An investigation into the barriers to the implementation of automation and robotics technologies in the construction industry

The rising problems associated with construction such as decreasing quality and productivity, labour shortages, occupational safety, and inferior working conditions have opened the possibility of more revolutionary solutions within the industry. One prospective option is in the implementation of innovative technologies such as automation and robotics, which has the potential to improve the industry in terms of productivity, safety and quality. The construction work site could, theoretically, be contained in a safer environment, with more efficient execution of the work, greater consistency of the outcome and higher level of control over the production process. By identifying the barriers to construction automation and robotics implementation in construction, and investigating ways in which to overcome them, contributions could be made in terms of better understanding and facilitating, where relevant, greater use of these technologies in the construction industry so as to promote its efficiency. This research aims to ascertain and explain the barriers to construction automation and robotics implementation by exploring and establishing the relationship between characteristics of the construction industry and attributes of existing construction automation and robotics technologies to level of usage and implementation in three selected countries; Japan, Australia and Malaysia. These three countries were chosen as their construction industry characteristics provide contrast in terms of culture, gross domestic product, technology application, organisational structure and labour policies. This research uses a mixed method approach of gathering data, both quantitative and qualitative, by employing a questionnaire survey and an interview schedule; using a wide range of sample from management through to on-site users, working in a range of small (less than AUD0.2million) to large companies (more than AUD500million), and involved in a broad range of business types and construction sectors. Detailed quantitative (statistical) and qualitative (content) data analysis is performed to provide a set of descriptions, relationships, and differences. The statistical tests selected for use include cross-tabulations, bivariate and multivariate analysis for investigating possible relationships between variables; and Kruskal-Wallis and Mann Whitney U test of independent samples for hypothesis testing and inferring the research sample to the construction industry population. Findings and conclusions arising from the research work which include the ranking schemes produced for four key areas of, the construction attributes on level of usage; barrier variables; differing levels of usage between countries; and future trends, have established a number of potential areas that could impact the level of implementation both globally and for individual countries.

Contracting for community development : a case study based perspective of a public sector client initiative in Hong Kong

The construction industry is known to be an important contributor towards the gross domestic product of many countries. Moreover, the health of the construction industry is positively correlated to the economic growth of a country and in many economies public sector clients account for a major share of construction works. Given this strength, it is important for public sector clients to initiate innovations aimed at the betterment of the industry. In this context, concern about sustainable development has been a major driver of some innovative initiatives in construction industries worldwide. Furthermore, the Government of Hong Kong regards both sustainability and community development as important criteria when planning and procuring construction projects. This paper is based on a case study of a public sector development project in Hong Kong, and presents the salient features of the procurement and contractual systems adopted in the project, which foster sustainability and community development. The reported interim findings are based on a preliminary document analysis that is part of an ongoing longitudinal case study into the project. The document analysis takes a three-pronged approach in terms of how the procurement and contractual systems foster economic, environmental and social sustainability, and sums up their impact on the community as a whole.

Strategic management practices in the construction industry : a study of Indonesian enterprises

