The education and training of technicians in the construction industry

DUE TO COPYRIGHT RESTRICTIONS ONLY AVAILABLE FOR CONSULTATION AT ASTON UNIVERSITY LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SERVICES WITH PRIOR ARRANGEMENT

Servitization and enterprization in the construction industry:the case of a specialist subcontractor

The current economic climate and a continuing fall in output of the UK construction industry has led to falling prices and margins particularly affecting those lower down in the supply chain such as specialist subcontractors. Coen Ltd. is one such company based in the West Midlands. Faced with a need to up its game it has embarked on a business improvement programme concentrating on better operational efficiency, building stronger client relationships and delivering value added services. Lacking appropriate internal resources Coen has joined with Aston Business School in a 2 year ERDF sponsored project to fulfil the transformation programme. The paper will describe the evolution of product- service offerings in construction and link this with the work being carried out at Coen with Aston and outline the anticipated outcomes.

Making the construction industry resilient to extreme weather:lessons from construction in hot weather conditions

The construction industry is susceptible to extreme weather events (EWEs) due to most of its activities being conducted by manual workers outdoors. Although research has been conducted on the effects of EWEs, such as flooding and snowfall, limited research has been conducted on the effects of heatwaves and hot weather conditions. Heatwaves present a somewhat different risk profile to construction, unlike EWEs such as flooding and heavy snowfall that present physical obstacles to work onsite. However, heatwaves have affected the construction industry in the UK, and construction claims have been made due to adverse weather conditions. With heatwaves being expected to occur more frequently in the coming years, the construction industry may suffer unlike any other industry during the summer months. This creates the need to investigate methods that would allow construction activities to progress during hot summer months with minimal effect on construction projects. Hence, the purpose of this paper. Regions such as the Middle East and the UAE in particular flourish with mega projects, although temperatures soar to above 40̊C in the summer months. Lessons could be learnt from such countries and adapted in the UK. Interviews have been conducted with a lead representative of a client, a consultant and a contractor, all of which currently operate on UAE projects. The key findings include one of the preliminary steps taken by international construction companies operating in the UAE. This involves restructuring their entire regional team by employing management staff from countries such as Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq, and their labour force from the sub-continent such as India and Pakistan. This is not only due to the cheap wage rate but also to the ability to cope and work in such extreme hot weather conditions. The experience of individuals working in the region allows for future planning, where the difference in labour productivity during the extreme hot weather conditions is known, allowing precautionary measures to be put in place.

The regulatory environment of the section of the non-standardized goods market - The findings of an interview research on Hungarian construction industry small enterprises

In this paper the behavior of economic actors shown in the uncertain quality goods markets is examined from the perspective of the sociology of markets. The analysis uses the findings of in-depth interviews conducted in 2011 and 2012 respectively amongst small and medium size entrepreneurs working in construction industry. In the Hungarian construction industry neither formal rules, nor vocational chambers, are able to create a safe environment for entrepreneurs. Nevertheless, networks created as a result of micro-selection steps might be able to enforce the quality of services, observe deadlines and what is more, ensure payment discipline. In this market, the typical high risk can be reduced by relationships. Networks reduce also the cost of transactions, since the important part of the services in this field could only be standardized at significant costs.

Franchising in the Hospitality Industry: Accounting Aspects

Franchised businesses are a powerful factor in the American economy. The author provides a general overview of the area, citing statistics supporting its growth in the industry. Attention will be focused on accounting aspects of franchising, placing major emphasis on issues associated with the recognition of franchise fee revenue.

designing + (dis)assembling disputes: an ethnography of disputes & lawyers in the construction industry

The UK construction industry is notorious for the sheer amount of disputes which are likely to arise on each building and engineering project. Despite numerous creative attempts at “dispute avoidance” and “dispute resolution”, this industry is still plagued with these costly disputes. Whilst both academic literature and professional practices have investigated the causes of disputes and the mechanisms for avoidance/resolution of these disputes, neither has studied in any detail the nature of the construction disputes and why they develop as they do once a construction lawyer is engaged. Accordingly, this research explores the question of what influences the outcome of a construction dispute and to what extent do construction lawyers control or direct this outcome? The research approach was ethnographic. Fieldwork took place at a leading construction law firm in London over 18 months. The primary focus was participant observation in all of the firm’s activities. In addition, a database was compiled from the firm’s files and archives, thus providing information for quantitative analysis. The basis of the theoretical framework, and indeed the research method, was the Actor‐Network Theory (ANT). As such, this research viewed a dispute as a set of associations – an entity which takes form and acquires its attributes as a result of its relations with other entities. This viewpoint is aligned with relational contract theories, which in turn provides a unified platform for exploring the disputes. The research investigated the entities and events which appeared to influence the dispute’s identity, shape and outcome. With regard to a dispute’s trajectory, the research took as its starting point that a dispute follows the transformation of “naming, blaming, claiming…”, as identified by Felstiner, Abel and Sarat in 1980. The research found that construction disputes generally materialise and develop prior to any one of the parties approaching a lawyer. Once the lawyer is engaged, we see the reverse of the trajectory “naming, blaming, claiming…” this being: “claiming, blaming, naming…” The lawyers’ role is to identify or name (or rename) the dispute in the best possible light for their client in order to achieve the desired outcome – the development of which is akin to the design process. The transformation of a dispute and the reverse trajectory is by no means linear, but rather, iterative and spatial as it requires alliances, dependencies and contingencies to assemble and take the shape it does. The research concludes that construction disputes are rarely ever completely “resolved” as such. Whilst an independent third party may hand down a judgment, or the parties may reach a settlement agreement, this state is only temporal. Some construction disputes dissipate whist others reach a state of hibernation for a period of time only to pick up momentum and energy some years later. Accordingly, this research suggests that the concept of “dispute resolution” does not exist in the UK construction industry. The ultimate goal should be for parties to reach this ultimate and perpetual state of equilibrium as quickly and as cost effectively as possible: “dispute dissolution”, the slowing down of the dispute’s momentum. Rather than focusing on the design and assemblage of the dispute, the lawyers’ role therein is, or should be, to assist with the “disassembling” of the dispute.

