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Blanchard, Frederick L. "Construction industry organization, labor relations and productivity." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1992. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/12874.
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Husson, David Edward. "Cost tracking and productivity reporting." Master's thesis, This resource online, 1987. http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-01202010-020009/.
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Opperman, Alvin Graham. "Supervisory motivational strategies to improve productivity of construction workers." Thesis, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11838/2375.
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Thesis (MTech (Construction Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2016.This research was carried out to assess the extent to which supervisory motivational strategies can transform construction workers to perform higher levels of productivity. While worker motivation has been proven to improve productivity globally, motivation was rarely implemented in South African conditions. This study gauges the construction workers’ viewpoint on how supervisory motivational strategies can improve worker productivity. A pilot study was conducted in the initial stage of the study to gain more insight into the study. A qualitative research approach was employed using a semi-structured questionnaire to interview construction workers including bricklayers, plumbers, concrete workers, electricians and earthworks workers. The interviews were done in Bellville in the Western Cape at two conveniently selected construction companies. The data was analysed using content data analysis. Most prevalent in the findings of this study is the fact that the workers agreed that a lack of supervisory motivational techniques negatively impact their productivity. This information was helpful in setting up the questionnaires for the main study.
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Kirchev, Filip, and Malin Bartoschek. "Labor Productivity Influence in the Construction Industry : An interpretive approach to project success." Thesis, Jönköping University, Internationella Handelshögskolan, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-52715.
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The construction sector is one of the most important industries for the economy in Sweden. Between 2010 to November of 2020, there has been an increase in employment in the construction industry by 35.4 percent. In 2019 the Swedish construction sector was valued at EUR 53.3 billion, where the construction sub-sector makes up 47.6 percent (European Construction Sector Observatory - Country profile Sweden, 2020). The construction industry is a fundamental part of society, whereas labor productivity, which represents the quantity of work performed per hour (Park 2006), is a vital element in the process of construction. Gunduz et al. (2020) state that labor consumes a significant amount of cost in construction projects, thus labor productivity is a determinator of cost optimization i.e., the process of making something as good or effective as possible (Cambridge Online Dictionary, n.d.). The benefit of productivity is seen as reduced construction time and cost (Fox, Marsh & Cockerham, 2010). Moreover, a lack of effective management activity towards construction resources can potentially decrease labor productivity. Thus, the familiarity of project managers with labor productivity factors is of major importance (Shehata & El-Gohary, 2011) and contributes to project success (Gunduz & Abu-Hijleh, 2020).
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Law, Gordon Ki-Wai. "Decision support system for construction cycle design." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 1987. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/26715.
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The objective of this thesis is to develop a conceptual design of a computerized environment for detailed design of construction activities associated with projects characterized by significant repetition.
High-rise building construction is used as the example of repetitive construction projects. The construction cycle design of a typical floor structure is studied to gain an understanding of the difficulty and complexity involved in the activity design process. Modeling techniques currently used in construction planning, modeling techniques developed in the field of operations research, and assembly line balancing techniques used in industrial engineering are reviewed to determine their applicability for detailed construction cycle design.
Using the concept of decision support systems developed in the fields of management science and knowledge engineering for solving ill-structured and ill-defined problems, a conceptual design of a decision support system for construction cycle design is developed.Applied Science, Faculty of
Civil Engineering, Department of
Graduate
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Talhouni, Bassam T. K. "Measurement and analysis of construction labour productivity." Thesis, University of Dundee, 1990. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.334262.
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An analytical approach for explaining the variability in labour intensive construction operations has been developed. A consistent method of collecting productivity developed jointly at the Pennsylvania State University and the University of Dundee has been refined and tested. Data has been collected daily from seven Scottish sites for continuous periods of up to 3 months. Not only productivity but many of the factors affecting it have been measured. A comprehensive, computerised database has been designed to facilitate data storage and manipulation. The quantification of the impact of each individual factor is based on the assumption that deviations from an operative?s normal output arise because of disturbances imposed by a multiplicity of site factors. The impact of each individual factor causes the average daily productivity to change.
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Abdel-Wahab, Mohamed Samir. "An examination of the relationship between skills development and productivity in the construction industry." Thesis, Loughborough University, 2008. https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/4658.
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In recent years, the UK government skills policy has emphasised the role of workforce skills development as a key driver of economic success and improving productivity across all sectors of the economy. The importance of skills (as a vehicle for enhancing productivity performance) is highlighted within numerous government reports, such as Skills White Papers (2003 and 2005), in addition to the Leitch Review of Skills (2006) which coincided with the outset of this research. Thus, the aim of this research was to examine the relationship between skills development and productivity in the construction industry in order to assess the assumptions of government skills policy in the context of the sector. A multi-method approach was adopted in this research. This involved the analysis of: official construction statistics, levy/grant and financial accounts data of construction companies, in addition to a telephone survey. The main findings of the research are published in five peer reviewed academic papers, demonstrating the tenuous nature of the relationship between skills development and productivity performance, particularly when considering the heterogeneous nature of the construction industry. Government claims about the mono-causal relationship between skills and productivity should be treated with caution. A simple boost in qualification levels or participation rates of training is unlikely to lead to productivity improvements in the construction sector. However, skills development and training activities needs to be targeted and focused if the desired outcome of enhancing productivity performance is to be achieved. Construction companies needs to be proactive in addressing the skills and training needs of their business through drawing on the various support available through CITBConstructionSkills training grants or participating in appropriate skills/training initiatives, such as apprenticeship schemes. The provision of 'productivity-based' training grants should be considered by CITB-CS in order to prompt construction companies to consider training as a plausible means for enhancing their productivity performance. Finally, the recommendations presented in this thesis and areas for further research sets out the potential way forward in terms of advancing knowledge in this area.
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Hund, Peter J. "A review of construction work sampling methods and an investigation into their use in South Africa." Bachelor's thesis, University of Cape Town, 1987. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/26617.
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Work sampling had its origin in industrial engineering; however, its use in construction has increased greatly during the 1970's and 1980's. Research would suggest that most of the innovation in this field is taking place in the United States. The basic methods of Work Sampling have been developed to suit the peculiarities of the construction site as opposed to the production line or factory where it was first used. The objectives of this report are as follows: 1. To review the existing methods of Construction Work Sampling as well as discuss further aspects and problems which should be considered when undertaking a Work Sampling study. 2. To compare Construction Work Sampling with other methods of measuring productivity. 3. To evaluate by means of a case study the ease of applicability of the sampling methods to a South African construction site, and at the same time to identify differences between the description of the methods in theory and their use in practice. 4. To establish by means of a questionnaire the extent to which Construction Work Sampling methods are already in use in South Africa as well as other related information. Information for this report was obtained from journals, manuals, text books, interviews, and the case study and questionnaires mentioned.
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Diaz, Zarate Gerardo Daniel. "A knowledge-based system for estimating the duration of cast in place concrete activities." FIU Digital Commons, 1992. http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/2806.
