scholarly journals The Role of E-Commerce Systems for the Construction Industry

2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 24-36
Author(s):  
Peter Stewart
Keyword(s):  
Construction Industry ◽  
Business Models ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Real Wages ◽  
Construction Companies ◽  
The Past ◽  
Reduced Costs ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Use Of The Internet

The use of e-commerce systems has increased substantially in the past five years, and now a number of companies in the construction industry have joined consortiums to develop e-commerce portals. These new systems encourage companies to review the way in which existing processes are undertaken, and often re-engineered process are introduced. It is important to understand the difference between the terms e-commerce and e-business, e-commerce refers to buying and seeling transactions which use some24The Australian Journal of Construction Economics & Building Page (iii)form of electronic media, while e-business suggests a review and redefinition of business models linked to the greater use of IT. It is argued that the greater use of the internet and e-commerce, and the move towards the integration of applications will compel construction companies to re-engineer processes and introduce e-commerce systems. A series of business drivers and business designs are discussed in later sections of this paper.There are many benefits associated with the introduction of e-commerce systems, and these include increases in GDP, real wages and employment together with reduced transaction costs. It has been forecast that there will be more than 400,000 companies in Australia using e-commerce systems by 2005 (NOIE 2000). For the construction industry, the benefits will include increased project efficiencies, communications, control, and reduced design and construction times as well as reduced costs (BuildOnline 2000). In the past year, two local consortiums have been formed to develop and offer e-commerce applications, and this heightens the need for all companies to reflect on how they might engage with these new technologies.

Change through Innovation and Customer-Orientation

2013 ◽  
pp. 67-92
Keyword(s):  
Construction Industry ◽  
Computer Aided Design ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Customer Orientation ◽  
Organizational Capabilities ◽  
Organizational Level ◽  
Construction Companies ◽  
The People ◽  
Different Types

This chapter begins by explaining the nature of innovation and basic models of innovation, including key stages in the process of innovation. As the construction industry is often regarded as different from other industries given its unique characteristics, innovation in construction is discussed in terms of motivation for the industry’s Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) to innovate, key organizational capabilities required for innovation, and external and internal factors critical to successful innovation. In addition, the common enablers, barriers, motivators, and outcomes of innovation in the construction industry are discussed. Understandably, as the role of clients in the construction industry is vital in many ways in driving to improve performance of projects, the chapter focuses on their role in driving innovation. The different types and categories of clients are described, as well as their roles in different types of innovations, and at different stages of innovation. The chapter also covers the role of technology in innovation and, more specifically, Computer-Aided Design (CAD) as an important technological innovation for the construction industry. At the organizational level, factors that can affect the rate of diffusion of a new technology within construction SMEs are explained. At the project level, factors that impact on innovative IT implementation and diffusion are also explained. Next, innovation and its role in enabling construction businesses to gain competitive advantages are discussed. The need to classify construction innovation and how it can encourage businesses to innovate by adopting appropriate strategies are explained through a case of Singapore’s construction industry. In addition, the need for and application of strategies, policies, and procedures to deal with IT in managing construction site processes are described in a study of UK’s leading construction companies. On achieving continuous improvement as a whole for the industry, issues relating to innovation, including reasons for the lack of it, are discussed and presented. On managing change, focus on the “people” factor of innovation, especially the need to develop capability of staff to use new technologies, is given. The chapter concludes with a summary of the main points covered on change through innovation and customer-orientation.

scholarly journals The role of business models in Finnish construction companies

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 13-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aki Pekuri ◽  
Laura Pekuri ◽  
Harri Haapasalo
Keyword(s):  
Construction Industry ◽  
Business Model ◽  
Value Creation ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Project Delivery ◽  
Model Concept ◽  
Construction Companies ◽  
Customer Values ◽  
A Company

