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The construction industry (CI) is a major contributor to the gross domestic product of most economies. Yet, the industry is characterized by poorly performing projects, plagued with cost overruns, delays, with a relatively high-risk nature and marginal returns. Given that construction projects are financially dynamic, relying on highly fluctuating working capital and cash-flow requirements, there is an imperative need to understand the working capital management (WCM) of the CI. This study aims to review the extant literature on WCM in the CI to present a contemporary positional paper and engender a wider polemic debate on this crucial phenomenon.

A systematic literature review methodology is used, using Google Scholar as the literature database.

Despite the importance of this research theme, only 16 publications dedicated to the topic of WCM in the CI are identified. This is an important finding in itself and is indicative of hitherto scant research conducted. Other observations include the lack of experts examining the field, with no authors exploring the theme more than once. Subthemes of WCM are also scarce, with only the topic of the relationship between “WCM and profitability” been revisited and refined in literature; all other topics being cursory.

This study is among pioneering papers in developing economies that have taken stock of WCM in the CI. As a result, the conclusion of this paper is to call out the paucity of research in WCM and set a broad agenda for future research.

This paper is a response to the failure of construction firms to use sufficient attention to their working capital management (WCM) practices, resulting in operational challenges, and leading to the collapse of firms in most developing countries. Hence, this study aims to explore the empirical perspective of WCM practices among large building construction firms (LBCFs) in Ghana, to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goal 9.

The study collected primary data through structured survey questionnaires from LBCFs in Ghana. The CEOs/Directors, General Managers and Accountant/Finance of LBCFs in Ghana formed the unit of analysis based on a simple random sampling technique. Mean score, standard deviation and one-sample t-test were used to perform the empirical analysis of the study.

According to this study's empirical results, LBCFs appear to have effective WCM practices in place. This was evidenced in the surveyed responses which indicate that the sector’s WCM practices sound good based on the mean scores and statistically significant as the t-values > 1.664. Notably, LBCFs in Ghana pay their suppliers early to reduce the fear of adverse effect of late payments on their credit history, making them conservative in their approach toward financial management.

This is a pioneering paper in a developing country like Ghana, highlighting the significance of gaining an in-depth understanding of WCM practices among LBCFs. The findings of this study are expected to provide valuable information to industry players toward ensuring WCM efficiencies and can serve as a solid foundation for further empirical studies.

This study aims to form a valid measure and hierarchical framework to achieve corporate sustainability transitions (CSTs).

The fuzzy Delphi method (FDM) is applied to validate and eliminate challenges in sustainability transition regarding qualitative information. Fuzzy interpretive structural modeling (FISM) is used to build a hierarchical framework under uncertainties.

This study finds that technology investment, data management, eco-management and sociospatial embedding challenges are the highest hierarchical framework levels and affect CST.

A lack of awareness and knowledge, a lack of commitment, a lack of strategy, tolerance of unsustainable practices, a lack of stakeholder participation and a fragmented market are perceived as the challenges that show the highest driving and dependence power. These challenges serve as a reference for government and construction firms in the transition to sustainable corporate practices.

Unsustainable corporate practices have caused large amounts of energy consumption, resource depletion and environmental impacts. There are challenges in transitioning to corporate sustainability that must be addressed. The most significant challenges that need to be solved to facilitate the transition to corporate sustainability are identified and arranged in a hierarchical model. By identifying the hierarchical relationships among the challenges, a theoretical framework that extends the existing models is developed to assist decision-makers.

The Public–Private Partnership (PPP) modality plays an important role in the procurement of global infrastructure projects. Regarding PPP's complex transaction structure, pricing of a PPP project is critical to both parties where the government pursues a high value for money (VFM) and the investor strives to maximize its financial gains. Despite the straightforward win–win principle, a formidable compromise is often the case to end up with a fairly acceptable price, subject to many determinants such as the risk profile, expected return, technological innovation and capacities of both parties. Among them, this study chooses to examine the “managing flexibility” (MF) capacity of investors in pricing of a PPP project, in light of the widely recognized importance of a real-option perspective toward the long term, complex and uncertain PPP arrangement. This study addresses two major questions: (1) how is MF in PPP projects to be valued and (2) how are PPP projects to be priced when considering a project's MF value.

A binomial tree model is used to evaluate the MF value in PPP projects. Based on the developed MF pricing model, net present value (NPV) and adjusted VFM value are then calculated. Finally, a multi-objective decision-making method (MODM) was adopted to determine the optimal level of returns based on invested capital (ROIC), return on operation maintenance (ROOM) and concession period.

