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1 – 10 of 68Che Khairil Izam Che Ibrahim, Patrick Manu, Clara Cheung, Brian H.W. Guo and Kofi Agyekum
Despite the growing construction subject of Design for Safety (DfS) in Malaysia, little effort has been made to understand the construction organisational DfS capability in a…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite the growing construction subject of Design for Safety (DfS) in Malaysia, little effort has been made to understand the construction organisational DfS capability in a dynamic environment. This study aims to propose a framework for dynamic DfS capabilities for construction organisations in Malaysia.
Design/methodology/approach
A quantitative research methodology was used for this study. Data were gathered from three hundred and six (306) practitioners from diverse construction organisations, including government agencies, consultants, contractors and developers in Malaysia, using an online questionnaire survey during four online DfS webinars. Descriptive and inferential analysis, as well as content analysis techniques, were used to analyse the collected data.
Findings
Analysis of the survey data showed that all six key DfS organisational capability elements identified in the literature, which the respondents were required to assess, have a strong influence on determining the DfS capabilities of construction organisations. The elements ranked as most influential include DfS knowledge of the designer; DfS experience of the designer; Top management’s commitment to DfS; Design risk management; and Project review. Based on these findings, a framework for dynamic DfS organisational capabilities is proposed. This framework incorporates four essential capabilities – sensing, learning, integrating and coordinating – and is anchored by the aforementioned six key elements as foundational to deriving value from DfS practices.
Practical implications
The proposed DfS organisational capabilities framework will facilitate construction organisations’ focus on the dynamic environment while striving for successful DfS practice in construction projects.
Originality/value
This study extends the DfS literature in the construction context by providing deeper insights into the conceptualisation of dynamic DfS organisational capabilities where DfS regulatory framework is still evolving. This study also highlights organisations’ importance in perceiving and prioritising their abilities to sense changes, learn and internalise new competencies, integrate resources and coordinate activities, reflecting their unique strategic focuses and operational needs toward DfS practice.
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Saeed Reza Mohandes, Atul Kumar Singh, Abdulwahed Fazeli, Saeed Banihashemi, Mehrdad Arashpour, Clara Cheung, Obuks Ejohwomu and Tarek Zayed
Previous research has demonstrated that Digital Twins (DT) are extensively employed to improve sustainable construction methods. Nonetheless, their uptake in numerous nations is…
Abstract
Purpose
Previous research has demonstrated that Digital Twins (DT) are extensively employed to improve sustainable construction methods. Nonetheless, their uptake in numerous nations is still constrained. This study seeks to identify and examine the digital twin’s implementation barriers in construction building projects to augment operational performance and sustainability.
Design/methodology/approach
An iterative two-stage approach was adopted to explore the phenomena under investigation. General DT Implementation Barriers were first identified from extant literature and subsequently explored using primary questionnaire survey data from Hong Kong building industry professionals.
Findings
Survey results illustrated that Lack of methodologies and tools, Difficulty in ensuring a high level of performance in real-time communication, Impossibility of directly measuring all data relevant to the DT, need to share the DT among multiple application systems involving multiple stakeholders and Uncertainties in the quality and reliability of data are the main barriers for adopting digital twins' technology. Moreover, Ginni’s mean difference measure of dispersion showed that the stationary digital twin’s barriers adoption is needed to share the DT among multiple application systems involving multiple stakeholders.
Practical implications
The study’s findings offer valuable guidance to the construction industry. They help stakeholders adopt digital twins' technology, which, in turn, improves cost efficiency and sustainability. This adoption reduces project expenses and enhances environmental responsibility, providing companies a competitive edge in the industry.
Originality/value
This research rigorously explores barriers to Digital Twin (DT) implementation in the Hong Kong construction industry, employing a systematic approach that includes a comprehensive literature review, Ranking Analysis (RII) and Ginni’s coefficient of mean difference (GM). With a tailored focus on Hong Kong, the study aims to identify, analyze and provide novel insights into DT implementation challenges. Emphasizing practical relevance, the research bridges the gap between academic understanding and real-world application, offering actionable solutions for industry professionals, policymakers and researchers. This multifaceted contribution enhances the feasibility and success of DT implementation in construction projects within the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) sector.
