The construction industry is hazardous, which requires careful consideration of occupational health and safety measures. Among various strategies that are proposed to enhance construction safety, Lean construction practices were widely implied and proved to be effective. However, the link between Lean implementation and construction safety has not been completely studied yet in previous research in terms of psychological safety context. This study implies that psychological safety is of utmost importance in terms of explaining the association between Lean and safety. Lean implementation elements such as respect for people, trust, leadership, and continuous improvement positively affect employees’ psychological safety. In this context, semi-structured interviews and a survey were conducted with employees working in U.S. construction companies. The interviews provided that the majority of the construction employees do not feel psychologically safe at their workplaces either in traditional or Lean construction projects due to a number of reasons such as heavy workload, and deadline pressures. However, it was found that construction workers feel safer psychologically in Lean construction projects compared to traditional projects. According to the interview results and literature review, a conceptual model was proposed. Therefore, this study can contribute to the research area of psychological safety in the construction industry.
{"title":"Assessing Psychological Safety in Lean Construction Projects in the United States","authors":"Sevilay Demirkesen, Emel Sadikoglu, Eshan Jayamanne","doi":"10.5130/ajceb.v21i3.7657","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5130/ajceb.v21i3.7657","url":null,"abstract":"The construction industry is hazardous, which requires careful consideration of occupational health and safety measures. Among various strategies that are proposed to enhance construction safety, Lean construction practices were widely implied and proved to be effective. However, the link between Lean implementation and construction safety has not been completely studied yet in previous research in terms of psychological safety context. This study implies that psychological safety is of utmost importance in terms of explaining the association between Lean and safety. Lean implementation elements such as respect for people, trust, leadership, and continuous improvement positively affect employees’ psychological safety. In this context, semi-structured interviews and a survey were conducted with employees working in U.S. construction companies. The interviews provided that the majority of the construction employees do not feel psychologically safe at their workplaces either in traditional or Lean construction projects due to a number of reasons such as heavy workload, and deadline pressures. However, it was found that construction workers feel safer psychologically in Lean construction projects compared to traditional projects. According to the interview results and literature review, a conceptual model was proposed. Therefore, this study can contribute to the research area of psychological safety in the construction industry.","PeriodicalId":51729,"journal":{"name":"Construction Economics and Building","volume":"15 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2021-08-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77125454","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 : 2021-08-15DOI: 10.5130/ajceb.v21i3.7647
Aussama Khalil, A. Rathnasinghe, U. Kulatunga
Sustainability is considered to be a central part of every global policy change because of the likelihood of negative effects of particular policies on the already endangered environment and on society. Whilst sustainability is receiving significant attention in construction sectors in developed countries, this seems to be less true for developing countries. Thus, this study explores the challenges faced by the construction sector in one such developing country, Libya, in integrating sustainability practices into its common scope of activities. The study adopted a mixed research approach consisting of a questionnaire survey and expert interviews. Completed questionnaires (134 No.) were analysed using statistical techniques. The findings from the survey informed the topics for the interviews with 10 experts where the collected data were analysed through content analysis. The outcomes of the research explained that the awareness of sustainability in construction was weak in the practice of the Libyan construction sector. Additionally, the failure of supporting institutions to create an effective application of sustainability guidelines, lack of stricter legislation, building codes or standards were also found to be major challenges. The study contributed to knowledge by providing a better understanding of sustainability and clarified the main challenges faced by the stakeholders and which they have to consider in order to improve sustainable construction in Libya. The practical implications of the study include the strategies identified to avoid or minimise the challenges and their consequences.