The applicability and functionality of the proposed model is investigated using a real project case. For a given return, extended NPV and adjusted VFM value were calculated and analyzed using sensitivity analysis. Factor influence is shown by the model to be dependent on factor impact on cash flow. Subsequently, a multi-objective decision-making (MODM) model was adopted to determine the optimal level of returns, where the solution approximates the real-world bidding price. Results confirm that the pricing model provides a reliable and practical PPP proposal pricing tool.

This study proposes an integrated framework for valuing MF in PPP projects and thus more accurately determine optimal pricing of PPP projects than revealed in extant research. The model offers a practical tool to aid in the valuation of PPP projects.

After thoroughly analysing the needs of the PCB industry through close collaboration with several PCB manufacturing companies and with an understanding of ongoing activities of IPC software guidelines, the author's company has designed a highly comprehensive Advanced Integrated Manufacturing System (AIMS) to manage the overall PCB operation with emphasis on production planning and scheduling. This computer system enables the user to achieve real‐time on‐line control of the entire PCB manufacturing operation from quotations through order entry, order edit, production planning and scheduling to shipments including invoicing, accounting, purchasing and keeping track of inventory.

The built environment is a major source of carbon emissions. However, 80 per cent of the damage arises through the operational phase of a building’s life. Office buildings are the most significant building type in terms of emission-reduction potential. Yet, little research has been undertaken to examine the barriers faced by building operators in transitioning to a green operation of the office buildings in their care. This study aims to identify those barriers.

Building facilities managers with between 7 and 25 years’ experience in operating primarily Melbourne high-rise office buildings were interviewed. The sample was taken from LinkedIn connections, with ten agreeing to participate in semi-structured interviews – out of the 17 invitations sent out. Interview comments were recorded, coded and categorised to identify the barriers sought by this study.

Seven categories of barriers to effecting green operation of office buildings were extracted. These were financial, owner-related, tenant-related, technological, regulatory, architectural and stakeholder interest conflicts. Difficulties identifying green operation strategies that improved cost performance or return on investment of buildings was the major barrier.

Government, policymakers and facilities managers themselves have been struggling with how to catalyse a green transition in the operation of office buildings. By identifying the barriers standing in the way, this study provides a concrete point of departure from which remedial strategies and policies may be formulated and put into effect.

The uptake of green operation of office buildings has been extremely slow. Though barriers have been hypothesised in earlier works, this is the first study, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, that categorically identifies and tabulates the barriers that stand in the way of improving the green operational performance of office buildings, drawing on the direct knowledge of facilities experts.

Given their interrelationship, international market selection (IMS) and entry mode selection (EMS) must be considered jointly if an optimal entry strategy is to be realized. However, researchers in the field of international construction have the tendency to consider IMS and EMS independently or sequentially. Therefore, this paper aims to explore a holistic framework that can accommodate IMS and EMS concurrently and test it using empirical data.

his study includes theoretical and empirical research. In theoretical part, an integrated decision model of IMS and EMS is proposed adopting literature review and theoretical derivation, then hypotheses are developed for the impact of decision-making factors. In the latter part, the IMS and EMS of 54 Chinese contractors in 67 countries were investigated, empirical data are collected according to hypotheses, an ordinal logistic regression model is established for statistics analysis. Finally, findings are drawn by comparing literature-based hypotheses with data-based analysis results.

Results show that empirical data fit theoretical model well. Findings are: IMS and EMS can be integrated into a holistic decision-making framework when be properly sequenced. When IMS and EMS are determined simultaneously, the decision can benefit from a sharing of common information. And the roles of at least 13 common factors are empirically demonstrated in this study.

The integrated decision sequence proposed in this study is applicable for a specific market, and cannot compare multiple alternative markets directly. The decision-making factors identified in this paper do not cover the enterprise strategic objectives and some other factors. Empirical data and some theoretical assumptions are based on the international market entry strategy of Chinese contractors. Therefore, the conclusions may not be completely applicable to global contractors though have certain reference value.

Based on the idea of holistic decision-making of IMS and EMS, this study proposes an international market entry strategy (IMES) sequence and an explicit model for determinants, then tests them with empirical data. This paper provides a new idea to manage IMS and EMS concurrently, which can improve the efficiency of IMES decision-making and avoid missing optimal alternatives. This study paves the way for a practical model and provides reference for contractors' international market entry strategy.

