| 1. |
- Adam, Abderisak, 1988, et al.
(author)
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Aggregation of factors causing cost overruns and time delays in large public construction projects: Trends and implications
- 2017
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In: Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management. - 1365-232X .- 0969-9988. ; 24:3, s. 393-406
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the impact that cost overruns and time delays exert on large public construction projects to clarify how past and current research regard factors causing cost overruns and time delays in large public construction projects.Design/methodology/approachThis paper, which is based on an analysis of a literature selection consisting of 40 journal articles, investigates and ranks the occurrence of and the explanations for cost overruns and time delays in large public construction projects. The study makes use of a kiviat diagram/radar chart in order to visualize multivariate data.FindingsAggregated rankings of important causes of cost overruns and time delays are reported. These show a strong emphasis on the management aspect as a primary cause of cost overruns and delays. Additionally, there seems to be a trend toward deemphasizing the role of financial considerations in explaining cost overruns and delays. It is argued that there needs to be a more rigorous assessment of the impact that each factor has on cost increases and delays based on factual observed data as opposed to retrospective accounts from questionnaire respondents.Research limitations/implicationsOnly public construction projects have been considered. The results will not be directly applicable to privately funded construction projects and/or projects of a smaller size.Originality/valueThe use of trend data, as illustrated in a kiviat diagram, showing how different ranking factors causing cost overruns and time delays has changed in importance over time.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Eriksson, Per-Erik, et al.
(author)
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Client perceptions of barriers to partnering
- 2008
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In: Engineering Construction and Architectural Management. - : Emerald. - 0969-9988 .- 1365-232X. ; 15:6, s. 527-539
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to identify critical barriers to partnering, as perceived by construction clients, and the specific measures that are taken to overcome them during implementation. Design/methodology/approach - Empirical data were collected through a survey study of 87 professional construction clients in Sweden. Findings - Clients regard the most critical barriers as those attributable to cultural and organisational aspects. The analysis also shows that clients' perceptions of these barriers do not, in fact, affect their procurement procedures. Two-thirds of clients in the survey wish to increase cooperation with actors in the belief that it will favour project success. Their intention does not have any bearing on their procurement and project management procedures, which are still aligned to competitive bidding. Two potential reasons for this inconsistency are discussed: clients may be unaware of how their procurement procedures affect cooperation, and/or the individual decision maker may not have strong enough incentives to start using new and less familiar procurement procedures even though they are potentially more suitable than traditional procedures. Research limitations/implications - The quantitative data are limited to clients' perceptions of barriers to partnering; a contractor perspective is not included in the survey. Practical implications - The research results can serve as an alert for construction clients that their procurement procedures need to be adapted if they want to achieve the move towards increased cooperation that they say they do. Originality/value - This paper offers a unique analysis of the correlations between desired outcome in the form of increased cooperation, and actual behaviour in the form of procurement procedures.
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| 4. |
- Eriksson, Per-Erik, et al.
(author)
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Overcoming barriers to partnering through cooperative procurement procedures
- 2009
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In: Engineering Construction and Architectural Management. - : Emerald. - 0969-9988 .- 1365-232X. ; 16:6, s. 598-611
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to report on research into investigating ways in which construction clients can overcome barriers to partnering through the adoption of purposeful procurement procedures within an overall project management context. Design/methodology/approach - Data were collected through interviews, document analysis, surveys and workshops as part of a longitudinal case study using an action-research approach. Findings - Analysis reveals how the early involvement of partners, selected for their long-term perspective and willingness to use collaborative working arrangements, can help to overcome cultural and organizational barriers. Research limitations/implications - The research results are based on empirical study for which reasonable generalisations could be made, albeit cautiously. Clients' implementation of partnering requires an appropriate use of a broad range of suitable procurement procedures that are quite different from more commonly used procedures. Hence, clients need to reassess their procurement procedures and tailor them to different project situations. Additionally, a long-term perspective is crucial in order to facilitate continual improvement over time. Originality/value - The case study data support the analysis of how utilised procurement procedures affect project results.
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| 5. |
- Eriksson, Per-Erik, et al.