{"title":"Challenges to the Implementation of Sustainable Construction Practices in Libya","authors":"Aussama Khalil, A. Rathnasinghe, U. Kulatunga","doi":"10.5130/ajceb.v21i3.7647","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5130/ajceb.v21i3.7647","url":null,"abstract":"Sustainability is considered to be a central part of every global policy change because of the likelihood of negative effects of particular policies on the already endangered environment and on society. Whilst sustainability is receiving significant attention in construction sectors in developed countries, this seems to be less true for developing countries. Thus, this study explores the challenges faced by the construction sector in one such developing country, Libya, in integrating sustainability practices into its common scope of activities. The study adopted a mixed research approach consisting of a questionnaire survey and expert interviews. Completed questionnaires (134 No.) were analysed using statistical techniques. The findings from the survey informed the topics for the interviews with 10 experts where the collected data were analysed through content analysis. The outcomes of the research explained that the awareness of sustainability in construction was weak in the practice of the Libyan construction sector. Additionally, the failure of supporting institutions to create an effective application of sustainability guidelines, lack of stricter legislation, building codes or standards were also found to be major challenges. The study contributed to knowledge by providing a better understanding of sustainability and clarified the main challenges faced by the stakeholders and which they have to consider in order to improve sustainable construction in Libya. The practical implications of the study include the strategies identified to avoid or minimise the challenges and their consequences.","PeriodicalId":51729,"journal":{"name":"Construction Economics and Building","volume":"61 10","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2021-08-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"72466572","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 : 2021-05-29DOI: 10.5130/AJCEB.V21I2.7564
C. Dang, Long Le-Hoai, Vachara Peansupap
The construction industry should seek to enrich its workforces due to the increasing lack of trained and skilled employees. This study attempts to investigate the relationship between encouragement-based management mechanism (EMM) and manpower development (MD) in construction firms and examine the moderating effect of firm size on this relationship by conducting bivariate Pearson correlation and hierarchical multiple regression analyses to analyse empirical data collected from 79 construction firms in Vietnam. The results show that EMM positively affected MD, and this positive effect was stronger in small/medium-sized construction firms than in large firms. The findings could provide construction firms in Vietnam, as well as other developing countries, with a better understanding of the effect of EMM on MD. Hence, they could establish appropriate and wise encouragement-based strategies to enhance their manpower. This study could contribute to the extant literature on construction manpower development by providing empirical evidence of the EMM−MD relationship in the context of construction firms. 58 DECLARATION OF CONFLICTING INTEREST The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. FUNDING This research was funded by Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City (VNU-HCM) under grant number B2021-20-08.
{"title":"Effect of Encouragement-based Management Mechanism on Construction Firms’ Manpower Development: An Empirical Study from Vietnam","authors":"C. Dang, Long Le-Hoai, Vachara Peansupap","doi":"10.5130/AJCEB.V21I2.7564","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5130/AJCEB.V21I2.7564","url":null,"abstract":"The construction industry should seek to enrich its workforces due to the increasing lack of trained and skilled employees. This study attempts to investigate the relationship between encouragement-based management mechanism (EMM) and manpower development (MD) in construction firms and examine the moderating effect of firm size on this relationship by conducting bivariate Pearson correlation and hierarchical multiple regression analyses to analyse empirical data collected from 79 construction firms in Vietnam. The results show that EMM positively affected MD, and this positive effect was stronger in small/medium-sized construction firms than in large firms. The findings could provide construction firms in Vietnam, as well as other developing countries, with a better understanding of the effect of EMM on MD. Hence, they could establish appropriate and wise encouragement-based strategies to enhance their manpower. This study could contribute to the extant literature on construction manpower development by providing empirical evidence of the EMM−MD relationship in the context of construction firms. 58 DECLARATION OF CONFLICTING INTEREST The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. FUNDING This research was funded by Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City (VNU-HCM) under grant number B2021-20-08.","PeriodicalId":51729,"journal":{"name":"Construction Economics and Building","volume":"21 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2021-05-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70712775","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 : 2021-05-27DOI: 10.5130/AJCEB.V21I2.7518
T. Lukhele, B. Botha, Sijekula Mbanga
Construction projects are of very complex nature, and subject to circumstances of high uncertainties and risks due to the interdependences of activities and processes in the project performance. As a result of the dynamic complexities inherited in construction projects, changes in the scope of work are inevitable. Of particular concern is that, when scope changes are introduced in a project, contractors follow a systematic procedure in managing the changes, but with poor planning and implementation thereof because the project complexities that underpin the scope changes are not fully understood. Therefore, despite that complexity is an inherent and defining feature of construction projects, studies in the literature have failed to grasp and present the dynamics of project complexity which underlie the scope changes in the delivery of construction project. The TOE (Technical Organizational Environmental) framework was adopted and applied on DECLARATION OF CONFLICTING INTEREST This research forms part of the Doctoral Study for author number one which is registered at the Nelson Mandela University. FUNDING Republic of South Africa’s Department of Higher Education and Training, New Generation of Academics Programme (nGAP) Scholarship. NRF Research Development Grants for nGAP (NGAP_RDG170419227754). a multiple-case study research design in order to explore and denote project complexity relations to scope changes in construction projects. Through a content analysis procedure, six key elements of project complexities that relate to scope changes in the construction projects has emerged. Understanding these complexity elements could enable the project management team to apply a frontend planning approach in the initiation phase of the projects in order to better manage scope changes in the execution phase of the project, and eventually to improve the project performance.
