The challenges of adopting and implementing lean construction (LC) have led to substantial but isolated research studies concerning the relevant barriers, enablers, and implications, which lack a ...comprehensive approach and analytical as well as conceptual perspectives. Hence, this study aims to fill the mentioned knowledge gap by identifying the barriers, enablers, and implications of implementing lean construction and exploring their relatedness. A systematic literature review was carried out through which 230 located studies were analyzed using thematic and content analysis methods to realize the objectives of this study. The findings suggest that the lack of awareness and understanding of LC, resistance to change, and a lack of support and commitment from top management are the top three barriers toward LC adoption and implementation, which can be overcome using the identified enablers, among which the top three ones were developing lean culture, application of lean principles tools and techniques, and top management support and commitment. Moreover, the results present a model which portrays the relatedness between the discovered barriers, enablers, and implications of applying lean construction. The findings can be insightful for the research community and project practitioners in their efforts for facilitating the adoption and implementation of lean construction.
The shortage of constructive philosophies, principles, techniques, and tools in construction project delivery and sustainability before the 1990s, together with the abundance of them after 2000, ...creates two different eras which are of prime importance. The former one’s considerable advantage was a common understanding and set of practices (e.g., the critical path method for scheduling), which seems to be a goal to achieve in the later one. In this regard, the combination and integration of best practices, tools, and techniques in construction project delivery can be considerably helpful for benefiting from their advantages and covering their limitations. Thus, this study aims to develop a conceptual framework for lean and sustainable project delivery in building construction projects. To do so, a systematic literature review was carried out, through which 230 studies were located and analyzed via thematic analysis to realize the purpose of this study. The findings present a conceptual framework for project delivery which combines and integrates sustainability, lean construction, and building information modeling in terms of principles, practices, tools, and techniques. Practically, this study’s results inform practitioners in the construction industry on the lean and sustainable delivery of building construction projects.
Collaborative delivery methods in construction projects provide a new operational environment, which can foster effective interaction and cooperation between different project stakeholders. Project ...managers are one of the most important players in this environment, who therefore need to possess appropriate competencies. Collaborative construction projects and their managerial solutions are still a relatively new field and, thus, special aspects such as competencies of project managers in such projects have been limitedly studied. The present research aimed to evaluate project managers’ competencies in collaborative construction projects in Finland through a human behavioral approach, where project managers’ everyday work was the main source for understanding the competencies of relevance. Accordingly, a web-based questionnaire and semi-structured interviews were used for data collection from the case projects. Based on the gained data, project managers’ behaviors were analyzed, and consequently, their specific competencies were identified. Findings of this study propose 10 core competencies for project managers in collaborative construction projects, e.g., group capabilities, language proficiency, and leveraging diversity. Additionally, a set of supportive competencies were identified which, together with the core competencies, form the profile of project managers’ competencies for collaborative construction projects. Finally, the differences between competencies needed in traditional and in collaborative construction projects are discussed.
There are several critical measures in the project performance evaluation such as time, cost, and quality. In this paper, a new method for project performance evaluation is presented by combining the ...project Golden Triangle and the methods in decision science. At first, strategies and measures are introduced for the perspectives of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) method according to their effect on time, cost, and quality. Next, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method is used to weigh the measures by the judgments of experts after integrating AHP and BSC. Then, the weights of the five project phases - from the initiation to the closure - are calculated by the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). Our proposed TOPSIS is not only able to involve the judgments of experts, but also, in combination with AHP, can provide a comprehensive performance evaluation method for a project. Finally, using the judgments of experts of a real project-based organization, computational results show that financial measures are more important than other measures and the planning phase is the most important phase of the project. By the proposed method, a project-based organization can evaluate its performance and determine its competitiveness.
Collaborative models and working practices have considerably contributed to the evolution of construction project delivery in the last four decades. The promising performance results of construction ...projects with collaborative delivery models are mostly attributed to their behavioral elements (e.g., mutual trust), which have been frequently mentioned in the literature. However, the interrelationships between these behavioral elements as well as the enablers of these behavioral elements are two knowledge gaps which need to be addressed. Therefore, this study aims to fill the mentioned knowledge gaps by addressing the behavioral elements of collaborative project delivery models from analytical and conceptual perspectives. To do so, a systematic literature review was undertaken by locating 201 relevant studies and reviewing them. This was followed by the thematic analysis of the obtained research data and the development of a model for meeting this study’s objectives. The findings present a model, illustrating the behavioral elements of collaborative delivery models in construction projects, their interrelationships, as well as their enablers. The model reveals that the establishment of equality and mutual respect between project team members is a fundamental step toward mutual trust and open communication. These findings can be insightful for the research community and project professionals interested in collaborative construction project delivery.