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Mathura, Gonasagree Sindy. "Influences on productivity of construction projects with particular reference to core labour, unskilled labour and leadership style of managers." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/6851.
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Construction productivity is an interesting phenomenon which was an initial study into time and motion. However this remains a vital part of the construction industry today as it takes into consideration cost-savings, a precise timeous delivery of projects and the correct usage of materials. This phenomenon itself is a huge challenge to many companies in South Africa. The construction industry in South Africa is seen as a tool to alleviate the increasing unemployment and poverty levels. The ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), has made statements to decrease the unemployment rate and due to these promises, the imposition of the use of local unskilled labour from the local communities has become the norm on the majority of construction projects. This formed the basis of the Expanded Public Works Programme. This initiative has indeed shown a huge success but the programme lacks long-term support. The majority of these workers are taken on short-term projects and thereafter the workers are returned to the unemployment pool. The workers are also aware of the short-term projects and therefore there is a lack of motivation which inevitably affects the productivity on any construction site. This study looks at the challenges faced by contractor's in the Eastern Cape and analyses the effects of the use of unskilled labour from the local community. Questionnaires were completed as a measurement instrument to determine the motivation, leadership style and the communication levels among the unskilled, core and the managers on construction projects. The productivity achievements of the unskilled labour and the core labour will be measured and compared and the findings are discussed.
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Mbeki, Sisa. "Causes, effects and impact of shortages of skilled artisans on contractor productivity." Thesis, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11838/1062.
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A dissertation submitted to the Department of Construction Management and Quantity Surveying, Faculty of Engineering
at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology
in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Technology Construction ManagementThis study investigated the causes and impact of the effects of shortages of skilled artisans on contractor productivity. The objectives of the study were as follows: (i) to identify causes of shortages of skills during the construction production phases; (ii) to define the effects of shortages of skills during the production phase of a project; (iii) to examine how to deal with shortages of skills when they happen; (iv) to determine ways in which the shortage of skills may be reduced; (v) to determine whether shortages of skills cause poor contractor performance. The study was inspired by many international and local studies demonstrating a lack of concern for the impact of shortages of skilled artisans on project performance, and their effects on project time. The research method adopted for study was a survey of construction sites and staff within the NMC group in the Cape Peninsula metropolitan area of the Western Cape Province. The study collected data from 65 participants from 10 different NMC sites. The participants in the survey included Project managers, site managers, quantity surveyors and artisans on sites. The findings of the study revealed that there is lack of formal training of artisans; performance of artisans is not highly regarded and there is lack of motivation, these factors contribute to the shortages of skilled artisans. It is also evident that shortage of skills causes’ poor contractor performance and leads to poor quality of work. The researchers also found that, setting out errors occur due to lack of coordination between the main contractor and subcontractors and the lack of skills on the part of the artisans. In addition, inexperience on the side of the leading hand and / or supervisor and trades foremen and their inability to interpret the drawings contributed to rework during construction phase. A reason also given for shortage of artisans is that young people are afraid to get their hands dirty. Young people would rather work with computers than for engineering and its associated professions. It is recommended that to increase the supply of artisans some measures will have to be implemented to encourage young people to become artisans.
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Lefoka, Mochelo Mackson. "An evaluation of the contextual factors that affect labour productivity in the South African Construction Industry." Master's thesis, Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, 2019. https://hdl.handle.net/11427/31686.
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Poor labour productivity is an endemic global problem in the construction industry. In the past two decades, it has been observed over the different sectors of the construction industry that the labour productivity expended on projects has reported a decline, particularly in the building and civil sectors. This research explores the variables that affect labour productivity on construction sites and whether the estimation practices used considers the various circumstances in which buildings and infrastructure are produced. Literature review aided in the identification of contextual factors classified in four categories that affect labour productivity on construction projects. These categories were; site environment factors, organisational factors, technical factors and social factors. These factors were used in the development and design of the questionnaire to analyse the impact of these factors on construction labour productivity. The population of the study comprised of directors, contracts managers, project and construction managers, quantity surveyors and estimators who are employees of construction firms listed in Grades 2-9 of the Construction Industry Development Board (cidb) Register of Contractors in South Africa. The study area covered nine provinces of South Africa. At the end of the survey period, 117 valid responses were received and analysed. The findings of the study revealed that at the pre-construction phase of a construction project, social factors, complexity of the project and organisational factors are not considered in the estimation practices and techniques. Results further revealed that four core factors that affect productivity of labour are; lack of experience amongst workers, delays in the wages of labourers, change orders from designers/consultants and the relationships between labourers and their supervisors. The study established a relationship between the contextual factors and labour productivity on construction projects. Motivation and training emerged as significant changes needed to improve labour productivity on projects. Based on these findings, the study concludes that labour productivity is impacted by contextual site factors such as lack of experience, delays in labour payment and that these are not considered by estimators at the project pre-construction phase. The study recommends that these site factors need to be considered during the preconstruction phase of a project in order to allow for their impact on labour productivity during construction. Furthermore, a benchmark and standard of what constitutes effective labour productivity needs to be developed on construction sites, especially one that is project specific and considering all the four categories of contextual factors and their probable impacts.
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Olatunji, Aiyetan Ayodeji. "Influences on construction project delivery time." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1548.
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Construction delays are a global phenomenon. Factors causing construction delays in construction projects differ from country to country, due to different prevailing conditions. The prevailing conditions that could exert an influence on project delivery time are: political, economic, and physical factors as well as level of technological development; management style, and construction techniques. The construction industry is a major player in the economy, generating both employment and wealth. However, many projects experience extensive delays and thereby exceed initial time and cost estimates. This study aims at determining the causes of delays in project delivery in South Africa; evolving interventions, and developing a model for the delivery of projects on time. Inferential and linear regression statistical tools were used in the analysis of data for the study. The sample population consists of architects, builders, quantity surveyors, structural engineers, and clients, and the metropolitan cities of five provinces constituted the geographical delimitation of the study. The provinces are: Eastern Cape; Free State; Gauteng; KwaZulu-Natal, and Western Cape. The metropolitan cities are: Bloemfontein; Cape Town; Durban; Johannesburg, and Port Elizabeth. Findings which negatively influence project delivery time in South Africa include the following: lack of adequate planning; management style; the lack of constructability reviews of designs; inadequate motivation of workers; economic policies; lack of prompt payment to contractors, and quality of management during design and construction. Recommendations include: (1) The introduction of the following courses in built environment tertiary education � quality management competences; operational planning; design management, and generic management; (2) pre-qualification of suppliers; (3) inclusion of the following in tender documentation � human resource schedule; plant and equipment schedule; quality assurance plan, and work schedule; (4) appointment of materials specialists on a large projects; (5) the model developed should be adopted for use in the South African construction industry for the delivery of projects on time, and (6) the linear regression equation: Y = 13.1159 + 1.1341x or 35.3 percent addition on time for the estimation of project delivery time.
