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Measuring Corruption in Public Construction Projects in China
Abstract
Corruption has been identified as the greatest obstacle to economic and social development. Public construction projects, in particular, face high corruption risk as public construction sector has been consecutively deemed as the most corrupt one. Despite considerable efforts have been undertaken to measure corruption at a nation level, few researchers focus on the measurement of corruption in construction projects. This paper develops a fuzzy measurement model for the potential corruption in public construction projects in China. Through semistructured interviews with 14 experts, and then a questionnaire survey with 188 respondents, 24 measurement items of corruption were identified and further categorized into five constructs. The fuzzy set theory was then adopted to quantify each measurement item, construct, and the overall corruption level. This model can facilitate in evaluating, revealing, and monitoring corruption in public construction projects. Although this paper focuses on measuring corruption in public construction projects in China, similar research methods can be applied in other countries around the world and thus contribute to the global body of knowledge of corruption.
... Leaking of information to a preferential bidder (Fukuyama, 2005;Gates, 2014;Hawkins, 2013;Shan et al., 2015) CRP3 ...
... Change order manipulation had a value of 0.04187; this result was compatible with findings (Saim et al., 2018) and was ranked as the fourth among the major fraudulent causative factors. Deviations, especially in abnormally high-rated and highvalue items not being properly monitored and verified, had a value of 0.04088; this result corresponded with other findings (Shan et al., 2015) and was ranked as the eighth in terms of severity, scored at 3.6 in a construction project in China. Site supervisors neglecting their duties by taking bribes from a contractor was 0.04019; this result was in line with other findings (Shan et al., 2015(Shan et al., , 2018 and was ranked as the second in terms of severity, and scored at 3.97 in China's construction project. ...
... Deviations, especially in abnormally high-rated and highvalue items not being properly monitored and verified, had a value of 0.04088; this result corresponded with other findings (Shan et al., 2015) and was ranked as the eighth in terms of severity, scored at 3.6 in a construction project in China. Site supervisors neglecting their duties by taking bribes from a contractor was 0.04019; this result was in line with other findings (Shan et al., 2015(Shan et al., , 2018 and was ranked as the second in terms of severity, and scored at 3.97 in China's construction project. The second major stage was that of tendering and signing contracts, with a likelihood of 0.183717. ...
Corruption is an old phenomenon, but what is new is the increase in its scale and its diversified methods. Both advanced and developing countries have suffered to the point where corruption threatens to degrade communities and interrupt the progress of economic development. There are common issues in corruption, which is defined as the illegal obtainment of money, and the problem of corruption has been exacerbated by state institutions’ dealings with private-sector companies through contracts. The major aim of this study is to assess the practices of corruption that represent risks in the Iraqi construction sector. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was used to develop multi-criteria decision-making support models to compare the major factors and risk categories to discern those with the greatest negative effect on construction projects and then to specify the optimal actions for the prevention of such practices. A set of corruption practices were extracted through reviewing the literature from previous studies, the reports of the Federal Board of Supreme Audit (FBSA) in Iraq and interviews with experts and decision-makers in the FBSA. The corruption practices were evaluated using a form prepared to suit the AHP methodology and enforcement steps have been simplified through Super Decisions software, which was available for its fulfillment. The AHP analysis showed that the construction stage is the primary stage for corruption practices, followed by the tendering stage and then the design stage. This paper suggests preventive actions for practices at each stage of a construction project in Iraq, and it recommends multiple strategies to eliminate corruption.
... Locatelli et al. (2017) offer definitions of each of the terms used to describe forms of corruption: bribery, extortion, fraud, abuse of power, embezzlement, conflict of interests, and nepotism. Shan et al. (2015b) classify corrupt practices into five forms: immorality, unfairness, opacity, procedural violation, and contractual violation. Shan et al. (2017a) state that the impacts in the construction industry can be seen at three levels: the project level, organizational level, and national level. ...
... For Arewa and Farrell (2015), Shan et al. (2015b), and Ameyaw et al. (2017), corruption occurs in public sector construction and infrastructure work. According to these researchers, this happens in all phases of construction: from tendering and bid evaluation phases to contract implementation. ...