Since the establishment of the first national strategic development plan in the early 1970s, the construction industry has played an important role in terms of the economic, social and cultural development of Indonesia. The industry’s contribution to Indonesia’s gross domestic product (GDP) increased from 3.9% in 1973 to 7.7% in 2007. Business Monitoring International (2009) forecasts that Indonesia is home to one of the fastest-growing construction industries in Asia despite the average construction growth rate being expected to remain under 10% over the period 2006 – 2010. Similarly, Howlett and Powell (2006) place Indonesia as one of the 20 largest construction markets in 2010. Although the prospects for the Indonesian construction industry are now very promising, many local construction firms still face serious difficulties, such as poor performance and low competitiveness. There are two main reasons behind this problem: the environment that they face is not favourable; the other is the lack of strategic direction to improve competitiveness and performance. Furthermore, although strategic management has now become more widely used by many large construction firms in developed countries, practical examples and empirical studies related to the Indonesian construction industry remain scarce. In addition, research endeavours related to these topics in developing countries appear to be limited. This has potentially become one of the factors hampering efforts to guide Indonesian construction enterprises. This research aims to construct a conceptual model to enable Indonesian construction enterprises to develop a sound long-term corporate strategy that generates competitive advantage and superior performance. The conceptual model seeks to address the main prescription of a dynamic capabilities framework (Teece, Pisano & Shuen, 1997; Teece, 2007) within the context of the Indonesian construction industry. It is hypothesised that in a rapidly changing and varied environment, competitive success arises from the continuous development and reconfiguration of firm’s specific assets achieving competitive advantage is not only dependent on the exploitation of specific assets/capabilities, but on the exploitation of all of the assets and capabilities combinations in the dynamic capabilities framework. Thus, the model is refined through sequential statistical regression analyses of survey results with a sample size of 120 valid responses. The results of this study provide empirical evidence in support of the notion that a competitive advantage is achieved via the implementation of a dynamic capability framework as an important way for a construction enterprise to improve its organisational performance. The characteristics of asset-capability combinations were found to be significant determinants of the competitive advantage of the Indonesian construction enterprises, and that such advantage sequentially contributes to organisational performance. If a dynamic capabilities framework can work in the context of Indonesia, it suggests that the framework has potential applicability in other emerging and developing countries. This study also demonstrates the importance of the multi-stage nature of the model which provides a rich understanding of the dynamic process by which asset-capability should be exploited in combination by the construction firms operating in varying levels of hostility. Such findings are believed to be useful to both academics and practitioners, however, as this research represents a dynamic capabilities framework at the enterprise level, future studies should continue to explore and examine the framework in other levels of strategic management in construction as well as in other countries where different cultures or similar conditions prevails.

A human capital framework : designed for convergence

The 21" century business environment is dominated by unprecedented change across a broad spectrum of social, economic, technological and cultural factors (Nowotny, Scott & Gibbons 2001). Among these, two broad trends -economic globalisation and rising knowledge intensity (Hart 2006)have come to distinguish organisational life. Under the weight of these transformational influences, the developed world, it seems, has arrived at a transformational moment. The far-reaching effects of the global financial crisis and its shadowy twin: the threat of a double dip recession, continue to exert an unsteadying influence on global and corporate finances. Growth in developed economies has slumped, share prices have declined, the market value of corporations has slipped and unemployment rates, in the vast majority of developed economies, have risen. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth has retreated from the strong growth experienced in the late 1990s to negative growth in 2009 and a sluggish and unsteady recovery in 2010. In response, the reach of Government in terms of its participation in markets has been extended, bringing with it the need to transition to new governance and regulatory arrangements. Ongoing concerns regarding the pace and sustainability of the recovery remains a front-of-mind concern with bailouts, buybacks, borrowings and BP dominating news services: 'We are witnessing the reweaving of the social, political and economic fabric that binds our planet, with long-term consequences that are as or more profound than those of the industrial era' (Tapscott & Williams 2006, p. 59).

Project management deployment : the role of cultural factors

This paper investigates the role of cultural factors as possible partial explanation of the disparity in terms of project management deployment observed between various studied countries. The topic of culture has received increasing attention in the management literature in general during the last decades and in the project management literature in particular during the last few years. The globalization of businesses and worldwide Governmental/International organizations collaborations drives this interest in the national culture to increase more and more. Based on Hofstede national culture framework, the study hypothesizes and tests the impact of the culture and development of the country on the PM deployment. Seventy-four countries are selected to conduct a correlation and regression analysis between Hofstede’s national culture dimensions and the used PM deployment indicator. The results show the relations between various national culture dimensions and development indicator (GDP/Capita) on the project management deployment levels of the considered countries.

