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Abstract

Construction continues to be a significant part of the global economy and shapes the built environment and quality of life for people around the world. In the United States, construction is a multibillion dollar annual enterprise, employing nearly 10 million people. However, it appears that the fragmented nature of the industry continues to hamper productivity and hoped-for gains in efficiency. Issues involve an array of regulatory and legal constructs that: 1 redistribute risk; 2 present only low barriers to entry making company startup somewhat easy; and 3 fail to provide the quality and quantity of labor necessary. These factors continue to produce overall inefficiencies throughout the construction industry, and ill prepare the industry for the formidable challenges of globalization, sustain- ability, population growth, and wise use of resources. The purpose of this paper is to review the past and present of construction engineering within the context of civil engineering, and to prescribe practical change to revitalize construction engineering education to meet future demands.

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... This skill offers new employees' additional advantage, as they can fit into the workplace with ease if well trained (Jackson and Chapman, 2012). Russell et al. (2007) and Ayarkwa et al. (2012) avowed that the skills improve their industry experience, management skills, technical and communication abilities to contribute eloquently to design in enhancing the construction sector. The skill will sharpen their leadership traits, build confidence and teamwork in them. ...
... .]" Findings agree with Russell et al. (2007) and Muller and Turner (2017). Russell et al. (2007) found that generic skills improve the industry experience, management skills and contribute eloquently to design in enhancing the construction sector. ...
... Findings agree with Russell et al. (2007) and Muller and Turner (2017). Russell et al. (2007) found that generic skills improve the industry experience, management skills and contribute eloquently to design in enhancing the construction sector. Muller and Turner (2017) discovered that generic skills promote teamwork, enhance accomplishing objectives and take accountability for actions that will yield improvements. ...
Article
Purpose Research shows that employers are demanding generic skills from employees to complement disciplinary expertise. Evidence shows that majority of the higher institutions are struggling to meet this demand, especially in developing nations. Hence, these skills may be acquired while in the workplace through training and retraining. Studies concerning the Nigerian built environment professionals (BEP) generic skills in the workplace are scarce. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate Nigeria’s BEP generic skills in the workplace via an unexplored mechanism and proffer feasible policy solutions that can improve BEP generic skills development. Design/methodology/approach The views of BEP were collated via a phenomenology type of qualitative research design across two major Nigerian cities where construction activities are soaring. Virtual interviews were conducted for 20 selected BEP. Data saturation was accomplished and the emerged three themes were analysed through a thematic analysis. Findings Findings show that generic skills enhance value for money in construction project delivery. But many of these professionals do not possess these skills in their daily operations. This has raised concerns about the present curriculum for preparing the built environment graduates in today’s profession. Findings categorised the hindrances into employers related-hindrances and employees related-hindrances in Nigeria’s BEP context. Research limitations/implications This study is confined to the relevance and hindrances of the generic skills for Nigerian BEP, and proffer feasible policies to promote generic skills in the workplace via a qualitative approach. Future study is needed to investigate the role of the various professional Institutes within Nigeria’s built environment in promoting generic skills. Practical implications The paper advanced key stakeholders including BEP Institutes and regulatory bodies to redirect their continuing professional development towards developing professional values and identities as a trajectory to promote the growth of BEP generic skills in the workplace. Originality/value The proposed framework can be used to promote the implementation of generic skills for BEP across all levels. This would assist and stir up policymakers and other stakeholders in connection with the implementation of generic skills within the BEP.
... Unfortunately, there was quite some accompanying literature that pointed out the inadequacy of formal learning for construction management, which in turn resulting in the detrimental nature of the industry itself (Ahn et al., 2010;Benhart & Shaurette, 2011). The argument was also supported by the works of Chinowsky & Diekmann (2004), Russell et al. (2007), and Elzalitni & Lees (2007), which later on (Felder & Silverman, 1988;Brown, 2003). The way how educators conveyed their knowledge will give impact on the student's acceptability. ...
... For instance, according to Felder et al., the disparity between each of them will leave the students with a lot of disadvantages such as easily to get uninterested and finally drop out from the courses (Felder & Silverman, 1988). The same goes with Russell et al. (2007) who also warned on the importance of knowing the learning styles from each of the students in order to produce successful professionals. Furthermore, there are several teaching styles or teaching methods that are frequently being used; lecture, demonstrate, discuss, and a combination, to name a few. ...
... On the other hand, Rojas & Mukherjee (2005) maintained that case studies and site visits would provide valuable knowledge, but it was still inadequate and suggested a simulation and gaming environment of study in order to tackle those problems. The rather same recommendation by Russell et al. (2007) who insist on Information Technology (IT) and actual projects to enhance students' learning. ...
Thesis
Full-text available
Malaysian construction industry (MCI) is regarded as one of the significant industry that drives the country forward. Although having recorded 7.4% of positive growth in 2016, the progression of MCI was hampered by a considerable number of recurring problems such as delays, wastages, cost overruns, and disputes. Consequently, contractors’ faults are to be blamed, through their incompetent construction manager (CM) to deliver construction projects. Even though there are provisions of education and training for CM, continuous critiques on its ineffectiveness were reported. Eventually, it was observed that lack of term of reference on the technical knowledge competency for CM becomes the major setback. Therefore, the research aims to establish generic technical knowledge competency model for CM through three objectives that were outlined by the research, namely; (1) to identify the generic technical knowledge competency of Malaysia’s construction managers, (2) to analyse the importance of the generic technical knowledge competency of construction managers towards categories and grades of Malaysia’s contractors, and (3) to analyse the corroboration level of the existing CM education and training offered compared to the generic technical knowledge competency. Pragmatic mixed methods research was selected by employing qualitative and quantitative approaches. In short, multi-layered thematic (MLT) analysis was embedded in literature analysis to maintain reliability, before proceeded to validity as in semi-structured interviews towards related academicians and practitioners in construction. Later, to analyse, validate and generalise the findings to the masses, questionnaire surveys were distributed to contractors around the peninsular of Malaysia. The findings from the critical quantitative analysis identified that the construction manager requires vast numbers of generic technical competency which further grouped into several levels. It is then simplified into sixteen broad variables; (1) managing staff, (2) materials, (3) labour, (4) plants, (5) subcontractors, (6) safety, (7) money, (8) quality, (9) time, (10) environment, (11) administration, (12) pre-construction, (13) closeout and handover, (14) responsibility to other parties, (15) computer literacy, and (16) administration of construction contract. Additionally, all technical competencies are observed to be significant, notwithstanding contractors’ categories and grades, except for Lean Construction. Last but not least, by corroborating the technical competency for construction managers towards other related competency documents, there is solid evidence that the former have substantial edges among its counterparts. Finally, the identified technical competency for Malaysia’s construction managers is believed to be exhaustive and holistic in singling out the appropriate technical knowledge and skills, and bring about numerous advantage towards technically competent Malaysia’s construction managers. The above conclusion is also has been supported by the research’s final validation through open-ended interviews towards several distinguished individuals.
... For instance, according to Felder et al., the disparity between each of them will leave the students with a lot of disadvantages such as easily to get uninterested and finally drop out from the courses (Felder & Silverman, 1988). The same goes with Russell et al., who also warned on the importance of knowing the learning styles from each of the students in order to produce successful professionals (Russell et al., 2007). Furthermore, there are several teaching styles or teaching methods that are currently being used; lecture, demonstrate, discuss, and a combination, to name a few. ...
... Technology (IT) and actual projects to enhance students' learning (Russell et al., 2007). ...
... But however, it appears that there is still a loophole regarding the skills for graduates of construction education, especially on the nontechnical part (e.g. attitude and communication) (Toor & Ofori, 2008;Bernold, 2005;Russell et al., 2007;Abdullah et al., 2007;Mills & Treagust, 2003;Patil & Codner, 2007;Aziz et al., 2005). ...
Chapter
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Realising the importance of the construction industry, education particularly within the construction realm was materialised. This to ensure the influx of the construction personnel (either in the managerial or non-managerial level) were competent enough to carry any respective jobs in hand. Nevertheless, issues on the incompetence of the construction personnel were still persisted, which more often than not rooted back to the provisions within construction education. Therefore, the paper tries to unfold the problems through qualitative undertakings by manually reviewing several relevant past research and concluded with a comparison of general construction education with specific construction management education. As a whole, construction education which surrounds the general facets of planning, design, and construction was observed to have several problems; such as in the areas of teaching styles, competency needs, curricular, accreditation, assessment, materials, and the educators themselves. When compared to the specific construction management education per se, the problems’ trend was the same; where the majority of the issues came from the identification of competency needs and also the curricular design. Therefore, these problems need to be addressed holistically, where all construction education elements and the respective stakeholders need to be synergised to achieve commonly shared values.