... Ameyaw et al. 2017, Buertey et al. 2018, India(Shan et al. 2015a(Shan et al. , 2015b, Zambia (Zulu and Muleya 2019), China(Shan et al. 2015a;Liu et al. 2017;Zhang et al. 2017;Shan et al. 2017aShan et al. , 2017b, Malaysia(Yap et al. 2020), and Brazil(Signor et al. 2016(Signor et al. , 2017Castro and Ansari 2017;Campos 2019;Farias et al. 2019). ...
Because of corruption scandals, a massive restructuring process is unfolding in the construction industry. Corruption is a universal phenomenon; its characteristics have been widely investigated and the findings published. However, the corruption perception index of Transparency International shows that corruption is higher in emerging countries, raising the following research questions: How has the phenomenon of corruption in the construction industry recently been understood by researchers when publishing their findings? Who is involved in corruption, and what are the causes, consequences, and forms of, and barriers to solving it? This study (a) reviews recent literature on corruption published in top international journals; and (b) seeks for peculiarities published about corruption in one of the largest emerging markets and countries perceived as one of the most corrupt—Brazil. Findings show the need for structural changes in strategies to prevent corrupt practices and extend the literature deepening our understanding of this disruptive phenomenon.
... For instance, in Ghana, there have been more than 25 stipulations including the enactments of laws, acts of parliament, decrees, and legislations against corruption since 1957, yet corruption persists in the country, particularly in the public sector (Osei-Tutu et al. 2010;TI 2018). This reflects the situation of other developing countries that have numerous anticorruption measures in place; however, they still tend to be corrupt (Owusu et al. 2019b;Shan et al. 2015). This stands to confirm, at least in the case of Ghana, that the enforcement of several anticorruption measures does not necessarily correlate with or indicate a low incidence of corruption. ...
... Due to the adverse impacts of corruption in infrastructure projects, corruption research has gained momentum over the past two decades. This has led to the discoveries of the prevalent forms, causes, and risk indicators of corruption in the procurement of infrastructure works and services (Le et al. 2014a, b;Tabish and Jha 2011), anticorruption measures (Shan et al. 2015), and the barriers to the effective adoption and application of these ACMs (Owusu and Chan 2019). However, despite the extensive research on corruption, there appears to be no one antidote to its incidence. ...
... However, noticing the behavior of corruption as an endemic viral disease, regular examinations of the established measures are often ignored. Could it be possible that corruption persists on a higher critical degree, especially in the developing context as a result of ignoring the Administering disciplinary actions such as dismissal from employment Stansbury (2009a, b) and Shan et al. (2015) AC12 Enhanced communication Sohail and Cavill (2008) and Zou (2006) Ensuring compliance to fairness and transparent procedures Sohail and Cavill (2008), Hartley (2009), Kenny (2012, Zou (2006), and Tanzi (1998) AC17 ...
This study examined the efficacy of anticorruption measures for extirpating the prevalence of corrupt practices in infrastructure procurement in developing countries. The study employed the fuzzy synthetic evaluation (FSE) technique to assess 62 responses from practitioners involved in the procurement and delivery of infrastructure projects. The probing measures were identified to be the highest-ranked construct, followed by the managerial measures. The remaining constructs with their variables were revealed to be moderately effective. The study has revealed the level of effectiveness of existing anticorruption measures that are widely applied to check, thwart, and extirpate corrupt practices in the procurement and delivery of infrastructure projects. This study theoretically contributes to the body of knowledge on corruption in infrastructure procurement by evaluating the effectiveness of anticorruption measures. Practically, this study provides useful information for project parties, policy makers, anticorruption institutions, and researchers toward the reinforcement of the existing measures for the expurgation of corrupt practices in infrastructure projects’ procurement, delivery, and management.
... Within the context of procurement, corruption refers to the manipulation of any procurement stage with the intention of misappropriating project resources (Le, Shan, Chan, & Hu, 2014a, 2014bOwusu & Chan, 2018). These resources may range from mainly focused on developing countries (Ameyaw et al., 2017;Shan et al., 2015;Sichombo, Muya, Shakantu, & Kaliba, 2009;Tabish & Jha, 2012;Zou, 2006). By contrast, the present work focuses on Hong Kong, which is classed as a developed region, and furthers understanding on the effectiveness of ACMs in infrastructure procurement by examining a comprehensive list of ACMs in an insufficiently researched context. ...
