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This study aims to assess and compare the quality and safety of street-vended, ready-to-eat fried and smoked West African Ilisha fish from the major markets in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria.

A total of 50 samples each were obtained from ten major markets in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Samples were analyzed in the laboratory for proximate, rancidity indices; i.e. peroxide value (PV), thiobarbituric acid (TBA), total volatile base-nitrogen (TVB-N), trimethylamine acid (TMA) and free fatty acid (FFA), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) and heavy metals.

The results showed that the mean PV (meq. peroxide/kg), TBA (mg Mol/kg), TVB-N (mgN/kg), TMA (mgN/kg) and FFA (%) contents within the fried fish samples ranged from 18.86-23.11, 2.08-2.98, 14.89-17.79, 1.98-2.89 and 2.46-5.98, respectively, while in the case of smoked fish samples, the corresponding contents were found to be 9.03-15.96, 1.03-1.59, 17.29-19.36, 2.15-2.68 and 1.13-1.62, respectively. The results also revealed the presence of PAH compounds in the fried and smoked fish samples. However, majority of the PAH compounds were above 5.0 μg/kg B(a)P maximum permissible levels set by EU Regulation 1881/2006. Concentrations of Hg, Pb, Cd and Cr in the fried and smoked fish samples showed that quantities of these trace heavy metals were below the recommended limits set by the World Health Organization and hence posed no risk to the consumers. The study concluded that consumption of fried and smoked fish may expose consumers to high-level PAH.

The fried and smoked West African Ilisha fish samples used in this study were obtained from major markets in Ibadan, Oyo State, and there were limitations in getting the same samples with the same treatments in time because of poor and non-established uniform methodology of frying and smoking.

The paper helps in measuring quality and safety standards of fried and smoked fish products to reduce the incidence of food poison and enhance the health of consumers.

This research is of value to the traditional fish processors, government agencies responsible for food quality control and assurance as well as consumers, as little work has been done on this product.

This study aims to assess the quality and microbial safety of traditional smoked spotted tilapia fish from Lagos State and, by doing so, determine the quality and microbial safety level of traditional smoked spotted tilapia fish, their distribution, effects and possible public health implications of the quality/rancidity indices and microorganisms on the consumers.

Fresh spotted tilapia fish (100 samples) were collected from 20 different fishing/processing centres and divided into two batches. One batch was smoked with local drum kiln at processing centres, and the second batch was smoked with convective smoking kiln as control in the laboratory. Each batch was assessed for moisture content, protein content, fat content, crude fibre content, ash content, pH, thiobarbituric acid (TBA), total volatile base- nitrogen (TVB-N), trimethylamine (TMA), peroxide value (PV) and free fatty acid (FFA) values. Microbiological analyses were also conducted. Each batch was assessed for total viable count (TVC), fungal count, Listeria monocytogenes count, Staphylococcus aureus count, Salmonella paratyphi count and presence or absence of Escherichia coli.

The results of the proximate composition, quality indices and microbiological analyses revealed that there was significant variations (p < 0.05) between smoked fish with different smoking methods. The mean pH, TBA, TVB-N, TMA, PV and FFA values of fresh and smoked spotted tilapia fish samples were within the range recommended by United States Food and Drug Administration. The mean TVC of fresh spotted tilapia fish samples was 6.3 × 106-8.8 × 108 cfu/g and TVC of samples of smoked spotted tilapia fish and the control were 2.0 × 104-6.4 × 104 cfu/g and 1.0 × 103-8.6 × 103 cfu/g, respectively. The mean L. monocytogenes count of fresh spotted tilapia fish samples was 1.3 × 102-2.4 × 102 cfu/g and that of samples of smoked spotted tilapia fish ranged from 1.6 × 101 to 23.1 × 101 cfu/g while samples of smoked spotted tilapia fish using convective smoking kiln showed no count for L. monocytogenes. The mean S. aureus count of fresh spotted tilapia fish samples ranged from 4.7 × 103 to 8.0 × 103 cfu/g and that of samples of smoked spotted tilapia fish ranged from 5.1 × 102 to 88.6 × 102 cfu/g and 1.1 × 102 to 3.8 × 102 cfu/g. The mean fat content (FC) count of samples of smoked spotted tilapia fish ranged from 1.1 × 101 to 6.0 × 101 cfu/g. S. paratyphi and E. coli were not detected in all smoked spotted tilapia fish samples. The study, however, concluded that the traditional drum smoked spotted tilapia fish could expose consumers to high microbial risk because of the presence of L. monocytogenes.

The fresh fish used in this study were obtained from coastal villages in Lagos State, and there were limitations in getting the samples in time to the processing centres and in preserving the fresh fish because of poor or non-availability of power (electricity).

The paper includes implications for the development of a cost-effective smoked fish, to ensure food safety, enhanced health and improve the preservation and post-harvest losses of fresh fish.

The paper helps in developing an effective smoked method that will produce good-quality smoked fish, reduce the incidence of food poison and enhance the health of consumers.

This research is of value to the traditional fish smokers and consumers. Smoked fish has been implicated as a source of microbial infection in Nigeria and West African sub-region in recent times and the need for good manufacturing practices cannot be overemphasized.