... While new initiatives are being considered to expand the education and training of CM following the CITP, the continuing poor performance of contractors of which the CMs play a major part suggest that there are critical problems in the way their education and training have been offered (Bakar and Hassan, 2009;Ibrahim et al., 2010;Hassan, Maisham, Khan, Alwi and Ramli, 2010;Russell et al., 2007). Supporting this proposition is the report stressing that the industry has yet to establish the competency standards for CM (NOSS Division, Department of Skills Development, 2015). ...
... Therefore, this research was put forward to gain insights on the factors that have contributed to the ineffective CM education and training, and to assist explanation of the phenomenon. On the premise that the terms of reference for workforce competency development are crucial for their development (Russell et al., 2007), the aim of the research was to establish the technical competencies required by CM. In line with the aim, the objectives of the research were to identify the elements of technical competencies of CM, to confirm the elements of technical competencies of CM, and to analyse the importance of the elements towards different contractor's category and grade/size. ...
... With regard to construction management, unfortunately, there is quite some accompanying literature that pointed out the inadequacy of formal learning for construction management, which in turn resulting in the detrimental nature of the industry itself Benhart and Shaurette, 2011). The argument was also supported by several researchers which stressed that the lack of competency and unqualified construction workforces are situational needs that triggered the call for the formalisation of construction-related learning, which skills standardisation, knowledge expansion, and meeting the related challenges and problems had initially become the main concern (Russell et al., 2007;Elzalitni and Lees, 2007;Wang et al., 2008;Justelian, 2009;Graham et al., 2011;Chinowsky and Diekmann, 2004). Thus, a review in the common area of problems on the particular programme shows that the predicament stems from the curriculum development process where the essential part lies in the contents generation, which fundamentally related to the competency identification. ...
Article
Full-text available
Purpose Problems of Malaysian construction industry have often been associated, in part to incompetent construction manager (CM) when managing the construction projects. Although various education and training provisions have been introduced, critics argue that the provisions have not been effective. Central in the debate on the adequacy of the CM education and training offered is the answer to the question of “what constitutes the technical competency of the CM?” This paper presents the study that identifies the technical competencies required by the CM to address the question. Design/methodology/approach Multi-layered thematic analysis of literature was first carried out to identify the technical competency elements. Then, interviews were undertaken to confirm the elements of competencies. It was followed with questionnaire surveys to test the validity of the technical competencies against different contractors’ category and grade/size. Findings The findings suggest that the technical competencies of CM are generic, regardless of the size of construction organisation or the types of projects they undertake. Sixteen CM technical competencies were identified which include the ability to manage: (1) staff, (2) materials, (3) labour, (4) plant, (5) sub-contractors, (6) safety, (7) money, (8) quality, (9) time, (10) environment, (11) site administration, (12) pre-construction activities, (13) project closeout and handover, (14) third parties, (15) computer literacy, and (16) construction contract. Originality/value The findings suggest that generic education and training is possible to develop technically competent CM. It also provides insights to the CM technical competencies which the industry is expecting.
... Teamwork/collaborative skills Russell et al. (2007) Archer and Davidson (2008) Arain (2010) Jackson and Chapman (2012) Wickramasinghe and Perera (2010) i. Building good rapport with other people towards achieving common goals Work experience Callanan and Benzing (2004) Gault et al. (2010) Hopkins et al. (2011) i. ...
... Graduates who possess this skill can proffer ideas and alternative solutions to construction industry challenges and display coordination in completing construction industry tasks (Jackson & Chapman, 2012). Also, in working effectively in the construction industry, it is essential for graduates to possess numeracy skills (Russell et al., 2007;Pitan, 2015:31). Possessing this skill involves the ability to carry out number functions effectively, understand mathematical techniques such as estimation and approximation, and understand basic finance (Durrani & Tariq, 2012;Washer, 2007:62). ...
... Teamwork or collaborative skills improve communication among members (Archer & Davidson, 2008) and improve job performance (Love et al., 2002). Teamwork skills also help graduates to assume various roles within the construction industry to achieve solutions in an ethical and professional manner (Russell et al., 2007;Arain, 2010;Ahn et al., 2012). This skill further enables graduates to work productively with people from different races, ages, cultures, genders and lifestyles (Jackson & Chapman, 2012). ...
... The new concepts and technologies should be different from the existing ones. Maina (2018) corroborated Russell et al. (2007). The authors affirmed that information technology enhances learning and increases engineering and sciencerelated education efficiency. ...
... In Nigeria, not every BEA knows how building information modelling operates. Findings agree with Russell et al. (2007). The authors affirmed that information technology enhances learning and increases engineering and science-related education efficiency. ...
Article
Purpose Research reveals that the built environment graduates are not matching the needs of the 21st century construction industry. Evidence shows that the built environment academics (BEA) struggle to reskill and upskill to meet the industry's demand. Studies about Nigeria's BEA's perceived barriers in meeting the 21st-century industry demands are scarce. Thus, the paper investigated the perceived barriers and measures to improve BEA in Nigeria's 21st-century world of teaching. The outcome intends to enhance teaching practices and increase employability in the built environment disciplines. Design/methodology/approach Data were sourced from elite virtual interviews across Nigeria. The participants were well informed about Nigeria's built environment education and the possible barriers hindering 21st-century teaching from improving employable graduates in the built environment professionals (BEP). The researchers adopted a thematic analysis for the collected data and supplemented the data with secondary sources. Findings The study shows that BEA needs to improve BEA's teaching mechanism. Improving BEA will enable the built environment graduates to meet the minimum standards expected by the 21st-century industry. Findings categorised the perceived 22 barriers facing BEA into internal stakeholders-related barriers, external stakeholders-related barriers, and common barriers. Also, findings proffered practicable measures to improve BEA in the workplace via improved industry collaboration and technological advancement. Research limitations/implications The research is restricted to the perceived barriers and measures to improve BEA in 21st-century teaching in Nigeria via a qualitative research design. Future research should validate the results and test the paper's proposed framework. Practical implications The paper confirms that the BEA requires stakeholder collaboration and technological advancement measures to improve teaching in the 21st century, leading to enhanced employability graduates. The paper would stir major stakeholders, especially BEA, and advance the quality of employable graduates in the Nigerian built environment professions. Originality/value The thematic network and proposed framework could be employed to stimulate Nigeria's BEA for better service delivery. This intends to create an enabling environment that will enhance stakeholders' collaboration and technological advancement for the BEA to produce better employable graduates in the 21st century.
... Figure 3a presents a density visualisation map which focusses on the number of times authors cite one another. From the visualisation, there is a connected group revolving around "Becerik-Gerber et al. (2011)" and another around " Russell et al. (2007), Tener (1996) and Tatum (1987)." The remaining publications lack shared author citation which is represented by the polka dot separation pattern in the visualisation map. ...
... "Becerik-Gerber et al. (2011)" is the link between the two clusters, however, only three curriculum publications have a direct citation link, and only two BIM publications. Figure 3c is a pinpointed view of a network visualisation map of the citation documents noted in Figure 3a, specifically of the " Russell et al. (2007), Tener (1996) and Tatum (1987)" density group. The group's overall theme hinges on the relevance and relationship of engineering disciplines within construction management, with small nuances between the three clusters. ...
Article
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Purpose This research aims to present a conceptual model for construction management programme curriculum development from the perspective of higher education institutes (HEIs) and aims to engender wider polemic debate and stimulate new insight into current higher education practice. Design/methodology/approach The overarching epistemology adopts both interpretivist and pragmatist philosophical stances, couched within grounded theory, to critically analyse extant literature on construction management curriculum development. Inductive reasoning forms the basis of new emergent theory that maps curriculum development and highlights the external and internal factors impacting upon such. Findings Research findings illustrate that the prevailing body of knowledge lacks a cohesive nucleus of research on construction management curriculum development. Rather, bespoke curriculum development research predominates in uncommunicative silos. Premised upon these findings, the conceptual curriculum model developed defines and delineates the universal internal factors (e.g. student marketplace, course leadership and academic precedents) and external factors (e.g. accreditation, construction industry and professional bodies) that impact upon curriculum development. Identification of these factors provides a sound basis upon which further research can be propagated to enhance curriculum development and unify the current disparate approaches adopted. Originality/value This novel research highlights the lack of a cohesive agenda for curriculum development within mainstream construction management literature and based upon this, a conceptual model for future empirical analysis and testing is presented.
