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This research proposes a viable method of slab and shore load computation for the partial striking technique utilized in high-rise construction projects to optimize the use of horizontal formwork. The proposed Partial Striking Simplified Method (PSSM) is designed to be utilized by industry practitioners to schedule the construction operations of casting floors in order to control the formwork costs incurred throughout the completion of a project.

The article presents the PSSM for calculating slab and shore loads in multi-story building construction. It introduces the concept of “clearing before striking,” where shore supports are partially removed after a few days of pouring fresh concrete. The PSSM procedure is validated through numerical analysis and compared to other simplified approaches. Additionally, a user-friendly Python program based on the PSSM procedure is developed to explore the capability of the PSSM procedure and is used to study the variations in slab load, shoring level, concrete grade and cycle time.

The study successfully developed a more efficient and reliable method for estimating the loads on shores and slabs using partial striking techniques for multi-story building construction. Compared to other simplified approaches, the PSSM procedure is simpler and more precise, as demonstrated through numerical analysis. The mean of shore and slab load ratios are 1.08 and 1.07, respectively, which seems to have a slight standard deviation of 0.29 and 0.21 with 3D numerical analysis. The Python program developed for load estimation is effective in exploring the capability of the proposed PSSM procedure. The Python program's ability to identify the floor under maximum load and determine the specific construction stage provides valuable insights for multi-story construction, enabling informed decision-making and optimization of construction methods.

High-rise construction in Indian cities is booming, though this trend is not shared by all the country's major metropolitan areas. The growing construction sector in urban cities demands rapid construction for efficient utilization of formwork to control the construction costs of project. The proposed procedure is the best option to optimize the formwork construction cost, construction cycle time, the suitable formwork system with optimum cost, concrete grade for the adopted level of shoring in partaking and many more.

The proposed PSSM reduces the calculation complexity of the existing simplified method. This is done by considering the identical slab stiffness and identical shore layout for uniform load distribution throughout the structure. This procedure utilizes a two-step load distribution calculation for clearing phase. Initially, the 66% prop load of highest floor level is distributed uniformly over the lower interconnected slabs. In the second step, the total prop load is removed equally from all slabs below it. This makes the load distribution user-friendly for the industry expert.

Proper prediction of productivity can enable the enhanced estimation, realistic scheduling, and accurate cost forecasting of construction processes. Due to the existence of different labor sources (unionized and non-unionized), the prediction of productivity is still a significant problem in India. Moreover, the construction procurement processes and on-site performance are the predominant elements that can result in improved project outcomes. Thereby, the consideration of labor constraints and site conditions will play an important role in productivity improvement.

This study investigates the factors affecting construction site productivity. A total of 28 factors are grouped under 7 categories as follows: labor constraints, safety and quality procurements, material and equipment (ME), site management, project working condition, delay controls, construction methods and techniques, and external factors. Furthermore, by involving these factors, the questionnaire survey was conducted among Indian construction practitioners. As a result, 204 responses were received and the data were analyzed using a reliability test, relative importance index (RII), and analysis of variance (ANOVA).

The result of this study highlighted the importance of strategic construction management activities in terms of effective planning of ME, planning and realistic scheduling of construction activities, proper communication, information sharing, etc. Thus, this study provides a clear insight to the Indian construction practitioners in determining the effect of these site factors on the successful execution of their projects.

In this paper, the problem of construction productivity in India and its causes are explained effectively. This study examines the preference of labor contract, labor source, and most importantly, the factors affecting site productivity. Moreover, the other lagging issues regarding the management of construction activities are also described in detail.

Very little or no study has explored the predictors of behaviour and traits that determine digital entrepreneurship (DE) success. In response, the purpose of this paper is to present a research model that takes information technology (IT) culture as a theoretical lens and personal innovativeness and experience in IT projects as theoretical constructs to predict behaviour and traits that explain DE success.

Based on the literature review, the authors propose hypotheses and a research model. The authors tested the model using structural equation modelling (SEM), by surveying a sample of digital entrepreneurs operating in the Yabacon Valley, Lagos, Nigeria.

