F. T. Edum-Fotwe

• Loughborough University

The UK construction industry accounts for a disproportionately high number of major and fatal injuries. The industry has a poor worker safety record, and several stakeholders have made efforts to improve its performance. Much of such efforts have, however, targeted reactive control measures. Research indicates that there is a positive correlation b...

The construction industry plays a vital role in every economy by contributing substantially to the national gross domestic product (GDP). Despite the significance of the industry, construction is often criticized for adversely impacting society and the environment through the nature of its work. Managing societal and environmental impacts are at th...

Due to the suboptimal performance levels that organisations attain when focussing on traditional methods, many organisations have started turning to behavioural management in order to improve their performance further. In high-risk industries where the occupational safety and health (OSH) of workers is a main focus, many organisations adopt approac...

Healthcare facilities throughout Europe are constantly changing to support efforts to provide efficient healthcare services with decreasing resources. Recent changes include larger and more specialist hospitals to achieve economies of scale. This approach has yet to be proven to sustainably respond to the demands, and efficiently satisfy the users’...

The concept of electronic trading (e-trading) has transformed supply chain interactions in many industries, yet little research explored its implementation by Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) supply chain firms. E-trading relies on commercial information exchange by supply chain partners which is generally adopted through intermedia...

The degree to which a public client actively participates in Public Private Partnership (PPP) schemes, is seen as a determinant of the success of the arrangement, and in particular, efficiency in the delivery of the assets of any infrastructure development. The asset delivery is often an early barometer for judging the overall performance of the PP...

The behaviour related approach to dealing with occupational safety and health (OSH) has been shown to be valuable and as a result many construction organisations employ this method to achieve robust safety management systems. Behaviour-based safety (BBS) has various elements and comes in different forms and designs; and different organisations pay...

Procedures, regulations, and safety management systems (SMS) have reduced the incidence of occupational accidents, but they still occur. Current methods have enjoyed some success however these methods mostly address aspects of safety that are not behaviour-related. Researchers have argued that construction actors' behaviours account for most accide...

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate two causality concepts, sphere of control (SOC) and agent–action–results (AAR), and their potential applications to construction business ethics. SOC is used in ethics training, and AAR is applied to ethical decision-making (EDM). Design/methodology/approach – A framework of ethics training and a framework...

The need to improve performance of procurement in construction has resulted in several structural changes and re-arrangements for the acquisition of the client???s development scheme. Much of these changes have focused on the contribution and roles played by parties other than the client to the delivery of projects. The role of the client during th...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how contractor firms manage their relationships with extended supply chain tiers and investigate the range of ICT technologies used to facilitate such practices. Design/methodology/approach – An on-line questionnaire survey was conducted to gather information about supply chain management operation...

Research into information technology in construction has received considerable attention in recent years. However, information behaviour (IB) of actors' in the project environment can be undefined, unstructured and suboptimal. The way information is obtained and shared to support project design development, organisational management and site operat...

The public sector obligation to improve the performance of construction procurement has resulted in several changes to the organisation, roles and systems adopted for development schemes. For example, a less than expected outturn performance of traditional arrangements and the increase demand for public services led to the adoption of integrated pr...

Interconnections and boundaries between the project parties have been identified as causing complexity which, if not managed, leads to reduction in performance. Understanding the characteristics of complexity of interconnections, and how these affect organising projects and the management style, will enable the development and implementation of inn...

Due to changes in many facets of projects and organisations, relationships between firms in the delivery of construction projects have consequently become more critical for the success of the project. Whether it is a transactional exchange or series of transactions spread over a period of time, relationships need to be managed. However, the concept...

Project activities at the various levels within the delivery process have an influence on each other. This generates interconnections and boundaries between the activities as well as the individuals within a team, and teams as whole entities, within the project. The interconnection structures often give rise to complexity, which could lead to a red...

Interconnections and boundaries between the project parties have been identified as causing complexity which, if not managed, leads to reduction in performance. Understanding the characteristics of complexity of interconnections, and how these affect organising projects and the management style, will enable the development and implementation of inn...

The use of subcontract arrangements as part of the overall procurement strategy of the client is widespread within construction. Subcontracts in construction are often implemented in the spirit of adversarial relations that have traditionally characterised procurement in the industry. The paper presents an overview of construction procurement and d...

Technical complexity has always been considered a factor which affects project performance. Scheduling and other mechanisms have been proposed which allow for the management of these effects. However, the effect of the complexity of interconnections, and in particular those caused by social interfaces and boundaries between the various teams, have...

How projects should be organized and managed are two important aspects of the role that Project Managers perform and the processes involved can be linked to the measurement of the project management outcome. Recent studies indicate that these processes are not implemented and concerns have been raised. The authors present an investigation into the...

