scholarly journals Comparing the Chinese Construction Industry with Other Developing Countries to Identify an Applicable Solution to Low Construction Performance

Author(s):  
Yutian Chen ◽  
Oswald Chong

The Chinese Construction Industry (CCI) has become one of the largest in the world within the last 20 years. However, due to its rapid growth it has been experiencing issues causing the industry to struggle with delivering high performing projects. Due to the differences between developed and developing countries construction industries, research from other developing countries that were similar to China (Vietnam and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) were used to help identify solutions to improve the CCI. Previous research has identified the major risks in Vietnam and Saudi Arabia. It has also been identified the only solution that has documented evidence that it can improve construction performance is the Best Value Approach that was developed in the United States at Arizona State University. A literature research was performed identifying the major risks and issues that have been documented in the CCI. These risks were then compared to that of the Vietnam and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s construction industry risks. It was identified that the majority of the top risks were similar in all three countries. Identifying that developing countries have been experiencing the same issues. This also identifies that the Best Value Approach might be a solution to help improve the CCI.

Author(s):  
Yutian Chen ◽  
Oswald Chong

The Chinese construction industry (CCI) has grown to be one of the largest in the world within the last 10 years. The size of the CCI is on par with many developed nations, despite it being a developing country. Despite its rapid growth, the productivity and profitability of the CCI is low compared to similar sized construction industries. In addition to the low efficiency of the CCI, the minimal documented performance information collected, shows projects being completed over budget, over the scheduled time, with poor quality of work. A literature research was performed on other developing countries similar to the CCI, to identify if there were any solutions that had been proven to improve the productivity and performance of a construction industry. It was found that Vietnam, The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and India were the closest to China with enough documentation on their construction industry. Both countries identified the Best value Approach (BVA) as the only solution with documented performance showing it could solve the issues developing countries face with their construction industry. This paper proposes that more research should be performed looking into the ability of the CCI to implement the BVA.


Author(s):  
Kenneth Sullivan ◽  
John Michael

The Performance Based Studies Research Group (PBSRG) in the Del E. Webb School of Construction at Arizona State University has conducted research in the development and application of best-value and leadership based process models in construction for the past 14 years. Despite significant success in terms of construction performance, the concepts and ideas of the best-value/leadership process models have met consistent resistance. Due to the construction industry’s characteristics, fragmented system, and inability to change easily, documenting industry impact has been difficult. The PBSRG has embarked on an effort to test their research concepts of best-value/leadership process models in industries outside of construction, with a less fragmented system, but with similar characteristics. In this way, the authors hope to gain a better understanding of the research models’ impact on an industry. This paper presents the initial testing of the bestvalue/ leadership process model in the area of dining services, specifically on a $300+ million contract for one of the largest campuses in the United States, Arizona State University. The initial results show a significant increase in guaranteed money, performance, and risk minimization. The expanse of the effort seeks to create an industry transformation model to be first tested in dining services and then brought back to the construction industry as an example to drive change in the future.


1975 ◽  
Vol 38 (7) ◽  
pp. 423-427
Author(s):  
W. F. WEDIN

Approaches to solving food problems have often been too specific, both here at home and abroad. In developing countries, chronic food problems have often been attacked with a technology, the adoption-diffusion of which, if nonappropriate to mores and customs of the people, has in the long-run been counter-productive. Through the World Food Institute at Iowa State University, we propose to identify problems, analyze them, bring competencies to bear on solving them, provide a continuing feed-in of educated, competent people geared to a problem-solving, interdisciplinary attack, and study the interrelationships to Iowa and the United States. We propose a continuing thrust from our University utilizing pertinent components of the land-grant mission which permitted problems to be solved in Iowa. Through this outward thrust in the broader, international scale, we hope to improve the nutrition and hope for hunger avoidance of humans elsewhere, and simultaneously thereby to increase our own understanding. We look to the peaceful interchange of food-related knowledge which, in the ultimate, knows neither borders nor political leanings.


1988 ◽  
Vol 82 (4) ◽  
pp. 828-830
Author(s):  
Edward M. Leigh

Plaintiff Zedan, an American citizen, brought suit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for breach of a contract guaranteeing wages and profits. While performance under the contract occurred in Saudi Arabia, plaintiff alleged that the jurisdictional requirements under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 (28 U.S.C. §§1330, 1602-1611 (1982)) (FSIA) were satisfied by a recruitment call in California from a representative of the royal overseer of a private Saudi company. The district court granted the Saudi motion to dismiss. On appeal, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (per Silberman, J.) unanimously affirmed and held: (1) that the telephone call did not have the requisite substantiality of contact with the United States; (2) that it was not sufficient to form the basis of a cause of action; and (3) that the alleged breach did not have sufficient direct effect in the United States to satisfy the exceptions to immunity under the FSIA.


2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamil Ghazi Sarhan ◽  
Bo Xia ◽  
Sabrina Fawzia ◽  
Azharul Karim

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has witnessed a huge increase in construction during the last two decades. However, many projects experienced time delays, cost overruns and the generation of massive amounts of waste. To address these challenges, lean construction has been introduced into the Saudi construction industry; however, it is still in its infancy. This study therefore investigates the current state of lean construction implementation in the construction industry in the KSA. The objectives are to identify: the types of construction waste, level of use of tools that support the implementation of lean construction, stages of application of lean methods, and the benefits of lean construction. To achieve these objectives, a structured questionnaire survey of 282 construction professionals was carried out. After the analysis of the collected data using mean score and Anova test, the following conclusions were made.  In the construction industry in the KSA, waiting is the most common type of waste, while Computer Aided Design (CAD) is the conventional tool supporting the implementation of lean construction. Furthermore, the data suggests that lean construction is most commonly used in the construction stage of projects while customer satisfaction is the main benefit derived from lean construction practices. This study concludes that the level of implementation of lean construction in the KSA construction industry is increasing. The results will help benchmark the current state of lean construction implementation, which will enable the construction industry to identify strategies to implement lean construction in Saudi Arabia in accordance with their needs and project goals, to achieve better productivity.