A major challenge for foreign lenders in financing public private partnerships (PPP) infrastructure projects in an emerging market (EM) is the bankability of country-related risks. Despite existing studies on country risks in international project financing, perspectives of foreign lenders on bankability of country-specific risks in an EM is yet to be explored. Hence, using a mixed methodology approach, three private finance initiatives/PPP projects in Sub Saharan Africa (Nigeria) were used to investigate political risk, sponsor, concession and legal risks in PPP loan applications. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The study adopted mixed methodological approach comprising focus group discussions and analysis of loan documents obtained from foreign project lenders, in addition to the questionnaire survey distributed to local and international project financiers with experiences in PPPs within Nigeria.

Results identified seven topmost bankability criteria for evaluating country-related risks (political risk, sponsor, concession and legal risks) in EM PPPs. In addition, a “Risk and Bankability Framework Model” was developed from the study presenting critical parameters for gaining foreign funding approval for EM’s PPP loan applications.

Since the study only explored bankability of PPPs in Sub Saharan Africa with the exclusion of other geographical regions, the proposed framework model should be taken in context of EMs as a mind-map for foreign lenders and local private investors seeking to finance PPPs in an EM.

Results from the study represent critical parameters for winning foreign loan approval for PPP infrastructure projects within an EM context.

Study proposed “Risk and Bankability Framework Model” relevant for evaluating PPP loan applications at the pre-approval stage for EM PPPs.

Despite an enormous body of literature on conflict management, intra-group conflicts vis-à-vis team performance, there is currently no study investigating the conflict prevention approach to handling innovation-induced conflicts that may hinder smooth implementation of big data technology in project teams.

This study uses constructs from conflict theory, and team power relations to develop an explanatory framework. The study proceeded to formulate theoretical hypotheses from task-conflict, process-conflict, relationship and team power conflict. The hypotheses were tested using Partial Least Square Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM) to understand key preventive measures that can encourage conflict prevention in project teams when implementing big data technology.

Results from the structural model validated six out of seven theoretical hypotheses and identified Relationship Conflict Prevention as the most important factor for promoting smooth implementation of Big Data Analytics technology in project teams. This is followed by power-conflict prevention, prevention of task disputes and prevention of Process conflicts respectively. Results also show that relationship and power conflicts interact on the one hand, while task and relationship conflict prevention also interact on the other hand, thus, suggesting the prevention of one of the conflicts could minimise the outbreak of the other.

The study has been conducted within the context of big data adoption in a project-based work environment and the need to prevent innovation-induced conflicts in teams. Similarly, the research participants examined are stakeholders within UK projected-based organisations.

The study urges organisations wishing to embrace big data innovation to evolve a multipronged approach for facilitating smooth implementation through prevention of conflicts among project frontlines. This study urges organisations to anticipate both subtle and overt frictions that can undermine relationships and team dynamics, effective task performance, derail processes and create unhealthy rivalry that undermines cooperation and collaboration in the team.

The study also addresses the uncertainty and disruption that big data technology presents to employees in teams and explore conflict prevention measure which can be used to mitigate such in project teams.

The study proposes a Structural Model for establishing conflict prevention strategies in project teams through a multidimensional framework that combines constructs like team power conflict, process, relationship and task conflicts; to encourage Big Data implementation.

Although the UK Guarantee Scheme for Infrastructures (UKGSI) was introduced in 2012 to address the huge financing gap for critical infrastructures, PFI sponsors have so far guaranteed only few projects. Many stakeholders in the project finance industry have blamed this situation on lack of general understanding of strategies for harnessing the benefits of the government guarantee scheme. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the perspectives of UK’s PFI/PPP stakeholders on critical factors influencing approval for government guarantees using the UKGSI as a focal point.

Using a mixed methodology approach, this study identified 26 important criteria used in evaluating government guarantee applications through focus group discussions with PFI stakeholders. The identified criteria were then put in questionnaire survey to 195 respondents within the UK PFI/PPP industry.

Through factor analysis, five critical factors determining successful government guarantee application were unravelled. These include: compliance with UK National Infrastructure Plan; demonstration of project bankability and risk management; value for money; proof of projects’ dependence on government guarantee; and certainty of planning commission’s approval.

Results of this study will facilitate an in-depth understanding of critical factors necessary for accessing government guarantee scheme for PFI/PPPs, while also improving the bankability of potential PFI projects.

Earlier studies on risk evaluation in private finance initiative and public private partnerships (PFI/PPP) projects have focussed more on quantitative approaches despite increasing call for contextual understanding of the bankability of risks. The purpose of this paper is to explore the perspectives of UK PFI financiers’ regarding the bankability of four critical risks (construction and completion risk, operations, supply and offtake risk) in PPP projects.

Multiple case study strategy was adopted to investigate the phenomenon within real-life context of PFI/PPP projects in UK. Using purposive sampling approach, the study examined school and road PFI/PPP projects through interviews, documentations and focus group discussions.