{"title":"Exploring Project Complexity Relations to Scope Changes in Construction Projects: A Case Study of NEC Projects in South Africa","authors":"T. Lukhele, B. Botha, Sijekula Mbanga","doi":"10.5130/AJCEB.V21I2.7518","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5130/AJCEB.V21I2.7518","url":null,"abstract":"Construction projects are of very complex nature, and subject to circumstances of high uncertainties and risks due to the interdependences of activities and processes in the project performance. As a result of the dynamic complexities inherited in construction projects, changes in the scope of work are inevitable. Of particular concern is that, when scope changes are introduced in a project, contractors follow a systematic procedure in managing the changes, but with poor planning and implementation thereof because the project complexities that underpin the scope changes are not fully understood. Therefore, despite that complexity is an inherent and defining feature of construction projects, studies in the literature have failed to grasp and present the dynamics of project complexity which underlie the scope changes in the delivery of construction project. The TOE (Technical Organizational Environmental) framework was adopted and applied on DECLARATION OF CONFLICTING INTEREST This research forms part of the Doctoral Study for author number one which is registered at the Nelson Mandela University. FUNDING Republic of South Africa’s Department of Higher Education and Training, New Generation of Academics Programme (nGAP) Scholarship. NRF Research Development Grants for nGAP (NGAP_RDG170419227754). a multiple-case study research design in order to explore and denote project complexity relations to scope changes in construction projects. Through a content analysis procedure, six key elements of project complexities that relate to scope changes in the construction projects has emerged. Understanding these complexity elements could enable the project management team to apply a frontend planning approach in the initiation phase of the projects in order to better manage scope changes in the execution phase of the project, and eventually to improve the project performance.","PeriodicalId":51729,"journal":{"name":"Construction Economics and Building","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2021-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49140462","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 : 2021-05-27DOI: 10.5130/AJCEB.v21i2.7526
B. Oo, B. Lim
The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced unique circumstances to women workforce in construction including the need to work from home, changes in job situations and family responsibilities following the lockdowns. This exploratory study was conducted around six months into the pandemic in examining the changes of their job situations, and their perceptions of career aspects during the pandemic. The results show that most respondents were employed full-time at the time of survey, and that there were profound changes to their work location and working hours including working from home and worked more hours than usual. Their perceived negative impacts of the pandemic on their capacity to engage in paid work activities due to caring responsibilities, pay or earnings, job security, and career progression and advancement are modest. They were also seemingly confident in staying in their job in the next 12-month. Their perceptions have been found significantly associated with their age, education level, and years of experience in the industry. These findings provide a critical insight on women's job situations in the industry during the pandemic, with implications for human resource practices towards addressing the challenges in retention of women workforce during and post COVID-19 pandemic.