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Kriel, Jean-Jacques. "A process to assist technology investment decisions in construction - a case study on labour productivity." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/85828.
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Thesis (MEng)-- Stellenbosch University, 2013.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Worldwide the civil construction industry is one of the biggest and most influential industries but has proven to be lacking in the development of technology-aided construction. In contrast, the automotive manufacturing industry is very reliant on the use of highly advanced technology. Literature showed that specific focus is being put on increased technology investments and development of infrastructure in South Africa in order to solve various problems in the country. In light of these realisations, the objective of this research study was to establish a process that can be used to assist technological investments that solve areas of concern in the construction industry. The research was conducted by following a procedure of identifying problematic areas in construction, scrutinising the biggest problem to identify its key elements and finally selecting a decision support model to select technological solutions. The research sequence therefore established the steps of a process that can assist technological investment decisions that solve areas of concern in the construction industry. The first step of this process necessitated the identification of the most influential area of concern in South African construction. A series of interviews and surveys with experienced senior managers in different divisions of the South African civil construction industry showed that the low productivity of labourers is the most influential area of concern in terms of impact on construction projects. Consequently, labour productivity was scrutinised as part of the second step of the process. It was found that there are different methods to measure productivity and that factors influencing labour productivity can be grouped into managerial practices, labour effectiveness and material timeliness. The scrutiny, together with the productivity improvement system and lessons learned from other industries, gave input to the third step of the process, viz. to identify technological solution alternatives for the area of concern. Wireless technology and visual analysis were identified as two groups of technology that could improve labour productivity. The final step of the process evaluated the effects the different solution alternatives could have on a company and a tailored set of criteria together with a fuzzy multi-criteria decision model was proposed for use in this step. The research study identified that there are generic areas of concern in construction and that technology can be used to improve problem solving processes in companies. Furthermore, a generic and flexible four step process was formulated that can incorporate multiple criteria, stakeholders’ opinions, business strategy and the necessary benefits the problem requires in one evaluation model. This process was found to be able to assist technological investment decisions in the construction industry specifically to eliminate or improve on existing areas of concern.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die siviele konstruksiebedryf is een van die grootste en mees invloedryke industrieë wêreldwyd, maar is bewys om agter te wees in terme van ontwikkeling in tegnologie-gesteunde konstruksie. In teenstelling hiermee is die motor-industrie afhanklik van die gebruik van hoogs-gevorderde tegnologieë. Literatuur het getoon dat daar spesifiek gefokus word op die investering in tegnologie- en infrastruktuurontwikkeling in Suid Afrika sodat bestaande probleme in die land opgelos kan word. In die lig van hierdie bevindinge, is die doel van hierdie studie om ‘n proses te vestig wat kan help om besluite rakende tegnologiebeleggings te vergemaklik sodat probleem areas in die konstruksie industrie met dié beleggings opgelos kan word. Die eerste stap van die navorsingsprosedure was om probleem areas in die konstruksie industrie te identifiseer en daarna is die probleem met die grootste impak op konstruksie projekte in diepte ontleed om die eienskappe daarvan te bepaal. Laastens is ‘n besluitnemings model gekies sodat tegnologiese beleggings geëvalueer en gekies kan word. Die navorsingsprosedure het daarom die struktuur gegee om ‘n proses te vestig wat gebruik kan word om besluite oor tegnologiese beleggings te vergemaklik om sodoende probleme in die konstruksie industrie op te los. Die eerste stap in hierdie proses het vereis dat die probleem met die grootste impak op konstruksie projekte in die Suid-Afrikaanse konstruksie industrie geïdentifiseer moes word. Na afloop van ‘n reeks onderhoude en opnames met ervare senior bestuurders in verskeie afdelings van siviele konstruksie, is gevind dat lae arbeidsproduktiwiteit die mees invloedryke probleem area is. Lae produktiwiteit van arbeid is om hierdie rede in diepte ontleed as deel van die tweede stap in die proses. Daar is gevind dat daar verskillende maniere is waarop produktiwiteit gemeet kan word en dat faktore wat produktiwiteit beïnvloed gekategoriseer kan word in bestuur praktyke, arbeid effektiwiteit en stiptelikheid van materiaal. Die ontleding, tesame met die produktiwiteitsverbeteringstelsel en lesse wat geleer is in ander bedrywe, het gelei tot die derde stap van die proses, naamlik die identifisering van tegnologiese oplossings-alternatiewe. Draadloostegnologie (“wireless technology”) en visuele analise is geïdentifiseer as twee groepe van tegnologie wat die produktiwiteit van arbeid kan aanspreek. Die finale stap van die proses het gebruik gemaak van ‘n stel kriteria en ‘n ‘fuzzy multi-criteria’ besluitnemingsmodel om die verskillende tegnologie alternatiewe te evalueer. Hierdie navorsingstudie het daarin geslaag om te identifiseer dat daar generiese probleem areas in die konstruksiebedryf is en dat tegnologie gebruik kan word om probleme op te los en om dienooreenkomstig siklusse in maatskappye te verbeter. Verder is 'n generiese en buigsame vier-stap proses geformuleer wat verskeie kriteria, opinies van belanghebbendes, korporatiewe strategieë en die nodige voordele om die probleem op te los, alles in een evalueringsmodel inkorporeer. Hierdie proses is bewys om te kan help om tegnologiese beleggings in die konstruksiebedryf te vergemaklik om sodoende reeds-bestaande probleme op te los.
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Jorild, Johan, and Alexander Kovalonok. "PLATSCHEFENS FÖRMÅGA ATT ÖKA PRODUKTIVITETEN - en jämförande studie av fyra arbetsplatser hos Peab -." Thesis, Örebro universitet, Institutionen för naturvetenskap och teknik, 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-36193.
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studier visar en låg produktivitet jämfört med andra branscher men också komplexiteten av produktivitetsmätningar. Syftet med rapporten är att undersöka platschefens roll och vilka faktorer som påverkar förmågan att få ut produktiviteten på en byggarbetsplats. Fallstudien genomfördes på fyra av Peabs projekt och frågeställningen besvarades med hjälp av kvalitativa och kvantitativa metoder i form av intervjuer och enkätundersökningar. Vidare undersöks produktivitetspåverkande faktorer såsom kommunikation, motivation, kompetens och samarbete. Vid jämförelse används en incitamentkvot som ställs i relation till enkätundersökningarna och intervjuerna. Resultatet visar tydliga skillnader mellan platschefernas förmågor, arbetssätt och egenskaper som leder till en skillnad i produktivitet på arbetsplatserna. Slutsatsen visar vilka egenskaper och arbetssätt som tenderar i att ge en hög produktivitet.The construction industry has been criticised for lacking productivity. Previous reports and studies show a low productivity compared to other industries but also the complexity of productivity measurement. The report aims to examine the site manager's role and the factors that affect the ability to get out productivity on a construction site. The case study was conducted on four of Peab's projects and the issues were answered using qualitative and quantitative methods such as interviews and surveys. Factors that affect productivity such as communication, motivation, competence and cooperation are further investigated. As comparison, an incentive quota imposed in relation to the questionnaires and interviews, are applied. The results show clear differences between site managers' abilities, methods and qualities that lead to a difference in productivity in the workplace. The conclusion shows what qualities and methods that tend to give a high productivity.