... Engineering education is not yet sufficiently tailored to foster and train for effective multidisciplinary collaboration to master the 4IR as well as prepare the engineer to lead, negotiate and communicate in an increasingly complex and technology-driven construction ecosystem [6]. While there are an increasing number of multi-disciplinary, user-centred and entrepreneurial curricula that point in the right direction and embrace active project-based learning as well as focusing on rigor in the engineering fundamentals, a paradigm shift is required to fully be able to mitigate today's challenges. ...
... The case method promotes authentic situations and embedded scenarios that the students learn in the confines of the institution further bridging the gap between theory and application. The preparation of the engineering student is achieved by student centred 6 The case method is a teaching approach that uses decision-forcing cases to put students in the role of people who were faced with difficult decisions at some point in the past. It developed during the twentieth century from its origins in the casebook method of teaching law pioneered by Harvard legal scholar Christopher C. Langdell. ...
Preprint
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We are calling for a paradigm shift in engineering education. In times of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (“4IR”), a myriad of potential changes is affecting all industrial sectors leading to increased ambiguity that makes it impossible to predict what lies ahead of us. Thus, incremental culture change in education is not an option any more. The vast majority of engineering education and training systems, having remained mostly static and underinvested in for decades, are largely inadequate for the new 4IR labor markets. Some positive developments in changing the direction of the engineering education sector can be observed. Novel approaches of engineering education already deliver distinctive, student centered curricular experiences within an integrated and unified educational approach. We must educate engineering students for a future whose main characteristics are volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. Talent and skills gaps across all industries are poised to grow in the years to come. The authors promote an engineering curriculum that combine timeless didactic tradition, such as Socratic inquiry, project-based learning and first-principles thinking with novel elements (e.g. student centered active and e-learning by focusing on the case study and apprenticeship pedagogical methods) as well as a refocused engineering skillset and knowledge. These capabilities reinforce engineering students’ perceptions of the world and the subsequent decisions they make. This 4IR engineering curriculum will prepare engineering students to become curious engineers and excellent communicators better navigating increasingly complex multistakeholder ecosystems.
... In addition to being academically sound, the industry constantly seeks graduates who are adequately equipped with the appropriate skills and competencies to fulfil their expectations and address arising issues. Moreover, present-day industry employers seek graduates who can communicate effectively, work efficiently as part of a team, make quality decisions to enhance results, possess good work principles, exhibit confidence, amongst others (Russell et al., 2007;Archer and Davison, 2008;Ariana, 2010;Ahn et al., 2012). Consequently, Cox and King (2006) affirm that the preparation of twenty-first-century graduates for the rigours of the industry, as well as their future success in their professions, should be of paramount significance to present-day universities. ...
... This skill provides graduates with an edge, as they are able to fit into the world of work with relative ease (Ayarkwa et al., 2012;Jackson and Chapman, 2012;Arain, 2010). They are further required to have ample industry experience, leadership abilities, as well as the ability to contribute meaningfully to design in improving the built environment (Russell et al., 2007). Graduates who possess leadership traits are able to display confidence, teamwork ability and taking the initiative. ...
Article
Purpose Universities have become training centres or “academic hubs” where skilled labour for societal and global consumptions are continuously produced. More so, the quality of teaching (pedagogy) provided by universities is essential in enhancing the skills, expertise and competencies of students who are required to meet the needs of the construction industry after graduation. Hence, the purpose of this study is to assess employers’ level of satisfaction with the employability skills of built-environment graduates in Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative approach was adopted for this study with close-ended questionnaires administered to respondents drawn from professionals in the Nigerian construction industry. Out of 150 questionnaires disseminated, 131 were completed and 126 were usable, signifying an 87% response rate. Data from this research were analysed using descriptive and exploratory factor analysis. Findings Employers are seemingly satisfied with the sound academic record of built-environment graduates. They also affirmed their contentment with graduates’ willingness to learn and the way they achieve tasks with positive results. However, they expressed their dissatisfaction with the graduates’ prior work experience, communication skills and technical competencies in handling industry tasks effectively. Research limitations/implications Data was collected from construction professions across two cities – Abuja and Lagos. Because of the limited budget allocated for this study, other regions were not considered. Because of time and financial implications, it was extremely impossible to visit all 36 states. It is, therefore, impossible to generalise the results of this research to the larger population. In generalising the results on a larger scale, the study would have to factor in a more diverse sample to ensure it is more representative. A more diverse sample may mitigate any possible bias that may arise from a self-administered questionnaire. Practical implications From the survey results obtained from the respondents, it was observed that general knowledge about local and global trends, management skills, teamwork skills, work experience, communication skills, critical thinking skills, numeracy skills and civic responsibility are among the major non-academic skills lacking among built-environment graduates. This places significant pressures on universities in Nigeria to revisit and revamp its curricula in developing these skills among students who require them to thrive in the construction industry. Originality/value Although the subject of employability has been adequately discussed across various fields (accountancy, psychology, management, business, marketing, etc.), there exist limited research studies in the built-environment context, a gap, which this study aims to fill. This study also provides several approaches through which employability skills can be developed.
... The US construction industry is facing a number of challenges related to low productivity rates, uncertain profits and low adoption rates of new technologies (Sveikauskas et al., 2014). Trust between contracting parties on construction projects is viewed as an important strategy to address these and other problems (Russell et al., 2007). Trust develops differently in a variety of contexts and the roles and functions it plays differ as well. ...
... Construction research lags behind other fields on how trust building (human dimension) skills impact the success (profit, costs, schedule, quality, and safety) of construction projects. The importance of improving leadership, communication, and trust building skills to complement and support technical skills has been emphasized by Russell et al. (2007). Others have stressed the importance of using the combination of advanced technology and trust based relationships (Yeung et al., 2009). ...
Article
Purpose This research aims to identify the factors found on US construction projects that are perceived by contractors to strengthen or weaken trust between contracting stakeholders and to develop a framework for evaluating these relationships. Design/methodology/approach A comprehensive framework containing a number of factors (54) that could impact trust on construction projects was first developed. A survey questionnaire was then developed and administered via phone to contractors selected from the Engineering News Record (ENR) Top 400 US construction companies. The survey findings were then used to develop a trust model and case studies were used to validate and revise the trust model. Findings A trust model is developed that helps large US contractors measure and improve trust with other stakeholders on their projects. Practical implications Large US contractors are now provided with a tool not previously available to help them measure and improve trust between the different contracting parties on construction projects which can help them decrease project time and costs, and improve project results. Originality/value The proposed trust model adds a number of different dimensions to the existing trust models found in the literature and as such improves the contractor’s ability to foster and enhance trust on a US construction project.
... However, their education is still mainly focused on technical subjects: the engineers' paradigm, as named by Pries and Janszen (1995). Hence, there is a growing demand from the industry to increase soft, or managerial, skills for construction professionals, especially from those having an undergraduate civil engineering degree (Berger 1996;Wilkinson and Scofield 2002;Chinowsky 2002;Russell et al. 2007;Yepes et al. 2012); leadership and communication skills are the most required demands (Oberlender and Hughes 1987;Fondahl 1991;Harris 1992;Berger 1996;Walesh 1997;Russell et al. 2007;Riley et al. 2008;Hegazy et al. 2013). Very often this has been pursued through graduate programs [master of science (M.Sc.) degrees] in construction management (Oberlender and Hughes 1987;Tatum 1987;Oglesby 1990;Lowe 1991;Walesh 1997;Chinowsky 2002;Lee et al. 2013;Pellicer et al. 2013). ...
... However, their education is still mainly focused on technical subjects: the engineers' paradigm, as named by Pries and Janszen (1995). Hence, there is a growing demand from the industry to increase soft, or managerial, skills for construction professionals, especially from those having an undergraduate civil engineering degree (Berger 1996;Wilkinson and Scofield 2002;Chinowsky 2002;Russell et al. 2007;Yepes et al. 2012); leadership and communication skills are the most required demands (Oberlender and Hughes 1987;Fondahl 1991;Harris 1992;Berger 1996;Walesh 1997;Russell et al. 2007;Riley et al. 2008;Hegazy et al. 2013). Very often this has been pursued through graduate programs [master of science (M.Sc.) degrees] in construction management (Oberlender and Hughes 1987;Tatum 1987;Oglesby 1990;Lowe 1991;Walesh 1997;Chinowsky 2002;Lee et al. 2013;Pellicer et al. 2013). ...
