Marjan Sadeghi, Jonathan Weston Elliott, Nick Porro and Kelly Strong
This paper aims to represent the results of a case study to establish a building information model (BIM)-enabled workflow to capture and retrieve facility information to deliver…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to represent the results of a case study to establish a building information model (BIM)-enabled workflow to capture and retrieve facility information to deliver integrated handover deliverables.
Design/methodology/approach
The Building Handover Information Model (BHIM) framework proposed herein is contextualized given the Construction Operation Information Exchange (COBie) and the level of development schema. The process uses Autodesk Revit as the primary BIM-authoring tool and Dynamo as an add-in for extending Revit’s parametric functionality, BHIM validation, information retrieval and documentation in generating operation and maintenance (O&M) deliverables in the end-user requested format.
Findings
Given the criticality of semantics for model elements in the BHIM and for appropriate interoperability in BIM collaboration, each discipline should establish model development and exchange protocols that define the elements, geometrical and non-geometrical information requirements and acceptable software applications early in the design phase. In this case study, five information categories (location, specifications, warranty, maintenance instructions and Construction Specifications Institute MasterFormat division) were identified as critical for model elements in the BHIM for handover purposes.
Originality/value
Design- and construction-purposed BIM is a standard platform in collaborative architecture, engineering and construction practice, and the models are available for many recently constructed facilities. However, interoperability issues drastically restrict implementation of these models in building information handover and O&M. This study provides essential input regarding BIM exchange protocols and collaborative BIM libraries for handover purposes in collaborative BIM development.
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Kelly Strong, Scott Glick and Gazala Syhail
This study aims to focus on the factors influencing project cost at US public universities and compares them to similar projects in the US private sector. It also presents an…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to focus on the factors influencing project cost at US public universities and compares them to similar projects in the US private sector. It also presents an analysis of the potential reasons for the difference or similarities in the two sectors.
Design/methodology/approach
This study utilized an exploratory, comparative case study methodology performed on a small sample of public university projects and two sources of private sector cost data.
Findings
The results infer that most of the US public projects have comparable costs to that of their US private sector counterparts. The cost data from the university projects were further examined to explore if there were any possible relationships between the types of delivery methods used, sustainability certifications achieved and two project performance indexes – cost and duration.
Research limitations/implications
A more thorough analysis with a larger dataset is required to make generalizable conclusions. However, the process used in this study does provide a good overview of how facility managers could organize their own cost comparison study to evaluate their project expenditures.
Practical implications
This research provides a starting point for future research into the topic of US public sector project costs when compared to US private sector counterparts and the impact of delivery system and sustainability on cost of US public sector projects.
Originality/value
Research on this topic is scant; as such, this paper provides a starting point for future research and offers insights into the potential impacts of project delivery method and choice of following a sustainability certification option.
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Kelly C. Strong, Joel D. Nicholson and Warren R. Nielsen
Balancing the relationship between commitment to work and commitment to family is becoming a major issue in the modern workplace of industrialized nations. In addition, regional…
Abstract
Balancing the relationship between commitment to work and commitment to family is becoming a major issue in the modern workplace of industrialized nations. In addition, regional economic integration is fast becoming a reality in all three legs of the TRIAD (Europe, Japan, and the United States). Rationalized production is occurring at a fast pace across North America. The Enterprise for the Americas Initiative seeks to extend the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) from the Alaskan Yukon to Tierra del Fuego in Southern Chile and many American corporations are moving some production jobs to countries in Latin America. In spite of these labour trends, very little is known about the attitudes of workforces in these emerging labour markets regarding the balance between commitments to work and family. Results of research comparing work‐family orientation values among Chile, Venezuela, Mexico and the United States are presented. Implications for both researchers and managers are discussed.
Aidan Kelly and Teresa Brannick
In this paper we have argued that the reasons for the unusually high level of unofficial strike action in Ireland has little to do with the nature of the industrial relations…
Abstract
In this paper we have argued that the reasons for the unusually high level of unofficial strike action in Ireland has little to do with the nature of the industrial relations system, or with any deep‐seated historical ideological conflict among the principal interest groups. Rather it was the marked departure in public policy in relation to pay and collective bargaining that were the principal causes of high proportions of unofficial strikes. Our basic view about unofficial strikes is that they arise because of the presence of some structural rigidity, which, in turn, results from the nature of the bargaining structure. For example, an extended period of centralized pay bargaining leads to a stiffening of local employer‐employee relationships and procedures which, previously in a decentralized structure, were more flexible and less strict and precise in their formulation and application. This change in the bargaining structure leads to increased levels of unofficial action for a variety of reasons, which are discussed in the paper. There are also other contextual and structural factors which may influence or intensify levels of unofficial action: the type of work in which people are engaged, the strike issue, sector ownership, industry, trade union, and firm size.