The results indicate that IT culture is an essential predictor of achieving DE success. The results also suggest that an entrepreneur's innovativeness in IT and experience in IT projects have significant negative and positive moderating effects on the relationship between IT culture and achieving DE success.

This paper taps into a new setting – DE context – by exploring the moderation effects of an entrepreneur's innovativeness in IT and experience in IT projects on the link between their IT culture and achieving a successful DE outcome.

This model offers managers an understanding of how IT culture and personal innovativeness and experience in IT work together to achieve DE success. Meanwhile, it sheds some light on managers to treat individuals with different levels of experience differently.

The authors theorise IT culture, personal innovativeness and experience in IT and show their effects on DE success, thus making an essential contribution to the information systems (ISs) and entrepreneurship research and practice. Moreover, the authors provide a novel methodology to conceptualise IT culture as a second-order hierarchical reflective construct by giving evidence that partial least squares (PLS) path modelling can assess a hierarchical model with moderating effects. This study answers scholars' call to construct more accurate explanations of innovation outcomes in an increasingly digital world.

Service-oriented innovation economies are becoming the new trend for the construction industry. Benchmarking the quality management level of developed countries and improving quality management are also becoming necessities for promoting innovation in the economy. The purpose of this study is to analyse the internal relationships between the five enablers of the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Excellence model, based on a market-oriented strategy, to serve as a framework for managing and improving quality.

Considering the different market environment and culture, this study refines the strategy enabler based on Zebal and Goodwin's (2011) Developing Country Market Orientation Scale, and builds a market-oriented EFQM Excellence model. Structural equation modelling (SEM) is used to analyse the results of a questionnaire survey of 683 China construction industry top enterprises to explore the internal relationships between the model's five enablers.

(1) “Leadership” has a positive influence on “Market-Oriented Strategy”, “People” and “Partnerships and Resources”; (2) “Market-Oriented Strategy” has positive influence on “Partnerships and Resources”; (3) “People” has a low influence on “Processes, Products and Services”; (4) “Partnerships and Resources” has a medium influence on “Processes, Products and Services” and (5) the relationships between “Market-Oriented Strategy” and “People”, “Partnerships and Resources” are not significant.

This study refines the strategy enabler of the original EFQM Excellence model with Zebal and Goodwin's (2011) Developing Country Market Orientation Scale. It also develops a market-oriented EFQM Excellence model that is suitable for developing countries, and it tests the implicit relationships of its five new enablers in an innovation environment where cultural differences exist.

This study aims to evaluate the extent to which the criteria of the EFQM Excellence Model and the relationships between them are relevant in the management of rural territory development. Verifying this relevance is crucial as a first step to determine how the adoption of an excellence model could enhance the results of the local action groups (LAGs) in managing their territories. If successful, the benefits for the management of territorial rural development in Spain could be highly significant.

Field data were collected through a questionnaire distributed to the managers of 253 LAGs in Spain during the first quarter of 2021. Hypotheses were formulated to evaluate the significance of the EFQM model in the outcomes achieved by LAGs. The data were analysed using partial least squares-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) and necessary conditions analysis (NCA).

This study validates all the formulated assumptions regarding the EFQM model, including the mediating role of process management in the impact of strategy and the technical team (people) on outcomes. Based on the obtained results, it can be concluded that the adoption of a model of excellence could increase the effectiveness of LAGs in managing the development of their territories.

Like all research, this study has its limitations. For example, the data used responds to an indirect approach to the criteria of the EFQM model. Direct measurement of the criteria was not possible because there were no LAG evaluations with the EFQM model or any other model of excellence. Additionally, the LAG sample used does not equally reflect the reality of the different autonomous communities, which, together with the relatively small nature of the sample, does not allow comparisons of the autonomous communities. The age of the participants was not included in the analysis, so it was not possible to evaluate the effect that this variable could have on the results. There are LAGs in other EU countries as well. It would be interesting to see whether the results obtained in this study with Spanish LAGs are consistent with those in other countries. The study was conducted at the criterion level. It would be of interest to delve deeper into the subcriterion level in future work. Finally, this study was based on the EFQM 2013, while the most recent study was from 2020, which is a limitation. When the study was designed, there was not yet sufficient experience with the 2020 model. It will be interesting to see in future work the extent to which the results and conclusions obtained remain consistent with those of the 2020 model.