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Karim Farghaly, William Collinge, Mojgan Hadi Mosleh, Patrick Manu and Clara Man Cheung
With the rapid development of digital information and modelling software applications for construction, questions have arisen about their impact on construction safety. Meanwhile…
Abstract
Purpose
With the rapid development of digital information and modelling software applications for construction, questions have arisen about their impact on construction safety. Meanwhile, recognition that designers can help reduce risks involved in construction, operation and maintenance via a prevention through design (PtD) approach (also known as design for safety) highlights the significance of digital technologies and tools to PtD. Thus, this paper aims to provide a systematic review of a wide range of digital technologies for enhancing PtD.
Design/methodology/approach
A five-stage systematic literature review with coding and synthesis of findings is presented. The review covers journal articles published between 2000 and 2020 related to the applications of various digital technologies, such as building information modelling (BIM), 4D, databases, ontologies, serious games, virtual reality and augmented reality, for addressing safety issues during the design phase in construction.
Findings
Analysis of the articles yielded a categorisation of the digital applications for PtD into four main areas: knowledge-based systems; automatic rule checking; hazard visualization; and safety training for designers. The review also highlighted designers’ limited knowledge towards construction safety and the possibility to address this by using gaming environments for educating designers on safety management and using artificial intelligence for predicting hazards and risks during design stage in a BIM environment. Additionally, the review proposes other directions for future research to enhance the use of digital technologies for PtD.
Originality/value
This paper contextualises current digital technology applications for construction health and safety and enables future directions of research in the field to be identified and mapped out.
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Bryan Pieterse, Kofi Agyekum, Patrick Manu, Saeed Reza Mohandes, Clara Cheung and Akilu Yunusa-Kaltungo
Major maintenance projects are often regarded as maintenance activities regardless of the projects' complexity and scale. Consequently, very scarce research attention has hitherto…
Abstract
Purpose
Major maintenance projects are often regarded as maintenance activities regardless of the projects' complexity and scale. Consequently, very scarce research attention has hitherto been paid to the critical skills required when undertaking these projects. More specifically, the body of relevant knowledge is deprived of a study focusing on maintenance projects within the energy sector. In view of this shortcoming, this research aims to examine the critical project management (PM) skills required to deliver major maintenance projects within the energy sector.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a quantitative research strategy, this study addressed the knowledge gap through a cross-sectional survey of professionals involved in the delivery of major maintenance projects in the United Kingdom's (UK) energy sector. Data obtained were analyzed via descriptive (e.g. frequencies, mean and standard deviation [SD]) and inferential statistical analyses (One sample t-test and exploratory factor analysis (EFA)).
Findings
Out of the 45 PM skills identified in the literature and examined by the respondents, the results obtained from the One sample t-test (based on p (1-tailed) = 0.05) showed that 37 were considered to be at least “important,” accounting for 80.4% of all the skills identified. EFA revealed a clustering of the PM skills items into seven components: “skills related to work scheduling and coordination”; “communication, risk, safety and stakeholder management skills”; “quality assurance skills”; “people management skills”; “skills related to forecasting scope and duration of outage”; “implementation of processes and time management skills” and “technical/engineering skills and experience pertaining to the outage and local site knowledge.”
Originality/value
This study has identified and contributed to the limited state-of-the-art skills project managers must possess to manage major maintenance projects in the energy sector successfully. The findings would be useful to organizations within the energy sector in ensuring that the organizations have suitable personnel in place to deliver major maintenance projects on the organizations' assets.
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Cherry W.M. Cheung, Caleb Kwong, Humera Manzoor, Mehboob Ur Rashid, Charan Bhattarai and Young-Ah Kim
Although scholars have investigated how social entrepreneurs create and develop social enterprises in the penurious stable environment, how they are created in the penurious…
Abstract
Purpose
Although scholars have investigated how social entrepreneurs create and develop social enterprises in the penurious stable environment, how they are created in the penurious unstable environment has yet been overlooked. The purpose of this paper is to address this research gap by exploring how internally displaced individuals, despite the lack of resources, create and develop a social enterprise to serve the other displaced population in the war and conflict zones.
