scholarly journals Trasformazioni architettoniche e urbane nello spazio post-sovietico

Author(s):  
Leone Spita

The Caucasus is a hinge between East and West; a looted border territory for centuries (from Persians to the Turks) and later, under the Soviet regime, it was invested by a violent russification. Despite these vicissitudes, many Caucasian regions managed to keep part of their traditions and their pride kept hidden over the years by necessity. Today the looting of the area continues in a different form. This time by the inhabitants themselves, as well as by foreign construction companies, with the connivance of the great international studies of architecture. In both cases, the reason is that running after the fast modernisation is easy. Tourism is the alibi. And the construction industry is the means.

This study investigated the use of e-Procurement in selected construction firms in Oyo state, Nigeria. The data were derived using a well-structured questionnaire survey involving 104 respondents. Descriptive statistical and correlation analyses were used to analyze the data. Findings show that the use of electronic procurement in the selected construction firms for carrying out procurement function is high with majority of the professionals affirming the use of the system, the four categories of e-Procurement used were e-mail, static websites, web.2.0 technologies and portals that have capabilities of supporting the execution of functions limited to intra and inter firm communication and exchange of project information and data. Consequently, between 84 percent and 76 percent of the respondents used these e-Procurement technologies for communication of information, exchange of bill of quantities, project reports, CAD drawings and project specifications. Consequently, factors with the highest positive impacts on the use of these technologies in the firms were the speed of transactions, lower transaction cost and ease of use. The study implies that the selected construction firms in Oyo state Nigeria predominantly use e-mails and websites to support the execution of pre-award phase of construction procurement. Finding also shows that there is positive relationship between e-Procurement (e-Notifying, e-Exchange, and e-Submission of bid) and Project delivery. The study suggests that to accelerate the rate of uptake of e-Procurement and maximize its benefits in the Nigerian construction industry, there is a need to improve the quality and quantity of ICT infrastructure across the country; and to embark on aggressive enlightenment campaigns, training and skill development programs in the use of e-Procurement in the construction industry in this country.


2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 150-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan-Simon SCHMIDT ◽  
Rainard OSEBOLD

The construction industry, as one of almost every economy’s major generators of environmental impact, can contribute in large measure to achieving the goals of sustainability. However, most publications in this field deal with sustainability with reference to selecting construction materials and improvements in the operating phase of buildings. When considering ecological sustainability the focus has to be extended from the finished building to the building pro­cess. Therefore the actors of the construction sector who are responsible for the production process have to be studied: the construction companies. The goal of this paper is to study the state of ecologically sustainable corporate business management in construction. The state of application of elements of environmental management systems (EMS) is used as an indicator of the current situation in German construction companies. EMS can help continuously to environmen­tally improve the operating processes of the firms. A broad survey about the extent of EMS has been conducted consid­ering the barriers and drivers. In general, a relatively low interest in EMS and a lack of knowledge is noticeable within the sector. As a result, strategic recommendations are made on how to promote environmental management to foster sustainable thinking in the German construction industry.


2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 94-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debby Willar ◽  
Vaughan Coffey ◽  
Bambang Trigunarsyah

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the implementation of quality management systems (QMSs) of Grade 7 (G-7) Indonesian construction companies. This includes the initial motives that have driven the development of QMSs, barriers to effective QMS implementation, the current practice and integration of QMS-ISO 9001 principles and elements, and the performance of contractors implementing such QMSs. Design/methodology/approach – A survey was conducted involving 403 respondents (Quality Management Representatives, Managers, and Project and Site Engineers) from 77 G-7 as well as ISO 9001 certified Indonesian construction companies. Findings – The main motive for G-7 contractors in establishing and implementing ISO 9001 based QMSs are identified as being to effectively and efficiently control project activities. Respondents apparently do not often experience problems related to QMS implementation. However, issues of management attitude and purpose are identified as barriers that may affect effective QMS implementation. The study highlights the ISO 9001 principles and elements that still require to be more critically applied by G-7 contractors in order to fully implement and improve their current QMS effectiveness. The findings also suggest that, although certified, many G-7 contractors have not yet achieved a satisfactory level of performance to be truly competitive in global markets outside Indonesia. Originality/value – To date, only limited research has been conducted into the application of ISO 9001 in the Indonesian construction industry. The research findings reinforced the value of pursuing more effective QMS implementation. They also support current attempts to introduce ISO 9001 QMSs to a much wider base of Indonesian construction companies, particularly small and medium sized contractors and builders.


2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 389-408
Author(s):  
Chung-Ju Tsai ◽  
Tzong-Ru (Jiun-Shen) Lee ◽  
Szu-Wei Yen ◽  
Per Hilletofth

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to investigate how companies in the reinforcing bar industry and the construction industry operate and implement brand alliances. Design/methodology/approach – This research uses a qualitative interview survey and the grounded theory method to extract key factors of brand alliance development and management in the targeted industries. The interview survey included six managers from different construction companies in Taiwan. Findings – This research identifies four common firm-level operational process stages (core categories) of brand alliances including different multidimensional factors, and proposes a conceptual model based on these identified core process stages. The four common core process stages include selection of brand alliance partners, communication with brand alliance partners, enforcement of brand alliances and assessment of brand alliances. Originality/value – The proposed model offers a tentative explanation of the development and management of brand alliances between the reinforcing bar industry and the construction industry. This study represents an initial research attempt in this field and explains how reinforcing bar and construction companies operate and implement brand alliances.