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Buli, Lakew G. "Strategies for Improving Labor Productivity in Construction Companies." ScholarWorks, 2017. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/3752.
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Even with advanced technology and new project management methodologies, construction company leaders continue to face challenges to improve labor productivity. This multiple case study was an exploration of the strategies that construction company leaders use to improve labor productivity in Doha, Qatar. The case population consisted of 6 construction company leaders operating in Doha, Qatar, who successfully identified and implemented strategies to improve labor productivity. The conceptual framework for this study was the expectancy theory. The data collection process included semistructured interviews and company documentation. Data were compiled and organized, disassembled into fragments, reassembled into a sequence of groups, and interpreted for meaning. Methodological triangulation and member checking bolstered the trustworthiness of those interpretations. Five themes emerged from these 6 construction company leaders: exploring, identifying, and evaluating issues affecting labor productivity; applying an appropriate leadership style; motivating the workforce; providing training and development; and implementing effective project management processes. By improving labor productivity, similar construction companies can complete construction projects faster and with lower construction costs. The implications for positive social change include the potential to lower construction costs and enable individuals with lower incomes in Doha, Qatar, to afford houses that they could not previously afford.
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Centeno, Javier E. "How does management impact construction productivity?" Menomonie, WI : University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2004. http://www.uwstout.edu/lib/thesis/2004/2004centenoj.pdf.
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Bernold, Leonhard Emil. "Productivity transients in construction processes." Diss., Georgia Institute of Technology, 1985. http://hdl.handle.net/1853/20980.
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Chau, Kwong-wing. "Total factor productivity of the building industry of Hong Kong /." [Hong Kong : University of Hong Kong], 1990. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record.jsp?B12997924.
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Abulfatih, Basel Mohamed. "Project manager's effectiveness in productivity of Bahrain's construction industry." Thesis, University of Reading, 2000. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.340486.
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Ailabouni, Nabil. "Factors affecting employee productivity in the UAE construction industry." Thesis, University of Brighton, 2010. https://research.brighton.ac.uk/en/studentTheses/e3b445a5-542d-4fdd-8fde-d0606919788f.
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Reliable productivity rates for construction trades are essential for contractors to accurately estimate the time and cost of construction projects. These rates vary considerably based on the complexity of the structure, project site constraints, and other technical, managerial, social and cultural factors. Predicting the effect of these factors will enhance the ability of the contractor to optimally utilize resources. This research therefore aims to evaluate the most significant factors that affect productivity of key construction activities namely: excavation, formwork, reinforcement, concreting, blockwork, plastering and tiling. The research focuses on the construction industry in the UAE (United Arab Emirates).
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Goodrum, Paul McGinley. "The impact of equipment technology on productivity in the U.S. construction industry." Access restricted to users with UT Austin EID Full text (PDF) from UMI/Dissertation Abstracts International, 2001. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/utexas/fullcit?p3032971.
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Williams, Trefor P. "Knowledge-based productivity analysis of construction operations." Diss., Georgia Institute of Technology, 1987. http://hdl.handle.net/1853/20195.
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Mitchell, Dana L. Gallagher Thomas Vincent Taylor Steven E. "Extended working hours in the southeastern logging industry." Auburn, Ala, 2008. http://repo.lib.auburn.edu/EtdRoot/2008/SUMMER/Forestry_and_Wildlife_Sciences/Dissertation/Mitchell_Dana_20.pdf.
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Currie, Robert J. "Manufacturing productivity at the firm level in the US defense industry." Thesis, This resource online, 1996. http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-05022009-040626/.
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Chau, Kwong-wing, and 鄒廣榮. "Total factor productivity of the building industry of Hong Kong." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1990. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31232152.
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Menzel, Menzel. "Training, organizational learning and productivity : three essays on the Bangladeshi garment industry." Thesis, University of Warwick, 2015. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/79943/.
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This thesis consists of three main chapters, which address different but related research questions, using original data collected during extensive field work in the Bangladeshi garment industry. After the introduction, Chapter 2 addresses possible reasons for the low share of women in supervisory positions in the Bangladeshi garment sector. Despite women making up 80% of the workers in the sector, they hold less than 10% of supervisory positions. Together with local partners, we designed a randomized intervention in which we trained equal numbers of male and female workers for supervisory positions, and placed them as supervisors on randomly selected sewing lines in their factories. Initially, lines with male trainees showed higher productivity, though this difference vanished after two months. Surveys of workers in the factories show that workers on all levels regard women as lacking the technical expertise to be good supervisors, while their leadership and other soft skills are regarded more favourably. However, extensive knowledge testing revealed that women have no less technical expertise, while management exercises and especially self rated ability revealed that women lack confidence and leadership skills compared to their male peers. This points to a mismatch between perceived and actual weaknesses of women as supervisors in that industry, which could prevent the management from taking effective measures to bring more women into supervisor roles. Chapter 3 studies the effect of knowledge exchange among line supervisors in these factories on productivity. Specifically, it addresses the wide spread practice in economics to measure learning among co-workers through productivity increases, which, however, could also be caused by other peer effects, such as competition or imitation. I show that similar productivity increases as commonly used as evidence for learning are prevalent in situations in which learning is unlikely. However, a randomized communication intervention implemented by the respective factory management at three factories shows that knowledge exchange on production processes among workers indeed increases the efficiency of workers. There is furthermore some evidence that this effect was stronger between socially connected workers. This effect of social ties in the communication intervention was based on social network data collected among supervisors in four garment factories. Chapter four discusses this network data in more detail, thereby contributing to several ongoing debates in network research.
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Memarzia, Kazem. "Productivity and the Iranian building industry : a case study of component manufacture." Thesis, University of York, 1995. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/11049/.
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Charpia, Jill. "Employee Turnover Intentions in the Construction Industry| A Quantitative Correlational Study." Thesis, Northcentral University, 2018. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10976474.
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Construction companies are able to show an increased bottom line by developing strategies to retain employees. However, the cost to develop and implement strategies that can decrease employee turnover is a substantial investment. As costs continue to rise in most business functions, strategies to facilitate cost savings must be identified and implemented to become or remain profitable. The Herzberg Two-Factor Theory served as the conceptual framework was chosen for this study and provided a baseline for developing retention strategies within the construction industry. The purpose of this single quantitative exploratory case study was to identify the retention factors that provided the greatest impact to retain construction employees. There was a sample of 68 individuals selected for this study, consisting of laborers within the U.S. construction industry. An online survey was used to collect the data, and the findings are intended to add to the current body of knowledge by identifying the impact that job satisfaction factors in the construction industry. A correlational analysis as well as a multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to reveal the relationships between job satisfaction and employee turnover intention. The findings of this study results revealed a moderate negative relationship between job satisfaction, both intrinsic and extrinsic and employee turnover intention. Additionally, the study found that by implementing developed retention strategies using factors of job satisfaction, organizational leadership can understand the drivers for employee retention, and increase overall job satisfaction, profitability, and productivity. The study limitations, implication, recommendations for practice and future research are also discussed in detail. Lastly, the study shows that the nature of the association between job satisfaction and employee turnover intention is significant to industrial psychological practices.
