements and high degrees of complexity and uncertainty should develop knowledge and resources related to their client role, to enable the design and implementation of appropriate procurement strategies.
Originality/value
Novel aspects of the paper are the demonstration of the value of a holistic approach, considering both contextual contingency factors and organizational goals, when selecting control systems and explicit discussion of how the client's knowledge and resources influence possibilities to implement different control systems.
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Ana Sofia Silva Santos, Maria R.A. Moreira and Paulo S.A. Sousa
This study seeks to develop an Environmental Sustainability Balanced Scorecard (ESBSC) articulated through a strategic map for collaborative implementation by municipalities by…
Abstract
Purpose
This study seeks to develop an Environmental Sustainability Balanced Scorecard (ESBSC) articulated through a strategic map for collaborative implementation by municipalities by municipalities. In addition, it aims to elucidate the architecture of this tool.
Design/methodology/approach
The research uses qualitative methodology, initiating with document analysis, followed by municipal-level surveys and an interview with the Norte Portugal Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR-N).
Findings
The study constructs an ESBSC that adopts an integrative approach to sustainability, focusing on municipal joint action. The tool fosters synergies and enhances cooperation. By incorporating a strategic mix, the tool contributes to improving the environmental management performance of the participating municipalities.
Practical implications
This study introduces a tool designed for municipalities that aspire to incorporate environmental sustainability into their strategies. This tool facilitates the implementation and management of a long-term environmental strategy, with potential implications for organization and its culture. In addition, it highlights critical environmental factors that should serve as a starting point in future studies or applications of this tool.
Social implications
Involving both an academic institution and multiple municipalities, this research identifies critical environmental factors that enhance environmental awareness within municipalities and designs a tool that, when consciously adopted, can influence the culture dynamics of the population involved. Furthermore, it proposes a structured and systematic research method for creating an ESBSC for joint municipal action.
Originality/value
To the best of authors’ knowledge, this research constitutes the first exploratory attempt to devise an environmental strategy for joint municipal action. Although the tool emphasizes the environmental component, it promotes an integrated vision of sustainability. Despite the extensive application of balanced scorecards in various organizational contexts, their utilization in fostering environmental sustainability at a municipal level remains underexplored. This study addresses this gap by developing a tailored strategic tool that operationalizes environmental priorities within municipal governance frameworks.
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Libiao Bai, Mengqin Yang, Tong Pan and Yichen Sun
Selecting and scheduling optimal project portfolio simultaneously is a complex decision-making problem faced by organizations to realize the strategy. However, dynamic synergy…
Abstract
Purpose
Selecting and scheduling optimal project portfolio simultaneously is a complex decision-making problem faced by organizations to realize the strategy. However, dynamic synergy relationships among projects complicate this problem. This study aims at constructing a project portfolio selection and scheduling (PPSS) model while quantifying the dynamic synergetic effects to provide decision support for managing PPSS problems.
Design/methodology/approach
This study develops a mathematical model for PPSS with the objective of maximal project portfolio benefits (PPBs). To make the results align with the strategy, comprehensive PPBs are divided into financial and non-financial aspects based on the balanced scorecard. Then, synergy benefits evolve dynamically in the time horizon, and system dynamics is employed to quantify them. Lastly, a case example is conducted to verify the applicability of the proposed model.
Findings
The proposed model is an applicable model for PPSS while incorporating dynamic synergy. It can help project managers obtain the results that which project should be selected and when it should start while achieving optimal PPBs.
Originality/value
This study complements prior PPSS research in two aspects. First, financial and non-financial PPBs are designed as new criteria for PPSS, making the results follow the strategy. Second, this study illuminates the dynamic characteristic of synergy and quantifies the synergetic effect. The proposed model provides insights into managing a PPSS effectively.
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Xin Zou and Lihui Zhang
The purpose of this study is to develop a novel approach that addresses time-cost tradeoffs in repetitive construction projects while considering the uncertainty in activity…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to develop a novel approach that addresses time-cost tradeoffs in repetitive construction projects while considering the uncertainty in activity durations and the risk preferences of planners.
Design/methodology/approach
Our study involves work in three aspects. Firstly, it employs triangular fuzzy numbers to represent activity durations in different units, which facilitates the management of scenarios characterized by limited historical data or the presence of ambiguous information. Secondly, it introduces a fuzzy chance-constrained programming model, which is aimed at minimizing the project budget while ensuring that the risks associated with cost overruns and schedule delays are confined to specified limits. Thirdly, it advances an enhanced genetic algorithm, integrating an electromagnetism-like mechanism and a scheduling repair process, to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the optimization process.
Findings
A real-life street renovation project was analyzed to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed algorithm. The analysis explored three common types of risk preferences: risk-averse, risk-neutral and risk-loving. The results indicate that the proposed algorithm surpasses existing fuzzy repetitive scheduling methods in terms of risk management. It effectively generates schedules that align with the risk preferences of planners and provides worst-case estimates of project performance.
Originality/value
This research makes a significant contribution to the field by developing a fuzzy chance-constrained programming model and an associated optimization algorithm that is specifically designed for time-cost tradeoffs in repetitive construction projects. A key distinction is that this study considers the risk preferences of planners, which sets it apart from previously developed models. As a result, it provides a practical approach for effective risk management.
