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1 – 10 of over 2000Paola Reyes Veras, Suresh Renukappa and Subashini Suresh
The construction industry, being one of the main activities in the ever-demanding need for technology developments, sometimes falls short of other industries in terms of…
Abstract
Purpose
The construction industry, being one of the main activities in the ever-demanding need for technology developments, sometimes falls short of other industries in terms of implementation. The adoption of Big Data (BD) in industries such as health and retail has had positive impacts in aspects such as decision-making processes and forecasting trends that allow planning some future business movements. Hence, the question of whether these results can be imitated in the construction industry. Therefore, this paper aims to address the level of awareness identified as a first step towards implementation of the BD concept within the construction industry in the Dominican Republic (DR).
Design/methodology/approach
As little to no information exist on the subject; the selected approach to perform this research was qualitative methodology; 21 semi-structured interviews were studied using situational awareness. Four levels of awareness were developed based on the Endsley’s Situation Awareness model.
Findings
The results showed that nearly 95% of the interviewees had either no knowledge or very basic awareness of the BD requirements or intermediate awareness, but only 5% had applied BD concepts in the construction industry.
Originality/value
This study shows the gaps that exist in the understanding and implementation of BD concepts in the DR construction industry. This paper establishes the need to develop continuous professional development programmes for construction professionals and a need to update curriculum in construction-related education.
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Ana Karina Silverio, Subashini Suresh, Suresh Renukappa and David Heesom
The increased use and proven benefits of building information modelling (BIM) worldwide suggest that its implementation could be of great help in diminishing inefficient…
Abstract
Purpose
The increased use and proven benefits of building information modelling (BIM) worldwide suggest that its implementation could be of great help in diminishing inefficient traditional practices in the Dominican Republic (DR) construction industry. However, there is no empirical work about the implementation of BIM in the country. This study aims to critically appraise and document the status of the implementation of BIM in the DR to raise awareness and understand how BIM can be successfully implemented in the country.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative approach was adopted in which data was collected through semi-structured interviews, with the participation of 53 professionals from 36 construction organisations. The data collected was analysed with the method of content analysis.
Findings
The results confirmed that the DR is a BIM infant country. There are low levels of BIM implementation. The reasons why BIM is not implemented are explored, and a significant interest in implementing BIM in the future was also reported. Drivers to implement BIM include BIM benefits, competitive advantage and pressure from external partners. Current BIM approaches are mainly single-disciplinary, principally in architecture, and the effectiveness and scope of implementation are highly affected by intra-organisational and inter-organisational barriers.
Originality/value
There is a lack of research about the implementation of BIM in the DR. This study bridges this research gap by collecting primary data from Dominican construction organisations and construction professionals to report findings related to BIM implementation.
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Mukul Tiwari, Manish Kumar Srivastava, A.S. Suresh, Vinod Sharma and Yogesh Mahajan
This study aims to further the understanding of employees’ engagement by explaining their organizational commitment through their perception of the availability of work-life…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to further the understanding of employees’ engagement by explaining their organizational commitment through their perception of the availability of work-life benefits in the organization. This study also investigates the mediating role of job satisfaction in this context.
Design/methodology/approach
The model was tested on the primary data collected in two phases from 270 teaching professionals in higher education institutes in Northern India. Barren and Kenny’s algorithm and hierarchical regression analysis were used to test the hypotheses.
Findings
The results reveal that employees’ perception of work-life benefits strongly influences their organizational commitment. Also, the results support that employees’ job satisfaction mediates the above-mentioned relationship.
Research limitations/implications
Self-reported data could be considered as a key limitation of this study and for more accurate results supervisors’ (line managers) perspective could also be included in future studies. Also, in addition to perceived work-life benefits, supervisors’ support could also have an impact on employees’ commitment, thus its inclusion in the model could draw a clearer picture.
Originality/value
This research has two key contributions: first, it adds to the limited literature examining the employees’ engagement issues in the academic sector. Second, this research is one of, if not the first, to investigate perceived work-life benefits among third-level teaching staff in India to explain employees’ commitment to their organizations.
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Patrick Manu, Nii Ankrah, David Proverbs and Subashini Suresh
Despite the established significance of underlying accident causes to health and safety (H&S), and the persistent reporting of the underlying accident causal influence of…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite the established significance of underlying accident causes to health and safety (H&S), and the persistent reporting of the underlying accident causal influence of construction project features (CPFs) which emanate from pre-construction decisions, no empirical research has focused on CPFs in terms of assessing their degree of potential to influence accident occurrence. The purpose of this paper is to, therefore, investigate this facet of the accident causal influence of CPFs.
Design/methodology/approach
A mixed method design was used involving semi-structured interviews, and a questionnaire survey of UK construction professionals.
Findings
CPFs generally have a moderate or a high potential to influence accident occurrence, implying a fair or severe potential to cause harm in terms of the H&S of workers. The degree of potential of CPFs to influence accident occurrence is influenced by: the extent to which certain proximate causes of accidents are common/prevalent within CPFs;and the degree of potential of those proximate causes to influence accident occurrence.
Originality/value
These findings provide insight into the H&S consequences of CPFs, awareness of which is essential if pre-construction project participants are to implement appropriate risk control measures especially in the early phases of projects to mitigate the accident causal influence of CPFs. The findings reinforce the contribution of clients and their design and project management teams to accident causation, the significance of the early planning of H&S in construction project delivery, and the importance of driving mechanisms such as the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007.
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