Author(s):  
Dean Kashiwagi

Best Value Procurement/Performance Information Procurement System (BVP/PIPS) has been developed by Dean Kashiwagi and the Performance Based Studies Research Group (PBSRG) from 1991 - 2010. BVP/PIPS is a licensed technology from Arizona State University that includes a deductive logic called Information Measurement Theory (IMT), an industry structure model which shapes the PIPS functions, and a process and structure that transfers risk and control to expert vendors. The BVP/PIPS has gone through numerous stages: the performance information centered PIPS (1994-2001); the PIPS testing phase (2001-2005); and the implementation stage (2005-2009); and the theoretical refinement and standardization of BVP/PIPS technology (2010). BVP/PIPS was introduced into the Netherlands in 2005 by a large general contractor Heijmans, the Rijkeswaterstaat, and aggressively proliferated by Scenter and others. BVP/PIPS usage in the Netherlands is modified to fit within the European procurement law. However, the main advantage of PIPS is the IMT based philosophy of minimized management, direction, and control of expert vendors.


Author(s):  
Khaled M. Hassan ◽  
Asala M. Wafa ◽  
Manea S. Alosaimi ◽  
Kawthar A. Bokari ◽  
Mosab A. Alsobhi ◽  
...  

Stroke is a major cerebrovascular disease causes high mortality and morbidity in people around the world. Stroke is the third leading cause of death and the leading cause of adult disability. The largest country in the middle East, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), has been occupying approximately four-fifths of the Arabian Peninsula supporting a population of more than 28 million. Stroke is getting to be a quickly expanding issue and is the leading cause of illness and deaths in Saudi Arabia. It is clear that researches and studies regarding the incidence, prevalence and their sociodemographic properties of stroke is still incomplete due to lack of present studies being conducted in these specified areas. This article aims to discuss the aspect of stroke in Saudi Arabia beside the effects of modifiable and the non-modifiable risk factors from the literature published. 


Author(s):  
Muhammad Shah ◽  
Rab Nawaz ◽  
Muhammad Mahsud

Introduction. No doubt that the Iran-USA nuclear deal of 2015 got fame in the international politics. Some countries were in favor of such a deal and some were against this development. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has more concerns over the Iran nuclear deal, it feels that after the deal Iran will become a regional power and will increase its military and political power which will disturb the regional security and stability. As the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) itself provokes the creation of such conditions, thus their influence in the Middle East will be affected. Analysis. The article analyzes the concerns of Israel, implications for Turkey, the question why deal is beneficial for Pakistan, economic concerns of Saudi Arabia, implications for Persian Gulf and Middle East, economic implications for Turkey, economic opportunities for Pakistan. After the nuclear deal, Iran becomes a regional power and increases its political and economic influence in the region, especially in the Persian Gulf. The world says that Iran cannot get nuclear weapons after the deal because it has no such a capacity. However, according to some findings from the documents of the deal Iran is not blocked to become a nuclear power and the deal legitimizes the nuclear program. So, on the other hand after the Iran nuclear deal the regional political and economic environment is totally favorable to Iran. On the other hand, scholars believe that the United States of America (USA) operate in terms of diplomatic competition. From the economic standpoint, the deal will be favorable for Iran. Thus, some countries have objections related to the deal, while others express a positive attitude towards it. Results. Pakistan will be able to generate economic opportunities from Iran, especially with the help of Iran-Pakistan-India Gas pipeline project (IPI project). Consequences of the deal will be beneficial for the regional economic development of the Middle East and South Asia respectively.


2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 246-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamil Sarhan ◽  
Bo Xia ◽  
Sabrina Fawzia ◽  
Azharul Karim ◽  
Ayokunle Olanipekun

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the barriers to implementing lean construction in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) construction industry and to prioritise the principal factors that constitute these barriers. Design/methodology/approach A literature review was initially used to reveal the global barriers to implementing lean construction. Subsequently, these barriers were incorporated into a structured questionnaire, and a convenience sample of 282 construction professionals in the KSA construction industry was surveyed. The results were analysed using mean item score (MIS), Mann–Whitney U test and principal component analysis (PCA). Findings The findings revealed 22 barriers to lean construction implementation in the KSA construction industry. Principal factors that constitute these barriers were found to be traditional practices, client related, technological, performance and knowledge and cost-related barriers in descending order of pervasiveness. The study also proposes solutions to overcome these principal barriers. Originality/value This study provides a global overview of the barriers to implementing lean construction. It contributes to the body of knowledge, as it uncovers for the first time the barriers to implementing lean construction in the KSA construction industry with reference to the socio-cultural, economic and operational context of the KSA. Thus, it is relevant to other countries in the Middle East because of their shared similarities to the KSA. Furthermore, the solutions proposed to overcome these barriers in the KSA construction industry can be applied in other countries where similar barriers are identified.


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