Julio O. De Castro, G. Dale Meyer, Kelly C. Strong and Nikolaus Uhlenbruck
The privatization of State Owned Enterprises (SOE) has significant implications for SOE stakeholders. However, the effects on stakeholders will vary depending on characteristics…
Abstract
The privatization of State Owned Enterprises (SOE) has significant implications for SOE stakeholders. However, the effects on stakeholders will vary depending on characteristics of the privatization process and the structure of the SOE. This paper identifies privatization process characteristics of wealth creation and wealth distribution, and describes SOE structures on a continuum between government corporation and government agency. The privatization effectiveness for stakeholders is discussed and examples provided for each classification of privatization.
Donna Quadri-Felitti, Diane Sykes and Feier (Faye) Chen
Motorcycle tourism, as an emerging segment of travelers, has steadily increased in the USA and UK. While previous literature reveals that the attributes of both the journey and…
Abstract
Purpose
Motorcycle tourism, as an emerging segment of travelers, has steadily increased in the USA and UK. While previous literature reveals that the attributes of both the journey and the destination are motivations for motorcycle tourists, the extent to which supply-side stakeholders are aware of those motivators is not clear. This study aims to explore the perceived value of motorcycle tourism between differing tourism suppliers in the US state of Pennsylvania and investigates whether they exhibit sufficient agreement to satisfy the cooperation and collaboration identified as necessary in stakeholder theory.
Design/methodology/approach
For this exploratory study, an electronic survey captured data from different tourism suppliers (N = 123) in the US state of Pennsylvania. A series of analysis of variance and equality of means tests assessed differences and agreements between types of suppliers perceptions of the value of motorcycle tourism and issues associated with successful development of the niche segment.
Findings
Results reveal alignment among tourism suppliers, as well as between identified motorcyclists’ motivations. While negative perceptions about riders within popular culture appear to continue among some tourism operators, the economic value of the segment is growing in its appeal among the respondents.
Research limitations/implications
The unique characteristics of Pennsylvania’s substantial rural areas and the sample being drawn from tourism organizations suggest generalizing the results with caution.
Practical implications
Practitioners can capture more of these tourists by highlighting amenities that attract motorcyclists, collaborating together on events and welcoming messages for motorcyclists, as well as educating their communities and policymakers about their interest in the segment’s economic value.
Social implications
Overall the study’s findings suggest that while a cultural stereotype of the “outlaw” motorcyclist remains, this negative image may be waning among tourism operators. Additionally, these results indicate a possible consistency among the state’s tourism supply-side stakeholders desire to host this segment because of potential positive benefits of these tourists.
Originality/value
There is scant academic research on this visible and growing tourism niche. There is none that these authors found that examined the tourism suppliers’ sentiments regarding the segment’s contribution to tourism, nor explored stakeholder theory relative to tourism suppliers and this niche segment.
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Sally Ann Ashton-Hay, Geoffrey Lamberton, Yining Zhou and Tania von der Heidt
This study aims to examine the effectiveness of bilingual learning strategies designed to support Chinese undergraduate business students facing significant learning challenges in…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the effectiveness of bilingual learning strategies designed to support Chinese undergraduate business students facing significant learning challenges in an Australian university capstone curriculum delivered at their Chinese university. These challenges include the students’ difficulty understanding discipline-specific English terminology, using this terminology to discuss disciplinary concepts with their instructors and stress caused by an abnormally high study load.
Design/methodology/approach
In response to these challenges, the project team implemented a suite of bilingual strategies to reduce cognitive load and enhance learning, which included Chinese-English glossaries to build disciplinary-specific vocabularies; a bilingual teaching assistant to enable students to communicate in their language of choice; the use of WeChat to connect students to staff and to provide translanguaging opportunities; and bilateral managerial and academic support for strengthening the institutional cross-cultural relationship through staff exchange and language learning programs. A series of surveys were administered to measure the impact of these strategies on students’ learning, and WeChat logs were analysed to determine students’ linguistic preferences during discussions with staff and students.