Article
Full-text available
The construction industry demands managerial skills for professionals working within it, especially from those having an undergraduate civil engineering degree, which is generally pursued through graduate programs [master of science (M.Sc.) degrees] in the construction management field. This paper checks how graduate students’ views are relevant in order to assess and improve these M.Sc. programs. The research is performed through a survey based on a sample of 534 graduate students from several American and European universities. Using confirmatory factor analysis with the survey data, it has been corroborated that the construction management field can be mapped according to two dimensions: infrastructure lifecycle and organizational breakdown. Furthermore, by means of an exploratory factor analysis, six components or approaches for a graduate program in the construction management field are highlighted as important by the respondents: leadership, built environment stakeholders, innovation and quality, economics, business management, and project management. The organizational point of view is clearly identified by the students: its four variables are highlighted as principal components. However, regarding the infrastructure lifecycle, certain important facets, such as feasibility analysis and operation and maintenance of infrastructure, are considered by graduate students less important than classical design and construction. The findings of this research can help improve the curricula of graduate programs in the construction management field.
... According to Russell, Hanna, Bank, and Shapira (2007), construction management education was initially formalized in 1946 at Texas A&M University. ...
... The construction sector is also projected to experience the largest wage growth among all industries, surpassing healthcare, at 2.6%.In addition to the rapid growth of the construction industry and subsequent labor shortages, the industry lacks cohesion across disciplines, geographic borders, and regulations. In their research on construction management education,Russell et al. (2007) included the following quote:Over 44,000 jurisdictions at the state and local government levels regulate building design, construction, and renovation through a confusing, diverse, and at times, conflicting array of codes, standards, rules, regulations, andprocedures. Economies of scale, reduced life cycle costs, enhanced operating efficiencies achieved by other industries such as automobiles and aircraft, through the effective application of information technology to the design, construction, and operation of such products, have not been achieved in the United States construction industry. ...
Thesis
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This research assessed whether a relationship existed between the independent variable of a mock exam pass/fail grade and the dependent variable of the American Institute of Constructors’ (AIC) associate constructor (AC) certification exam pass/fail grade. The mock exam was reviewed by the Construction Certification Committee (CCC), who conducted a cursory review and determined that the mock exam exhibited face validity. Retrospective quantitative data were analyzed to assess the effectiveness of a mock preparatory exam to ready students for passing the AC National Certification exam administered as an exit requirement for a public university Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in construction science. The mock exam was administered prior to structured test preparation activities for the purpose of providing a pretest, with the actual certification exam serving as the posttest. Data evaluation did show that students who completed the mock exam passed the AIC certification exam with statistically significant results. This body of research includes test preparation techniques employed specifically for the AC National Certification exam, construction management education, and statistical analysis of mock exam pretest and posttest, which span two semesters of collegiate study.
... Despite the long standing demand for continuous professional development in this area (Oglesby 1982;Arditi 1984;Tatum 1987), little attention is devoted to construction project management in academic courses. Current undergraduate courses in civil engineering and architectural degrees (B.Sc.) predominantly comprise a variety of design-oriented topics, leaving little opportunity for construction management subjects that are vital for successfully accomplishing construction projects (Lowe 1991;Russell and Yao 1996;Long 1997;Edum-Fotwe and McCaffer 2000;Russell et al. 2007;Galloway 2007;Arditi and Polat 2010). In many cases, university programs seeking accreditation are required to follow regulations from an external body such as the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc. (ABET) in the United States, through EC2000 criteria (ABET 2010), or Agencia Nacional de Evaluación de la Calidad y Acreditación (ANECA) in Spain (ANECA 2007) in compliance with the Bologna process (Reinalda and Kulesza 2005); both bodies have two main features: development of skills and competencies as core learning outcomes and implementation of quality assurance processes (Moon and Duran 2010). ...
... Summing up, current courses offered by universities do not comply with the managerial requirements of construction industry professionals. According to Russell et al. (2007), "too much focus has been applied to teaching engineers how to calculate and record versus how to think, read, and lead." In view of this scenario, this paper puts forward the research question of whether or not it is possible to measure the gap among graduate programs in the field of construction management. ...
... Both have well-established training disciplines; construction management, as an independent major, has approximately 60 years' history in higher education (Robson andBashford 1997, Russell et al. 2007), compared to more than 170 years' history of civil engineering (Russell et al. 2007). ...
... Under the ASCE umbrella, the Construction Institute was formed for construction professionals with civil engineering backgrounds. The Associated General Contractors of America, Associated Builders and Contractors, National Association of Home Builders, Construction Management Association of America (CMAA), and Mechanical Contractor Association of America are among the many professional associations associated with the construction (2010) and Russell et al. (2007). ...
Article
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The introduction of new technology, depletion of natural resources, and aging infrastructure drive the need for innovation in project delivery systems within the architect, engineer, and contractor (AEC) community. Current practices of AEC industries will inevitably change as clients seek more innovative solutions and better services. How civil engineering's current practices and future vision fit into that evolving reality remains a question. In ASCE's Vision 2025, civil engineers will function as master builders, which raises several questions concerning what exactly it means to be a master builder in the context of current and future AEC practices and how an engineer serving as a master builder will affect other AEC practitioners. This paper discusses the master builder concept and its implications from the perspectives of (1) current AEC practices and business models, (2) bodies of knowledge, and (3) professionalization. The basic research approach includes a qualitative analysis of the AEC industry's current professional and business practices and bodies of knowledge. In particular, the analysis focuses on comparisons between construction managers and civil engineers. Theoretical analyses of both professions are also conducted using professionalization theory.
... With the development of Germany's Industry 5.0 and the concept of risk management, a wave of smart manufacturing technology that combines production equipment, systems and smart terminals through the Internet has swept across the world, showing great potential for application in the fields of industry, agriculture, healthcare, materials, and commerce [1][2][3] . The research of intelligent manufacturing technology focuses on the deep integration of next-generation risk management and information technology, such as blockchain and Internet of Things (IoT), with industrial systems to realize the security, digitization, networking and intelligence of production equipment 4 . It is necessary for the upgrading and development of manufacturing industry 5 . ...
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Facing the shortage of special building materials packaging machinery with thermal insulation and low intelligence, this paper designs a set of mechanical and electrical integration packaging unit control system to reduce the risk of material transportation for different stakeholders. According to risk management tools, the system takes Mitsubishi PLC as the control core and combines with communication module, servo motor drive system and touch screen man–machine interface to realize the risk simulation and automatic control of the packaging unit. The simulation results of PID control model show that the parameters such as speed and torque can be stabilized in a relatively short period of time when the load is suddenly changed within 1.5 s. Theoretical verification of the system has small steady-state error, rapid response, and good control effect. The man–machine interface design was carried out and the actual corresponding test experiment was carried out. The experimental results showed that the overall operation rate of the packaging unit system reached 98.15%, the pass rate was 99.03%, and the production capacity was about 9600 packs/hour, which met the production requirements. The control system of the building material packaging unit designed in this paper realizes the equipment intelligence, has a high degree of automation, and shows good potential application value in the aspects of building information, reduction of construction risks and manufacturing intelligence.
... The whole concept of EE is to equip students with the knowledge and skills required to function effectively in the construction industry after graduation [43]. This is similar to the findings of Russell et al. [44], who stated that EE as a discipline combines coursework and industry experience to ensure students are well rounded as they take up positions in the industry, in both design and supervisory roles, after graduation. By offering undergraduate courses in the engineering discipline, students are adequately prepared for the world of work [43]. ...
Article
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The advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) has triggered a digital transformation across several industries, including the project management (PM) profession. To achieve competitive advantages, construction industry employers must now utilise technology and data for strategy development, project execution, and delivery. This study reviews the concept of PM through research published on the Elsevier Scopus database from 2010 to date using a sequence of bibliometric analyses. Keywords such as "project management" AND "project management tools" AND "pro-ject management techniques" AND "construction industry" AND "built environment" were used for article extraction. VOSviewer, a text-mining tool, was used to analyse the bibliometric connection in PM research within the built environment discipline. Through the sequencing of cluster analysis , the findings revealed that research focus is placed on sustainable development (SD), construction safety (CS), engineering education (EE), project management stakeholders (PMS), risk management (RM), and building information modelling (BIM). More so, the current research focus in PM studies is tending towards knowledge management (KM) and construction innovation (CI). Based on a critical review of extant literature, very few studies have bibliometrically analysed and visual-ised PM studies. This study sets out to fill this gap by examining the key areas of concentration in published works on the PM concept from 2010 to date. Despite the valuable contribution of this study to the PM body of knowledge, generalisations of the results must be made cautiously due to the use of a single database, which in this case is Elsevier Scopus.