Design/methodology/approach
Underpinned by a biographical research design, in-depth interviews with internally displaced individuals who have created social enterprises in the war and conflict zones were undertaken. Three social entrepreneurs were chosen for this study from three different social enterprises that are created by internally displaced individuals to serve the other internally displaced people of three different countries, namely, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Syria.
Findings
The single and cross-case analysis found that internally displaced individuals deploy bricolage strategy, for example, reconfiguration of pre-existing resources and competencies (both internal and external), to start up a social venture in the war and conflict zones. They utilise pre-existing internal resources, mainly human capital, and external resources, through a frugal approach towards resources acquisitions. The authors also found that the displaced social entrepreneurs utilise resources of other displaced individuals, for example, networks, volunteers, local knowledge and financial supports mainly from older arrivals, and develop their own enterprise ecosystem within the host location to co-create and co-develop social enterprise and social values for all of them.
Research limitations/implications
The findings show that internally displaced individuals utilise bricolage strategies to create and develop socially entrepreneurial venture to serve other internally displaced individuals in the war and conflict zones. As the findings are based on three case studies, for confirmatory approach, a quantitative study with a large sample size is necessary. Furthermore, as the differences in economic, cultural and linguistic in between the home and host locations can have impact on the creation and the development of a social venture, they should be considered in the future studies.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the limited literature and studies on social entrepreneurship, specifically, to the context of unstable penurious environment. It also contributes to the literature on bricolage by extending its application from penurious stable environment to the penurious unstable environment. By exploring what and how internal and external resources are utilised to create and develop a socially entrepreneurial venture in a war and conflict zones, this study has added value to the literature on not only bricolage but also entrepreneurship in war and conflict zones.
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Mostafa Monzur Hasan and Adrian (Wai Kong) Cheung
This paper aims to investigate how organization capital influences different forms of corporate risk. It also explores how the relationship between organization capital and risks…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate how organization capital influences different forms of corporate risk. It also explores how the relationship between organization capital and risks varies in the cross-section of firms.
Design/methodology/approach
To test the hypothesis, this study employs the ordinary least squares (OLS) regression model using a large sample of the United States (US) data over the 1981–2019 period. It also uses an instrumental variable approach and an errors-in-variables panel regression approach to mitigate endogeneity problems.
Findings
The empirical results show that organization capital is positively related to both idiosyncratic risk and total risk but negatively related to systematic risk. The cross-sectional analysis shows that the positive relationship between organization capital and idiosyncratic risk is significantly more pronounced for the subsample of firms with high information asymmetry and human capital. Moreover, the negative relationship between organization capital and systematic risk is significantly more pronounced for firms with greater efficiency and firms facing higher industry- and economy-wide risks.
Practical implications
The findings have important implications for investors and policymakers. For example, since organization capital increases idiosyncratic risk and total risk but reduces systematic risk, investors should take organization capital into account in portfolio formation and risk management. Moreover, the findings lend support to the argument on the recognition of intangible assets in financial statements. In particular, the study suggests that standard-setting bodies should consider corporate reporting frameworks to incorporate the disclosure of intangible assets into financial statements, particularly given the recent surge of corporate intangible assets and their critical impact on corporate risks.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to adopt a large sample to provide systematic evidence on the relationship between organization capital and a wide range of risks at the firm level. The authors show that the effect of organization capital on firm risks differs remarkably depending on the kind of firm risk a particular risk measure captures. This study thus makes an original contribution to resolving competing views on the effect of organization capital on firm risks.
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Clara Cubillas-Para, Juan Gabriel Cegarra-Navarro and Eva Tomaseti-Solano
The intangible nature of tourism means that variables such as destination image (DIM) or intention to recommend (IR) are crucial for tourists, as they are reliable sources of…
Abstract
Purpose
The intangible nature of tourism means that variables such as destination image (DIM) or intention to recommend (IR) are crucial for tourists, as they are reliable sources of information. However, since these are dynamic variables, they have been affected by Covid-19 and need to be updated. Based on the above, the purpose of this study is to examine how the unlearning (UL) process helps tourists to become aware of the new situation, relinquish old habits and relearn, thus, influencing DIM and the IR destinations. Furthermore, the relationship between DIM and IR is analysed.