{"title":"Changes in Job Situations for Women Workforce in Construction during the COVID-19 Pandemic","authors":"B. Oo, B. Lim","doi":"10.5130/AJCEB.v21i2.7526","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5130/AJCEB.v21i2.7526","url":null,"abstract":"The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced unique circumstances to women workforce in construction including the need to work from home, changes in job situations and family responsibilities following the lockdowns. This exploratory study was conducted around six months into the pandemic in examining the changes of their job situations, and their perceptions of career aspects during the pandemic. The results show that most respondents were employed full-time at the time of survey, and that there were profound changes to their work location and working hours including working from home and worked more hours than usual. Their perceived negative impacts of the pandemic on their capacity to engage in paid work activities due to caring responsibilities, pay or earnings, job security, and career progression and advancement are modest. They were also seemingly confident in staying in their job in the next 12-month. Their perceptions have been found significantly associated with their age, education level, and years of experience in the industry. These findings provide a critical insight on women's job situations in the industry during the pandemic, with implications for human resource practices towards addressing the challenges in retention of women workforce during and post COVID-19 pandemic.","PeriodicalId":51729,"journal":{"name":"Construction Economics and Building","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2021-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46048998","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 : 2021-05-27DOI: 10.5130/AJCEB.V21I2.7134
C. Paul, D. Aghimien, A. Ibrahim, Y. Ibrahim
Unethical practices have been a reoccurring menace in the construction industry globally, with its negative impact reported in existing studies. While several studies have explored issues touching on ethics, ethics compliance and unethical practices within the construction industry, the problems persist especially in developing countries. It is based on this notion that this study assessed the possible measures that could help curb unethical practices in the construction industry with specific reference to Quantity Surveyors (QS). The study adopted a quantitative approach with structured questionnaires used to garner information from registered QS in Nigeria. Data analysis was done using relevant descriptive and multivariate analysis. The reliability of the instrument used was also tested using Cronbach alpha test. The findings revealed that while QS are no strangers to unethical practices, most cases are not reported to the appropriate authorities. The most prevalent of these practices are payment-related and contract-related. To curb these practices, random inspections and development of ethical compliance, ensuring a good reporting and punishment system, and increase ethical awareness through QS organised programmes are needed. The findings of this study would assist the professional bodies and organisations within the industry to effectively enforce ethical conduct among their members and staff.
{"title":"Measures for Curbing Unethical Practices among Construction Industry Professionals: Quantity Surveyors’ Perspective","authors":"C. Paul, D. Aghimien, A. Ibrahim, Y. Ibrahim","doi":"10.5130/AJCEB.V21I2.7134","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5130/AJCEB.V21I2.7134","url":null,"abstract":"Unethical practices have been a reoccurring menace in the construction industry globally, with its negative impact reported in existing studies. While several studies have explored issues touching on ethics, ethics compliance and unethical practices within the construction industry, the problems persist especially in developing countries. It is based on this notion that this study assessed the possible measures that could help curb unethical practices in the construction industry with specific reference to Quantity Surveyors (QS). The study adopted a quantitative approach with structured questionnaires used to garner information from registered QS in Nigeria. Data analysis was done using relevant descriptive and multivariate analysis. The reliability of the instrument used was also tested using Cronbach alpha test. The findings revealed that while QS are no strangers to unethical practices, most cases are not reported to the appropriate authorities. The most prevalent of these practices are payment-related and contract-related. To curb these practices, random inspections and development of ethical compliance, ensuring a good reporting and punishment system, and increase ethical awareness through QS organised programmes are needed. The findings of this study would assist the professional bodies and organisations within the industry to effectively enforce ethical conduct among their members and staff.","PeriodicalId":51729,"journal":{"name":"Construction Economics and Building","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2021-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47644396","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 : 2021-05-26DOI: 10.5130/AJCEB.V21I2.7593
Hassan Fehan, O. Aigbogun
A significant number of empirical studies have reported contrasting results regarding the effects of certain internal organizational factors (Leadership Style Team competency and Skills Effective Communication) on construction performance. As a result, generalizations remain sketchy, and a better understanding is needed. This study lends a voice to the literature’s debate by introducing the part played by institutional pressures. The aim is to evaluate the impact of internal organizational factors and institutional pressures on a Syrian construction firm’s performance outcomes, with institutional pressures playing a mediator’s role. Data were collected using a questionnaire instrument from a sample of 197 building experts working in large public construction companies in Syria and analysed using the partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The results reveal that leadership style and effective communication have a significant and positive effect on construction firm performance outcomes. However, the effect of team competency and skill was not supported; nonetheless, providing institutional pressures as a mediator into the relationship made it significant, thus, providing a vital theoretical contribution worth considering in future research. Practically, this study is the first attempt at evaluating organizational factors and institutional pressures as a critical determinant of organizational performance that should interest management at organizational levels. 81 DECLARATION OF CONFLICTING INTEREST The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. FUNDING The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