There is a variety of financial ratio analytical methodologies for evaluation of construction companies corporate performance and identifying potential insolvent contractors. These methodologies comprise traditional approaches, subjective index and ratio models. The shortcomings of the financial ratio analytical methods are highlighted and some app...

Abstract World-class organisations demonstrate international competitiveness and a capacity to both match and surpass the performance of the best-in-class global organisations. These organisations are able to emulate, match or exceed industry and other global leaders in their outputs and business practices. World-class performance can be demonstrat...

Performance measurement is the first step in any performance improvement programme. It helps to identify gaps in performance, opportunities for improving performance and to develop programmes for continuous improvement. This helps in setting clear, measurable and quantifiable goals and performance indicators to help improve performance. In the cons...

The social dimension of sustainability has been growing in importance as a criterion for evaluating the viability of projects in the construction sector. The authors present an ontology that can be employed to provide a systematic articulation to the issues that impinge on the social dimension of sustainability appraisals. The development of the so...

The writers present the results from a research project that explored the factors which design organizations and individual designers take into consideration when they address the management of change to the design function over the long-term future. First a brief description of the telegenesis project which formed a background to the research proj...

Within construction the activities at the various hierarchies making up the delivery process have an influence on each other. This creates interconnections and boundaries between the activities as well as the individuals within a team and teams as a whole within the project. The interconnection structures often cause complexity, which could lead to...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present an investigation of facilities management (FM) needs of warehouse tenants to inform future warehouse design. Design/methodology/approach – This study examines FM needs that must be designed into warehouse projects. It identifies tenants' FM requirements in warehouses; investigates the relationship...

Construction projects involve and generate a number of interfaces between the various parties as these come together to deliver the output. Projects are typically characterised by complexity and previous analyses have been conducted mainly from the technical perspective. Only recently the subject of complexity has been linked to non-technical proje...

The need for a major re-think of our approach to project management education has begun to emerge. This re-think is being driven by the growing dominance of project management as the model of delivery in many private and public sector organisation across a wide range of requirements and its limited success in achieving all objectives. Sustained dev...

Strategic formulation involves synthesising complex, uncertain and often ambiguous information that necessitates a continuous need for senior managers to develop appropriate cognitive attributes. Professionals involved in strategy formulation should be able to exhibit flexibility along with creativity to ensure that the organisation they lead is st...

The drive for continuous and significant improvements and productivity gains in the construction sector has received attention from different stakeholders associated with the sector. Much of the initiative to improve construction was prompted by similar gains that attended the manufacturing sector after the latter sector had undergone a transition...

All project life cycles from the shortest to the longest demand from the project teams some type of reporting. Currently the construction industry perceives reporting as a bureaucratic contractual process that occurs as and when demanded by the Client or the Senior Manager. It does not contribute as much as it should to the decision making process...

Purpose As the development agenda for sub‐Sahara Africa (SSA) gains momentum, it has become necessary to refocus attention on effective and sustainable human resource development strategies for the construction sector in the region that include craft skills. Aims to provide insight into the availability and quality of construction craft skills in Z...

The wealth of any nation is ultimately based on its human resource or social capital. Education and training are the primary vehicles of developing this resource. Funding of formal construction craft skills training at trade institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is examined, using Zambia as a country case study. The data in the research were col...

Visualisation techniques are known to be especially useful for illuminating concepts that may not otherwise be easily understood. Given the inherent complexity of the concept of sustainability, its representation visually would be of great value in promoting among stakeholders a common understanding of the interrelations between multiple component...

The use of contingency in construction provides a tacit acknowledgement of the perennial problem of cost overruns in the delivery of projects. The effects of these cost overruns are adverse consequences such as projects becoming non-viable or in extreme cases being abandoned. The immediate as well as other stakeholders associated with the project s...

Project contingency estimation is based on a percentage allocation of the total project budget and is often established by a rule of thumb. The use of contingency in the construction industry provides a tacit acknowledgement of the perennial problem of cost overruns in the delivery of projects. The effects of cost overruns are adverse consequences...

The concepts underlying innovation and standardisation presents an apparent divergence in what each strives to achieve. In the view of the authors, this has contributed in no small measure to the low take-up of standardisation within the construction sector as organisations strive to be innovative to improve on their performance and attain continuo...

Ethics management, business ethics and corporate social responsibility are ethics related emerging issues for all businesses in the world. There is little evidence that the same level of attention is being paid to ethics management in the construction industry and construction projects. Within this paper, the authors focus on this latent issue of e...

The development of requisite skills in the right numbers to match the sector demands in construction within Zambia forms an essential aspect of the ability of construction companies to deliver projects efficiently. In Zambia the availability of these skills is influenced by a number of factors including the training provision which governs the supp...