Economic burden of malignant neoplasms in Shandong province [山东省恶性肿瘤经济负担分析]

Objective: To evaluate the economic burden of malignant neoplasms in Shandong province in order to provide scientific evidence for policy-making. Methods: The main sources for this study were the data from the third sampling survey of death cause in 2006 and cancer prevalence survey in 2007 in Shandong province. The direct medical cost was calculated based on the survey data. The indirect cost due to mortality and morbidity were estimated with human capital approach based on the data of disability-adjusted life years derived from the two surveys and gross domestic product (GDP) data. The total economic burden was the sum of direct medical cost and indirect cost. The uncertainty analysis was conducted according to the methodology in global burden of disease study. Results: The total cost of cancer in Shandong province in 2006 estimated was 18 057 million Yuan RMB (95% confidence interval:16 817 － 19 393 million), which accounted for 0. 83% of the total GDP. The direct medical cost，indirect mortality cost and indirect morbidity cost accounted for 17.28%, 78.53%, and 4.20% of total economic burden of malignant neoplasms, respectively. Liver，lung and stomach cancer were the top three tumors with heavier economic burden, with accounted for more than one half (57. 83%) of the total economic burden of all cancers. The uncertainty of total burden estimated was around ± 7%, which mainly derived from the uncertainty of indirect economic burden. Conclusion: The influence of cancers on social economy is dominated by the loss of productivity, especially by the productivity loss due to premature death. Liver, lung and stomach cancer are the major cancers for disease control and prevention in Shandong province. Abstract in Chinese 目的 评价山东省恶性肿瘤经济负担,为卫生决策提供科学依据. 方法 以2006年山东省第3次死因回顾抽样凋查资料和2007年山东省恶性肿瘤现患状况抽样调查资料为基础,测算全省直接医疗成本;采用人力资本法测算死亡间接负担和伤残间接负担;参考全球疾病负担研究的方法对测算结果的不确定性进行分析. 结果 2006年山东省因恶性肿瘤导致的总经济负担为180.57亿元(95%CI=16 817～19 393),占全省GDP总量的0.83%,其中直接医疗成本占总负担的17.28%,死亡造成的间接经济负担占78.53%,伤残所致间接经济负担占4.20%;肝癌、肺癌和胃癌为山东省经济负担最重的3种恶性肿瘤,总经济负担合计占全部恶性肿瘤的57.83%;总经济负担估计结果的不确定性范围在±7%左右,主要取决于间接经济负担的不确定性. 结论 恶性肿瘤对社会经济的影响主要通过生产力的损失产生作用,并以死亡所致生产力损失为主;肝癌、肺癌和胃癌应是山东省恶性肿瘤预防控制的重点.

An international survey of daily disposable contact lens prescribing

Purpose The aim was to determine the extent of daily disposable contact lens prescribing worldwide and to characterise the associated demographics and fitting patterns. Methods Up to 1,000 survey forms were sent to contact lens fitters in up to 40 countries between January and March every year for five consecutive years (2007 to 2011). Practitioners were asked to record data relating to the first 10 contact lens fits or refits performed after receiving the survey form. Survey data collected since 1996 were also analysed for seven nations to assess daily disposable lens fitting trends since that time. Results Data were collected in relation to 97,289 soft lens fits, of which 23,445 (24.1 per cent) were with daily disposable lenses and 73,170 (75.9 per cent) were with reusable lenses. Daily disposable lens prescribing ranged from 0.6 per cent of all soft lenses in Nepal to 66.2 per cent in Qatar. Compared with reusable lens fittings, daily disposable lens fittings can be characterised as follows: older age (30.0 ± 12.5 versus 29.3 ± 12.3 years for reusable lenses); males are over-represented; a greater proportion of new fits versus refits; 85.9 per cent hydrogel; lower proportion of toric and presbyopia designs and a higher proportion of part-time wear. There has been a continuous increase in daily disposable lens prescribing between 1996 and 2011. The proportion of daily disposable lens fits (as a function of all soft lens fits) is positively related to the gross domestic product at purchasing power parity per capita (r2 = 0.55, F = 46.8, p < 0.0001). Conclusions The greater convenience and other benefits of daily disposable lenses have resulted in this modality capturing significant market share. The contact lens field appears to be heading toward a true single-use-only, disposable lens market.