Managing undesirable outputs in the Australian construction industry using Data Envelopment Analysis models

Carbon reduction has become one of the most significant challenges for economic growth. This paper presents the preliminary analysis of undesirable output reduction targets and emission schedules in temporal-spatial comparisons based on Data Envelopment Analysis. The reduction targets of undesirable outputs are investigated, including the maximum, input, technical and ideal reduction targets. Four Data Envelopment Analysis models that are based on a sequential benchmark technology and variable returns to scale are introduced to measure these reduction percentages. In order to formulate the optimal emission schedule of undesirable outputs, an optimal model is provided without inflation. Data from the Australian construction industry from 2000 to 2010 are employed to develop the models. The results of the analysis indicate that the Australian Government could achieve its promised carbon reduction targets in the construction industry. Most Australian regions' construction industries possess carbon mitigation potential and some of them could increase their desirable outputs if carbon were decreased. This paper suggests that policymakers can benefit from formulating various suitable undesirable output reduction objectives and schedules through the models developed. The research method can be replicated for other sectors and regions focussing on undesirable output reduction.

Profitability performance assessment in the Australian construction industry: a global relational two-stage DEA method

Effective performance measurement drives performance and supports the development of construction. Only minimal literature measuring construction performance, efficiency and effectiveness simultaneously can be identified. A global relational two-stage data envelopment analysis (DEA) method is here proposed in order to produce effective and informative performance results. A relational two-stage DEA method systematically measures overall efficiency for a whole construction system and also yields scores for the individual stages of construction. The DEA results can be directly compared through global benchmark technology. The Australian construction industry is employed in order to implement the new method, in which profitability performance as a vital indicator of business survival, and its two dimensions of efficiency and effectiveness, are measured. The construction profitability performance and efficiency measures obtained provide evidence of underperformance and a slight imbalance in Australia between 1991 and 2012, while the measures obtained for the effectiveness factor indicate better achievement. The approach here developed promotes progress in modelling two-stage performance measurement and it can be replicated worldwide by construction projects, organizations or industries in order to quantify their performance, identify internal inefficiency components and recognize competitive advantages for promoting sustainable development.

Input–output structures of the Australian construction industry

The Australian construction industry continues to play an important role in the national economy. Analysis using input–output tables makes it possible to understand the role of the construction industry in Australia’s economy and its relationships to other major industries over years. This study applies several economic indicators to investigate the construction industry’s contributions to gross national product and gross national income, as well as its backward and forward linkage indicators, and its output and input multipliers. The paper also investigates the purchases of goods and services by the construction industry from other sectors and its sales to other industries over the analysis period. Findings from this research may help policymakers to better understand the economic linkages between the construction industry and other major industries, and the structural changes in its inputs and outputs in relation to these others.

The status quo of innovations within the construction industry: a conceptual model

The construction industry remains in need of applicable theories on the lifecycle of innovations. Nevertheless, construction researchers have hitherto used different constructs and various variables to present the status quo of an innovation. Building on an exhaustive literature review and analyses, this paper contributes to the body of knowledge on construction theories by presenting theoretical frameworks that represent the lifecycle of innovations and identifies the influential constructs and typologies. The study also discusses the view that constructs representing the cross-sectional state of an innovation within the construction industry should be universal in scope and meet the requirements of potential future studies and decision makers. The study concludes by developing a conceptual model illustrating the primary constructs and variables that could present the status quo of an innovation within the construction context.

P + N en una planta de tractament d'àrids

Estudi sobre l'optimització de l’eficiència d’una planta de tractament d’àrids de l'Alt Empordà basant-se en l'eina estratègica de política empresarial de P+N (Producció més Neta) per tal d'integrar el medi ambient en la gestió global de l'empresa

Projecte d'ampliació d'una nau destinada a l'exposició i venda de materials de construcció

El peticionari és el propietari d’una nau industrial aïllada del terme municipal de Cassà de la Selva destinada a la venda i exposició de materials per a la construcció. A causa de la creixent demanda en el sector es vol ampliar la superfície de la nau, amb la intenció d’augmentar la zona comercial. El disseny i càlcul de l’ampliació de la nau aïllada inclou moviment de terres, fonaments, estructura, tancaments, coberta, paviments, obra de paleta, fusteria, i pintura. També s’inclourà el disseny i càlcul de les instal·lacions (aigua, baixa tensió, il·luminació, climatització, ventilació, contra incendis, plaques solars, sanejament) de l’ampliació

Implantación de un sistema de gestión medioambiental en una empresa panificadora

El trabajo final de carrera tiene como objetivo realizar la implantación de un Sistema de Gestión Medioambiental desde la fase de evaluación inicial de la situación medioambiental de una empresa panificadora, hasta la posible obtención de un certificado otorgado por ENAC una vez que se hayan cumplido todos los requisitos establecidos por la “International Organization Standaritzation“ (ISO), en este caso la Norma Internacional UNE-EN ISO 14001:2004

An input-output-based linkage measurement framework

This study proposed an input-output-based linkage measurement framework, which is a multi-level hierarchy, omni-direction decision-making model and takes the impact of capital into account. This framework had resolved the critical deficiencies and inherent limitations of the existing methods and was used to explore the real estate and construction linkages.