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Tomas, Lindholm. "Lean in Construction Projects : Is lean suitable for all construction projects?" Thesis, KTH, Byggnadsteknik, 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-146653.
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Due to the low productivity growth in the construction industry, there are discussions about theories and tools that could support an increased productivity in construction projects. One such ‘theory’ or package of tools is lean. Lean has been used successfully for decades in the car manufacturing industry, Toyota for example, and in other industries as the shipbuilding industry. In the construction industry, the use of the word lean is not frequently used and construction projects could might implement lean concepts and tools in a greater extent than today. The purpose of this thesis is to increase the productivity in construction projects by evaluating if and in which types of construction projects different lean concepts and tools could be used and when it is worth to implement different lean concepts and tools. The research questions are about if there are any obstacles to implement lean and which lean concepts and tools that are most suitable for different types of construction projects. The findings, that will answer the research questions, are based on a theoretical view from an extensive literature review including prior case studies about lean in general as well as about lean in construction projects. The findings are also based on interviews, about the construction process and lean in construction projects, with managers at different types of projects, constructed by Skanska. Even though lean is already used in some extent in construction projects, the finding is that lean concepts and tools could be used in a greater extent in construction projects without obstacles. In addition to concepts and tools used in the car manufacturing industry, e.g. just-in-time, other concepts and tools have to be added. For example production control and planning are important to support lean in construction projects. In general, lean concepts and tools could be used in all types of construction projects. Some concepts or tools are more preferable in certain types of projects. Lean could be used only by the main contractor, however, to optimize the process by lean concepts and tool, it is preferable if the whole chain is adopting lean thinking. As a final comment, construction projects are not like car manufacturing facilities with repetitive work and products. But the construction industry has to take impact from it and the future will be more like the car industry, if the quality and the architectural creativity could retained in the projects.
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Wang, You-song. "An analysis of the technical efficiency in Hong Kong's construction industry /." Hong Kong : University of Hong Kong, 1998. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record.jsp?B20002890.
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Zakeri, Mahmood. "An evaluation of productivity and management practice in the Iranian construction industry." Thesis, University of Wolverhampton, 1996. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.319437.
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The aim of this research is to develop a system for construction productivity improvement in the Iranian construction industry. After eight years of devastating war with neighbouring Iraq, the country faced with an urgent need for rebuilding and development ranging from housing to infrastructure. The shortages of the resources coupled with the inefficiency of the management system within the Iranian Construction Industry has not allowed this industry to cope effectively with the post-war construction requirements of the country. The work carried out in this project has first identified and quantified the project and managementrelated factors that significantly affect the construction productivity in general as appeared in literature. Based on this survey, structured questionnaires were developed and work study techniques were used to collect and collate data from three major categories of construction workforce (i.e., construction operatives, foremen, and site managers). Exploratory analyses are then performed to determine which factors have most influence on workers' productivity, productive time, and unproductive time individually. The study then goes further to assess the effectiveness of Iranian SiteiProject Managers. F or this purpose, management effectiveness factors were identified and classified into 10 categories and the relative importance of each category were determined. Management effectiveness factors were then related to construction productivity indicators in a regression analysis exercise to reveal the Iranian managers' impacts on construction productivity. Regression technique was employed for statistical analysis resulting in developing a series of models for predicting productivity, productive time, and unproductive time of the above mentioned three categories of Iranian construction workforce. For a quicker approach to predicting productivity, a new series of productivity models were developed incorporating the critical factors to management effectiveness index. The models developed were checked for normality and range of accuracy as they were applied to the industry. The result of assessment of Iranian SiteiProject Managers effectiveness were then interpreted on productivity variations establishing a guideline for successful implementation of construction projects. The project fmally develops and proposes schemes for implementing productivity improvement programme through various hierarchy of the Iranian construction workforce.
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Patet, Nisha. "Women in the construction labor force : women's participation in the construction sector in India /." This resource online, 1991. http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-02162010-020112/.
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Florez, Laura. "Decision support system for masonry labor planning and allocation considering productivity and social sustainability." Diss., Georgia Institute of Technology, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/1853/54432.
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Masonry construction is labor-intensive. Processes involve little to no mechanization and require a large number of crews made up of workers with diverse skills, capabilities, and personalities. Relationships among crews are tight and very dependent. Often crews are re-assembled and the superintendent is responsible for assigning workers to crews and allocating crews to different tasks to maximize workflow. This dynamic environment can influence the motivation of workers and impose pressure and stress on them.
Workers, unlike other resources, have their own needs and requirements beyond the financial compensation for their work. Workers place a great value on requirements such as certainty about work assignments, matching assignments to career development goals, and work satisfaction. If managed properly, workers may bring considerable benefits to both the project and the contractor. A project that links workers to career goals not only allows contractors to develop more qualified staff for its future projects, but also gives the worker opportunities for career growth and development. Additionally, job satisfaction and efficiency increases from suitable worker assignment and consideration of tasks. Therefore, the study of sustainable labor management practices is of interest in masonry construction and other labor-intensive industries.
A mixed-integer programming (MIP) model enables the integration of workers needs and contractor requirements into the process of labor allocation. Furthermore, the model can be used to quantify strategies that maximize productivity, quality of work, and the well-being of workers. Developing such a model is a necessary task. To plan and manage masonry construction, the contractor has to take into account not only multiple workers with different characteristics but also rules for crew design and makeup and project requirements in terms of personnel needs. Providing an analytical description of all the needs and requirements is challenging. Therefore, to determine labor management practices that indeed maximize production and maximize workers satisfaction, the model needs to realistically represent the realities in masonry construction sites and staffing practices, while remaining computationally manageable such that optimization models can be derived.
This dissertation proposes a decision support system (DSS) for sustainable labor management in masonry construction that takes into consideration information on workers and job characteristics with the intention of assisting decision makers in allocating crews. Firstly, semi-structured interviews were conducted with masonry practitioners to gather perspectives on labor requirements, rules for crew design, and drivers for crew makeup. Secondly, a model that incorporates realities was implemented. The model supports masonry contractors and superintendent in the challenging process of managing crews, that is, to determine the composition of each crew and the allocation of crews to maximize productivity and workflow while considering workers’ preferences and well-being. With the DSS, project managers and superintendents are not only able to identify working patterns for each of the workers but also optimal crew formation and investment and labor costs. Data from real case study is used to compare the schedule and allocation on the site with the one proposed by the model. The comparison shows the model can optimize the allocation of crews to reduce the completion time to build the walls while maximizing the utilization of masons and outlining opportunities for concurrent work. It is expected that the DSS will help contractors improve productivity and quality while efficiently managing masonry workers in a more sustainable way.