An international survey of toric contact lens prescribing

Objectives To characterize toric contact lens prescribing worldwide. Methods Up to 1,000 survey forms were sent to contact lens fitters in up to 39 countries between January and March every year for 5 consecutive years (2007–2011). Practitioners were asked to record data relating to the first 10 contact lens fits or refits performed after receiving the survey form. Only data for toric and spherical soft lens fits were analyzed. Survey data collected since 1996 were also analyzed for 7 nations to assess toric lens fitting trends since that time. Results Data were collected in relation to 21,150 toric fits (25%) and 62,150 spherical fits (75%). Toric prescribing ranged from 6% of lenses in Russia to 48% in Portugal. Compared with spherical fittings, toric fittings can be characterized as follows: older age (29.8 ± 11.4 years vs. 27.6 ± 10.8 years for spherical lenses); men are overrepresented (38% vs. 34%); greater proportion of new fits (39% vs. 32%); use of silicone hydrogel lenses (49% vs. 39%); and lower proportion of daily disposable lenses (14% vs. 28%). There has been a continuous increase in toric lens prescribing between 1996 and 2011. The proportion of toric lens fits was positively related to the gross domestic product at purchasing power parity per capita for year 2011 (r2 = 0.21; P=0.004). Conclusions At the present time, in the majority of countries surveyed, toric soft contact lens prescribing falls short of that required to correct clinically significant astigmatism (≥0.75 diopters) in all lens wearers.

Toxic state–corporate crimes, Neo-liberalism and green criminology : the hazards and legacies of the oil, chemical and mineral industries

This paper uses examples from the history and practices of multi-national and large companies in the oil, chemical and asbestos industries to examine their legal and illegal despoiling and destruction of the environment and impact on human and non-human life. The discussion draws on the literature on green criminology and state-corporate crime and considers measures and arrangements that might mitigate or prevent such damaging acts. This paper is part of ongoing work on green criminology and crimes of the economy. It places these actions and crimes in the context of a global neo-liberal economic system and considers and critiques the distorting impact of the GDP model of ‘economic health’ and its consequences for the environment.

Embedded creatives in the Australian manufacturing industry

According to 2011 Australian Census figures, embedded creative employees (creative employees not working in the core Creative Industries) make up 2 per cent (or a total of 17 635) of manufacturing industry employees. The average for all industries is 1.6 per cent. In the 2011–2012 financial year the manufacturing industry formed 7.3 per cent of Australia’s gross domestic product (GDP), contributing approximately AU$106.5 billion to the economy (Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education 2013). Manufacturing is central to innovation, accounting for over one-quarter of all business expenditure in R&D in 2010–2011, representing around AU$4.8 billion invested in R&D (ibid.). Facing challenges such as sustainability concerns, ever-increasing offshore production and the global financial crisis, the Australian manufacturing industry needs to remain relevant and competitive to succeed. Innovation is one way to do this. Given the contribution of the manufacturing industry to the Australian economy, and the above-average portion of embedded creatives in manufacturing, it is important to consider what exactly embedded creatives add to the industry. This chapter, inspired by the Getting Creative in Healthcare report (Pagan, Higgs and Cunningham 2008), examines the contribution of embedded creatives to innovation in the manufacturing industry via case studies and supplemental data.

Economic development and construction productivity in Malaysia

The productivity of the construction industry has a significant effect on national economic growth. Gains from higher construction productivity flow through the economy, as all industries rely on construction to some extent as part of their business investment. Contractions and expansions of economic activity are common phenomena in an economy. Three construction cycles occurred between the years 1970 and 2011 in Malaysia. The relationships between construction productivity and economic development are examined by the partial correlation method to establish the underlying factors driving the change in construction productivity. Construction productivity is statistically significantly correlated with gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in a positive direction for the 1985–98 and 1998–2009 cycles, but not the 1970–85 cycle. Fluctuations in construction activities and the influx of foreign workers underlie the changes of construction productivity in the 1985–98 cycle. There was less fluctuation in construction activities in the 1998–2009 cycle, with changes being mainly due to the fiscal stimulation policies of the government in attempting to stabilize the economy. The intensive construction of mega-projects resulted in resource constraints and cost pressures during the 1980s and 1990s. A better management of the ‘boom-bust’ nature of the construction business cycle is required to maintain the capability and capacity of the industry.