Business models are seen as an essential part of successful businesses as they define the way companies create value for their customers and subsequently make profit from their operations. A good business model has a potential to separate a company from its competitors by creating a competitive advantage. The purpose of this research is to explore how managers understand and deploy the business model concept in construction. For this, eight experienced managers have been interviewed and their answers have been analysed using the theoretical aspects of business models as a reference. In the interviews, managers deployed business model concept very differently than what is accustomed in practice and in academia; they relate these models to different project delivery and contract structures or to companies’ business segments rather than to analysing how their companies provide value for customers in the selected markets. The results of the interviews indicate that the managers in construction do neither understand the concept properly nor exploit any similar value creation analysis in their business. The interviewees had significant problems describing their companies’ business models and value creation logic, pointing out the lack of analysis and understanding of customer values and needs in the project delivery process. This may be one of the overtones of the persistent client dissatisfaction in the construction industry. 

Emerging Industrial Revolution: Symbiosis of Industry 4.0 and Circular Economy: The Role of Universities

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 505-525 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seeram Ramakrishna ◽  
Alfred Ngowi ◽  
Henk De Jager ◽  
Bankole O. Awuzie
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Industry 4.0 ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Fourth Industrial Revolution ◽  
New Jobs

Growing consumerism and population worldwide raises concerns about society’s sustainability aspirations. This has led to calls for concerted efforts to shift from the linear economy to a circular economy (CE), which are gaining momentum globally. CE approaches lead to a zero-waste scenario of economic growth and sustainable development. These approaches are based on semi-scientific and empirical concepts with technologies enabling 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) and 6Rs (reuse, recycle, redesign, remanufacture, reduce, recover). Studies estimate that the transition to a CE would save the world in excess of a trillion dollars annually while creating new jobs, business opportunities and economic growth. The emerging industrial revolution will enhance the symbiotic pursuit of new technologies and CE to transform extant production systems and business models for sustainability. This article examines the trends, availability and readiness of fourth industrial revolution (4IR or industry 4.0) technologies (for example, Internet of Things [IoT], artificial intelligence [AI] and nanotechnology) to support and promote CE transitions within the higher education institutional context. Furthermore, it elucidates the role of universities as living laboratories for experimenting the utility of industry 4.0 technologies in driving the shift towards CE futures. The article concludes that universities should play a pivotal role in engendering CE transitions.

Memory

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maxwell Deutscher
Keyword(s):  
Memory Trace ◽  
Computer Models ◽  
Structural Analogue ◽  
Past Event ◽  
The Past ◽  
General Power ◽  
Ancillary Information ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Theoretical Question

Memory is central to every way in which we deal with things. One might subsume memory under the category of intellect, since it is our capacity to retain what we sense, enjoy and suffer, and thus to become knowing in our perception and other activities. As intelligent retention, memory cannot be distinguished from our acquisition of skills, habits and customs – our capabilities both for prudence and for deliberate risk. As retention, memory is a vital condition of the formation of language. Amnesia illustrates dramatically the difference between memory as retention of language and skills, and memory as the power to recollect and to recognize specific events and situations. In amnesia we lose, not our general power of retention, but rather our recall of facts – the prior events of our life, and our power to recognize people and places. Amnesiacs recognize kinds of things. They may know it is a wristwatch they are wearing, while unable to recognize it as their own. This recall of events and facts that enables us to recognize things as our own, is more than just the ability to give correctly an account of them. One might accurately describe some part of one’s past inadvertently, or after hypnosis, or by relying on incidental information. Thus, present research on memory both as retention and as recall of specific episodes, attempts to describe the connection which persists between experience and recall. Neurological or computer models of such a connection owe something to traditional notions of a memory trace, but emphasize also the re-tracing of original memories by later experience and episodes of recall. Historically, recollection has often been thought of as a mode of perceiving the past. Such an idea lends an exaggerated status to the role of imagery, which is but one member of a family of recollective activities that includes reliving, remembering, reminiscing and mulling over what has happened. It may be not in having imagery but in miming someone’s behaviour that one relives an event. Also, like imagery, what we feel about the past may seem integral to recollection. A sense of being brought close to the past arises particularly when events that involve our feelings are concerned. Yet we may also recollect an event, vividly and accurately, while feeling clinically detached from it, devoid of imagery. How a past event or situation remains connected with subsequent recollection has become a principal theoretical question about memory. It is argued that it is because of what we did or experienced that we recollect it. Otherwise, we are only imagining it or relying upon ancillary information. Neurological or computer models of such a connection owe something to traditional notions of a memory trace, but emphasize also the re-tracing of original memories by later experience and episodes of recall. Some argue that our very idea of memory is that of the retention of a structural analogue of what we do recall of them. Such an idea is not of some perfect harmony between what we remember and our recollection of it. Rather, it is suggested, only to the extent that we retain a structural analogue of some aspect of an event or situation do we remember, rather than imagine or infer it.

