Pub Date : 2023-09-28DOI: 10.1080/01446193.2023.2259015
Gulnaz Aksenova, Kwadwo Oti-Sarpong
The UK government’s recent transformation agenda focused on a Platform approach to Design for Manufacture and Assembly (P-DfMA) has attracted interest from the construction sector. A closer examination of the P-DfMA agenda raises questions about its origins and implications. This paper critically analyses grey sector literature, policy and government-supported reports on P-DfMA to discuss how it has been conceptualised, and the implications for the growing “platformania” in the UK construction sector. To this end, firstly platform conceptualisations are synthesised, and distinctions between product platforms and DfMA are highlighted. Secondly, based on an analysis of policy and related documents, five areas critical to driving the platformisation agenda are identified: Product platform development; digitally designed components; platform leadership and ownership; platform governance; and business models. The critical analysis suggests that product platformisation in the UK construction sector requires two distinct types of platform approaches: the product platform; and a transaction platform or a marketplace for buyers and sellers of the components of product platforms. The implications of both for the strategic organising of construction firms, and the five areas identified, are discussed and synthesised with the evidence from management literature. Practical and policy implications for sector stakeholders are outlined, along with questions for future research on product platformisation in the construction sector.
{"title":"Beyond “platformania” in the construction sector: Conceptualisations and implications of product platformisation in the UK","authors":"Gulnaz Aksenova, Kwadwo Oti-Sarpong","doi":"10.1080/01446193.2023.2259015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01446193.2023.2259015","url":null,"abstract":"The UK government’s recent transformation agenda focused on a Platform approach to Design for Manufacture and Assembly (P-DfMA) has attracted interest from the construction sector. A closer examination of the P-DfMA agenda raises questions about its origins and implications. This paper critically analyses grey sector literature, policy and government-supported reports on P-DfMA to discuss how it has been conceptualised, and the implications for the growing “platformania” in the UK construction sector. To this end, firstly platform conceptualisations are synthesised, and distinctions between product platforms and DfMA are highlighted. Secondly, based on an analysis of policy and related documents, five areas critical to driving the platformisation agenda are identified: Product platform development; digitally designed components; platform leadership and ownership; platform governance; and business models. The critical analysis suggests that product platformisation in the UK construction sector requires two distinct types of platform approaches: the product platform; and a transaction platform or a marketplace for buyers and sellers of the components of product platforms. The implications of both for the strategic organising of construction firms, and the five areas identified, are discussed and synthesised with the evidence from management literature. Practical and policy implications for sector stakeholders are outlined, along with questions for future research on product platformisation in the construction sector.","PeriodicalId":51389,"journal":{"name":"Construction Management and Economics","volume":"63 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135387045","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-09-28DOI: 10.1080/01446193.2023.2262622
Douglas Comassetto Hamerski, Tarcisio Abreu Saurin, Carlos Torres Formoso, Eduardo Luis Isatto
AbstractAlthough the Last Planner System (LPS) has been successfully used in complex construction projects, previous studies have not investigated how it supports resilient performance (RP), which is crucial for the construction industry. To address this gap, a case study of using the LPS in refurbishment building projects was conducted. The implementation of LPS was analysed in light of seven principles for the design of resilient systems. Sources of data for this analysis involved documents, semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and secondary data. The results pointed out 25 production planning and control practices that contributed to RP, including well-established LPS practices, formalised in the planning standards of the company (32% of the total); formal practices not usually considered as elements of LPS (20%); and informal practices not anticipated by company standards (48%). These findings indicate that although LPS contributes to RP, it must be complemented by other practices, either formal or informal. A set of well-established practices (e.g. hierarchical planning, identification and removal of constraints, collaborative meetings, and use of lagging and leading indicators) are those most logically connected to the principles of design for RP. This study also offers insights into some LPS limitations (e.g. low control frequency and overemphasis on production in relation to other functional dimensions), which indicate opportunities for the development of new production planning and control approaches supportive of RP.Keywords: Last Planner Systemconstruction projectscomplexityresilienceproduction planning and control Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Data availability statementDue to the nature of the research and ethical restrictions, supporting data is not available.
