Search results

The purpose of this paper is to report the findings of research into the principles and procedures associated with value management (VM) and assess its use and effectiveness within the construction industry in Northern Ireland. It provides a brief review of the principles, various procedures and methods associated with VM, investigates the positive and negative factors relating to its use whilst analysing the extent of its usage and determining its effectiveness.

Using a mixed method approach, the authors present the results of a survey of construction professionals operating in Northern Ireland and provide an examination of three case studies exploring the use of VM within the Northern Ireland construction industry.

In an industry where the client's needs and demands are of paramount importance, VM has emerged as a tool which can help satisfy these needs. This study shows that VM is frequently used within the Northern Ireland construction industry and on the whole is quite effective. However, the research exposed a general consensus that the VM process is frequently not implemented at the most appropriate stage of a project, which suggests that if it was, it could perhaps be more effective than it is at present. There is an apparent lack of formal methods used to carry out the VM process. Instead, rather loose and informal methods are used.

In the absence of a similar study that analyses the factors that influence the VM process highlighting and documenting the views and opinions expressed by the professionals within today's industry and reviewing the effectiveness of its usage, this paper documents a snapshot of practice of VM within the Northern Ireland construction industry.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the literature about the emergence of social enterprises in the world through the case of Chile by proposing the associative–business–cooperative approach as a new inclusive approach to organizational models of social enterprise that complements Kerlin’s conceptual framework.

This work included a literature review of the theoretical frameworks developed by Kerlin (2013) and Salamon and Solokowski (2010), and field work that included 20 in-depth interviews of members of the Chilean social enterprise community and three expert group discussions about the specific dynamics of Chilean social enterprises.

The emergent phenomenon of social enterprise in Chile has two distinctive features that appear to indicate that Kerlin’s conceptual framework does not fully capture how social enterprise is currently conceptualized in Chile: the long-term dynamics of convergence and (re-)emergence of different organizational models of social enterprises and the participation and evolution of different organizational models of social enterprise over the course of history and their lasting impact.

The lack of data is the main limitation of this research.

Capture the emergent phenomenon of social enterprises in Chile at an early stage of development with an inclusive approach that considers the diversity of the main organizational models of social enterprise and the profound institutional changes happening in Chile during the past decades.

A deep understanding of the Chilean institutional context in the development of social enterprises.

This chapter considers social purpose venturing as a vehicle for addressing social exclusion in the rural developing world, illustrated with reference to case examples across a range of East and Southern African countries.

Data was collected during in-depth case study research with social purpose ventures in various African countries. Qualitative research methods were primarily employed including interviews, stakeholder focus groups and observational research.

Six channels through which social purpose ventures contribute to tackling social exclusion amongst rural BoP communities are identified. These include ventures with the BoP as employees, producers, consumers, entrepreneurs, service users and shareholders. Characteristics for successful social purpose ventures are also discussed.

The chapter adds to knowledge in the field of social purpose venturing in the developing world. It identifies various channels through which such ventures help tackle rural social exclusion and also factors influencing their success.

The chapter provides insights for practitioners and policy makers, particularly in relation to facilitating successful social purpose venturing.

This chapter contributes to better practice in rural development in the Global South.

Insights relevant to academic and practitioner audiences are provided, as the chapter addresses a subject area and region that have received limited attention.

The construction industry is an industry that brings a lot of development to the economic status of any nation if it is well coordinated. There is always an upsurge in the attribute of the professionals concerned as modern methods and innovations are incorporated into the industry. This chapter identifies the value management (VM) practice in many countries researched by several authors, France inclusive. It also gives different definitions by researchers on the subject. The concepts involved in VM practices explain the means by which it is practiced and relates that to its procedures and processes. VM techniques bring closer the different techniques employed in executing a VM practice as the promotion of VM service wraps up the concluding part of this study.

Culture is a big influence in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The presence of culture and related social practices influences the nature and types of demands from the clients of construction projects. Value management (VM) introduced into this construction industry had to break barriers facing the full adoption of the practice. The introductory aspect of the work explains the growth of the construction industry in the UAE over the years. Sustainability and construction were also discussed to understand the influence of both and the utility to be derived with time. Another part of the work speaks on how to improve the practice of VM in UAE construction by suggesting ideas in the design and construction stages. The effect of environment and the cultural aspect of the people, clients, professionals and so on conclude the later part of the work.