... ACMs are internal and external tools or strategies stipulated to mitigate (over the short and medium run) and extirpate (over the long run) the incidence and proliferation of corruption (Shan et al., 2015;Owusu et al. 2019a). These measures are often developed to curb the negative constructs of corruption, which include the causes of corruption (Le et al., 2014a(Le et al., , 2014b, the risk indicators of corruption (Bowen, Edwards, & Cattell, 2012;Tabish & Jha, 2011), and the barriers to the effective application of ACMs. ...
... It can be observed that although both studies identify the necessity for enforcement of rules and regulations, the remaining constructs highlight the importance of human-oriented and work process related issues. Moving on, Shan et al. (2015) investigated the effectiveness of anti-corruption measures in eradicating corruption risk factors, otherwise known as vulnerabilities in the context of China. Shan et al. (2015) adopted the work of Tabish and Jha (2011) and explored the previously identified ACM strategies in the context of China through pilot testing. ...
Regardless of how clean a city may appear to be, it can be tainted by the hidden forms of corruption. Hence, examining the prevalence of corruption and the effectiveness of anti-corruption measures (ACMs) are necessary to provide the information needed to promote or attain corruption-free city. However, determining the extent of corruption or the effectiveness of ACMs, especially regarding infrastructure project procurement and management, poses a new challenge. This study, therefore, employs a soft computing approach known as fuzzy synthetic evaluation to examine the effectiveness of ACMs. Twenty-six ACMs designed to curb the corrupt practices in infrastructure procurement processes are identified through a systematic review of the extant literature. Then, an empirical survey is conducted with experts in infrastructure procurement and management processes from Hong Kong. Results reveal that probing and transparency are the most effective ACMs. This empirical research is one of the first to examine the effectiveness of ACMs in infrastructure project procurement and management, thereby extending the body of knowledge on corruption-related studies in project (procurement and management)-related research and corruption-free cities. This study also offers practical implications that will inform industry practitioners, policymakers, and anti-corruption institutions about the effectiveness of ACMs and the need for improvement of less effective measures. Finally, this work contributes to the development of a holistic approach to corruption prevention in infrastructure project procurement and management.
... Corruption in the construction industry is a worldwide problem that can be found in many countries such as Singapore, Japan, the United Kingdom, Canada, Nigeria, Poland, Croatia, China, Hong Kong, Portugal, and Indonesia (Alutu 2007;Skorupka 2008;Tow and Loosemore 2009;Badun 2011;Shan et al. 2015;Oladinrin et al. 2017;Suyatmiko and Ratnaningtyas 2017;Gransberg 2020;Catalão et al. 2023). Corruption is defined as any sort of abuse of authority for personal gain (Suyatmiko and Ratnaningtyas 2017;Roy et al. 2021). ...
... To detect potential corruption in China's construction sector, a fuzzy anticorruption model was developed in 2015. This methodology is intended to assess, expose, and monitor fraudulent activities in public construction projects (Shan et al. 2015). Oladinrin et al. (2017) established a whistle-blower mechanism model in Hong Kong to combat corrupt behaviors in the construction sector. ...
The construction industry is one of the sectors with the highest number of corruption cases. Construction workers are subjected to a variety of corrupt practices in the course of their work. Corrupt practices have a negative impact on the construction industry's growth and performance. Several previous studies have revealed a link between culture and corrupt practices. As a result, a context-specific study with a systematic approach to evaluating corrupt behaviors in the construction business is required. In this light, this study addresses the topic by developing an anticorruption framework based on the perspectives of Indonesian construction professionals. An elaborate approach was used in this research consisting of systematic literature review, questionnaire survey, and expert interviews. A systematic literature review was conducted to identify various aspects of corrupt practices in the construction industry. In order to contextualize this study in the Indonesian context, a questionnaire survey was undertaken to examine the extent of perceptions of corruption aspects among Indonesian construction workers. The synthesis of both findings was used to develop an anticorruption framework that was validated through expert interviews. The framework displays a robust system for identifying corrupt practices, challenges, and strategies for eliminating corruption in the Indonesian construction industry. This study helps to understand the underlying reasons and other aspects of corruption in the Indonesian construction industry. Understanding these aspects is critical in order to solve the rampant corruption in the construction sector.
