Tristan Williams, Dino Bouchlaghem, Dennis Loveday and Charlie Law
Client satisfaction is a key element of repeat business and for securing future work in the construction industry. There are areas still in need of improvement for contractors;…
Abstract
Purpose
Client satisfaction is a key element of repeat business and for securing future work in the construction industry. There are areas still in need of improvement for contractors; these areas include the handover process to clients and the subsequent aftercare and organisational learning. Post‐occupancy evaluation (POE) offers an opportunity for a holistic perspective towards continual improvement in construction. While the challenges of POE have been well documented in the design phase, the role of the principal contractor in this area has been under‐researched. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of the contractor in the POE process and to identify good practice in improving the building environment for the end users.
Design/methodology/approach
The research comprised a comprehensive review of current literature with a focus on existing practices. The review highlighted a need for further research into contractor involvement in POE in the UK construction industry. An electronic questionnaire survey was produced and distributed to the United Kingdom Contractors Group. Subsequent semi‐structured interviews were conducted with willing participants from the survey, to further investigate the responses to the survey.
Findings
The key findings from the research highlighted the lack of contractor involvement in POE and insufficient knowledge on how or when to conduct POE on a project. Many of the barriers to POE identified by previous research are not applicable to contractor involvement in POE. The majority of construction professionals believe that POE is time intensive and that there is difficulty in interpreting the information collected from POE. Dissemination of information internally and externally has the potential to offer significant value to organisational and individual development of all stakeholders involved in the process.
Practical implications
The findings are likely to be of interest to designer's facilities management professionals and those involved in construction. Contractors should view POE as a business opportunity to improve the end output for the client and end‐users and not as another expensive problem.
Originality/value
This paper addresses the perceptions of POE within the major UK contractor group. It identifies relevant barriers to POE in the construction process and highlights the lack of POE penetration into the wider construction industry. The research has highlighted that POE has the potential to improve contractor performance and add value to end users of new projects. It has identified that previous research has focused on consultant‐led research as opposed to contractor‐led.
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Patrick Lo, Robert Sutherland, Wei-En Hsu and Russ Girsberger
Fidel Amésquita Cubillas, Oswaldo Morales and Gareth H. Rees
This paper aims to focus on the influences that lead individuals to create and continue with operating informal business ventures in Peru. It seeks to empirically identify the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to focus on the influences that lead individuals to create and continue with operating informal business ventures in Peru. It seeks to empirically identify the factors that are significant in forming the intentions of entrepreneurs to begin or continue with their informal businesses.
Design/methodology/approach
The theory of planned behaviour (TPB) is applied using data gathered from interviews with informal domestic gas cylinder sellers using a formally conducted survey. Using structural equation modelling, the constructs that influence the entrepreneurial intentions of informal gas sellers in Lima, Peru, are determined.
Findings
Of the three TPB constructs, attitude was found to be most significant, reflecting a belief of informality’s benefits, social norm was also significant, revealing the importance of the opinions of family, whereas perceived behavioural control was found not to be significant.
Originality/value
These results provide confirmation of a policy approach developed to address the high rates of business informality while maintaining safety in a highly regulated industry segment. By providing insight into factors beyond economic drivers, the study reveals that an understanding of the prevailing social environment is important for the development of policies dealing with informal entrepreneurship.
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This bibliography is intended as a guide for librarians, scholars, students, and interested amateurs. It suggests what books or media would be an invaluable starting collection to…
Abstract
This bibliography is intended as a guide for librarians, scholars, students, and interested amateurs. It suggests what books or media would be an invaluable starting collection to understanding the Arthurian legend, which has been over a millennium in the making.
Provides background to the Dada movement, founded by expatriates mainly from Europe in the period from the middle to the end of World War I; and gives guidance on developing a…
Abstract
Provides background to the Dada movement, founded by expatriates mainly from Europe in the period from the middle to the end of World War I; and gives guidance on developing a collection of works covering Dadaism.
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Helen Frances Harrison, Elizabeth Anne Kinsella, Stephen Loftus, Sandra DeLuca, Gregory McGovern, Isabelle Belanger and Tristan Eugenio
This study aims to investigate student mentors' perceptions of peer mentor relationships in a health professions education program.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate student mentors' perceptions of peer mentor relationships in a health professions education program.