... Invest more money to compensate stakeholders I1 [57] Change the construction scheme to reach a compromise according to stakeholder requirements I2 [59] Continue construction and adopt legal measures to overcome conflicts with stakeholders I3 [60] Stop the project promptly to avoid greater loss I4 [53] Subcontract part of the work, transferring risks but accepting loss of profits I5 [55] ...
Article
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Construction engineering projects are costly and require large amounts of labor, physical, and financial resources. The failure of a construction engineering project typically brings huge losses. Previous studies have focused on the identification of risks, but insufficient attention has been given to strategic resource allocation for risk management after risk identification. Statistics show that most construction engineering project failures are caused by common risks. Common risks are called gray rhino risks. This metaphor illustrates that many risks are obvious but dangerous. This study was motivated by the challenge of efficiently managing gray rhino risks with limited inputs. The literature suggests that gray rhino risks are abundant in construction engineering projects and that there are mutual eliciting relationships between them, which make it difficult for the manager to devote enough resources to the prevention of key risks. Considerable resources are wasted on unimportant risks, resulting in key risk occurrence and failure of construction engineering projects. Therefore, this study describes an innovative multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) technique for ranking risks based on the strength of the eliciting relationships between them. This study used the fuzzy technique and created an interference fuzzy analytical network process (IF-ANP) method. By employing the IF-ANP alongside a decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) approach, the subjectivity can be effectively reduced and the accuracy improved during expert risk evaluation for construction engineering projects. IF-ANP was used to quantify eliciting relationships between risks and DEMATEL was used to rank risks based on the IF-ANP result. An empirical study was done to meticulously rank five risks that were selected from the gray rhino risks in the Chengdu–Chongqing Middle Line High-speed Railway construction engineering project. They are capital chain rupture, decision failure, policy and legal risk, economic downturn, and stakeholder conflict. The results showed that the policy and legal risk was the source of other risks, and that these other risks were symptoms rather than the disease.
... Humankind in the 21st century is faced with numerous global challenges and risks [1], such as failure of climate-change mitigation and adaptation, extreme weather, human environmental damage, infectious diseases, biodiversity loss, natural resource crises, failure or increasing cyber vulnerability of critical infrastructure, water crises and failure of long-term strategic infrastructure and urban planning. The engineering profession needs to bear these challenges and take on more responsibility [2,3]. A business-as-usual attitude in the face of such substantial challenges will not be the responsible course of action. ...
Conference Paper
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We are calling for a paradigm shift in engineering education. In times of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (“4IR”), disruptive changes affect all industrial sectors and society, leading to increased uncertainty that makes it impossible to predict what lies ahead of us. Thus, incremental culture change in education is not an option anymore. The vast majority of engineering education and training systems, having remained mostly static and underinvested for decades, are inadequate for the new 4IR labour markets. Some positive developments in changing the direction of the engineering education sector can be observed. Novel approaches of engineering education already deliver distinctive, student-centred curricular experiences within an integrated and unified educational system. We must educate engineering students for a future whose main characteristics are volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA). Talent and skill gaps across all industries are expected to grow in the years to come. The authors promote an engineering curriculum that combines timeless didactic tradition, such as Socratic inquiry, project-based learning, and first-principles thinking with novel elements (e.g., student-centred active-, and E-Learning by focusing on case studies) as well as a refocused engineering skillset and knowledge. These capabilities reinforce engineering students’ perceptions of the world and the subsequent decisions they make. This 4IR engineering curriculum will prepare engineering students to become curious engineers and excellent communicators navigating increasingly complex multistakeholder ecosystems.
... It is well known that there is a global unmet need for construction industry training (Russell et al., 2007;Killingsworth and Grosskopf 2013). Existing training resources include project personnel, professional publications, textbooks, and technical information from equipment manufacturers and materials suppliers; however, there is little to no standardization in construction industry training and it is not uniformly available in the broader industry landscape outside of traditional education (Tatum 2018). ...
Article
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The construction industry is suffering, in part, from a lack of training programs offered to the construction workforce. Unfortunately, most construction training and education research focuses on university student education. Integrating education science theory into construction workforce training has the potential to improve industry training but there is a dearth of studies that present details of this integration process. To address this gap, a training framework was developed to educate material stakeholders on material properties, selection, and installation. This framework is based on andragogical and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles. An assessment method evaluates training agendas to improve upon instructional design before training implementation. This method assesses the proposed training framework by enumerating the occurrences of Bloom’s Taxonomy verbs to determine how closely the proposed training’s goals and objectives followed Bloom’s guidelines. This study culminates by establishing linkages from educational theory to proposed training modules. The module template is presented in a goals and objectives format so that organizations can best implement and test this training framework.
... According to Tatum (2010), CE is designed to develop students with the knowledge and skills required to function effectively in the construction industry after graduation. In the same vein, Russell et al. (2007) noted that CE as a discipline also combines course work and industry experience to ensure learners are well rounded as they take up positions in the industry in both design and supervisory roles after graduation. Oglesby (1990) simply regarded CE as the study of the life cycle of a structural entity. ...
Article
Discussions around construction education (CE) and engineering education (EE) have continued to stimulate the interest of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), policymakers, researchers, parents, educators, and even students alike. This is because the future generation of construction professionals and project managers are dependent on the quality and content of CE received during undergraduate education. This study reviews the concept of CE research published on the Elsevier Scopus database from 2010 to 2020 using a sequence of bibliometric analysis. The study adopted a bibliometric approach to extract papers from the Elsevier Scopus database. Keywords such as "construction education" OR "engineering educa-tion" OR "construction management education" OR "construction management teaching" AND "construction industry" were used for article extraction. VOSviewer, a text-mining tool was used to analyze the bibliometric connection in CE research within the built environment discipline. Through the sequencing of cluster analysis, the findings revealed that focus is placed on Student-centred learning (SCL), Building Information Modelling (BIM), Sustainability, Active Learning (AL), Virtual reality (VR), and Project Management (PM). More so, the current research focus in CE studies is tending towards the knowledge and adoption of lean construction (LC) into construction industry activities processes. Despite the novelty of this article, generalisations of the results must be done cautiously due to the use of a single data base, which in this case is the Elsevier's Scopus. This bibliometric study contributes to the ever-growing body of scholarly knowledge as it brings to the fore the various research focus areas of CE studies within the built environment.
... Many advancements have been made in construction education assessment at the university level (e.g., Mills et al., 2010;Clevenger and Ozbek, 2013;Ruge and McCormack, 2017). However, within the industry itself, the dearth of workforce training research (Russell et al., 2007;Killingsworth and Grosskopf, 2013) extends to the assessment of construction industry training, particularly assessments of how learning major construction tasks affects project outcomes (Jarkas, 2010). Love et al. (2009) found that poor training and low skill levels are commonly associated with rework, which is a chronic industry problem, representing 52% of construction project cost growth (Love, 2002). ...
Article
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The construction industry suffers from a lack of structured assessment methods to consistently gauge the efficacy of workforce training programs. To address this issue, this study presents a framework for construction industry training assessment that identifies established practices rooted in evaluation science and developed from a review of archival construction industry training literature. Inclusion criteria for the evaluated studies are: archival training studies focused on the construction industry workforce and integration of educational theory in training creation or implementation. Literature meeting these criteria are summarized and a case review is presented detailing assessment practices and results. The assessment practices are then synthesized with the Kirkpatrick Model to analyze how closely industry assessment corresponds with established training evaluation standards. The study culminates in a training assessment framework created by integrating practices described in the identified studies, established survey writing practices, and the Kirkpatrick Model. This study found that two-thirds of reviewed literature used surveys, questionnaires, or interviews to assess training efficacy, two studies that used questionnaires to assess training efficacy provided question text, three studies measured learning by administering tests to training participants, one study measured changed behavior as a result of training, and one study measured organizational impact as a result of training.
... Another attribute that loaded highly onto this cluster is ICT skills. The studies of Russell et al. (2007) and Ahn et al. (2012) all highlighted the need for graduates to possess the ability to utilize appropriate technological tools to solve arising industry problems. The existing studies asserted that as the industry continues to be driven by technological advancement and innovations, graduates are required to familiarise themselves with upto-date software and applications to be relevant (Archer and Davison 2008;Ahn et al. 2012). ...
