Search results

Competitive tendering in South Africa is often associated with procurement based on the lowest fee tendered. Previous research on this topic did not provide in-depth examinations of how pricing within consulting engineering companies was affected by competitive tendering nor did it illuminate the extent to which professional services were impacted by competitive tendering. This paper aims to examine the implications of competitive tendering on pricing and delivery of consulting engineering services in South Africa.

A survey research strategy with a questionnaire as the research instrument elicited qualitative data from 28 experienced consulting engineers in South Africa. Thematic analysis was used to analyse qualitative data from the questionnaires.

Three key themes were identified, namely: considerations when determining consulting engineering fees on competitively tendered projects; the impact of reduced fees due to competitive tendering on the delivery of consulting engineering services; and interventions to prevent unsustainably “low” professional fees. Many consulting engineers in South Africa still determine fees using fee scales, while other considerations include resources, project complexity, risk, etc. Most participants asserted that design optimisation/value engineering, training, meetings and construction monitoring were adversely impacted by “low” fees.

This paper provides in-depth qualitative feedback from experienced consulting engineers (most having more than 20 years’ experience) on a topical issue in the South African construction industry. Thematic analysis was a novel method of analysis that was not used previously in this area of study.

Creating green design capability readiness has become an emerging necessity toward increasing sustainable performance. However, the understanding of the green design readiness markers for housing delivery is lacking. The purpose of this study is to highlight a green design capability readiness model for affordable housing delivery.

Through the use of the self-determination theory and the Technology–Organization–Environment framework, a comprehensive review of related literature revealed 23 indicators on motivational, technological, organizational and environmental markers for green design practices capability readiness for affordable housing delivery. Adopting a deductive design, a questionnaire was developed from these markers for a survey on practitioners with knowledge and experience in green design, sustainability and housing supply chain through purposive and snowballing sampling. Mean score analysis and fuzzy synthetic evaluation were subsequently used to develop the capability readiness model.

This study affirmed the markers and revealed the top indicators in each of the markers. The markers subsequently accounted for 28%, 29%, 17.7% and 25.3% of green design capability readiness for affordable housing delivery. Accordingly, technological and motivational markers had the greatest contributions to green design readiness for affordable housing followed by environmental marker and organizational being the least.

The findings of this study will contribute to developing the right motivations, technological capability and regulatory factors for green design practices to optimize the capability readiness for affordable housing delivery in Ghana.

The model serves as a valuable resource that could be used to objectively align actions and gauge readiness for green design practices toward sustainability performance improvement in affordable housing delivery. It could also aid in benchmarking the readiness potential of future regulations, policies and motivations for green design practices, concepts and technologies for housing delivery.

Despite firms’ growing investments, process improvement (PI) programs often fail to deliver the expected benefits. In this paper, we argue that the widespread adoption in PI research of a paradigm founded in positivism plays a primary role in deriving these conclusions and limits the development of PI theory and practice.

We examine the main characteristics of the dominant paradigm in PI research and then propose an alternative perspective drawing on research in management innovation and complexity. Findings from two empirical case studies in a pharmaceutical and an automotive firm are reported to support our theoretical argument.

The proposed perspective highlights the interaction between various PI approaches – such as lean, Six Sigma and total quality management (TQM) – and the context-dependence and experiential aspects of PI. We argue that this perspective can better account for where, by whom and how PI approaches are shaped and used and, ultimately, can more effectively advance both theory and practice.

This study suggests that PI approaches should be considered as adaptable rather than static, in combination rather than as single entities and as continuously interpreted and translated by organizational actors rather than homogeneously diffused across companies and business units. In this paper, we discuss the substantial conceptual, methodological and practical implications of adopting this perspective.

Human resource analytics (HRA) is an HR activity that companies and academics increasingly pay attention to. Existing literature conceptualises HRA mostly from an objectivist perspective, which limits understanding of actual HRA activities in the complex organisational environment. This paper therefore draws on the practice-based approach, using a novel framework to conceptualise HRA-as-practice.

The authors conducted a systematic literature review of 100 academic and practitioner-oriented publications to analyse existing HRA literature in relation to practice theory, using the “HRA-as-practice” frame.

The authors identify the main practices involved in HRA, by whom and how these practices are enacted, and reveal three topics in nomological network of HRA-as-practice: HRA technology, HRA outcomes and HRA hindrances and facilitators, which the authors suggest might actualize enactment of HRA practices.

The authors offer HR function and HR professionals a basic ground to evaluate HRA as a highly contextual activity that can potentially generate business value and increase HR impact when seen as a complex interaction between HRA practices, HRA practitioners and HRA praxis. The findings also help HR practitioners understand multiple factors that influence the practice of HRA.

This systematic review differs from the previous reviews in two ways. First, it analyses both academic and practitioner-oriented publications. Second, it provides a novel theoretical contribution by conceptualising HRA-as-practice and comprehensively compiling scattered topics and themes related to HRA.

This study aims to identify the most significant barriers and the stationary barrier to modular construction (MC) implementation and promote MC widespread use. By doing so, the construction industry can leverage the benefits of MC, such as faster construction times, improved quality control, reduced waste and increased sustainability.

This study uses a Gini’s mean analysis approach to identify the stationary barriers hindering the MC adoption in residential projects. The research focuses on the Egyptian context and uses a questionnaire survey to gather data from professionals in the construction industry.

According to the survey findings, the top five significant MC barriers are inability to modify the design; contractors asking for high bidding prices (higher initial cost); scepticism, conservation and resistance of clients to innovation and change; transportation restrictions; and lack of a one-size-fits-all tool for the design. In addition, Gini’s mean of dispersion demonstrated that the stationary barrier that faces MC adoption is the apprehension that architectural creativity will suffer because of MC.

The identified obstacles could be useful for decision makers in countries that have not yet adopted MC and may aid in the planning process to manage the risks associated with MC projects. The paper stresses the significance of devising techniques to overcome these barriers and proposes several methods to tackle these challenges.

This study fills the knowledge gap by identifying the stationary barrier and emphasising the potential risks associated with MC barriers. Furthermore, it suggests several strategies for overcoming and reducing these barriers in developing countries residential projects.

The purpose of this study is to add to the currently limited research on individual level people analytics (PA) adoption by focusing on a vital resource in the implementation of PA, namely the technology used for PA. We draw on the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) to examine antecedents of the use of technology for PA.

This study uses latent profile analysis to examine how different antecedents of PA (technology) adoption jointly act among 279 users of a specific PA technology.

This study identifies four user profiles, that we labeled the skeptic diplomats, the optimistic strugglers, the optimists, and the enthusiasts. These profiles relate to differences in user satisfaction and the frequency and versatility of PA technology use. This study demonstrates that performance benefits, social influence, required effort, and facilitating conditions jointly affect the use of PA technology, but that the latter two might be the most influential factors.

This study offers recommendations to practitioners and organizations on which actions by managers and the organization can be taken to support the use of PA technology.

Compared to previous research, we take a different approach by applying latent profile analysis to examine the combined effect of antecedents on user behavior and user satisfaction. In addition to a different analytical approach, we also extend existing research on individual PA adoption by focusing on actual behaviors and behavioral intention.