Design/methodology/approach
To analyse the proposed model, an empirical analysis was carried out through an online survey obtaining a valid sample of 457 Spanish domestic travellers. The data were analysed using partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM).
Findings
Results show a positive effect between the UL outcomes and IR a destination, as well as a mediator effect of DIM on this relationship.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study analyses for the first time UL in the tourism sector as an individual process carried out by tourists and shows how it influences their decision-making process.
Objetivo
La naturaleza intangible del turismo hace que variables como la imagen del destino o la intención de recomendarlo sean decisivas para los turistas, al considerarlas fuentes de información fiables. Dado su carácter dinámico, estas variables se han visto afectadas por la pandemia del Covid-19 y necesitan ser actualizadas. En base a lo anterior, el objetivo de este estudio es analizar cómo el proceso de desaprendizaje ayuda a los turistas a ser conscientes de la nueva situación, a abandonar los viejos hábitos y a reaprender, influyendo así en la imagen del destino y en la intención de recomendarlos. Asimismo, se analiza la relación entre la imagen del destino y la intención de recomendarlo.
Metodología
Para analizar el modelo propuesto se llevó a cabo un estudio empírico basado en una encuesta online, obteniendo una muestra válida de 457 viajeros nacionales españoles. Los datos se han analizado mediante PLS-SEM.
Resultados
Los resultados del estudio muestran un efecto positivo entre los resultados del desaprendizaje y la intención de recomendar destinos, así como un efecto mediador de la imagen de destino en esta relación.
Originalidad
Este estudio analiza por primera vez el desaprendizaje en el sector turístico como un proceso individual llevado a cabo por turistas y muestra cómo influye en el proceso de toma de decisiones de estos.
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This chapter tests the market risk and economic policy uncertainty (EPU) of five Asian stock market returns and finds positive and significant intertemporal relations between…
Abstract
This chapter tests the market risk and economic policy uncertainty (EPU) of five Asian stock market returns and finds positive and significant intertemporal relations between excess stock returns and conditional volatility/downside risk. The results support positive risk-return relations across five Asian markets after controlling for the lagged dividend yield and the change in EPU (
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Clara Koetz and John Daniel Tankersley
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the characteristics of a subculture of consumption organized toward a nostalgic brand on a social media platform. More specifically, the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the characteristics of a subculture of consumption organized toward a nostalgic brand on a social media platform. More specifically, the authors examine the role of these nostalgic feelings in the development of a community identity and the benefits they promote in the creation and perpetuation of this group.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted a netnographic study to examine the case of Caloi 10 on Facebook. The data collection was carried out by following interactions among members of this community for seven months. Besides this, field observations and interviews were also considered in the analysis.
Findings
Four categories emerged from the analysis: Identity and nostalgia, the subculture’s ethos, consumption habits and hierarchical social structure. Nostalgia was shown to have a collective dimension, connecting the group around the brand, and positively affecting the ties between members and members and the brand.
Practical implications
On-line brand communities can be promoted to strengthen connections between consumers and a brand, and between consumers with each other. For that, it is important to understand the characteristics and specificities of these groups.
Originality/value
Few studies have dealt with the characteristics of brand communities in social media, as well as the role of nostalgia in these groups. This research fills these gaps, exploring aspects related to consumption as a way of transmitting symbolic meanings and expressing nostalgic feelings in on-line brand communities.
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Research in corporate settings has demonstrated the importance of leaders seeking feedback on such dimensions as credibility, effectiveness, engagement, and productivity. This…
Abstract
Research in corporate settings has demonstrated the importance of leaders seeking feedback on such dimensions as credibility, effectiveness, engagement, and productivity. This study looked at feedback seeking behavior by student leaders. Explored were the extent to which feedback-seeking impacted how people felt when working with leaders, and how feedback-seeking might be influenced by age, gender, ethnicity, nationality, leadership experiences, and skill levels. Using an archival database, the sample included responses from 91,561 student leaders and observations from 365,747 of their peers. Few substantive differences were found on the basis of demographics, while those with more leadership experiences and skills reported the highest frequency of feedback-seeking behavior. Engagement levels were positively related to the frequency to which leaders sought feedback from others. Implications for future research and suggestions for the development of student leaders are provided.