Article
The dynamism and unpredictability of the construction industry have continued to underline the need for adequately skilled graduates to handle key positions after graduation. Apart from good academic degrees and theoretical knowledge, industry employers are constantly seeking graduates who also possess an array of generic skills (GS) or non-academic skills. This study aims to evaluate the GS that built-environment graduates need to possess to thrive in the labour market after graduation. A quantitative research approach was adopted to achieve this study’s objective with close-ended questionnaires developed and administered to built environment professionals based in the Gauteng province of South Africa. Retrieved data were analyzed using several statistical tools such as descriptive statistics (DS), Mean Item Score (MIS), One-Sample T-test (OST), and Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA). Findings revealed four clusters highlighting the key GS that built environment graduates require to thrive in the construction industry after graduation. These include leadership skills, critical thinking and analytical skills, problem-solving skills and entrepreneurship skills. A key implication of these findings makes a case for universities to constantly adopt several pedagogical approaches to develop these GS and other related competencies to ensure industry readiness for graduates. This study contributes to the body of scholarly knowledge as it reveals the various clusters of GS skills which employers constantly seek from built environment graduates in South Africa and beyond. The outcomes of this study will be beneficial to university educators, higher education officials, policymakers and even students.
... Construction is one of America's most important industries that help other enterprises to succeed in a globally competitive market. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that slightly less than 10 million Americans are employed in some sector with the construction industry (Russell, 2007). According to the BLS data (BLS 2008(BLS , 2009(BLS , 2010(BLS , 2011, women have consistently constituted less than 10% of the workforce in the construction industry, which shows the under representation of women in this field (Issa, 2014). ...
Article
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Construction industry is growing very fast in various aspects. However, the population of women in construction workforce is very low. This qualitative research aims at exploring the experience of women leaders and administrators in construction program, empower them in the decision-making process, and find ways to create safe and encouraging work environments for them. This is believed to be possible through creating platform to educate men and women in shared leadership context, providing education and career development for women in the construction industry, and facilitating access to training and retraining programs for future leaders of the industry. The populations of the research are women who are in administrative positions in a research-intensive Midwestern University. First, previous trends of women's presence in construction industry was investigated. Next, women who are currently active in leadership roles were interviewed. The findings from the research describes in detail the case study of experience of women leaders in construction programs in creating change, empowering young leaders for the future of construction workforce, gaining an understanding of ways to sustain and improve their existence in the workforce.
... Research on AEC education has constantly received significant attention to better respond to global economy, societal changes, rapid innovation, and technological breakthroughs (Bernold, 2005;Clough, 2004;Crawley, Malmqvist, Ostlund, & Brodeur, 2007;Froyd, Wankat, & Smith, 2012;Rugarcia, Felder, Woods, & Stice, 2000;Russell, Hanna, Bank, & Shapira, 2007;Schexnayder & Anderson, 2011). National and international reports from academia, the industry, and the government urge AEC faculty and administrators to better address the needs of the new generation of students (Besterfield-Sacre, Cox, Borrego, Beddoes, & Zhu, 2014;Besterfield-Sacre et al., 2014;National Academy of Engineering, 2004;National Research Council, 2010;National Science Board, 2007). ...
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Problem: The curricular shift toward scientific theory along with a proliferation of distance education and practical constraints have contributed to diminishing laboratory development, in turn affecting design skills and technical competencies of students in many programs. Objective: The objective of the current study is to help guide the improvement of laboratory instruction by developing an instrument for assessing student perception of learning environments in architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) programs. Method: Following the identification of a preliminary set of assessment factors based on the existing literature, the authors asked a panel of experts for consensus on appropriate factors through a modified Delphi process. We then developed a questionnaire seeking student perception of an existing Building and Materials Lab at XXXX University and administered a small-sample pilot test. Results: The final questionnaire tested student perception across three dimensions: Relationship, Personal Development, and System Maintenance and Change, and nine factors, including (1) Facilitator Support, (2) Involvement, (3) Student Interaction, (4) Authentic Learning, (5) Investigation, (6) Critical Thinking, (7) Innovation, (8) Ease of Use, and (9) Organization. The researchers used Cronbach’s Alpha reliability coefficient to assess the internal consistency of the instrument, dimensions, and factors. Takeaway for practice: Preliminary results indicate that the I-Build questionnaire, which relies extensively on experts’ knowledge and the literature on engineering education, fabrication laboratories, and learning environments, has the required flexibility to be utilized to guide the improvement of laboratory instruction in post-secondary architecture, engineering, and construction programs.
... Safety climate (Fang et al. 2006); safety hazard identification (Carter and Smith 2006); and causes of safety incident/accident (Beheiry et al. 2006) Social network analysis (Allison and Kaminsky 2017); data analytics of accidents (Gerassis et al. 2017); and smart safety monitoring ) Labor and personnel Employees' work-life balance (Lingard et al. 2007) and training and education (Russell et al. 2007) Demographic factors contributing to employees' health and work stress (Kamardeen and Sunindijo 2017) Note: Only one reference is cited for each typical study in Table 2. More references related to the same type of study can be found from other relevant Journal articles. ...
Article
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This study aims to address research questions related to the evolution of academic research in the field of construction engineering and management (CEM): (1) what are the mainstream research topics since 2000? (2) what are the emerging topics or techniques in CEM within the recent decades? (3) what are potential CEM research areas in the near future? A scientometric analysis was conducted to review articles published in Journal of Construction Engineering and Mnagement (JCEM) since 2000,follow by a qualitative discussion. This study revealed that project performance indicator-related topics (e.g., cost, scheduling, safety, productivity, and risk management) had been the ongoing mainstream issues over the past decades.Labor and personnel issues had gained even more research attention in the last ten years. Information and communication technologies (e.g., Building Information Modeling or BIM) applied in CEM had been gaining the momentum since 2009. A variety of quantitative methods had gained popularity in the CEM discipline, such as algorithm, statistics, fuzzy set, and neural networks. The follow-up qualitative analysis led to the contributions of this review-based study in terms that: (1) it provided an overview of the research topics in CEM since 2000 through a text-mining approach; (2) it offered insights on the emerging and near-future research areas, including BIM and data analytics applied in various construction issues (e.g., safety), as well as integrations of research themes(e.g., risk assessment in newly emering project delivery methods).
... However, for the built environment to be fully formed and vibrant, one cannot take away the role or importance of the construction industry. Russell et al., (2007) states that the construction industry is so important that its account for more than 12 per cent of the national GDP and provides civil infrastructure that is critical such as roads, rail, water, bridges and treatment for waste water, plants which produce energy for transmission and facilities which includes houses in which we live in, office buildings in which we work. Pearce et al., (2012) further describes the construction industry as the biggest in the world, due to the provision of essential facilities for human richness from the variety of homes where people live, to the highways people drive on, the energy we consume on a daily basis through power plants, and the social amenities or infrastructure that the society thrive on. ...
Conference Paper
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The built environment is essential in attaining the sustainability agenda, as a result of the impact of facilities management on day to day activities in an environment where people work, live and play. Sustainable environment is one of the most challenging issues facing the facilities management industry in the developed and developing countries. This study sets out to compare and contrast the common best practices of sustainable facilities management among practitioners in Nigeria and United Kingdom. To achieve this aim, there is a need to identify the best practices from both regions in order to learn and implement for sustainable growth in the industry. The study adopts the mixed methods with an extensive literature review which informed the use of structured and designed questionnaire survey to focus groups (facilities managers in different organizations) in Nigeria and United Kingdom. The findings show the differences between both regions in energy management and reduction, waste management and recycling, preserving the natural environment. The level of awareness of sustainable facilities management in United Kingdom is high compared to Nigeria. There is a high level of support from government and regulatory agencies for the industry in the United Kingdom. In Nigeria, the support from the government, regulatory agencies, top management levels are inadequate. The study concludes that facilities management practitioners in Nigeria must practically engage with top management, government and regulatory agencies in order to influence policies and decision making in promoting sustainable facilities management and recommend more collaborations with professionals (Builders, Engineers and planners) to efficiently and effectively improve the environment and industry.
... The nature of the industry further complicates these challenges. The industry is fragmented and often inefficient [7], and is also slow to adopt, implement and integrate new information technologies and products, devoting few resources to research and development (R&D) compared to other [8], [9]. Further still, the industry is inundated with complexity of interdependencies and uncertainties [10], thereby making any prospect towards achieving the project objectives very blur. ...