Collaborative work practices are getting more common in construction projects. Consequently, new project delivery models have emerged and new practices have also entered the world of traditional ...delivery models. The resultant collaborative construction projects provide a different working environment compared to the traditional construction delivery models. This different environment seems to require project managers with certain types of competencies, but there is currently very limited research-based knowledge concerning this subject. This study aims at identifying such competencies, which project managers of collaborative construction projects need to possess to succeed. For this purpose, a human behavioral approach was employed where project managers’ behavior in their everyday work was the main source for understanding their competencies. Accordingly, the survey strategy was utilized, where a self-evaluation questionnaire was sent to 33 project managers of collaborative construction projects, and a response rate of 73% was achieved. The findings present four groups of competencies within a matrix model, structured based on their contribution to project managers’ successful performance in collaborative construction projects and the degree to which they can develop those competencies. The developed model can provide a baseline for selecting project managers and for enhancing the performance of the current ones.
The management of chloramine decay and the prevention of nitrification are some of the critical issues faced by water utilities that use chloramine as a disinfectant.In this study,potential ...association between high performance size exclusion chromatography（HPSEC）data obtained with multiple wavelength Ultraviolet（UV） detection from two drinking water distribution systems in Australia and nitrification occurrence was investigated.An increase in the absorbance signal of HPSEC profiles with UV detection at λ = 230 nm between apparent molecular weights of 200 to 1000 Da was observed at sampling sites that experienced rapid chloramine decay and nitrification while its absorbance signal at λ =254 nm decreased.A chloramine decay index（C.D.I） defined as the ratio of area beneath the HPSEC spectra at two different wavelengths of 230 and 254 nm,was used in assessing chloramine decay occurrences.The C.D.Is of waters at locations that experienced nitrification were consistently higher than locations not experiencing nitrification.A simulated laboratory study showed that the formation of nitrite/nitrate and/or soluble microbial products and/or the release of extracellular polymeric substances（EPS） during nitrification may contribute to the C.D.I.increase.These findings suggest that C.D.I derived from HPSEC with multiple wavelength UV detection could be an informative index to track the occurrence of rapid chloramine decay and nitrification.
The phenomenon of waste in the construction industry has received considerable attention from the project professionals since the emergence of lean construction. In the research community, however, ...identifying causes of waste together with waste detection and elimination in the context of construction have been addressed in a limited manner. Moreover, there are very few studies, if any, which have tried to revisit the concept of waste ontologically and to look into the causes of waste through the lens of their relation to other elements in construction projects such as delivery elements and lifecycle phases. Therefore, this study aims to fill this knowledge gap through developing a novel conceptualization of waste and exploring causes of waste in construction projects to reveal their connection to various project attributes. To do so, a systematic literature study was conducted through which relevant studies were located and analysed to achieve the purposes of this study. The findings propose a novel conceptualization of waste and value based on their overlooked components. Moreover, the results present a model which reveals the connection between the identified causes of waste and project attributes (life cycle phases, relevant party, project delivery element, and waste categories in general). The obtained results can be insightful for project practitioners and the research community to reach in-depth understanding of the waste concept.
A model is developed to enable estimation of chloramine demand in full scale drinking water supplies based on chemical and microbiological factors that affect chloramine decay rate via nonlinear ...regression analysis method.The model is based on organic character（specific ultraviolet absorbance（SUVA）） of the water samples and a laboratory measure of the microbiological（Fm） decay of chloramine.The applicability of the model for estimation of chloramine residual（and hence chloramine demand） was tested on several waters from different water treatment plants in Australia through statistical test analysis between the experimental and predicted data.Results showed that the model was able to simulate and estimate chloramine demand at various times in real drinking water systems.To elucidate the loss of chloramine over the wide variation of water quality used in this study,the model incorporates both the fast and slow chloramine decay pathways.The significance of estimated fast and slow decay rate constants as the kinetic parameters of the model for three water sources in Australia was discussed.It was found that with the same water source,the kinetic parameters remain the same.This modelling approach has the potential to be used by water treatment operators as a decision support tool in order to manage chloramine disinfection.
Purpose
The construction industry has considerably evolved in the recent two decades due to the emergence of sustainability, lean construction (LC) and building information modelling (BIM). Despite ...previous research efforts, there is still a gap concerning the multidimensional nature of their integration. Hence, this study aims to fill the mentioned knowledge gap through exploring and comparing the challenges, enablers, techniques as well as benefits of integrating LC with BIM and sustainability in building construction projects.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic literature review was conducted to fulfill the purpose of this study.
Findings
The findings reveal and compare the challenges, enablers, techniques and benefits of integrating LC with BIM and sustainability in building construction projects. The results suggest that there are eight common challenges for integrating LC with BIM and sustainability, including high initial cost, lack of collaboration, lack of professionals and lack of compatible contractual framework. The discovered challenges, enablers, techniques and benefits seem to be mostly routed in people. The findings also suggest that the synergistic benefits of integrating LC with BIM and sustainability can overcome the common challenges (safety, reliability, productivity, collaboration and quality) in construction projects.
Originality/value
The findings contribute to the literature and practice concerning the integration of LC with BIM and sustainability by exploring, comparing and discussing the relevant challenges, enablers, techniques as well as benefits. Moreover, the findings reveal the significance of the development of people in construction industry, besides processes and technology, as people are always subject of activities in construction while processes and technology are always objects.
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