{"title":"The contributions of the Last Planner System to resilient performance in construction projects","authors":"Douglas Comassetto Hamerski, Tarcisio Abreu Saurin, Carlos Torres Formoso, Eduardo Luis Isatto","doi":"10.1080/01446193.2023.2262622","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01446193.2023.2262622","url":null,"abstract":"AbstractAlthough the Last Planner System (LPS) has been successfully used in complex construction projects, previous studies have not investigated how it supports resilient performance (RP), which is crucial for the construction industry. To address this gap, a case study of using the LPS in refurbishment building projects was conducted. The implementation of LPS was analysed in light of seven principles for the design of resilient systems. Sources of data for this analysis involved documents, semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and secondary data. The results pointed out 25 production planning and control practices that contributed to RP, including well-established LPS practices, formalised in the planning standards of the company (32% of the total); formal practices not usually considered as elements of LPS (20%); and informal practices not anticipated by company standards (48%). These findings indicate that although LPS contributes to RP, it must be complemented by other practices, either formal or informal. A set of well-established practices (e.g. hierarchical planning, identification and removal of constraints, collaborative meetings, and use of lagging and leading indicators) are those most logically connected to the principles of design for RP. This study also offers insights into some LPS limitations (e.g. low control frequency and overemphasis on production in relation to other functional dimensions), which indicate opportunities for the development of new production planning and control approaches supportive of RP.Keywords: Last Planner Systemconstruction projectscomplexityresilienceproduction planning and control Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Data availability statementDue to the nature of the research and ethical restrictions, supporting data is not available.","PeriodicalId":51389,"journal":{"name":"Construction Management and Economics","volume":"130 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135386094","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-08-21DOI: 10.1080/01446193.2023.2247496
Olli Vigren
{"title":"Ecosystems in construction management and urban development: a comprehensive review of conceptualizations and contributions","authors":"Olli Vigren","doi":"10.1080/01446193.2023.2247496","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01446193.2023.2247496","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":51389,"journal":{"name":"Construction Management and Economics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2023-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47215125","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-08-10DOI: 10.1080/01446193.2023.2239381
Basma Ben Mahmoud, N. Lehoux, Pierre Blanchet
{"title":"Integration mechanisms for material suppliers in the construction supply chain: a systematic literature review","authors":"Basma Ben Mahmoud, N. Lehoux, Pierre Blanchet","doi":"10.1080/01446193.2023.2239381","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01446193.2023.2239381","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":51389,"journal":{"name":"Construction Management and Economics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2023-08-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49287181","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-07-21DOI: 10.1080/01446193.2023.2235439
Sujuan Zhang, R. Leiringer, G. Winch
{"title":"Procuring infrastructure public-private partnerships: capability development and learning from an owner perspective","authors":"Sujuan Zhang, R. Leiringer, G. Winch","doi":"10.1080/01446193.2023.2235439","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01446193.2023.2235439","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":51389,"journal":{"name":"Construction Management and Economics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2023-07-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49047473","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-07-11DOI: 10.1080/01446193.2023.2222190
R. Rogerson, Bob Giddings, Marcus Jefferies
As cities are being asked to transition to a new future shaped by significant social, economic and environmental challenges, renewed attention is being given to the urban development process, and on how this process has to be more inclusive, and the outcomes more coherent. With past notions of masterplans as a single, fixed visionary document being replaced with guiding strategies, open to interpretation, there is a greater need for different disciplines to engage together throughout the development process. This paper explores opportunities and needs for construction management to be more actively involved in the reshaping of the city centre, from the envisioning of its future to the realization of change. Through the lens of the process of change in four city centres across the world, this paper outlines how discussing construction management could beneficially engage with other urban disciplines to create a shared vision for centres as part of local governance. It argues for construction management adopt a wider spatial and temporal perspective that looks beyond specific buildings, site and projects to situ-ate development in the urban and regional systems and to help be part of the envisioning process. Along with more critical engagement in the policy, design and construction processes for construction management, the paper points to a need for more local sensitivity and adaptation including an appreciation of the contribution of public spaces and a different approach to urban development if the city centre is to be more sustainable in future.
