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The prevention through design (PtD) initiative places a duty on designers to originate designs that are inherently safe for construction, maintenance, occupation and demolition. In the UK, legislation has been introduced creating a new statutory role called the principal designer (PD) to ensure that PtD occurs during the design process. To realize this objective, PDs under the regulations must have appropriate skills, knowledge and experience (SKE) of occupational safety and health risks as they relate to construction products. However, there is a paucity of knowledge, in the extant literature and in practice, regarding what specifically constitutes PDs’ SKE of PtD and how to measure the same.

The study undertook a systematic review of meanings of SKE and carried out content analyses to provide robust conceptualizations of the constructs SKE. This underpinned the development of nomological networks to operationalize the constructs SKE in respect of PDs’ ability to ensure PtD.

PDs’ SKE of PtD are presented as multidimensional constructs that can be operationalized at different levels of specificity in three theoretical models.

The models indicated in this study can assist project clients to clarify the PtD SKE of prospective PDs in the procurement process. Correspondingly, PDs can look to these frameworks to identify their SKE gaps and take steps to address them.

This study contributes to the PtD literature by providing theoretical frameworks to clarify the PtD SKE of PDs. The study provides a basis for future research to empirically test the attributes of these as they relate to PDs’ competence to ensure PtD.

The phenomenon of delayed payment to contractors, particularly in the construction industry, is a vital one and has implications for the health of economies of both developing and developed countries. However, the knowledge of this phenomenon seems patchy and scattered. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the knowledge on the subject matter with directions for future research.

A systematic literature review coupled with a scientometric analysis was used to identify the main strands of delayed payment to contractor research as a basis for qualitative analysis and directions for future investigations.

Current trends of delayed payment to contractor research are categorised into five broad themes, namely: causes, effects, mitigation measures, ethical and law and regulatory issues. On the basis of these themes, directions for future research are proffered.

To the best of the authors knowledge, this is the first attempt at providing a comprehensive and an integrated knowledge on delayed payment to contractor research with pointers for further investigation and policy directions.

This study presents a resource framework for reverse logistics operations based on widespread literature and industry experience. A common and comprehensive definition of resources that affect the implementation of reverse logistics is still patchy in the extant literature. Hence, a complete scheme, such as this, for the categorisation of resources that affect the implementation of reverse logistics is essential. This provides a useful information for business managers and extends reverse logistics research.

This study systematically identified, and validated with the help of reverse logistics experts, the resources that affect the implementation of reverse logistics.

The result is a classification scheme, termed as “reverse logistics resource matrix” (RLRM). This matrix offers a holistic overview of the resources that affect the implementation of reverse logistics for both scholars and practitioners.

To best of the researchers' knowledge, the RLRM is the first attempt to comprehensively structure the resources that affect the implementation of reverse logistics in an integrated framework.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between environmental management practices (EMP) and competitive operational performance with respect to reduced cost, improved quality, improved flexibility and improved delivery as well as overall environmental performance, of firms, using data from a developing country.

The study employed a survey approach with responses from 164 informants from different industries and used partial least squares structural equation modeling to examine the relationship between EMP and competitive operational performance and their overall impact on the environmental performance of firms.

The results indicate that EMP by firms have a significant positive effect on firms’ competitive operational performance. Again, firms’ competitive operational performance has a partial positive effect on the overall environmental performance. It was also realized that the EMP initiated by a firm have a direct positive impact on the overall environmental performance of the firm.

There is the need for organizations to take steps to plan and implement EMP since it is likely to enhance their competitive operational performance as well as their overall environmental performance.

The findings demonstrate the impact of EMP on competitive operational performance as well as on the overall environmental performance of firms. This is important as firms struggle with balancing investments in those practices against the perceived benefits that might be obtained from the practices.

The work provides insights and adds to the literature in the area of EMP and firm performance by providing evidence from a developing country environment. This study is among the few that have investigated the impact of EMP on firm performance in developing country environments.

Speed to the market is becoming a key competitive priority in developing countries’ environments even though lack of technology, poor skilled labour and under-developed infrastructure remain daunting challenges. The purpose of this paper is to examine the causes and relative importance of delay factors in the introduction of food products to the market in the era of time-based competition.

The study employed a case study approach in understanding the phenomenon in its natural settings and making sense of it through process and participants observations. Again, a two-stage approach (first, interviews and second, questionnaire) was used in collecting data from the respondents who work in a project team for a large food processing firm. The data was analysed using the relative importance index technique.

The results show that the most important causes of delays in new products introduction, especially in the food processing industry, are: high number of projects running concurrently; lack of project management process; lack of consistent project management structure; high workload on project team and delays caused by external laboratory.

This study sought to identify detailed delay factors in the introduction of new products with respect to the food processing industry and more importantly established the relative importance of these delay factors as a decision support system for managers in the food processing industry.

Cost overrun of construction projects has been a key concern for all stakeholders of projects for many decades now. Many studies have been done in the past and continue to be done currently to understand the underlying causes of construction project cost overruns. However, the empirical evidence of the causes seem not be clear due to the silo approach in understanding the causes of construction project cost overruns. The purpose of this paper is to take the debate a step forward by providing an understanding of the causes of project cost overrun from a system’s perspective, especially from a less researched environment.

Data were collected and analysed from 131 respondents who were mainly involved in construction works in public procurement entities in Ghana. A two-staged approach was employed in collecting data from the respondents. The first stage involved an interview session with key informants in the construction industry in Ghana to ascertain the detailed causes of cost overrun of construction projects. The second stage focussed on the validation of these detailed factors by a wider stakeholder group through questionnaires. Factor analysis was employed to consolidate these detailed factors into major causes of construction project cost overruns.