Practical Applications:
The study's findings can assist stakeholders in understanding various underlying dimensions related to corrupt practices in the construction industry, including (1) general overview of corruption practices, (2) frequency of corruption, (3) forms of corruption , (4) causes of corruption, (5) impact of corruption, (6) mitigation strategies, and (7) challenges in eradicating corrupt practices. A construction sector anticorruption framework was also effectively constructed through a context-specific study in Indonesia. Practically, stakeholders can use the study's results to take appropriate measures in eradicating corrupt practices and fostering an anticorruption culture in the construction sector. Theoretically, this study contributes by presenting existing corrupt practices in the construction industry and facilitating understanding of the interconstruct relationship of corruption in the industry.
... Moreover, research has shown that corruption involves not only top officials at the Frontiers in Psychiatry 02 frontiersin.org ministerial level and above but also clerks, at the bottom ranks (36). Tan and Tan (37) found that the corruption of first-incommand (yibashou) officers at the village level accounted for 53.28% of all the corruption. ...
... higher status-related strain than non-clerk officials, which may explain why psychological problems are more prevalent in leadership positions (36). In contrast, non-clerk officials, despite experiencing less status-related strain, suffer more severe financial strain, as their salaries usually do not afford them a basic living. ...
The problem of corruption has long been a societal focus in China. Agnew’s general strain theory (GST) offers a good explanation of the drive to engage in corruption; that is, offenders are likely to be driven by various types of strains and engage in corrupt behavior as a coping mechanism. However, whether and how an official’s rank moderates the effect of strain on corrupt behavior has yet to be explored. The current study surveyed 687 inmates from 60 prisons in China who had been convicted of corrupt behaviors. The results show that although different levels of officials experience different types of strain, nearly all types of strains are significantly and positively associated with the frequency of corrupt behavior. As for the conditional effect, officials’ ranks significantly moderate the relationship between work-related strain and the frequency of corrupt behavior; that is, work-related strain is shown to have a more significant effect on officials at the clerk level (a higher rank) than on officials at non-clerk level (a lower rank). This research is believed to further expand on the applicability of GST to corruption in non-Western societies.
... A corrupção é um fenômeno existente em todos os países (CASTRO, 2008;IORIS, 2016;TRAN, et al., 2016), contemporâneo à história da humanidade e que consiste em um obstáculo ao desenvolvimento político, social e econômico (LEON; ARAÑA; LEON, 2013; ALENCAR; GICO JR., 2015;SHAN et al., 2015), afetando negativamente a prestação de serviços públicos essenciais, bem como o bemestar do cidadão (ARAÚJO; SANCHEZ, 2005). Trata-se de um tema central relacionado à democracia dos Estados, sendo que os atos de corrupção podem envolver agentes públicos e/ou atores privados com o objetivo de satisfazer interesses particulares econômicos ou políticos (AVRITZER, 2012). ...
... Hodiernamente, os estudos que abordam a percepção da corrupção e sua real existência são escassos devido ao fato de ser um fenômeno multifacetado e complexo, cujos limites exatos são de difícil definição (BOHN 2012). Tratase de um fenômeno de natureza não pública (ABRAMO, 2005;AVRITZER, 2012;BLAND, 2014;BOYLAN, LONG, 2003;CHABOVA, 2016;DREHER;KOTSOGIANNIS;MCCORRISTON, 2007;MONDO, 2016;SHAN et al., 2015) levando as organizações internacionais a se perguntarem qual é a melhor forma para medir a corrupção (AVRITZER, 2012). Apesar de haver um debate acadêmico sobre como medir o fenômeno da corrupção em determinada sociedade (CHABOVA, 2016), os pesquisadores não chegaram a um consenso sobre a forma mais adequada e eficiente (LI, 2016). ...