The contributions for the masonry industry are two-fold. Firstly, the proposed model considers a set of rules that masonry practitioners typically use to design crews of masons and analytically captures the realities of masonry construction jobsites when managing labor. Secondly, it attempts to quantify and mathematically model the practices that contractors use for crew makeup and evaluate labor management allocation both in terms of contractor requirements and worker needs. Literature review indicates that the existing models for labor allocation have not taken into consideration masonry site realities.
An optimization framework, which combines masonry site realities from the semi-structured interviews is proposed. The framework results in a MIP model that is used to solve a crew scheduling and allocation problem. The model is formulated to determine which masons are in a crew and to assign crews to the different walls in a project. Additionally, it is used to evaluate crew design strategies that maximize productivity.
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Sedehi, Arya John. "Leveraging radio frequency technology identification for productivity analysis in high-rise construction." Thesis, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/1853/39625.
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Until recent developments, labor productivity had been analyzed manually requiring time-consuming work and the possibility of human error. Past research has shown the multitude of benefits obtained from implementing radio frequency identification technology within various construction sites including asset tracking, inventory management, and on-site security upgrades. Additional construction improvements can be identified in terms of productivity analysis of work crews, material transport, and the overall approach to a project to determine whether the construction process is operating at maximum efficiency or can be adjusted to improve its effectiveness. This paper presents the results of implementing radio-frequency identification technology and provides a study of labor productivity analysis for a window replacement project on a high-rise construction site. This extensive study tracks the efficiency of a buck hoist worker and material lift system for transportation and illustrates the applicability of the technology despite the presence of numerous signal impeding obstacles located throughout the site.
These issues are resolved with an effective automated location and time tracking system that work in both an indoor and outdoor environment simultaneously with a data recording software and database. The in-house development of the database allows for timely information retrieval of various items of interest in this study and requires less
The experimental results show that RFID technology has the capacity to work and produce useful data for labor productivity purposes in an ever-changing construction environment. The research further recognizes relevant information regarding system optimization and worker feedback for future use.
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Karimi, Hossein. "QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACT OF CRAFT LABOR AVAILABILITY ON CONSTRUCTION PROJECT PERFORMANCE." UKnowledge, 2017. http://uknowledge.uky.edu/ce_etds/56.
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A shortage of skilled craft labor in the North American construction industry has been an unfortunate cyclic trend since the late 1980s. This shortage has been reported and discussed frequently by numerous past studies in the context of construction industry. The 2008 U.S. recession was at least one period when the craft shortage temporarily improved, as witnessed by spikes in construction unemployment rates above 20% due to the work slowdowns. However, the current economic recovery period is once again experiencing craft shortages in some sectors of the U.S. construction industry. Although the past literature provides wealth of information about influence of craft labor shortage on construction project, less attention has been given to quantifying the impact of craft labor availability on construction project performance. The primary contribution of this study to the body of knowledge is to fill the gap in existing literature by quantitatively modelling and elucidating the influence of craft labor availability on construction project performance as measured by safety, schedule, productivity and cost. Data from 97 construction projects completed in the U.S. and Canada between 2001 and 2014 were collected from two data sources. A number of t-tests and regression analyses were conducted in both databases to examine the significance of the influence of craft labor shortage on construction project performance. The primary analysis shows that projects that experienced craft shortages underwent significant higher growth in cost overrun, time overrun, safety incident and also lower productivity compared to projects that did not. Further analysis on two databases returned the following models: 1) a Poisson regression model that demonstrates a positive exponential relationship between increased craft worker recruiting difficulty and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Total Number of Recordable Incident Cases per 200,000 Actual Direct Work Hours (TRIR) on construction projects. 2) a statistically significant correlation between increased craft recruiting difficulty and lower project productivity and higher schedule overruns 3) a multiple regression models that demonstrate a relationship between increased construction cost overrun with two variables of increased actual cost and increased craft staffing difficulty. These models are intended to be used by project management team to perceive the risk that skilled craft labor variability poses on project safety, productivity, time, and cost performance. In addition, understanding the level of impact that craft shortages are having through robust statistical analyses is a first step in developing the motivation for industry leaders, communities, and construction stakeholders to address this challenge.
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Vanqa, Inga Bongo. "The effects of the labour skills shortage in the construction industry." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1021125.
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Purpose of this treatise: The aim of this research is to determine, if the skilled labour shortage has had any impact on how construction projects are executed. If there is an impact the study aims to determine the nature and extent of the problem. Design/methodology/approach: A review of related literature was conducted, mainly to ensure that existing research is not replicated, in order to generate new ideas. The quantitative research approach was applied for this research. The questionnaire was designed so that scores can be easily summed in order to obtain an overall measure of the attitudes and opinions of the respondents. Findings: The results revealed that the skilled labour shortage has a negative effect on how construction projects are executed. The results further revealed that the biggest concern amongst employers and management of construction companies was the negative impact the shortage of skilled labour has on the levels of workmanship. Research limitations: The sample (construction companies) is mostly situated in the Gauteng province of South Africa. Practical implications: The research is of importance to managers and supervisors of construction companies of all sizes. The findings of this study will assist in ensuring that projects are efficiently managed irrespective of the current skills crisis in the construction industry.
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Castaneda, Brandown Leon, Edwin Huanachin Cordova, Victor Torres Diaz, and Nique Jose Reyes. "Reduction of non-contributory work of personnel using UAV methodology (Phantom 4 Pro RTK) and conventional Topography with Total Station (Leica TS 06), in road projects." Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/10757/656564.
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El texto completo de este trabajo no está disponible en el Repositorio Académico UPC por restricciones de la casa editorial donde ha sido publicado.At present, topographic surveys in road projects are very important, since it allows us to know the conditions and variable characteristics of the area to be executed. Commonly these surveys are carried out using a total station, high precision equipment, which in turn generates a lot of demand for time in the field and a greater number of personnel for a wide study area. For this reason, another alternative for obtaining terrain data is the use of the photogrammetric technique with UAV, since the objective is to increase productivity in the topographic survey. In this article, the productive development generated in the crews was analyzed using the total station survey methodology and the UAV photogrammetric technique using balance charts with the aim of obtaining the productive, contributory and non-contributory works, since the latter two they do not add value to the development of the project. This research was carried out in a rural area with a study area of 3 Ha and its classification by orography is of type 2 soil (undulated terrain), located in the Cuculí town center, Chongoyape district, Chiclayo province in the department of Lambayeque, Peru. In order to demonstrate that the UAV survey reduces non-contributory work by 47.2%, among the most outstanding activities obtained in this research are the leisure time that the staff presents in different situations of the project development, care of topographic equipment and another of the most outstanding was the use of cell phones in the field, which do not provide efficiency in the development of data collection and therefore would increase in time and cost of linear works, sanitation and projects in open places in the stage of design engineering.