(author)
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Procurement effects on trust and control in client-contractor relationships
- 2007
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In: Engineering Construction and Architectural Management. - : Emerald. - 0969-9988 .- 1365-232X. ; 14:4, s. 387-399
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Purpose: To investigate how construction clients currently deal with procurement and analyze how the choices made during the buying process stages affect the combination of governance mechanisms and control types in client-contractor relationships.Methodology/approach: Empirical data was collected through a survey to 87 Swedish construction clients. Findings: Current procurement procedures establish governance forms facilitating a focus on price, through output control, and authority, through process control. Since construction transactions are mostly characterized by high complexity and customization and long duration, the theoretical framework prescribes a focus on trust and a somewhat lower focus on price and authority. Hence, from a transaction cost perspective, construction clients focus too much on price and authority and too little on trust. Since current procedures may cause problems in all stages of the buying process, the result suggests that partnering arrangements, entailing completely different choices during the buying process, may be a suitable way to facilitate trust and cooperation through informal social control.Research limitations/implications - Since the empirical results are based on data collected from only Swedish clients, international generalizations should be made cautiously.Practical implications - Clients wishing to implement trust-based collaborative relationships need to reconsider their procurement procedures entirely; joint objectives, teambuilding and other "fuzzy" techniques are not enough to transform adversarial relationships into cooperative ones.Originality/value - Earlier research has focused on one or a few aspects of procurement and governance, while this paper adopts an overall process perspective, taking into account clients' procurement procedures in their entirety.
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| 6. |
- Feng, Kailun, 1991-, et al.
(author)
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Embedding ensemble learning into simulation-based optimisation : a learning-based optimisation approach for construction planning
- 2023
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In: Engineering Construction and Architectural Management. - : Emerald Group Publishing Limited. - 0969-9988 .- 1365-232X. ; 30:1, s. 259-295
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Purpose - Simulation-based optimisation (SO) is a popular optimisation approach for building and civil engineering construction planning. However, in the framework of SO, the simulation is continuously invoked during the optimisation trajectory, which increases the computational loads to levels unrealistic for timely construction decisions. Modification on the optimisation settings such as reducing searching ability is a popular method to address this challenge, but the quality measurement of the obtained optimal decisions, also termed as optimisation quality, is also reduced by this setting. Therefore, this study aims to develop an optimisation approach for construction planning that reduces the high computational loads of SO and provides reliable optimisation quality simultaneously.Design/methodology/approach - This study proposes the optimisation approach by modifying the SO framework through establishing an embedded connection between simulation and optimisation technologies. This approach reduces the computational loads and ensures the optimisation quality associated with the conventional SO approach by accurately learning the knowledge from construction simulations using embedded ensemble learning algorithms, which automatically provides efficient and reliable fitness evaluations for optimisation iterations.Findings - A large-scale project application shows that the proposed approach was able to reduce computational loads of SO by approximately 90%. Meanwhile, the proposed approach outperformed SO in terms of optimisation quality when the optimisation has limited searching ability.Originality/value - The core contribution of this research is to provide an innovative method that improves efficiency and ensures effectiveness, simultaneously, of the well-known SO approach in construction applications. The proposed method is an alternative approach to SO that can run on standard computing platforms and support nearly real-time construction on-site decision-making.
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| 7. |
- Frödell, Mikael, 1981
(author)
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Criteria for achieving efficient contractor-supplier relations
- 2011
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In: Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management. - : Emerald. - 1365-232X .- 0969-9988. ; 18:4, s. 381 - 393
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Purpose – Despite numerous examples of benefits when adapting supplier relationship management in the manufacturing industry, the construction industry still lags behind in such areas as long-term relationships with suppliers and continuous cost-reductions. This may be because the characteristics of the construction industry differ from those of the manufacturing industry due to their project-based structure, its inherent tendency for sub-optimization and the vast number and variety of suppliers. The purpose of this study is to identify criteria for achieving efficient contractor-supplier relations in the construction industry and for large contractors. Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on the literature on efficiency and differentiation of efficient buyer-supplier relationships as well as a two-year case study based on participatory observations and interviews with strategic purchasers at a large Swedish contractor.Findings – As it not always is possible to increase efficiency in the interface-related value creating processes by only aiming the development and improvement efforts directly at these processes, relationship enablers as total cost focus, aligned core values as well as willingness and capability for collaboration and development must first be in place. In order to achieve this, the contractor has to adopt a long-term orientation towards the relationship with the suppliers which is a decision for the management to make.Practical implications – Drawing from the findings, this paper elucidate the connection between increased efficiency and input variables in the contractor-supplier relationship which might be difficult for contractors to see. Furthermore, contractors need to take responsibility over their own processes in order to be an attractive customer to the supplier.Originality/value – Even though research within construction has focused at relations between different actors, mostly client and contractor, this paper widen the perspective and takes a grasp of the relationship between contractor and supplier.
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| 8. |
- Gluch, Pernilla, 1968, et al.
(author)
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What tensions obstruct an alignment between project and environmental management practices?