{"title":"Constructing the future of the city centre: realizing visions","authors":"R. Rogerson, Bob Giddings, Marcus Jefferies","doi":"10.1080/01446193.2023.2222190","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01446193.2023.2222190","url":null,"abstract":"As cities are being asked to transition to a new future shaped by significant social, economic and environmental challenges, renewed attention is being given to the urban development process, and on how this process has to be more inclusive, and the outcomes more coherent. With past notions of masterplans as a single, fixed visionary document being replaced with guiding strategies, open to interpretation, there is a greater need for different disciplines to engage together throughout the development process. This paper explores opportunities and needs for construction management to be more actively involved in the reshaping of the city centre, from the envisioning of its future to the realization of change. Through the lens of the process of change in four city centres across the world, this paper outlines how discussing construction management could beneficially engage with other urban disciplines to create a shared vision for centres as part of local governance. It argues for construction management adopt a wider spatial and temporal perspective that looks beyond specific buildings, site and projects to situ-ate development in the urban and regional systems and to help be part of the envisioning process. Along with more critical engagement in the policy, design and construction processes for construction management, the paper points to a need for more local sensitivity and adaptation including an appreciation of the contribution of public spaces and a different approach to urban development if the city centre is to be more sustainable in future.","PeriodicalId":51389,"journal":{"name":"Construction Management and Economics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2023-07-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43879999","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-07-07DOI: 10.1080/01446193.2023.2232889
George Denny-Smith, M. Williams, M. Loosemore, R. Sunindijo, L. Piggott
{"title":"What social value do Indigenous contractors create?","authors":"George Denny-Smith, M. Williams, M. Loosemore, R. Sunindijo, L. Piggott","doi":"10.1080/01446193.2023.2232889","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01446193.2023.2232889","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":51389,"journal":{"name":"Construction Management and Economics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2023-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44620164","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-06-29DOI: 10.1080/01446193.2023.2227286
Mohd Azrai Azman, Nor Nazihah Chuweni, F. Muhamad Halil, Ku Mohammad Asyraf Ku Azir, Boon L. Lee, Farah Nazira Juhari, M. Skitmore
{"title":"The impact of the change in institutional regulation on construction productivity: firm-level evidence in a developing economy","authors":"Mohd Azrai Azman, Nor Nazihah Chuweni, F. Muhamad Halil, Ku Mohammad Asyraf Ku Azir, Boon L. Lee, Farah Nazira Juhari, M. Skitmore","doi":"10.1080/01446193.2023.2227286","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01446193.2023.2227286","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":51389,"journal":{"name":"Construction Management and Economics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2023-06-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44301183","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-06-20DOI: 10.1080/01446193.2023.2211179
Qian Xu, B. Hwang, Rui Qi Choo, Xian-yong Zheng, Lei Kong, Qian-Cheng Wang, Xuan Liu
Abstract The outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic has caused worldwide disruption in construction industry. Although an increasing number of construction projects have been resumed, construction industry still faces significant risks due to the pandemic. The comparison of risk factors faced by construction industry before and during the pandemic helps us understand the dynamic risk transformation brought by the pandemic; however, few efforts have been made to understand the risk changes in construction sector. This study assessed the likelihood, impact, and criticality of risks brought by the pandemic in construction industry through a comparative analysis using Singapore as an example and proposed an innovative risk management solution to manage these risks accordingly. Survey questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were adopted. The finding indicated effective relief measures from the government to relieve the contractors’ liability in Singapore. Due to the pandemic, prioritized likelihood of risk occurrence changed from financial risk to labour shortage. Moreover, the finding highlighted that safety and health risks required significant attention, as they were ranked top in both periods. This study aids the understanding of how prioritized risks shifted during the pandemic and enlightens a promising and scalable risk management solution for industry stakeholders to establish better recovery from similar pandemics.