Design/methodology/approach
The design uses embodied hermeneutic phenomenology. The data comprise 10 participant interviews and visual “body maps” produced in response to guided questions.
Findings
The findings about student mentors' perceptions of peer mentor relationships include a core theme of nurturing a trusting learning community and five related themes of attunement to mentees, commonality of experiences, friends with boundaries, reciprocity in learning and varied learning spaces.
Originality/value
The study contributes original insights by highlighting complexity, shifting boundaries, liminality, embodied social understanding and trusting intersubjective relations as key considerations in student peer mentor relationships.
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Social networking and mobile devices are now fully integrated into the fabric of society. Even people who do not directly use these applications are impacted by those who do…
Abstract
Purpose
Social networking and mobile devices are now fully integrated into the fabric of society. Even people who do not directly use these applications are impacted by those who do. These technologies structure information, media companies, education, political policies and much more.
Design/methodology/approach
At their best, these are technologies that can provide entertainment, increase productivity and improve the lives of their users.
Findings
This column will explore concerns about how technology uses unconscious biases to influence its users’ engagement. It will offer tools and techniques for those interested in exerting more control over their use of technology and how the underlying ecosystem has created this situation.
Originality/value
It highlighted the work of Tristan Harris, who had previously worked at Google as a design ethicist but left to found an organization called Time Well Spent as one of the key leaders.
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Helen M.G. Watt, John Ehrich, Sandra E. Stewart, Tristan Snell, Micaela Bucich, Nicky Jacobs, Brett Furlonger and Derek English
The purpose of this paper is to develop a professional self-efficacy scale for counsellors and psychologists encompassing identified competencies within professional standards…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop a professional self-efficacy scale for counsellors and psychologists encompassing identified competencies within professional standards from national and related international frameworks for psychologists and counsellors.
Design/methodology/approach
An initial opportune sample of postgraduate psychology and counselling students (n=199) completed a ten-minute self-report survey. A subsequent independent sample (n=213) was recruited for cross-validation.
Findings
A series of exploratory analyses, consolidated through confirmatory factor analyses and Rasch analysis, identified a well-functioning scale composed of 31 items and five factors (research, ethics, legal matters, assessment and measurement, intervention).
Originality/value
The Psychologist and Counsellor Self-Efficacy Scale (PCES) appears a promising measure, with potential applications for reflective learning and practice, clinical supervision and professional development, and research studies involving psychologists’ and counsellors’ self-perceived competencies. It is unique in being ecologically grounded in national competency frameworks, and extending previous work on self-efficacy for particular competencies to the set of specified attributes outlined in Australian national competency documents. The PCES has potential utility in a variety of applications, including research about training efficacy and clinical supervision, and could be used as one component of a multi-method approach to formative and summative competence assessment for psychologists and counsellors. The scale may be used to assess students’ perceived competencies relative to actual competency growth against national standards, and to identify trainees’ and practitioners’ self-perceived knowledge deficits and target areas for additional training.
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This chapter aims to expose the reader to the notion that mandated diversity and inclusion changes intended to vary the composition of institutions of learning has not…
Abstract
This chapter aims to expose the reader to the notion that mandated diversity and inclusion changes intended to vary the composition of institutions of learning has not accomplished its goal. Rather, it has triggered a complex mix of reactions from the very people for whom the policy was designed to assist and from those who work under the policy. As society is molded to meet diversity targets, salient threats from dominant groups directed toward minority groups result in interpersonal conflict. This chapter explores the benefits that instructors receive from professional development activities centered on diversity. It examines the social identity conflict that is created when different minded people work together. It provides insight into the benefits of approaching social identity conflict with a conflict transformation perspective. This chapter exposes the reality that, while the words one speaks are respectful and inclusive, one’s actions may be totally different. Educators must exhibit an overarching commitment to the making of decisions on integrity and evidence rather than impressions. This chapter discusses the importance of the role of educators as moral leaders and the need for educators to create inclusive classrooms where diversity is celebrated.