- 2012
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In: Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management. - : Emerald. - 1365-232X .- 0969-9988. ; 19:2, s. 127-140
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Using an activity theory lens, this paper aims to examine the interrelationships between project practice and environmental management. It also aims to focus on tensions that occur between human agents and material objects within a motivedirected, historicallysituated activity system, namely that of managing environmental issues in projects. Case studies of two large infrastructure projects were conducted 20032004 and 2008. The studies comprised onsite observations, text analyses, 20 semistructured interviews and one group interview. Time was spent on the construction site to become familiarized with the context and the practices of the project community. A total of 15 weekly environmental site inspections were monitored and photodocumented. The findings show how new and emergent environmental management practices and routines were inherently contradictory to the situated and established culture within the projects. In fact project practices seemed to amplify the contradictions between environmental management and project management rather than mitigating them. As a result project members and organization members strove toward different goals and foci. It is argued that management needs to create arenas where members from the two units can align practices and merge routines. Aligning the permanent structures of the organization with the temporary organizing of practices and operational activities in projects is a challenge for the construction industry. A prevalent lack of fit between the organization and its projects causes contradictions which negatively affect the way in which longterm environmental strategies and goals are understood and implemented in the project settings. The system theoretical lens adopted in this study enables a holistic interpretation of complex and dynamic activities and the linking of the micro, the individual, to the macro, the organizational structure. By indicating some inherent and emergent contradictions between project practice and corporate environmental management, this paper contributes to an emergent field of research that focuses on social practice in construction. © 2012, Emerald Group Publishing Limited
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| 9. |
- Granheimer, Klara, et al.
(author)
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Public procurement of engineering services: the influence of task characteristics on organisational control
- 2022
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In: Engineering Construction and Architectural Management. - : Emerald Group Publishing Limited. - 0969-9988 .- 1365-232X.
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Prior research has emphasised the importance of the early phases of construction projects, as well as the difficulties of procuring engineering services – especially due to the uncertainties. Despite that, studies on the public procurement of engineering services are scarce. Although scholars have shown that uncertainty may affect the choice of control modes, the level of uncertainty that characterises services is not addressed by the two task characteristics: knowledge of the transformation process and output measurability. The purpose is to investigate organisational control in public procurement of engineering services.Design/methodology/approachThe existing control model was adjusted in this study by conceptually adding uncertainty as a third aspect to the two task characteristics. A single case study of the Swedish Transport Administration was used. The empirical data, comprising 14 interviews with managers from the client and engineering consulting companies, were analysed using flexible pattern matching and visual mapping approaches and then illustrated using the model.FindingsThe public client did not base its choice of control modes on uncertainty, but rather on the other two task characteristics. Consequently, the service providers argued that the chosen control modes reduced their creativity, increased their financial risks and caused unclear responsibilities. This study therefore shows that uncertainty is an important factor to consider in the choice of control modes, both from a theoretical perspective and from the service providers' point of view. The developed model may therefore be useful for researchers as well as practitioners.Originality/valueThis study is the first attempt to add uncertainty as a task characteristic when choosing control modes. The results contribute to the scarce control literature regarding the procurement of engineering services for construction projects and the procurement of other services with high uncertainty.
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| 10. |
- Jacobsson, Mattias, 1976-, et al.
(author)
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BIM coordinators : a review
- 2018
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In: Engineering Construction and Architectural Management. - : Emerald Group Publishing Limited. - 0969-9988 .- 1365-232X. ; 25:8, s. 989-1008
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the role, practices and responsibilities of building information modeling (BIM) coordinators (BCs).Design/methodology/approach: The aim is achieved through a review of existing publications (n = 183) in which the term “BIM coordinators” has been described and discussed (n = 78), complemented by interviews with four Norwegian BIM experts.Findings: The findings from the review indicate that the core responsibilities of BCs involve clash detection, managing information flows and communication flows, monitoring and coordinating design changes, supporting new working procedures and technical development and acting as a boundary spanner. The complementary interview study extends these findings with two additional practices and a reflection on the experienced challenges, obstacles and potential future development of the role. In essence, the authors propose that the role of BCs can be defined as being responsible for external/internal alignment and coordination of actor needs, and engaged in product-, process- and system-oriented practices of BIM.Research limitations/implications: Given that this study is primarily an integrative literature review of BCs, it has the limitations common with such an approach. Therefore, future studies should preferably extend presented findings through either a survey, further in-depth interviews with BCs or reviews of closely related BIM specialist roles such as BIM managers or BIM technicians.Practical implications: With BCs seemingly being central to information management and knowledge domain integration within the architecture, engineering and construction industry, an understanding of their importance and role should be of interest to anyone seeking to tap into the potential of BIM. This paper outlines specific implications for construction manager, educators and BCs.Originality/value: The value of this study lies primarily in the fact that it is the first thorough investigation of the role, practices and responsibilities of BCs.
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