{"title":"Comparison of construction project risks before and during COVID-19 in Singapore: criticality and management strategies","authors":"Qian Xu, B. Hwang, Rui Qi Choo, Xian-yong Zheng, Lei Kong, Qian-Cheng Wang, Xuan Liu","doi":"10.1080/01446193.2023.2211179","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01446193.2023.2211179","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic has caused worldwide disruption in construction industry. Although an increasing number of construction projects have been resumed, construction industry still faces significant risks due to the pandemic. The comparison of risk factors faced by construction industry before and during the pandemic helps us understand the dynamic risk transformation brought by the pandemic; however, few efforts have been made to understand the risk changes in construction sector. This study assessed the likelihood, impact, and criticality of risks brought by the pandemic in construction industry through a comparative analysis using Singapore as an example and proposed an innovative risk management solution to manage these risks accordingly. Survey questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were adopted. The finding indicated effective relief measures from the government to relieve the contractors’ liability in Singapore. Due to the pandemic, prioritized likelihood of risk occurrence changed from financial risk to labour shortage. Moreover, the finding highlighted that safety and health risks required significant attention, as they were ranked top in both periods. This study aids the understanding of how prioritized risks shifted during the pandemic and enlightens a promising and scalable risk management solution for industry stakeholders to establish better recovery from similar pandemics.","PeriodicalId":51389,"journal":{"name":"Construction Management and Economics","volume":"41 1","pages":"875 - 891"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2023-06-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43722156","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-06-10DOI: 10.1080/01446193.2023.2220832
Jun Wang, Xiaodong Li, A. Memari, M. Skitmore, Yuying Zhong, B. Ashuri
Abstract Construction supervision companies (CSCs) in China are engaged by owners mainly to ensure a project is constructed safely and to the quality standards as required under the law in a supervision system that has existed for decades, their credibility and integrity being vital for project safety assurance and quality control. Recently, the Chinese government has proposed a credit scoring mechanism to assess the credibility of CSCs and requested the incorporation of credit scores into the CSC selection processes for public projects. This study investigates the status quo of the credit scoring mechanism and evaluates how credit scores have impacted the competitiveness of CSCs when bidding for supervising public projects by analyzing the bidding results of 5582 public projects and credit scores of 514 CSCs in Nanjing, the capital city of Jiangsu Province in China. The results show that (1) the average CSC credit scores have followed a downward trend in recent years; (2) the score weights in the selection process have significantly increased and the scores start to impact on bidding results when their weights are at or above 4%; (3) signs of local protectionism have been observed as local CSCs have significantly higher credit scores than non-local CSCs; and (4) high scoring CSCs are more competitive than others in terms of revenue generation. The study provides an insightful understanding of China’s existing credit scoring mechanism and its impact on the selection of CSCs for public sector projects, often a major concern of policymakers, researchers, and industry practitioners.
{"title":"Data-driven assessment on the corporate credit scoring mechanism for Chinese construction supervision companies","authors":"Jun Wang, Xiaodong Li, A. Memari, M. Skitmore, Yuying Zhong, B. Ashuri","doi":"10.1080/01446193.2023.2220832","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01446193.2023.2220832","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Construction supervision companies (CSCs) in China are engaged by owners mainly to ensure a project is constructed safely and to the quality standards as required under the law in a supervision system that has existed for decades, their credibility and integrity being vital for project safety assurance and quality control. Recently, the Chinese government has proposed a credit scoring mechanism to assess the credibility of CSCs and requested the incorporation of credit scores into the CSC selection processes for public projects. This study investigates the status quo of the credit scoring mechanism and evaluates how credit scores have impacted the competitiveness of CSCs when bidding for supervising public projects by analyzing the bidding results of 5582 public projects and credit scores of 514 CSCs in Nanjing, the capital city of Jiangsu Province in China. The results show that (1) the average CSC credit scores have followed a downward trend in recent years; (2) the score weights in the selection process have significantly increased and the scores start to impact on bidding results when their weights are at or above 4%; (3) signs of local protectionism have been observed as local CSCs have significantly higher credit scores than non-local CSCs; and (4) high scoring CSCs are more competitive than others in terms of revenue generation. The study provides an insightful understanding of China’s existing credit scoring mechanism and its impact on the selection of CSCs for public sector projects, often a major concern of policymakers, researchers, and industry practitioners.","PeriodicalId":51389,"journal":{"name":"Construction Management and Economics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2023-06-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43727947","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}