Approaches to tackling the problem of rural development have often relied on intuitive and practical trial-and-error methods in the implementation of public policies rather than on a solid and validated theoretical foundation. Therefore, verifying the relevance of the criteria and their interrelationships, intrinsic to models such as the EFQM 2013 model, in the context of managing rural territories, can greatly aid the management of these types of organisations.

The development of rural territories is a critical issue that remains unresolved in many countries. Failure to address this, or not doing so in a timely manner, has consequences for equity and migration to large urban centres. Enhancing the effectiveness of the LAGs can improve the living conditions of people in rural areas and contribute to the overall development of rural territories in Spain. This can simultaneously help mitigate the depopulation of rural areas.

Traditional approaches to rural development have often relied on practical trial-and-error methods in implementing public policies. The decision to adopt an excellence management model for the development of rural territories hinges on the validity of criteria and their interrelationships, such as those intrinsic to the EFQM 2013 model, within the context of rural development.

The EFQM model of excellence is applicable in managing the development of rural territories, although some relationships between criteria, such as the case of Partnership and Resources on Results, are affected by the context in which local action groups currently operate in Spain.

This study applies PLS-SEM in the analysis of the relationships between criteria of the EFQM model in the context of managing the development of rural territories.

The failure and abandonment of construction projects have proven to be insurmountable problems incessantly militating against the efficient performance of the construction industry in Nigeria. The complexity, technicality and a host of other project execution issues unique to multi-storey building projects do increase their susceptibility to failure and abandonment. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to examine the factors influencing failure and abandonment of multi-storey building projects in Nigeria. This is with a view to provide inferential empirical data that could enhance successful delivery of multi-storey building projects in Nigeria.

Primary data were used for the study. A structured questionnaire was administered on consultants and contractors’ personnel within Lagos State, Nigeria. A total of 180 copies of the questionnaire were administered ,and 134 copies which represent a combined response rate of 74.4 per cent were retrieved. The data were analysed using frequency distribution and percentages, Mean item score and factor analysis.

The factors most significant to the failure and abandonment of multi-storey building projects are inadequate funding by the client, improper planning at the pre-construction phase, structural failure in multi-storey building during construction, bankruptcy/business failure of the contractor, improper scheduling of the building project activities and failure to engage qualified professionals with technical expertise and experience. The rated factors clustered under human resources capability, planning and structural quality, contractor selection and variation, insecurity and variation, and force majeure and political risk.

The study was limited to multi-storey building projects in Lagos State, Nigeria. Further studies could focus on specific resuscitation strategies for abandoned multi-storey building projects.

The study provided implications for effective project and contract management of multi-storey building projects which is very paramount to improve the delivery of complex, technical- and capital-intensive building projects in Nigeria.

The study provides specific implications for the management of multi-storey building projects, thereby enhancing the delivery of building projects.

Technology acceptance is a measure of that technology’s usefulness. Oil palm is one of the biggest contributors to Indonesia’s revenues, thus fueling its economy. Using remote sensing would allow a plantation to monitor and forecast its production and the amount of fertilizer used. This review aims to provide a policy recommendation in the form of a strategy to improve the added value of Indonesia’s oil palm and support the government in increasing oil palm production. This recommendation needs to be formulated by determining the users’ acceptance of remote sensing technology (state-owned plantations, private plantation companies and smallholder plantations).

This review’s methodology used sentiment analysis through text mining (bag of words model). The study’s primary data were from focus group discussions (FGDs), questionnaires, observations on participants, audio-visual documentation and focused discussions based on group category. The results of interviews and FGDs were transcribed into text and analyzed to 1) find words that can represent the content of the document; 2) classify and determine the frequency (word cloud); and finally 3) analyze the sentiment.

The result showed that private plantation companies and state-owned plantations had extremely high positive sentiments toward using remote sensing in their oil palm plantations, whereas smallholders had a 60% resistance. However, there is still a possibility for this technology’s adoption by smallholders, provided it is free and easily applied.