Results from the study unravelled 36 suitable bankability criteria and some mitigation strategies for evaluating the four critical risks in PFI/PPP during due diligence appraisal. Further evidences from the study also show that, financiers’ bankability criteria, when paired along with corresponding risks and mitigation strategies within with a single framework, provides a quick and effective view of bankability of risks in PFI/PPP funding application.

In order to ensure generalisability of findings, only projects with similar nature were selected from just two sectors of the UK economy (road and education sectors). The context of the study is also based on UK’s PFI/PPP and Construction Industry, as such, other geographical regions in Europe and beyond have not been contextualised in this study. Due to the significance of finance in PFI/PPP contracts, only the perspective of project financiers have been explored in this study.

This study provides a less complicated but useful understanding of how risks in PFI/PPP projects may be packaged in a bankable manner to secure the confidence of project financiers. By presenting a qualitative framework, the study addresses concerns of over quantification of risk analysis in PFI/PPP appraisals and provides a relatable approach useful for non-finance oriented PPP practitioners.

This study addresses the social concerns of too much complexity and ambiguity in PFI/PPP structuring especially regarding factors that could make a project acceptable to lenders.

The study proposes a “Bankability and Risk Qualitative Framework”, which presents bankability information on critical risks in clear manner and represents critical parameters for winning financiers’ funding approvals for PFI/PPP projects.

This study explored use of big data analytics (BDA) to analyse data of a large number of construction firms to develop a construction business failure prediction model (CB-FPM). Careful analysis of literature revealed financial ratios as the best form of variable for this problem. Because of MapReduce’s unsuitability for iteration problems involved in developing CB-FPMs, various BDA initiatives for iteration problems were identified. A BDA framework for developing CB-FPM was proposed. It was validated by using 150,000 datacells of 30,000 construction firms, artificial neural network, Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud, Apache Spark and the R software. The BDA CB-FPM was developed in eight seconds while the same process without BDA was aborted after nine hours without success. This shows the issue of not wanting to use large dataset to develop CB-FPM due to tedious duration is resolvable by applying BDA technique. The BDA CB-FPM largely outperformed an ordinary CB-FPM developed with a dataset of 200 construction firms, proving that use of larger sample size with the aid of BDA, leads to better performing CB-FPMs. The high financial and social cost associated with misclassifications (i.e. model error) thus makes adoption of BDA CB-FPMs very important for, among others, financiers, clients and policy makers.

The purpose of this study is to commence the discourse on the non-inclusiveness of the dynamics of reputation within the construction industry by identifying and examining the key product and process drivers of reputation in mega-construction projects.

Data was collected through an exploratory sequential mixed methods approach which commences with a qualitative study and culminates with a quantitative study to identify product and process drivers of reputation in mega-construction projects.

The findings suggest that “project quality”, “robust social and environmental sustainability plan”, “project team competence and interpersonal relationship” and “project process efficacy” are the four key drivers influencing the reputation of mega-construction projects.

The findings of this study are solely based on the perception of UK construction practitioners; therefore, the results may only be considered valid in this context. The identification of these key drivers provides a pathway where stakeholders, professionals and organisations can identify and prioritise critical issues associated with enhancing and sustaining the reputation of mega-construction projects.

Findings of this research make a significant contribution to the discourse on the concept of reputation within the construction industry by identifying its specific drivers of reputation.

Competency-based measure is increasingly evident as an effective approach to tailoring training and development for organisational change and development. With design stage widely reckoned as being decisive for construction waste minimisation, the purpose of this paper is to identify designers’ competencies for designing out waste.

Due to paucity of research into competency for construction waste mitigation, this study corroborates verbal protocol analyses (VPA) with phenomenological research.

Combining findings from the two methodological approaches, competencies for designing out waste are grouped into five categories, three of which are largely task related and two being contextual competencies. The study suggests that design task proficiency, low waste design skills and construction-related knowledge are indispensable task competencies, while behavioural competence and inter-professional collaborative abilities are requisite contextual competencies for designing out waste. In concurrence with task-contextual theory of job performance, personality variables and cognitive abilities are found to influence one another. This suggests that both task and contextual competencies are not only important, they are less mutually exclusive with respect to designing out waste.

This study implies that apart from commitment and dedication of designers to waste minimisation, design and firm practices are expected to be adapted to the industry’s standard.

Basis for training needs of design professionals as well as redeployment criterion are further elaborated in the paper. By enhancing competencies identified in this study, construction waste would not only be significantly designed out, adequate cost saving could be made as a result of waste reduction.

This study aims to investigate two public private partnership (PPP) road projects in Nigeria for exploring factors that can motivate end-user stakeholders for contributing towards sustaining a PPP project in the long-term.

Using a case study methodology approach, this study adopts two-way data collection strategies via in-depth interviews with PPP experts and end-user stakeholders in Nigeria host communities and a questionnaire survey to relevant stakeholders.

The study identifies an eight-factor structure indicating critical success factors for ensuring end-user stakeholders support PPP projects on a long-term basis in their host communities.

Results of the study have huge implications for policymakers and project companies by encouraging the early integration of far-sighted measures that will promote long-term support and sustainability for PPP projects amongst the end-user stakeholders.