Creative occupations as knowledge practices : innovation and precarity in the creative economy

The ARC Centre of Excellence in Creative Industries and Innovation (herewith CCI) was established with two simple policy objectives. One was to assess anecdotal and boosterish claims about the growth rates of the creative industries, and hence, to measure the size of the creative industries contribution to gross domestic product (GDP). The other was to ascertain the contribution of the creative industries to employment. Preliminary research detailed in Cunningham and Higgs (2009) showed that the existing industrial classifications did not incorporate the terminology of the creative industries, nor did they disaggregate new categories of digital work such as video games. However, we discovered that occupational codes provide a much more fine-grained account of work that would enable us to disaggregate and track economic activity that corresponded to creative industries terminology. Thus was born one major centrepiece of CCI research – the tracking of national occupational codes in pursuit of measuring creative industries policy outcomes. This paper commences with some description of empirical work that investigates creative occupations; however, the real point is to suggest that this type of detailed, occupation-based empirical work has important theoretical potential that has not yet been fully expended (though see Cunningham 2013; Hearn and Bridgstock 2014; Bakhshi, Freeman and Higgs 2013; Hartley and Potts 2014).

Analysis of resource efficiency : a production frontier approach

This article integrates the material/energy flow analysis into a production frontier framework to quantify resource efficiency (RE). The emergy content of natural resources instead of their mass content is used to construct aggregate inputs. Using the production frontier approach, aggregate inputs will be optimised relative to given output quantities to derive RE measures. This framework is superior to existing RE indicators currently used in the literature. Using the exergy/emergy content in constructing aggregate material or energy flows overcomes a criticism that mass content cannot be used to capture different quality of differing types of resources. Derived RE measures are both ‘qualitative’ and ‘quantitative’, whereas existing RE indicators are only qualitative. An empirical examination into the RE of 116 economies was undertaken to illustrate the practical applicability of the new framework. The results showed that economies, on average, could reduce the consumption of resources by more than 30% without any reduction in per capita gross domestic product (GDP). This calculation occurred after adjustments for differences in the purchasing power of national currencies. The existence of high variations in RE across economies was found to be positively correlated with participation of people in labour force, population density, urbanisation, and GDP growth over the past five years. The results also showed that economies of a higher income group achieved higher RE, and those economies that are more dependent on imports and primary industries would have lower RE performance.

The burden of child maltreatment in China: a systematic review

Objective To estimate the health and economic burdens of child maltreatment in China. Methods We did a systematic review for studies on child maltreatment in China using PubMed, Embase, PsycInfo, CINAHL-EBSCO, ERIC and the Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure databases. We did meta-analyses of studies that met inclusion criteria to estimate the prevalence of child neglect and child physical, emotional and sexual abuse. We used data from the 2010 global burden of disease estimates to calculate disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) lost as a result of child maltreatment. Findings From 68 studies we estimated that 26.6% of children under 18 years of age have suffered physical abuse, 19.6% emotional abuse, 8.7% sexual abuse and 26.0% neglect. We estimate that emotional abuse in childhood accounts for 26.3% of the DALYs lost because of mental disorders and 18.0% of those lost because of self-harm. Physical abuse in childhood accounts for 12.2% of DALYs lost because of depression, 17.0% of those lost to anxiety, 20.7% of those lost to problem drinking, 18.8% of those lost to illicit drug use and 18.3% of those lost to self-harm. The consequences of physical abuse of children costs China an estimated 0.84% of its gross domestic product – i.e. 50 billion United States dollars – in 2010. The corresponding losses attributable to emotional and sexual abuse in childhood were 0.47% and 0.39% of the gross domestic product, respectively. Conclusion In China, child maltreatment is common and associated with large economic losses because many maltreated children suffer substantial psychological distress and might adopt behaviours that increase their risk of chronic disease.

Energy-output linkages in Australia: Implications for emissions reduction policies

The study investigates the long-run and dynamic relationships between energy consumption and output in Australia using a multivariate cointegration and causality framework. Using both Engle-Granger and Johansen cointegration approaches, the study finds that energy consumption and real Gross Domestic Product are cointegrated. The Granger causality tests suggest bidirectional Granger causality between energy consumption and real GDP, and Granger endogeineity in the system. Since the energy sector largely contributes to carbon emissions in Australia, we suggest that direct measures to reduce carbon by putting constraints on the energy consumption would pose significant economic costs for the Australian economy.