Basically, technology is applied to make work easier. However, not everyone is tech-savvy, especially the older generations. One dimension of technology acceptance is user/customer retention. New technology would not be immediately accepted, but there would be user perceptions about its uses and ease. At first, people might be reluctant to accept a new technology due to the perception that it is useless and difficult. Technology acceptance is the gauge of how useful technology is in making work easier compared to conventional ways.

Therefore, technology acceptance needs to be improved among smallholders by intensively socializing the policies, and through dissemination and dedication by academics and the government.

The social implications of using technology are reducing the workforce, but the company will be more profitable and efficient.

Remote sensing is one of the topics that people have not taken up in a large way, especially sentiment analysis. Acceptance of technology that utilizes remote sensing for plantations is very useful and efficient. In the end, company profits can be allocated more toward empowering the community and the environment.

Modeling represents the art of translating problems from an application area into tractable mathematical formulations whose theoretical and numerical analysis provides insight, answers and guidance useful for the originating application. The purpose of this paper is to determine the causal causes of schedule overrun and cost escalation of highway projects in Egypt in order to be used as independents variables in mathematical models for predicting the percentages of schedule overrun and cost escalation of such projects in Egypt.

A survey of a randomly selected samples yielded responses from 40 owners, 15 consultants and 56 contractors. The survey includes 38 schedule overrun factors and 26 cost escalation factors. The effectiveness degree of the identified factors has been identified by the triangle fuzzy approach.

The results of the survey show that “contractor’s technical staff is insufficient and ineligible to accomplish the project” is the most important cause of schedule overrun, while the major cause of cost escalation is inadequate preparation of the project concerning planning and execution.

The main contribution of this study is predicting the percentages of schedule overrun and cost escalation of highway projects in Egypt. Through the application of the linear regression analysis method and statistical fuzzy theory, four predictive models have been developed and it has been noted that the linear regression-based model shows prediction accuracy better than statistical fuzzy-based model in predicting percentages of schedule overrun and cost escalation.

Quality measurement is the trigger for quality improvement. Indeed, what gets measured gets done. The real scope of quality improvement in construction projects is the difficulty and-maybe-lack of quality measurement methods. The purpose of this paper is to identify the factors influencing the quality performance of highway projects in Egypt. Furthermore, this paper also contributes to develop models to measure the quality level of these projects.

A literature review is conducted to compile a list of factors influencing the quality of highway projects. The resulting list of factors is subjected to a questionnaire survey which was sent to owners, consultants and contractors of highway projects in Egypt. Furthermore, linear regression analysis and statistical fuzzy approaches are adopted for modeling process.

The survey results show that availability of experienced staff in the owner’s and contractor’s teams during the project execution, asphalt quality and type used in the construction process, pavement is not designed according to the regional conditions, and contractor’s labors and equipment capability are among the most important factors influencing quality performance.

The main contribution of this study is to develop models to measure the quality of highway projects in Egypt. The first model is based on the linear regression analysis, while the second one is based on a statistical fuzzy approach which is a hybrid approach from the fuzzy logic and regression analysis. Validation of the models reveals that the linear regression and the statistical fuzzy models can accurately assess expected quality of any future highway projects at confidence levels 68.97 and 87.44 percent, respectively.

Cultural differences between employees of different nationalities are hindering the development of some transnational joint ventures. Describing and modelling the positive (or negative) factors that cause joint venture employees to accept (or reject) joint management business practices is of great value to all corporations operating abroad with locally sourced employees.

This study uses a Sino-Japan construction joint venture project as a representative case study. First, structural equation modelling is used to identify the factors influencing Chinese employees' acceptance of joint venture management practices. Then, a system dynamics model is adopted to simulate the time-dependent effects of the incentives.

The study results (1) indicate which incentives strongly affect employee acceptance of joint venture management practices; (2) identify inefficient management practices in cross-cultural joint ventures; and (3) provide evidence that the employees' perceptions of clear purpose, good working relationships and helpful mechanisms positively and directly also support their acceptance of joint management practices.

–A dynamic simulation method is used to analyse the influence of various incentive factors on employee acceptance of joint management. This provides unprecedented information regarding how these factors interact with each other, hence how their effectiveness varies (both positively and negatively) over time. Further findings also provide new ideas for joint venture managers to adopt more effective management methods.