Article
Full-text available
The dynamic nature of clients, the complexity of construction projects and continuous demand for improved and efficient project delivery have put pressure to construction managers, thereby creating a lot of management challenges that required high sense of management acumen, capabilities, skills and strategies to tackle. This study therefore examined the management challenges facing construction practice in Nigeria. It also assessed the skills and management strategies needed for managing the challenges facing construction managers in delivering construction projects. The study adopted a survey research method, where questionnaire was distributed to the construction practitioners (contractors and professionals) within the South East Nigeria, through stratified random sampling. A total of 136 questionnaires were distributed to the respondents, while 97 were duly completed, returned and found suitable for analysis. Data obtained were analyzed and ranked using Relative Importance Index (RII). The result was subjected to further statistical analyses using Spearman's ranking correlation to ascertain the correlation of the ranking between the two groups of respondents. Subsequently, correlation was tested for its statistical significance using t-test statistic at 5% significance level. The result revealed that Time (Scheduling) Management (0.932), Quality Management (0.932), Cost Management (0.924), and Safety Management (0.922) were the top management challenges facing construction practice in Nigeria. The study also identified technical skills and other management skills and strategies required for tackling the challenges. It also established that a statistically significance strong positive correlation exist between the rankings of the contractors and professionals. It however, recommended that construction practitioners should acquire the right skills and apply appropriate management strategies in managing construction projects.
... Additionally, many professional bodies do not focus on the business management aspect of their profession as compared to professional competences. This is due to the fact that the curriculum of educational institutions and (Russell et al., 2007). However, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors recognized the need to develop business management competences of QS professionals (RICS, 2016). ...
Article
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Purpose Professional quantity surveying (QS) services are critical to successful delivery of construction projects within planned budget, quality and duration. The supply of QS professional services is largely dependent on the price level of services and the willingness of clients to pay. The pricing of professional QS consultancy services has been confronted with a myriad of pricing challenges due to rapid changes in the business environment; the pervasive influence of information technology; and the complexity of clients’ expectation. It is therefore necessary for QS consultancy firms to develop strategic competences for the pricing of their services. In addition, numerous studies have not given the pricing the pricing of professional services the requisite attention. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the strategic competences for pricing professional QS services. Design/methodology/approach The study was positioned within the positivist tradition. As a result, the quantitative approach was adopted using a survey questionnaire to collect data from QS consultants. The sample size of the study was 79 professional quantity surveyors chosen by using simple random sampling technique from a population of 372 registered professional QS of the Ghana Institution of Surveyors. Using the χ ² test and factor analysis, the study established relationship between strategic competences and pricing of QS services. Findings The study found that strategic competences for pricing QS professional services is significantly related to the managerial and professional competence of QS consultants. The strategic competences of QS consultants identified by this study include business management, services cost management; and production capabilities. Practical implications This study provides an empirical basis for QS consultancy firms to focus on strategic direction of their contractual arrangement with clients. Practically, resource configuration and on strategic competences for professional service pricing would create price leadership. Originality/value The study advances the pricing knowledge within the QS practice by demonstrating the nexus between strategic competences and the pricing of QS professional services which hitherto this study have not been effectively investigated.
... No século 21 a sociedade tem deparado-se com mudanças de sustentabilidade como a depreciação dos recursos naturais, a poluição do ar e a escassez de água potável (Erlinghagen & Markard, 2012). Acelerando nos últimos anos a pressão sob a população mundial e levando ao surgimento de assuntos envolvendo o uso energético, das práticas sustentáveis, dos perigos globais e da poluição ambiental (Russell, Hanna, Bank, & Shapira, 2007). Momento em que tecnologias verdes utilizando de recursos sustentáveis tem ganho interesse significativo em termos de pesquisa e desenvolvimento, escalas piloto e larga escala de produção (Morrison & Hart, 2011). ...
Conference Paper
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As startups representam um movimento crescente em busca pela sustentabilidade, seja com o desenvolvimento de alternativas ambientalmente sustentáveis ou com a construção de inovações e modelos de negócios sustentáveis. Este estudo visa analisar como o tema sustentabilidade é abordado em startups. A abordagem metodológica foi a de revisão sistemática de literatura, com amostra de 140 publicações, relacionando os dois assuntos. À análise biblimétrica. em que foram analisadas as redes de palavra-chave e co-citação, além da evolução das publicações, foi associada análises qualitativas. Os resultados permitiram a identificação dos diferentes papéis desempenhados pelas startups no cenário sustentável, com investimentos crescentes das startups em inovações sustentáveis.
... The link with the construction industry is significant and the overall influence is infinite. The construction industry employs millions of Americans and is a multi-billion dollar industry [1]. The landscape of the construction industry is changing as it becomes more competitive, global and thirsts for implementation of measures to enhance the delivered product. ...
Conference Paper
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The guide to professional development via apprenticeship promotes the following initiatives: improved delivery of educational material and alternate methods for evaluation of the learning objectives. The research herein will focus on utilizing the industry professional based apprenticeship with case study instruments in the classroom improving student motivation, the professional development and critical thinking skills of the student. A byproduct of the research will include providing the instructor with scholarly reflection to meet the aforementioned objectives. Objectives considered in this study are answering to the questions such as, how should we prepare construction engineering students for professional practice? How can we link technical skills together with applied (experiential learning) and professional skills (soft skills) to produce the best construction engineering professional possible? Can we train students to develop the skill sets to determine cause-effect with supporting claims and have the imagination to develop solutions with impact in mind? The results offer the baseline insight that was sought relative to the student critical thinking related to the case study pedagogy. The research provides an opportunity for the researcher to self-evaluate the manner in which the instruction is developed and delivered.
... The nature of the industry further complicates these challenges. The industry is fragmented and often inefficient [7], and is also slow to adopt, implement and integrate new information technologies and products, devoting few resources to research and development (R&D) compared to other [8], [9]. Further still, the industry is inundated with complexity of interdependencies and uncertainties [10], thereby making any prospect towards achieving the project objectives very blur. ...
Article
Full-text available
The dynamic nature of clients, the complexity of construction projects and continuous demand for improved and efficient project delivery have put pressure to construction managers, thereby creating a lot of management challenges that required high sense of management acumen, capabilities, skills and strategies to tackle. This study therefore examined the management challenges facing construction practice in Nigeria. It also assessed the skills and management strategies needed for managing the challenges facing construction managers in delivering construction projects. The study adopted a survey research method, where questionnaire was distributed to the construction practitioners (contractors and professionals) within the South East Nigeria, through stratified random sampling. A total of 136 questionnaires were distributed to the respondents, while 97 were duly completed, returned and found suitable for analysis. Data obtained were analyzed and ranked using Relative Importance Index (RII). The result was subjected to further statistical analyses using Spearman's ranking correlation to ascertain the correlation of the ranking between the two groups of respondents. Subsequently, correlation was tested for its statistical significance using t-test statistic at 5% significance level. The result revealed that Time (Scheduling) Management (0.932), Quality Management (0.932), Cost Management (0.924), and Safety Management (0.922) were the top management challenges facing construction practice in Nigeria. The study also identified technical skills and other management skills and strategies required for tackling the challenges. It also established that a statistically significance strong positive correlation exist between the rankings of the contractors and professionals. It however, recommended that construction practitioners should acquire the right skills and apply appropriate management strategies in managing construction projects.
... The dynamic nature of the construction industry requires constant curriculum updates to meet the workforce demands (Ahmed et al., 2014;Azhar et al., 2014). Russell et al. (2007) urged that educators and those involved must integrate key concepts to improve students' critical thinking, understanding globalization, social awareness, and the use of information technology for future construction professionals to meet the needs of society. ...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Construction project management requires various knowledge, skills, techniques, and applications. Therefore, project management (PM) degree programs have to equip future project engineers and managers accordingly. However, literature has provided limited understanding about how extensive these knowledge areas (KAs) have been offered in these degree programs. The goal of this paper is to explore to what extent different KAs are taught in PM Master’s degree programs with emphasis in the construction industry. A survey was conducted with respondents who were academic staff responsible for these programs. Most of these programs under the current study were at institutions located in the U.K. and the U.S.A. Six KAs that had high percentage (50% or more) of construction programs offering more than ten teaching hours were time management and risk management (65%), procurement management, sustainability, and legal and ethical aspects (55%), and cost management (50%). In terms of relative teaching priority within a program, time management, risk management, sustainability, and cost management were frequently the top focus in these programs. Project scope, quality, and stakeholder management had the least teaching priorities among the PM KAs. While relative teaching priorities of many KAs were anticipated, the lowest teaching hours and priorities of project scope and quality management, and occupational safety and health were not expected as they were identified as major competencies for construction graduates.