{"title":"Influence of Internal Organizational Factors and Institutional Pressures on Construction Firms' Performance","authors":"Hassan Fehan, O. Aigbogun","doi":"10.5130/AJCEB.V21I2.7593","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5130/AJCEB.V21I2.7593","url":null,"abstract":"A significant number of empirical studies have reported contrasting results regarding the effects of certain internal organizational factors (Leadership Style Team competency and Skills Effective Communication) on construction performance. As a result, generalizations remain sketchy, and a better understanding is needed. This study lends a voice to the literature’s debate by introducing the part played by institutional pressures. The aim is to evaluate the impact of internal organizational factors and institutional pressures on a Syrian construction firm’s performance outcomes, with institutional pressures playing a mediator’s role. Data were collected using a questionnaire instrument from a sample of 197 building experts working in large public construction companies in Syria and analysed using the partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The results reveal that leadership style and effective communication have a significant and positive effect on construction firm performance outcomes. However, the effect of team competency and skill was not supported; nonetheless, providing institutional pressures as a mediator into the relationship made it significant, thus, providing a vital theoretical contribution worth considering in future research. Practically, this study is the first attempt at evaluating organizational factors and institutional pressures as a critical determinant of organizational performance that should interest management at organizational levels. 81 DECLARATION OF CONFLICTING INTEREST The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. FUNDING The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.","PeriodicalId":51729,"journal":{"name":"Construction Economics and Building","volume":"21 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2021-05-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44362792","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 : 2021-03-03DOI: 10.5130/AJCEB.V21I1.7359
I. Osuizugbo, O. Oyeyipo, Rapheal A. Ojelabi, O. Oshodi
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is one of the best strategies that companies used in minimising negative societal and environmental impacts, enhancing economic development and improving social progress concurrently. However, there are many factors discouraging construction companies to implement or establish a CSR plan. Furthermore, there are few empirical studies in relation to CSR in construction, and the majority of empirical research on CSR implementation are rooted in the organisational and economic context of the developed world. Therefore, the current study seeks to investigate the factors inhibiting CSR initiatives among construction companies within the context of a developing country such as Nigeria. The study adopted a survey research method. Questionnaires were administered to a purposively selected group of managing directors, directors, other top construction professionals or management personnel involved in the operation of small, medium and large construction companies in Nigeria. A total of 196 questionnaires were administered among the sampled respondents out of which a total of 119 representing 61% were adequately filled and returned. The data collected were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results revealed corruption tendencies borne from lack of transparency between companies and government, lack of CSR benefits measurement, lack of financial resources, inadequate support from top management and lack of governmental support as the top five factors inhibiting CSR initiatives among construction companies in Nigeria. In addition, the results from the study revealed that, there is no statistically significant difference in factors inhibiting CSR in construction between indigenous and expatriate and partly indigenous/partly expatriate companies. The findings provide in-depth insight of the factors inhibiting CSR programmes in construction that can help top construction professionals and management personnel in construction companies facilitate development of strategies required to mitigate the factors inhibiting CSR programmes.
{"title":"Factors Inhibiting Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives Among Construction Companies","authors":"I. Osuizugbo, O. Oyeyipo, Rapheal A. Ojelabi, O. Oshodi","doi":"10.5130/AJCEB.V21I1.7359","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5130/AJCEB.V21I1.7359","url":null,"abstract":"Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is one of the best strategies that companies used in minimising negative societal and environmental impacts, enhancing economic development and improving social progress concurrently. However, there are many factors discouraging construction companies to implement or establish a CSR plan. Furthermore, there are few empirical studies in relation to CSR in construction, and the majority of empirical research on CSR implementation are rooted in the organisational and economic context of the developed world. Therefore, the current study seeks to investigate the factors inhibiting CSR initiatives among construction companies within the context of a developing country such as Nigeria. The study adopted a survey research method. Questionnaires were administered to a purposively selected group of managing directors, directors, other top construction professionals or management personnel involved in the operation of small, medium and large construction companies in Nigeria. A total of 196 questionnaires were administered among the sampled respondents out of which a total of 119 representing 61% were adequately filled and returned. The data collected