scholarly journals Collimated Bipolar Outflow and the Formation of Nuclear Spirals; Possible Role of Magnetic Fields

1990 ◽  
Vol 140 ◽  
pp. 447-448
Author(s):  
P. Pismis ◽  
E. Moreno ◽  
A. Garcia-Barreto
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Fields ◽  
Active Galactic Nuclei ◽  
Galactic Nuclei ◽  
Radio Galaxies ◽  
The Past ◽  
Bipolar Outflow ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Observational Techniques ◽  
Quasars And Radio Galaxies

The existence of non–steady phenomena, namely activity in the form of radial motions (outflow) of matter from the nuclei of galaxies is well established at present. Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) constitute a topic of great interest and are intensively studied by all existing observational techniques. Conventionally objects classified as AGN span a range from quasars, radio galaxies to Seyferts 1 and 2. It appears, however, that there exist galaxies which exhibit somewhat milder activity which does not qualify their inclusion in the AGN group. The designation of MAGN (M for mildly) was suggested in the past (Pismis, 1986) to cover the less energetic nuclei. It may be reasonable to consider that active nuclei form a sequence, the difference along it being due to the energetics of the nuclei, from the most active quasars and radio galaxies down to the mildest ones like M31 or our Galaxy. The phenomenon underlying the activity may thus be universal, subject to the intrinsic energetics of the nuclei (Pismis, 1987).

scholarly journals An Empirical Analysis of Organizational Performance of Construction Companies in Pakistan through Mediating Role of Conflict Management Effectiveness

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 571-584 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haleema Tariq ◽  
Muqqadas Rehman
Keyword(s):  
Conflict Management ◽  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Organizational Factors ◽  
Partial Least Square ◽  
Management Effectiveness ◽  
Construction Companies ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Workforce Productivity

This paper aims to examine the impact of organizational factors and verify mediating role of conflict management effectiveness on perceived performance of registered construction companies in Pakistan. The study adopts a survey research design using a well-structured questionnaire of 450 employees from construction companies located in Lahore and Karachi. The construction industry is characterized by performance setbacks for decades. Descriptive statistics and mediation analysis were employed to analyze the conceptual model. The research paper concludes that distortions in reduced workforce productivity and relationship conflicts should be overcome by capable professional & administrative services. The analysis depicts that socio-economic and political factors play a significant role to maintain the quality in local construction industry. The findings reveal that performance of construction companies is significantly related to internal factors i.e. workforce productivity, decentralization, perceived organizational politics and relationship conflict. The study provides guidelines to organizational decision-makers and government policy-makers for public reforms in infrastructure to improve their output. The present study was undertaken to provide new horizons and advance understanding on organizational performance (OP) of construction companies in Pakistan. The most significant part of this study is the comprehensive five-factor organizational performance model designed to test mediation among variables using partial least square structural equation modelling (SEM).

scholarly journals Features of Digitalization in the Construction Industry as an Important Factor of Its Sustainable Development

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (12) ◽  
pp. 169-174
Author(s):  
K. Voskovykh
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Cost Savings ◽  
Resource Scarcity ◽  
Current Level ◽  
Construction Site ◽  
Fourth Industrial Revolution