The results show that there are primarily four major causes of most public sector construction projects cost overruns. These four major causes of cost overruns are poor contract planning and supervision; change orders; weak institutional and economic environment of projects and lack of effective coordination among the contracting parties.

The study provides more insights as to the critical and major factors that underpin public sector construction projects cost overruns and more importantly provides a basis for common treatment of the multiple risk factors engendering public sector construction projects cost overruns.

The rising proportion of internet users in Sub-Saharan Africa and the lack of analytical techniques, as decision support systems, in choosing among alternative internet service providers (ISPs) by consumers underpin this study. The purpose of this paper is to propose an approach for evaluating high-speed internet service offered by ISPs in a sub-Saharan African country.

Using a sample size of 150, pairwise comparisons of two ISPs along five criteria of cost, usability, support, reliability and speed were performed by ten person groups of university students working in various organizations in Ghana and undertaking an online Six Sigma Course. Geometric means were employed to aggregate the scores in 15 groups, and these scores were then normalized and used as input into an analytical hierarchy process grid.

The results show that consumers of internet services highly emphasize the cost attribute of internet provision in their decision making. On the other hand, it was realized that consumers least emphasize the support provided by ISPs in their decision making among alternative ISPs.

This study has sought to provide an analytical framework for assessing the quality of service provided by alternative ISPs in a developing economy’s context. The evaluating criteria in this framework also reveal the key consumer requirements in internet service provision in a developing economy’s environment. This, to a large extent, will inform the marketing strategies of existing ISPs in Ghana as well as prospective ones intending to enter the Ghanaian market. Besides, the National Communication Authority, a regulator of communication services provision in Ghana, will be informed about the performances of the ISPs along five performance criteria. This is expected to aid in their regulatory functions.

This paper aims to contend that the circle of investigation into overruns cannot be complete unless the established critical failure factors are matched against their respective mitigating measures to avert the overruns. Extant literature is replete with factors that engender cost and time overruns within the design and construction phase. The constraint is the lack of a scientific approach in establishing a tackling mechanism to address the root causes and stakeholder responsibilities.

The research is based on nine unique grand factors previously established and reported in literature about the Ghanaian Construction Industry. A focus group discussion convened through a purposive sampling technique led to the establishment of a list of mitigating measures and strategies.

The paper established a checklist of 114 mitigating measures categorised into preventive, predictive and corrective approaches. Additionally, several short to medium term key strategies have been recommended to avert the occurrence of cost and time overruns.

The mitigating measures can be adopted as a checklist of good practice to help practitioners enhance the effectiveness of project budget and schedule control. It is also supposed to serve as a guide to practitioners in averting overruns through predictive, preventive and/or corrective causes. A unique approach in averting the occurrence of cost and time overruns.

The Pension Trust Company (PTC) in Ghana is the sole agency responsible for the management of the first-tier pension scheme as well as processing of claims submitted by beneficiaries for this scheme. The claim processing system at PTC was wrought with significant delays resulting in severe customer dissatisfaction and hardship to retirees. Hence, a new system – Age 54⁺ project – was developed to address the problems related to claims processing. The purpose of this paper is to report on the efficiency gains from the new claim processing system implemented at PTC and to use the philosophies behind the lean operations concept to explain the results.

Data for this study were obtained from the benefits system of PTC for the period 2009–2013. The data consist of a series of benefits processing time for two groups of 56,000 claimants – those cleared under the Age 54⁺ project and those cleared under the old processing system. The processes of the two claim processing systems were analysed and their processing times compared.

The new system – Age 54⁺ – decreased the average processing time for new claims by 20 per cent. The new system is a simple approach which is driven by a “Let’s Start in Time” idea.

The operations management literature suggests that process redesign approaches and the implementation of continuous improvement techniques represent mechanisms for achieving performance improvements at governmental agencies. This study shows and discusses the redesign of a social security scheme process using a lean operation concept of waste elimination method and application of kanban to deliver performance improvement.

In Ghana, the duration of construction projects from inception to completion is becoming a great concern, recently, especially among clients and beneficiaries, because of the rising interest rates, inflation, development plan targets, among other factors. Hence the need to understand the causes of delays and cost overrun in the construction sector has become more important than ever. This study therefore aims to identify the major factors underlying time and cost overruns in projects related to the education sector in Ghana to proffer practical solutions in addressing them.

The study conducted a survey among clients’ consultants and representatives of the contractors working on about 60 government school projects. A relative importance index was used to determine the relative effects of the factors causing construction time and cost overruns.

The key factors causing construction time overrun were: financial problems, unrealistic contract durations imposed by clients, poorly defined project scope, client-initiated variations, under-estimation of project cost by consultants, poor inspection/supervision of projects by consultants. Other factors were underestimation of project complexity by contractors, poor site management, inappropriate construction methods used by contractors and delays in the issuance of permits by government agencies. Factors affecting cost overruns were financial difficulty by client, delays in payments of completed works, variations in designs, lack of communications plans, poor feasibility and project analysis, poor financial management on site and material price fluctuations.

The research was limited to only the educational sector projects.

Practically, this study highlights for the construction sector the critical factors causing project time and cost overruns in Ghana. Identification of these factors provides the basis for pragmatic solutions to enhance the chances of project success.

The identification and solutions to project time and cost overruns, especially for educational sector projects, contribute toward making public goods more affordable and accessible to most citizens, particularly in developing countries.

This study contributes to the debate on factors causing project time and cost overruns in the construction sector especially from a developing country’s perspective.