Findings
The results of this project show strong support for each bilingual strategy, high academic performance amongst the student cohort, the positive contribution to learning and connection provided by social media technology, students’ language of choice preferences and chosen translanguaging styles and the important role of teaching staff in supporting international students’ intercultural learning and adaptation to a foreign university learning system.
Originality/value
This original evidence-based study helps to address the gap in bilingual education in Australian higher education demonstrating a successful strategy for dealing with language and discipline-specific challenges confronting EAL students.
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Kai Zeng, Duanxu Wang, Qingyan Ye, Zhengwei Li and Xianwei Zheng
Because unethical behaviour pervades in organisations, how to inhibit the interpersonal influence of unethical behaviour has become increasingly important. This study aims to…
Abstract
Purpose
Because unethical behaviour pervades in organisations, how to inhibit the interpersonal influence of unethical behaviour has become increasingly important. This study aims to integrate the deontic justice theory and affective events theory to examine the relationship between an individual’s unethical behaviour and his or her peers’ vicarious learning by highlighting the mediating effect of peers’ moral anger and the moderating effect of task interdependence on this relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected in two waves from 254 employees of a large manufacturing company in the People’s Republic of China.
Findings
The hypothesised moderated mediation model was supported. Specifically, as expected, peers’ moral anger mediated the negative relationship between an individual’s unethical behaviour and peers’ vicarious learning. Task interdependence moderated the direct relationship between the individual’s unethical behaviour and his or her peers’ moral anger and the indirect relationship between an individual’s unethical behaviour and his or her peers’ vicarious learning via the peers’ moral anger such that these relationships were stronger when the level of task interdependence was higher.
Originality/value
This study argues that the deontic justice theory is a supplement for the social learning theory in explaining the interpersonal influence of unethical behaviour. Drawing on the deontic justice theory, this study demonstrates that an individual’s unethical behaviours are unlikely to be rewarded or accepted, and by integrating the theories of deontic justice and affective events, offers a rationale for the emotional mechanism that underlies the interpersonal influence of unethical behaviour.
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Darren McWhirt, Junyong Ahn, Jennifer S. Shane and Kelly C. Strong
Design‐build project delivery will likely yield benefits when it is a rational choice by a program director or owner's construction manager. It is not well understood whether…
Abstract
Purpose
Design‐build project delivery will likely yield benefits when it is a rational choice by a program director or owner's construction manager. It is not well understood whether those benefits translate to construction programs where design‐build is mandated for the vast majority of project types. Such a determination for military construction (MILCON) is the purpose of this paper.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology for the research involved a comparison of mean performance metrics for design‐build and design‐bid‐build MILCON projects. Once an appropriate sample of projects was identified, project data were corrected for project location, size and time‐value‐of‐money.
Findings
Military design‐build projects did experience a lower total cost of change orders as well as a reduced change order cost associated with field changes. Also, statistical analysis demonstrated no significant difference in project performance metrics based on facility type. These results indicate that design‐build project delivery method can work equally well on all types of MILCON projects and is an effective system for cost and scope control, but that some of the expected schedule performance gains underlying the decision to use design‐build will be difficult to achieve on all MILCON projects.
Originality/value
The paper presents advantages and disadvantages of utilising design‐build to MILCON projects by facility types.
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Richard C. Ringer and Kelly C. Strong
As a result of fundamental change in the environment, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is in the process of major organizational change. This paper reports the perspectives…
Abstract
As a result of fundamental change in the environment, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is in the process of major organizational change. This paper reports the perspectives of four senior managers at the laboratory regarding the change effort and a major restructuring that took place at LANL. Describing the challenges the organization faces and the lessons they have learned, these managers provide a unique viewpoint of change at the laboratory, and organizational change in general. Several key lessons can be learned from the experience of LANL: (1) a well‐understood vision/mission is essential to organizations undergoing major change; (2) major organizational change may take longer than expected; (3) top manager commitment and open communication are critical to the change effort; and (4) changes in structure must be supported by changes in other areas (e.g. compensation and training).