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Yongqiang Lu and Li Ma
Construction project team members’ job burnout damages the physical health of members and also have a negative effect on project performance. This study primarily aims to…
Abstract
Purpose
Construction project team members’ job burnout damages the physical health of members and also have a negative effect on project performance. This study primarily aims to empirically examine the relationship between coaching project managers (CPMs) and team members’ job burnout. Moreover, this research examines the cross-level mediating effect of team caring ethical climate and team members’ team-based self-esteem (TBSE) on the relationship between the two aspects.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses conservation of resources theory as basis to construct a cross-level research model of the effect of CPMs on team members’ job burnout. Thereafter, regression analysis was performed on a sample of 431 team members from 83 teams.
Findings
According to the empirical results, the authors found that, in construction project teams, first, CPMs were negatively correlated with team members’ job burnout and positively correlated with caring ethical climate and team members’ TBSE. Second, caring ethical climate and team members’ TBSE played a cross-level mediating role between CPMs and team members’ job burnout. In addition, caring ethical climate played a cross-level moderating role in the negative relationship between team members’ TBSE and job burnout.
Originality/value
This study introduces coaching leadership, an important leadership type, into the research background of construction project teams, thereby theoretically enriching the research on construction project team leadership. Moreover, by further expanding the research on the consequences of coaching leadership to the field of job burnout, this study also enriches the theoretical results of the research on the consequences of coaching leadership.
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Yonghong Chen, Wenyi Qiu and Mengxia Xiao
With the rise of digital construction, using organizational capabilities to improve project performance in a turbulent environment has become critical for the high-quality…
Abstract
Purpose
With the rise of digital construction, using organizational capabilities to improve project performance in a turbulent environment has become critical for the high-quality development of the construction industry. However, the complex relationships among them remain unclear. Therefore, this study explores these linear relationships under the digital construction mode and reveals the driving mechanism of multi-factor linkage on project performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 263 project participants in digital construction projects in China using a questionnaire. Hypothesis testing was conducted using partial least square structural equation modeling, and the differentiated patterns of project performance formation were revealed through fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis.
Findings
Organizational information technology, innovation, coordination, integration management and emergency management capabilities improve project performance. Environmental turbulence is a positive moderator between coordination capabilities and project performance, while other capabilities do not align with environmental turbulence. The research obtained five equivalent configurations for achieving high project performance, such as “capability layout” and “internal driven,” and two paths that lead to non-high project performance. Finally, in contrast to existing studies, we discovered the outstanding contribution of emergency management capabilities to project performance and the auxiliary effect of information technology capabilities.
Originality/value
This study innovatively integrates a dimensional framework of construction project organizations’ capabilities under a digital construction mode and extends the organizational capabilities to the specific and operational capability dimension level. Furthermore, this study opens the “black box” of the influence of organizational capabilities on project performance in environmental turbulence and reveals the differentiated and equivalent configurations for the formation of project performance. The study broadens the theoretical perspective of organizational capabilities on project performance research in the digital context and provides practical enlightenment for guiding the capability configuration of construction project organizations in a turbulent environment. The study broadens the theoretical perspective of organizational capabilities on project performance research in the digital context and provides practical enlightenment for guiding the capability configuration of construction project organizations in a turbulent environment.
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Ying Huang, Ruixiong Chen, Pan Guo and Zhaocheng Duan
This research uses the evolutionary game model theory to explore how to make decisions to maximize their own interests in the process of project claims from the perspective of…
Abstract
Purpose
This research uses the evolutionary game model theory to explore how to make decisions to maximize their own interests in the process of project claims from the perspective of small and medium-sized contractors in the construction industry.
Design/methodology/approach
This study defines the discount factor in the claim process based on the characteristics of construction claims and provides a specific calculation method. The paper analyzes the matching degree between the evolutionary game model and the process of construction claims. Further, the discount factor is introduced to construct an evolutionary game model of engineering claims with the goal of maximizing the contractor’s benefits.
Findings
The results of this study show that in the situation (C*d1-nC1*d1>0, v2-v1-g>0) and (C*d1-nC1*d1>0, v2-v1-g<0), the contractor claim decision-making strategy is a truthful claim, while in the situation (C*d1-nC1*d1<0, v2-v1-g>0) and (C*d1-nC1*d1<0, v2-v1-g<0), the contractor claim decision-making strategy is a high-price claim. The discount factor will affect the decision-making rate. It is noted that the fines and the explicit costs received during the contractor’s high-priced claim process exhibit a positive correlation with the rate of truthful claim decision-making by contractors. Meanwhile, the final revenue of high-priced claims by contractors shows a positive correlation with the rate of high-priced claim decision-making by the sensitivity analysis.
Research limitations/implications
The author simulates the process of solving the actual claim problem through the evolutionary game model in engineering claims. It is hoped that researchers will collect empirical cases and compare the actual case solutions with the model solutions to further revise the model in future studies, an evolutionary game model of engineering claim decision-making with interference factors can be constructed to analyze the evolutionary stability. Secondly, the single factor sensitivity analysis of individual parameters is carried out in this paper, and the influence of multiple factors on claim decisions can be further analyzed in the later research.
Practical implications
The analysis of the claim process based on the evolutionary game model is conducive to the contractor’s rapid claim decision-making. The introduction of the discount factor to analyze the claim process is more conducive to the accuracy of the contractor’s claim decision.
Originality/value
The proposed model provides a supplement to the existing studies on dynamic construction claim decision-making. The claim decision is conducive to controling cost for the contractor, improving the contractor’s management level and developing a healthy construction market.