Project claim performance is often poor with negative consequences for project-based organizations (PBOs). Conflict and emotion are reported to impact organizational claim performance outcomes, yet remains unexplored. This study investigates the multiple intelligence (MI) context from the viewpoint of the claim management office (CMO), with the intent of identifying pathways to improving the emotion-based claim performance of PBOs.

The study utilizes an autoethnographic case study involving a PBO-based general contractor (GC). Multiple intelligence theory (MIT) is applied as the theoretical lens. Method of framework analysis is used in analyzing the data, with reference to claim management office (RFCMO) theory as a main source in making “analytic generalization”.

Multifaceted complexities of MIs are identified, including ambidexterity, actions and relations, stress and conflict, cultural differences and universals, meta-strategic thinking and team diversity. The holistic emotion-based strategies model identifies how PBOs can improve claim performance, specifically by adopting theories confection remedy and controlling emotion outcomes strategies in a closed-loop process. Further, the coherent emotions governance (CEG) framework enables CMOs' to upgrade maturity levels, by integrating the strategies, general and specific measures for improving emotion-based organizational claim performance.

This is a pioneering study in unveiling the complexities of organizational emotions engagement and the application of confection remedy, specifically in a project management context. The antecedents of RFCMO theory are here enriched with MIT and the pool of the supporting people-centered theories, augmented by an autoethnographic case study, in which the linkage between emotion and conflict complexity is laid bare. Further, this study identifies how conflicts in construction industry can be mitigated by way of a discrete three-category theories confection remedy.

Human vibration exposure from hand-operated equipment emissions can lead to irreparable and debilitating hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS). While work-place health and well-being (H&WB) policies, strategies and procedures have been extensively researched and documented, little has been done to develop a specific strategic framework tailored to the management of hand-arm vibration (HAV). This study fills that gap.

A mixed philosophical approach of interpretivism and critical realism is adopted within a case study of a utilities contractor. Within this overarching epistemological design, action research approach is implemented via a three-stage investigation, namely, relevant company H&WB documents and procedures were examined, leading to the formulation of semi-structured interview questioning of the H&WB team. Their responses informed the next line of questions, delivered to middle-management responsible for overseeing H&S.

The findings are instructive in revealing that while substantial documentation management (augmented with protocols and checks) was in place, the system fell short of implementation within the workforce and thus failed to preserve worker H&WB. The investigation generated recommendations for shoring up H&WB deficiencies observed and developed a theoretical model to represent these. Though these recommendations were developed in response to a specific case, they form the core of a HAV operational H&WB strategy framework with applicability over a broader context.

This research provides unique insight into contemporary industry practices employed to manage HAV in the workplace and represents an invaluable opportunity to learn from prevailing practices and rectify deficiencies observed.

Optimal clean-up procedures lie at the heart of the closeout phase of construction projects under contract law. However, due to its complexity involving multiple issues, potentially unfulfilled contractual obligations, performance claims and counter-claims, combined with consequently deteriorating stakeholder relationships, the management of closeouts is fraught with difficulties leading to suboptimal outcomes. This is particularly true where general contractor (GC) organizations do not have a claims management office (CMO) dedicated to improving such suboptimal clean-up outcomes. Thus, this study aims to develop a model by which CMOs’ may effectively manage the clean-up phase in an environment of closeout claims.

X-inefficiency theory was utilized as the theoretical lens guiding this study. The theory helps identify closeout strategies implemented by a GC, which manages completion claims through a CMO. Data were received and analyzed from a large GC, which served as the firm case study. In this case, managing the closeout completion claims was the main function of the CMO.

The average delay of closeout completion was four times greater than construction phase delays. The GC results highlighted the “economic destruction tsunami of projects,” as a root cause for these completion delays. Wrap-up activities under contract law are identified, including within the domains of statements of completion, project handover and debt settlement. Behavior strategies are also defined, including relational and contractual approaches. Moreover, a process for improving closeout claim performance is described, comprising project closeout identification, rational intra-firm behavior, closeout completion and program closeout practice.

Findings from this work can significantly contribute in X-inefficiency theory in relation to how a decrease of X-inefficiency will lead to better closeout claim performance. It also offers practical insights into how best to minimize delayed closeout completion while providing valuable lessons for stakeholders in complex infrastructure projects. Further, a model is developed that may be utilized by owners, consultancies, designers and other contractor organizations in an effort to improve closeout claim performance.