This article determines that in the context of global digitalization, the competitiveness and sustainable development of companies depend on the speed of mastering new technologies. Assessment of the current level of the construction industry indicates its lag behind other industries. The aim of the study is to analyze the current level of digitalization of construction companies and summarize the constraining factors. The importance of continuous digitization of production and logistics, networking of autonomous smart objects or the use of self-learning systems in order to increase flexibility and optimize processes is emphasized. The main benefit of implementing digital business models is reducing the time it takes to make decisions, implement a project, and bring products to market. The factors holding back digital processes at the construction site are highlighted: a high proportion of manual production, over-regulation, dependence on the public sector and cyclical changes, the scale of the company. New technologies resulting from the fourth industrial revolution promise more efficient processes, greater time and cost savings, greater productivity and quality. The construction industry must catch up with other industries, because it also has to face the challenges of globalization, urbanization, climate change, resource scarcity, demographic change and other events that disrupt its sustainable development. Construction Site 4.0 promises improvements, but the fourth industrial revolution on the construction site is just beginning.

American Electronic Constitution

2009 ◽  
pp. 54-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fortunato Musella
Keyword(s):  
Public Management ◽  
New Public Management ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
The United States ◽  
Administrative Reforms ◽  
Digital Era ◽  
Private Organizations ◽  
New Public ◽  
The Difference

The chapter is dedicated at analyzing the strategic use of new technologies in the United States. An evident synergy has been noted between the digital policy projects and the neo-liberal ideology wave that has traced origin in the fiscal crisis of the State in the 1970s. About four decades have transformed some political directions in true imperatives: public sector downsizing, cost-cutting in public agencies, decision-making privatization, and the principle of efficiency as a measure of collective action. If new public management has been imposed as a dominant paradigm for administrative restructuring, ICTs programs sustain reform objectives by putting emphasis on the sure advantages of technological applications. In addition to this, administrative reforms seem to be in continuity with some American historical tradition, in reasserting a central role of private actor in public activities and realizing a significant “fusion of political and economic power”. Digital era seems to have added a new chapter to the American corporate liberalism history, with the difference – and the aggravating circumstance – that private organizations have now more powerful instruments to control and regulate society. New technological instruments seem to be used essentially to produce a neo-liberal interpretation of government activities.

From the Museums of Objects to the Virtual Museums

2015 ◽  
pp. 255-272
Author(s):  
Sonia Ferrari ◽  
Monica Gilli
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
The Public ◽  
Virtual Museums ◽  
The Past ◽  
Multimedia Technologies

This paper analyses the role played by the new multimedia technologies for the development of the offer of museums. The role of museums is changing: while in the past the goal of mere cataloguing and preservation prevailed, today these institutions are making efforts to increase the number of visitors and attract new segments of demand, as well as qualify their offer. It emerges, for all these reasons, the need to modify the positioning and the offering of cultural attractions, strengthening them in experiential terms. Therefore, in terms of management of cultural heritage it is necessary to focus on the ability to get closer to the public and to create richer and striking experiences for visitors through new technologies. The paper presents some of the most interesting cases of Italian audience-driven museums (Hopper-Greenhill, 1994) focused on innovative ITC support.

scholarly journals Voting after Watching: The Strategic Role of Election Polls

2012 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 210-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergiu Gherghina ◽  
Mihail Chiru
Keyword(s):  
Strategic Voting ◽  
The Past ◽  
Electoral Strategies ◽  
Strategic Role ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Election Results ◽  
Election Polls ◽  
Poll Data

The November 2009 Romanian presidential elections illustrate the process through which media exposure to exit polls during the election day allows strategic voting in the least expected situations (i.e. in the first round of a two-ballot setting). Organized in a two-round system in which the first two competitors qualify for the second round, these elections display one unsolved dilemma. The difference registered in elections between the two challengers is twice as large as the average support in the pre-election polls (a comparable difference was never registered in post-communist Romania). Our quantitative analysis uses election results from the past two decades and aggregated poll data from 2009 and reveals that a large share of the Romanian electorate avoids wasting votes and casts them for candidates with real winning chances. This article argues that polls presented to the voters, by the media during the elections, made the difference. They were used as electoral strategies to trigger strategic voting and thus promote specific candidates.

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