Introduction Conceptualizing and implementing knowledge management Knowledge integration process and dynamics within the context of cross functional teams Co-creation of knowledge by multidisciplinary project teams Influences of knowledge sharing and hoarding in project based firms A community perspective on managing knowledge in project environmen...

Successful deployment of the facilities management (FM) function for any major development will depend upon the ability to identify, communicate, and manage opportunities to help support an organization's business objectives at the earliest possible time. This implies a more holistic view for the FM function as reflected by strategic facilities man...

This paper presents a survey on the practices associated with the acquisition, use, storage and transfer of information by a sample of professionals (actors) within the construction supply chain. The role of information in construction supply chains witnessed a shift from its passive function in decision-making from the 1990s, to a strategic resour...

The management of construction claims is the greatest challenge that is facing contractors in today's vacillating business environment. Construction projects are becoming increasingly susceptible to a variety of factors that give rise to time extension and cost recovery. Although the construction business environment has moved toward partnering arr...

The term 'learning organization' has entered the vocabulary of many managers and is providing an alternative basis for evaluating the performance of construction companies. However, there is a long way to go before organizational learning is fully implemented to gain competitive advantage, attain a state of readiness for change and build a capacity...

The paper presents a computer-based development (MERIT) that provides engineers and construction managers with that opportunity of learning to manage in a virtually simulated Architectural Engineering and Construction (AEC) business environment. It outlines the history of the development and describes the main concepts underlying the development as...

Project managers in today's construction industry are faced with a situation whereby the fundamental roles and functions they perform are witnessing a gradual shift in focus. To maintain their professional competency, practising project managers in construction adapt to this changing industry environment by relying on knowledge and skills acquired...

This paper introduces concepts of organizational learning and how they relate to construction contractors. It alsb presents the results of a survey conducted to establish the learning practices of construction contractors that operated in the United Kingdom and focuses on the use of learning mechanisms that help corporate establishments address the...

This paper describes current research within the Department of Civil and Building Engineering at Loughborough University into learning practices within UK Construction Companies. The need to understand how companies learn and accelerate the learning process is greater today than ever before. Companies that stop learning, also stop improving and may...

Research development for construction management has recently received considerable attention by academia and major industry sponsors. A major motivation for these efforts include ensuring that research does not just achieve any outcomes, but also produces relevant outputs that can benefit all the interested parties associated with the research com...

The paper first discusses the different know-how requirements of construction professionals at various stages of their development. It also explores the knowledge needs of the next generation of project managers and engineers within construction. It presents a profile of the repair and maintenance sub-sector within the construction sector and calls...

The importance of technology transfer as a catalyst for accelerated development cannot be emphasized. Within this paper, consideration is given to the nature of technology transfer. It identifies factors that are best described as latent , which should accompany technology transfers. The authors argue that little emphasis is given to latent factors...

The construction industry is often associated with a reputation for delivering projects that are characterized by budget and schedule growth. Several researches have explored the conditions and factors that produce incorrect estimates as a key factor to increase or decrease the risk. Risk is seen as part and parcel of construction projects, where t...

The paper addresses the scope of construction economics and argues that its existing coverage needs to be broadened by focusing research attention on additional areas of economics that have significance for the activities of the construction industry. This can be achieved by giving attention to the theoretical foundations that give rise to the acti...

This paper presents on-going research within the department of Civil and Building Engineering at Loughborough University on learning of a company as a corporate entity, which is becoming an important feature for corporate improvement. The study focuses on learning media or tools that companies employ to imbibe knowledge and other stimuli from their...

The construction industry in Zambia plays a pivotal role in the socio-economic development of the country. Being a labour intensive industry, competition between firms in construction depends on the quality of the workforce that companies employ. This paper presents a study that is intended to identify essential factors in the formulation and imple...

This paper explores cross-sector features for ways to improve the working environment of designers who operate in distributed teams. The influence of ICT tools in design is fostering a shift in the way designers work now and into the future. Whilst their current skills would still be relevant in the emerging work environment, additional skills and...

The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 came into force on 6 th April 2008. The legislation clarifies the criminal liabilities of companies and makes it easier to prosecute them where serious health and safety management failures lead to workplace fatalities. This paper aims to explore the provisions of the new Act and examine it...

This is a conference paper. It was presented at the the CIB International Symposium on Construction Innovation and Global Competitiveness (10th : 2002 : University of Cincinnati) and the proceedings are available from: http://www.crcpress.com/ The role of globalisation and innovation in fostering continuous improvement for both the private and publ...

A Doctoral Thesis. Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy of Loughborough University. Strategic management, also described as policy or simply strategy, deals with the long-term direction and success of organisations, and covers issues that are usually of primary concern to senior and top manageme...