2012 ◽  
Vol 450-451 ◽  
pp. 140-144
Author(s):  
Sang Chul Kim ◽  
Jae Hyun Lim ◽  
Jun Ho Park ◽  
Tae Hwa Jung

Construction market in Korea has been decreased for 3 or 4 years, and it brought the problem in supply and demand of workforce. Therefore, new workforce in construction industry could not been enter, and some of them have been employed in non-major area. This research intends to analyze construction industry as well as demand and status of construction companies and to diagnose status of new workforce for architectural works, and a survey is conducted for enrolled students and graduates to diagnose problems of current status in order to suggest the alternatives in Korea.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Thu Anh Nguyen ◽  
Phong Thanh Nguyen ◽  
Sy Tien Do

The construction industry has played an essential role in the process of modernization and industrialization and it has also been a major factor in determining the development of the infrastructure for other economic sectors. Construction companies consider the measurement of work progress, which often wastes time and has a low resolution, to be one of the most challenging problems faced by project management. Therefore, this research aimed to propose practical solutions by applying recent technological achievements of the 4.0 industrial revolution to improve the efficiency of the quantity management process. By utilizing the advantages and features of a BIM model and 3D laser scanning, this paper proposes that adopting a BIM model and 3D laser scanning has the potential to improve the accuracy and efficiency of the quantity management process. The case study demonstrated some typical tasks to evaluate accuracy and efficiency as well as to showcase the research proposal.


2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michal Tkáč ◽  
Radoslav Delina ◽  
Martina Sabolová

<p><strong>Purpose:</strong> The purpose of this paper is to identify and determine reasons why construction companies reject some of the request for proposals (RFPS) suitable for them. <br /><strong>Methodology/Approach:</strong> The research has several parts. Within the first part the list of reasons which lead to rejection of RFPS and thus potential client are identified. Then the comparison of differences between groups of rejected RFPS with different configuration is made. The last part of research use Pareto analysis to determine most obvious and most costly reasons of rejection of RFPS. <br /><strong>Findings:</strong> The paper identifies 12 reasons, why construction companies decline to prepare proposal for their potential clients. It also doesn’t confirm that configuration of RFPS has significant impact on the rejection of RFPS. Moreover the results on the other hand showed that insufficient trust represent the main barrier which influences the rejection of RFPS in selected company.<br /><strong>Research Limitation/implication:</strong> The main limitation of the research is that it is based on single case study. Although, the quantitative results have to be generalised very carefully, on the other hand paper provide list of the possible reasons why construction companies decline to compete for an offer. <br /><strong>Originality/Value of paper:</strong> The paper provides unique perspective because apart from traditional attitude, where only the submitted RFPS are evaluated, this paper analyses rejected RFPS and tries to identify and determine reasons why construction companies decide not to prepare proposal and thus reduce the possibility to acquire new contract.</p>


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 7-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krzysztof Dziekoński ◽  
Omar Hesham Mohamed Fawzy Ibrahim ◽  
Abdul-Majeed Mahamadu ◽  
Patrick Manu

Abstract Construction industry is considered as one of the most important sectors in Egypt. One of the major challenges faced by the industry, however, is the unavailability of suitable performance measurement systems for assessing companies’ performance. Modern performance assessment systems adopt a more universal approach to the measurement of construction company performance as opposed to the traditional project triangle. This paper aims to examine the practice of performance measurement in the Egyptian construction industry. Results show dominant role of in-house developed performance management systems as well as the use of KPIs as a method of performance assessment. The study further reveals that the highest importance is given to measures related to the time of project delivery, quality of works, clients’ satisfaction and profitability. Hence, the traditional project triangle of project’s success is the most prevalent approach to performance evaluation in the construction industry in Egypt. However, a shift towards a more holistic approach to performance assessment in larger companies was observed.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-36
Author(s):  
Amalia Madihie ◽  
Rose Amira Siman

This research aims to identify the issues among female engineers in the perspective of their career success. The issues that were identified are work-life balance, gender stereotyping and slow progression on the career success. The research design is a qualitative approach by in-depth interview. The research design which consisted of ten items aimed to explore female engineers’ satisfaction of working in the construction industry, unequal employment in the workplace, persistent problems in managing work-life balance, the role of gender in developing career success and also factors that positively and negatively affect the retention of female engineers in the construction industry. Five participants were recruited from various construction companies in Malaysia. Four of them were interviewed via phone calls and one via electronic mail. The findings from this research show that work-life balance issue is the main issue. Other issues include gender stereotype, nature of work and the competition among male and female engineers. From these findings, one recommendation is that the top management of an organization can provide full support to the employees so that they can be more productive in the workplace and are able to balance their work and non-work responsibilities. 


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Monty Sutrisna ◽  
Dewi Tjia ◽  
Peng Wu

Purpose This paper aims to identify and examine the factors that influence construction industry-university (IU) collaboration and develop the likelihood model of a potential industry partner within the construction industry to collaborate with universities. Design/methodology/approach Mix method data collection including questionnaire survey and focus groups were used for data collection. The collected data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistical methods to identify and examine factors. These findings were then used to develop the likelihood predictive model of IU collaboration. A well-known artificial neural network (ANN) model, was trained and cross-validated to develop the predictive model. Findings The study identified company size (number of employees and approximate annual turnover), the length of experience in the construction industry, previous IU collaboration, the importance of innovation and motivation of innovation for short term showed statistically significant influence on the likelihood of collaboration. The study also revealed there was an increase in interest amongst companies to engage the university in collaborative research. The ANN model successfully predicted the likelihood of a potential construction partner to collaborate with universities at the accuracy of 85.5%, which was considered as a reasonably good model. Originality/value The study investigated the nature of collaboration and the factors that can have an impact on the potential IU collaborations and based on that, introduced the implementation of machine learning approach to examine the likelihood of IU collaboration. While the developed model was derived from analysing data set from Western Australian construction industry, the methodology proposed here can be used as the basis of predictive developing models for construction industry elsewhere to help universities in assessing the likelihood for collaborating and partnering with the targeted construction companies.


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