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Brown, Conrad Andrew. "Critical success factors to improve direct labour productivity." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020101.
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An increase in the global competitiveness has forced manufacturing organisations to re-look their facility from a labour productivity standpoint. Leveraging a manufacturing operation into a competitive avantage must at all times support the organisation’s objective. It is therefore critical that the operation reviews its strategy so that it fulfils the ever changing needs in the market. Purpose – The main objective of this research is to identify the critical success factors to improve direct labour efficiency within Johnson Controls Automotive South Africa (Pty) Ltd (JCI). Design/methodology/approach – A combination of a comprehensive literature review and visits to the Uitenhage plant and head office were employed in the study. JCI practices were observed to highlight the level of direct labour productivity. This was followed by interviewing relevant and key personel who had an involvement in achieving direct labour productivity in the plant. A questionnaire-based research approach was adopted for this purpose and a total of 83 valid survey responses were received from staff in the Uitenhage plant, together with head office staff who directly supported the plant. The questionnaire was designed to identify and test perceptions of employees, regarding the factors of production, identified as sub variables. The research aim was to determine the most practical and effective strategies to improve direct labour productivity. Results were analysed and interpreted after which recommendations were formulated. Findings – Several critical success factors identified as sub variables were tested to understand their impact on direct labour productivity. Empirical results showed that organisational culture, leadership culture, employee engagement, communication and skills, development and training, had a significant effect on direct labour productivity. Respective ratings of these elements were discussed with the focus of improving this going forward. Research limitations/implications – Continued scepticim within JCI about the benefits of direct labour productivity to their business is one of the fundamental limitations this research faces. Originality/value – The novelty of the research project stems from the realization of key factors contributing to the improvement of direct labour productivity within the JCI enviroment. The results would provide JCI with indicators and guidelines for a successful implementation of direct labour productivity initiatives in the Uitenhage plant.
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Rudolph, John. "Quality management and rework in the construction industry." Thesis, This resource online, 1992. http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-09192009-040324/.
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Pizzagalli, Jon (Jon Francis) 1970. "Using bar codes to improve labor and equipment tracking in the construction industry." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2001. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/32218.
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Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2001."September 2001."
Includes bibliographical references.
This thesis outlines the costs, advantages, and industry impacts of implementing a system to track resource allocations, procurement and deliveries of materials on construction job sites. By using bar code scanners and hand held data collection devices, the construction industry stands to reduce costs to owners by some $16 billion annually. The system will provide daily reporting of budget allocations across sets of phases, and automatically create various reports defined by the project team prior to beginning work. The result is improved quality, reduced project costs, and increased accountability of resources. The paper presents a dynamic system that has the capability to track a high level of labor and equipment cost detail, as well as an improved means of tracking submittals, approvals, fabrication, delivery, and installation of materials. The need for the system stems from the demands placed on supervisory personnel in the construction industry. Supervisory personnel include foremen on job sites and in fabrication shops, vendors shipping materials to job sites, project managers, and management in supply houses. With improved data collection capabilities, these individuals will provide their supervisors with improved cost information with greater frequency. This data will result in lower costs per reports, such as project schedules and inventory reports, and bolster the companies' historical cost data for all operations performed. Additionally, the system will allow contractors to recover a greater portion of extra work expense than they do presently, as well as shorten payment durations from general contractors and owners. The thesis examines the effect of implementation on a single subcontractor in a single trade. The potential ramifications of industry wide use of such a system are similar in scope to what the grocery industry experienced in the late 1970's and early 1980's as a result of implementing bar code technology to track and order inventory through the checkout process. At a minimum, the system promises to help individual contractors realize savings and increases productivity on construction projects. At most, it could change the way the world buys $4 trillion in construction services globally every year.
by Jon Pizzagalli.
S.M.
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Dharia, Namita Vijay. "Scaffolding Sentiment: Money, Labor, and Love in India’s Real Estate and Construction Industry." Thesis, Harvard University, 2015. http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:17467513.
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This dissertation is an ethnography of the building and real estate construction industry in India’s National Capital Region (NCR). It is a cross-class study based on
fifteen months of ethnographic research in NCR with real estate developers, planners, contractors, architects, engineers, foreman, migrant laborers, and locals.
Within the dissertation, I excavate creativity from its relegation to artistic realms and examine the politics of creative action in real estate. The building construction industry, I argue, deploys creativity as a fetish through the celebration of creative terms and actions such as jugaad, improvisation, fixing, corruption, innovation, and quick thinking. This discourse enables social mobility and survival, but at the same time enhances unequal conditions of work and life.
Chapters play with the human and non-human duality of tropes such as plans, money, labor, love, and roads to demonstrate the processes of creative destruction. A critical phenomenology of life in the industry serves as a critique of its political economy.Anthropology
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Korczynski, Marek. "Capital, labour and economic performance in the engineering construction industry : 1960-1990." Thesis, University of Warwick, 1993. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/2470/.
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This study engages with the debates on industrial relations and economic performance at the micro-level. Primarily; this issue has been addressed through the production function approach which seeks to correlate a variable for unionisation with an economic performance measure. Criticisms are put forward which stress the technical limitations of existing studies, the limitations of statistical studies in examining social processes, and theoretical problems with the production function approach. The literature recognises the need for a detailed, processual case study. The thesis is such a case study, examining the Engineering Construction Industry, i. e. the building of large power stations and process plants, from 1960 to 1990. The principal research methods were archive work and interviewing. The industry was chosen because it constituted a 'crucial' case for the argument that labour militancy underlay the UK's poor economic performance in the 1960s and 1970s. The industry was characterised by widespread militancy and large project overruns, the assumption (tested within the thesis) being that the former caused the latter. The key finding is that the chronic project delays were at root due to the opportunistic practices of contractors who deliberately and covertly delayed construction in order to force the client into offering extra payments. A key profit focus of contractors lay in exploiting opportunities to generate additional payments. The widespread militancy of the 1960s and 1970s exacerbated overruns, but the key significance of militancy was that it was used as a tool by contractors in reproducing beneficial commercial relations with clients. The improvement in performance in the 1980s was at root due to the rise of managing contractors who curbed opportunism. Unconstrained by high levels of labour militancy, managing contractors adopted a low trust route to improve project performance, implying that the basis for longer term development has not been laid. A 'crucial' case study of the British worker argument has rejected the thesis that militancy underlay poor performance. The relationship between opportunism, militancy and poor performance uncovered within the study potentially has relevance for other important sectors of the UK economy.
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Brown, James Daniel. "Corporate responsibility in the UK construction industry : a study of activities and reporting." Thesis, University of Nottingham, 2012. http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/14099/.