were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results revealed corruption tendencies borne from lack of transparency between companies and government, lack of CSR benefits measurement, lack of financial resources, inadequate support from top management and lack of governmental support as the top five factors inhibiting CSR initiatives among construction companies in Nigeria. In addition, the results from the study revealed that, there is no statistically significant difference in factors inhibiting CSR in construction between indigenous and expatriate and partly indigenous/partly expatriate companies. The findings provide in-depth insight of the factors inhibiting CSR programmes in construction that can help top construction professionals and management personnel in construction companies facilitate development of strategies required to mitigate the factors inhibiting CSR programmes.","PeriodicalId":51729,"journal":{"name":"Construction Economics and Building","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2021-03-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48442185","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 : 2021-03-03DOI: 10.5130/AJCEB.V21I1.7521
Simon Malesev, Michael Cherry
The construction industry has not been an early adopter of social media and digital marketing, due largely to lack of knowledge of and skills in these areas. Nevertheless, effectively deployed, digital and social media marketing can be a disruptive force allowing smaller residential construction companies to build brand awareness and win business from larger competitors. This study uses a qualitative approach - interviews with residential construction small to medium enterprises (SMEs) and adjacent industry actors - to obtain data addressing the key questions of the residential construction sector SMES' digital marketing attitudes and capabilities; whether digital and social media marketing is as or more effective than traditional marketing strategies; and the challenges facing SMEs in making effective use of digital marketing strategies. The findings confirm widespread recognition of the value of digital marketing strategies among SMEs but reveal that uptake and effective use of digital marketing is undermined by deficiencies in external environment analysis and a lack of the investment and training needed to plan, monitor and maintain effective and up-to-date marketing mixes, strategies and objectives. Based on the findings, recommendations are offered for improving residential construction SMEs’ uptake and effective use of digital and social media marketing.
{"title":"Digital and Social Media Marketing - Growing Market Share for Construction SMEs","authors":"Simon Malesev, Michael Cherry","doi":"10.5130/AJCEB.V21I1.7521","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5130/AJCEB.V21I1.7521","url":null,"abstract":"The construction industry has not been an early adopter of social media and digital marketing, due largely to lack of knowledge of and skills in these areas. Nevertheless, effectively deployed, digital and social media marketing can be a disruptive force allowing smaller residential construction companies to build brand awareness and win business from larger competitors. This study uses a qualitative approach - interviews with residential construction small to medium enterprises (SMEs) and adjacent industry actors - to obtain data addressing the key questions of the residential construction sector SMES' digital marketing attitudes and capabilities; whether digital and social media marketing is as or more effective than traditional marketing strategies; and the challenges facing SMEs in making effective use of digital marketing strategies. The findings confirm widespread recognition of the value of digital marketing strategies among SMEs but reveal that uptake and effective use of digital marketing is undermined by deficiencies in external environment analysis and a lack of the investment and training needed to plan, monitor and maintain effective and up-to-date marketing mixes, strategies and objectives. Based on the findings, recommendations are offered for improving residential construction SMEs’ uptake and effective use of digital and social media marketing.","PeriodicalId":51729,"journal":{"name":"Construction Economics and Building","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2021-03-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47761697","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 : 2021-02-24DOI: 10.5130/AJCEB.V21I1.7501
A. Gurmu, A. Galluzzo, John Kite
Consumer satisfaction is essential for quality assurance, business survival and economic prosperity. It can also be used as an indicator of the occurrence of defects in the houses delivered by builders. The objective of this study is to compare the quality of services provided by volume and small builders, and to develop a model for predicting the chance of occurrence of structural defects in houses. A list of home builders was obtained from Australia’s Housing Industry Association media release 2019. Thereafter, customer reviews of 10 volume builders and 107 small builders were obtained from publicly available data. Overall, 2336 reviews for volume-builders and 2037 reviews for small builders were analysed quantitatively. Further, using the scores provided by customers, the probability-based regression model for the structural integrity of residential buildings was developed. Generally, the research found that for volume-builders, customers have the highest satisfaction level for ‘customer service’ and the lowest satisfaction level for ‘plumbing and waterproofing’ work. However, for small builders, customers have the highest confidence in the ‘structural integrity’ of their buildings and the least confidence in projects ‘timeliness’. Clients can use the stochastic-based model to predict the probability that a builder could deliver a house with low structural defects. The model showed that if a customer service score for a particular builder is less than 3.3, then there is a higher chance of having structural defects. This research contributes to the body of knowledge by developing and validating the logistic regression model that can be used as a tool to assess the quality of services provided by home builders. Moreover, the research provides useful information which can assist builders to improve the quality of services they provide.
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