... The dynamic nature of the construction industry requires constant curriculum updates to meet the workforce demands (Ahmed et al., 2014;Azhar et al., 2014). Russell et al. (2007) urged that educators and those involved must integrate key concepts to improve students' critical thinking, understanding globalization, social awareness, and the use of information technology for future construction professionals to meet the needs of society. ...
Conference Paper
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Project management requires various knowledge, skills, techniques, and applications. Project management (PM) degree programs serve a critical role in training future project management workforce. However, literature has provided limited understanding on which knowledge areas (KAs) have been offered and how extensive they are offered in PM education programs. This paper bridges this gap by investigating to what extent different KAs were taught in PM education programs in Australia, UK and USA. Findings from a survey of 39 PM education programs reveal a consistent stronger emphasis on PMBOK KAs, particularly, time, cost and risk management. Surprisingly, project scope and quality had consistently received the least teaching priorities among the PMBOK KAs. Our findings further reveal a move toward the human skills in PM education programs. Evidence is the relative high teaching priorities for KAs such as human resource management, communications management, and leadership and legal/ethical aspects in the surveyed programs. PM educators can use the present findings to benchmark their program offerings and accordingly revise their curricula.
... A recognition of the need to include a focus on the management of projects in the education of both undergraduate and graduate students began to develop in civil engineering programs at a number of universities in the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s ͑e.g., Oglesby 1990; Chinowsky and Diekmann 2004;Willenbrock and Thomas Jr. 2007;Tucker 2007;Levitt 2007͒. CEM education is built upon the fundamentals of civil engineering and most programs offer students a balance of research and coursework in construction technologies and management philosophy and practice, with additional study from other disciplines to provide candidates with the skills and experiences needed to successfully manage a construction project ͑Russell et al. 2007͒ There appears to be a general consensus on the need for management education for construction engineers as surveys have shown that construction managers are engaged not only in tasks that require pure technical expertise such as production and maintenance of constructed facilities, but also in specialized tasks that require extensive management and administrative expertise in-cluding marketing, finance, accounting, human resource management, contract law, and economic and environmental analyses, to name but a few ͑e.g., Atalah and Muchemedzi 2006;Russell et al. 2007͒. But there is a considerable diversity of views on the extent and content of construction management education. ...
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With the rapid development of the construction industry, there is a great requirement to cultivate a large number of management talents with higher competency (ability, quality and knowledge). Taking postgraduates in construction management as an example, this research reviewed the relevant literature on the three dimensions of ability, quality and knowledge which postgraduates in civil engineering and construction-related disciplines should have. The results show that in order to promote their competency, the most important abilities which postgraduates in construction management should cultivate are communication skill, practical working capability and leadership; the most important qualities which should be trained are professional quality, ideological and moral quality, physical and mental quality, and personality characteristics; and the most important knowledge which should be equipped is interdisciplinary knowledge, disciplinary professional knowledge and engineering practice knowledge. The results of this study can be used as the basis for relevant universities to formulate postgraduate programme, to further promote the competency of construction management postgraduates in China.KeywordsAbilityQualityKnowledgeConstruction management postgraduatesCompetency
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As the world continues to experience significant and dynamic changes, the concept of graduate employability remains a well-discussed subject in the body of knowledge. Consequently, the concept has attracted the interest of educators, policymakers, researchers and graduates themselves. As a vital cog in the employability conversation, the quality of present-day graduates is highly dependent on the effectiveness of training received from higher education institutions. This formal training provides learners with discipline-specific skills (academic skills) and knowledge which helps them obtain a firm foundation in their chosen discipline or profession. This study seeks to unearth the various discipline-specific skills (DSS) that built-environment graduates need to possess to thrive in the labor market after graduation. A quantitative research approach was adopted to achieve this study's objective with close-ended questionnaires developed and administered to built environment professionals based in the Gauteng province of South Africa. Retrieved data were analyzed using several statistical tools such as percentage, frequency, Mean Item Score, One-Sample T-test and Exploratory Factor Analysis. Findings revealed four clusters highlighting the key DSS required by built environment graduates. These include lifelong learning, hands-on experience, digital literacy and knowledge of the subject area. The outcomes of this study will be beneficial to several stakeholders involved in construction education and employability skills discussion.
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As the world continues to experience significant and dynamic changes, the concept of graduate employability remains a well-discussed subject in the body of knowledge. Consequently, the concept has attracted the interest of educators, policymakers, researchers and graduates themselves. As a vital cog in the employability conversation, the quality of present-day graduates is highly dependent on the effectiveness of training received from higher education institutions. This formal training provides learners with discipline-specific skills (academic skills) and knowledge which helps them obtain a firm foundation in their chosen discipline or profession. This study seeks to unearth the various discipline-specific skills (DSS) that built-environment graduates need to possess to thrive in the labor market after graduation. A quantitative research approach was adopted to achieve this study’s objective with close-ended questionnaires developed and administered to built environment professionals based in the Gauteng province of South Africa. Retrieved data were analyzed using several statistical tools such as percentage, frequency, Mean Item Score, One-Sample T-test and Exploratory Factor Analysis. Findings revealed four clusters highlighting the key DSS required by built environment graduates. These include lifelong learning, hands-on experience, digital literacy and knowledge of the subject area. The outcomes of this study will be beneficial to several stakeholders involved in construction education and employability skills discussion.
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Sustainability has become an important consideration in the construction industry, and it must support the triple bottom line of environmental, social and economic benefits. As construction students are becoming leaders and innovators in construction, it is necessary to motivate construction students to learn the concept of sustainability, and to learn the sustainable design and construction skills which can be implemented in their daily activities. This study investigates the level of the construction student's familiarity and interest toward sustainability, their attitude toward sustainability, and the factors influencing student's attitude toward sustainability in Republic of Korea. To accomplish the main objectives, this study employs a piloted survey instrument created and developed by the authors. This is a descriptive and correlation study using responses from architecture and architectural engineering students at four universities in the mid-eastern region of South Korea. Using descriptive statistics and multiple regressions using SPSS version 17, this study measured the level of familiarity with the concept of sustainability and the sustainable design and construction skills. It also identified the factors which affect students' attitude toward sustainability. With this study, it is possible to help educators motivate and teach students to improve their attitude toward sustainability in the built environment.
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In 2001, a survey found that 87% of engineering professors in the United States spend the entire class time lecturing to a passive group of students material that is copied down and never looked at again. This paper presents the results of scientific inquiry and keen observations all leading to the same conclusion: engineering education has to reform itself. Presently, almost all engineering students learn best doing lots of homework (similar to 50%) and theoretical study (25%) are accommodated by lectures, homework, and rote-problem tests. Regrettably, an overwhelming number of the creative students do not learn this way and fail. Learning as a process needs to be put at the heart of education moving us away from the traditional educational enterprise. The presented data benefits researchers and practitioners in that they highlight the urgency of the issue and show how the proposed paradigm shift is underpinned by our understanding of how people learn.
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The instrumentalist principles are applied to fundamental social theory. The concept of the public is more general than that of the state, which is the public politically organized, with suitable officials; the public itself is individuals in relations, the latter being so complex and mobile in existing publics that the whole social fabric is amorphous and inarticulate. Law, associated with the state, is the total of the conditions established for making the results of interaction somewhat predictable. The "eclipse of the public" is effectively described, with a tracing of the historical causes underlying it in the rise of democracy and associated technology. The conditions for the emergence of the public and the formation of a genuine community are found chiefly in the free communication of knowledge of every sort. The most hopeful method for such emergence is, concisely, the practical recognition of the interdependence of individual and social aspects of existence, plus free experimental inquiry. Tendencies in a forward direction are noted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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This article reviews three learning models and information technologies that can be used to support the effective application of these learning models in higher education construction engineering. The effectiveness of an information technology is analyzed through the appropriateness of the technology in supporting a particular learning model. The mapping of information technologies to learning models identifies technologies in which construction engineering schools should invest to improve their educational environment and quality. Further research issues are also discussed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 6: 15–21, 1998
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David Korten1 asks us to consider that we are at a moment where we can make some important choices. He asks if future generations will speak in anger and frustration of the time of the Great Unravelling, when profligate consumption exceeded Earth's capacity to sustain and led to an accelerating wave of collapsing environmental systems, violent competition for what remained of the planet's resources, and a dramatic dieback of the human population? Or if they will they look back in joyful celebration on the time of the Great Turning, when their forebears embraced the higher-order potential of their human nature, turned crisis into opportunity, and learned to live in creative partnership with one another and Earth? He asks us to make the defining choice. Development (2006) 49, 76–81. doi:10.1057/palgrave.development.1100286
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