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Corporate Responsibility (CR) defines the process of self-regulation, whereby an organisation seeks to measure and improve its performance related to the social, environmental and economic expectations placed upon it by society. In the past two decades the prominence, and therefore uptake of CR activities and reporting has increased across many sectors. The pace of this change has varied significantly, with many industries quickly becoming aware of its importance and integrating it into their business operations while others have seen CR as lower priority and have been much slower to embrace it. In the UK, while some of the individual components of CR are governed by legislation (e.g. environmental activities and health & safety), others such as social interactions and CR reporting have little or no legislation associated with them. This lack of any clear legislative requirements effectively allows organisations to report on any topics they wish and results in a very varied approach to implementing and reporting upon the subject. While some aspects of CR, such as reporting (Jones, Comfort et al. 2006), performance benchmarking (BITC, Graafland et al (2003)) and attitudes to CR (Herridge, (2003), Petrovic- Lazarevic, (2008)) have been investigated in isolation, there has been no attempt to provide a holistic view of the industry. This research seeks to do just that by combining a range of data in an effort to build a broad evidence base of the industry's reporting practices, performance and perceptions of the industry with regards to CR. This thesis presents the findings from a mixed-method review of CR reporting, activities and performance amongst UK construction companies. Mixed methodologies (qualitative and quantitative) were employed in order to interrogate a range of data sources. The methods employed in the empirical chapters of this work include a review of construction CR reports, a benchmarking exercise and a case study of consultancy companies operating in the construction industry. With regards to reporting, while some longitudinal changes were seen with respect to report size and levels of detail, a number of core or priority topics were identified which were commonly covered by construction companies regardless of which sub-sector they operated in. The benchmarking exercise attempted to compare the CR performance of companies within three construction sub-sectors (materials suppliers, contractors and consultants) and while some patterns were evident, such as topics where performance was consistently high, no clear trends were seen between the performances of the three sub-sectors reviewed. The case study highlighted a number of difficulties that are faced by consultancy companies and based upon the study, a range of recommendations which could potentially help to address some of them are proposed.
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Chiang, I.-Cheng Robert. "Optimizing the productivity of development teams during software system construction : theoretical and practical considerations /." Thesis, Connect to this title online; UW restricted, 1999. http://hdl.handle.net/1773/8723.
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Low, Sui Pheng. "Strategic development of the built environment through international construction, quality and productivity management." Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2012. http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/3614/.
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This thesis presents a coherent, sustained and substantial contribution to the advancement of knowledge or application of knowledge or both in the field of construction management and economics. More specifically, this thesis outlines the strategic development of the built environment through lessons from international construction, quality and productivity management. The strategic role of construction in economic development is emphasized. It describes the contributions transnational construction firms made towards modern-day construction project management practices globally. It establishes the relationship between construction quality and economic development and fosters a better understanding of total quality management and quality management systems in enhancing construction industry performance. Additionally, it prescribes lessons from the manufacturing industry for construction productivity and identifies the amount of carbon emissions reduced through lean construction management practices to alleviate the generally adverse effects of the built environment on global climate change. It highlights the need for integrated management systems to enhance quality and productivity for sustainable development in the built environment. The thesis is an account of how the built environment has evolved, leveraging on lessons from international construction, quality and productivity management for improvements over the past two decades.
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Konduru, Srinivasa Prasad. "Factor income shares in agri-food industries /." free to MU campus, to others for purchase, 2004. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/mo/fullcit?p1420929.
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Pooe, Molefe M. B. A. "The development of a strategic performance measurement tool for SMEs in the construction industry." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/810.
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Research in strategic performance measurements has focused mostly on large organisations. In the last few years, there has been a widespread adoption and implementation of balanced strategic performance measurements that no longer narrowly focus on financial measurements but include other non-financial measures. Again, such improvements have focused on large organisations. This study aims to assess strategic performance measurement practices in the Small and Medium Enterprises within the construction industry. The Balanced Scorecard is used as a generic measurement framework to ascertain the current strategic performance measurements within this sector. The four perspectives of measurement; namely, financial, customer, internal process and learning and growth are used to determine the generic measurements within the construction industry. These are then used to determine to what the extent Small and Medium Enterprises in the construction industry have adopted the measurements outlined in these four perspectives. The nature and extent of strategic planning and perceived relevance of various sets of balanced measurements were also assessed. A survey was conducted in the form of a questionnaire in order to obtain primary data from a selected sample group. Using qualitative and quantitative techniques, the data was analysed to get a clear picture of current practice. From the results obtained from the respondents in the sample group, it seemed that there was some strategic planning within this sector although the process was mostly unstructured. The results also showed that the owner-manager is still solely responsible for strategic planning with little or no inclusion of other managers or employees.
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Anugwo, Iruka Chijindu. "Evaluating the training and supply of artisans in the South African construction industry." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020042.
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The study focused on identifying ways in which to improve and increase the quality of training and supply of skilled artisans in the South African construction industry (especially in Gauteng Province) in terms of short and medium term approach. The construction industry is facing a severe skills crisis and this has made it so difficult to recruit competent artisans. This may be as a result of artisans being regarded as the lowest in the hierarchy of construction worker positions. In addition, these artisans warrant less training than those at executive- and managerial levels. This negative attitude towards artisans training has plunged the industry into crisis. Those involved find it difficult to successfully complete projects on time, within budgeted project costs and within the required quality specification due to lack of competent artisans. However, serious attention is required towards enhancing artisan training in the industry. It is imperative and vital to ensure the survival of the industry. The cardinal aim of this research project was to demonstrate a guiding solution towards the skills crisis. Thus, in order to initiate a tremendous change in the skills profile, certain measures are required, e.g. expanding training institutions to local regions; upgrading and aligning facilities in the training institutions to industrial demands and the dissemination of vital information that will ensure the attractiveness of the industry. This will safeguard the construction organisations operating in Gauteng Province. Although the industry is a major player in the economy, there is need for special attention in order to ensure sustainable growth and economic development. The Government, construction industry stakeholders and training institutions personnel should collaborate to salvage the skills crisis by strategically developing programmes (in accordance with industrial requirements) that will benefit prospective learners. The researcher adopted the descriptive- and analytical survey method, which entailed the use of questionnaires and a review of the related literature for gathering relevant data. The methodology used in the research was the quantitative data analysis. The feature findings of the research concluded that the skilled artisans profile is insufficient to meet industry demands. In addition, training institutions and primary- and secondary educational systems are characterized by ninadequacy and incompetency to produce skilled artisans. The situation is exacerbated by the lack of harmonization between the training institutions and the vindustry’s requirements. Furthermore, the majority of the respondents acknowledged that training of their workers is an important aspect to them, but few of these organisations indicated that they make use of formal training institutions such as FET colleges. The recommendation include that all the stakeholders in the construction industry should form collaborations to strategically develop programmes that would upgrade the existing training institutions. This could be done through provision of adequate funds and resources and the dissemination of vital information that is capable to promote the attractiveness of the industry image.
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Baker, Todd M. R. "All work : an evaluation of worker's attitudes, worker's behavior and productivity in the U.S. automobile industry." Oberlin College Honors Theses / OhioLINK, 1990. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=oberlin1354551846.
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