A corrupção implica em uma série de conseqüências danosas para o sistema democrático que é a base do desenvolvimento político e social nos Estados contemporâneos. A busca imoral e ilegal pela satisfação de interesses privados em detrimento do interesse público pode ocasionar, entre inúmeras consequências, rombos no erário, prejudicando políticas públicas e acentuando a desigualdade social, além de favorecimentos a determinados grupos econômicos e políticos capazes de gerar efeitos desastrosos na gestão pública e na economia. No Brasil, foi deflagrada em 2014 pela Polícia Federal a maior investigação de corrupção já realizada no país, descobrindo práticas de crimes financeiros e de desvio de recursos públicos. Nesse sentido, o presente trabalho tem como objetivo desenvolver e aplicar um modelo teórico para análise da corrupção como um fato social durkheimiano com o intuito de interpretar e compreender
o caso da Operação Lava Jato. Os objetivos específicos são: realizar um estudo de natureza descritiva para compreender a Teoria do Fato Social, associando, de modo sistemático, os conceitos, métodos e aplicações encontradas nas obras do próprio autor e, por conseguinte, elaborar um modelo teórico de análise da corrupção; verificar como o fenômeno da corrupção tem sido observado na administração pública
brasileira por meio da teoria do fato social de Durkheim; e aplicar o modelo teórico para o estudo da corrupção como um fato social, coercitivo, externo e geral, para analisar e compreender o caso da Operação Lava Jato, por meio de uma concepção durkheimiana das ciências sociais. A importância deste estudo reside na possibilidade de analisar o fato social da corrupção no cenário da Operação Lava Jato a partir de uma concepção funcionalista, capaz de promover uma interpretação da corrupção diante da estrutura das instituições
e normas sociais, não tratando, portanto, o fenômeno apenas como uma faceta psicológica do indivíduo. Entender a essência macrossocial do ato da corrupção na sociedade brasileira possibilita desenvolver políticas capazes de atuar sobre o problema de modo adequado, considerando sua amplitude e suas causas, potencializando as possibilidades de êxito. A dissertação está dividida em três artigos. O primeiro consiste em um ensaio teórico que tem objetivo realizar um estudo de natureza descritiva para compreender a Teoria do Fato Social, associando, de modo sistemático, os conceitos, métodos e aplicações encontradas nas obras do próprio autor e, por conseguinte, elaborar um modelo teórico de análise da corrupção. No segundo artigo é realizado um ensaio teórico com o escopo verificar como se desenvolveu o fenômeno da
corrupção na administração pública brasileira, defendendo a tese de que tal fenômeno consiste em um fato social por meio da concepção durkheimiana. Por derradeiro, o terceiro artigo consiste em um estudo para análise e compreensão da Operação Lava Jato por meio da aplicação de um modelo teórico para o estudo da corrupção como um fato social durkheimiano.
... When budgets allocated to procure these needs of humanity are misappropriated, the net result is a socioeconomic setback (Owusu et al., 2019). This has hostile effects at various levels and leads to poor performance in terms of quality nonconformance, resource underutilization, schedule and cost overruns (Azhar et al., 2008;Bowen et al., 2015;Hamma-Adama et al., 2020;Ofori, 2015;Shan, Chan, Le, Xia et al., 2015). Therefore, it is a serious concern for all the growing economies to eradicate corruption from public infrastructure projects (Locatelli et al., 2017). ...
... Baldi et al. (2016) stated that complex projects are more susceptible to corruption, because the majority of complex projects are awarded by negotiation method. Shan, Chan, Le, Xia et al. (2015) developed a fuzzy model for the measurement of corruption in construction projects. Kingsford Owusu and Chan (2018) studied the barriers that obstruct the effectiveness of anti-corruption measures (ACMs). ...
Construction projects are capital-and labour-intensive with complex financial profiles. Due to this inherent complexity, construction projects are adversely affected by corruption, especially in underdeveloped countries. To emphasize the seriousness of the issue and to eradicate corruption in construction projects, a comprehensive understanding of the effects of corruption is needed. Therefore, the current study examined the impacts of corruption on public infrastructure projects (PIPs) in the corrupt context of a developing country. 27 impacts of corruption were identified through an extensive literature review and expert interviews. To rank these factors, a structured questionnaire survey was carried out to collect empirical data from different contractual parties working in various construction projects in Pakistan. The results demonstrated that corruption is widespread in the local construction industry and has harmful impacts on projects and society in the forms of the creation of monopoly, increased procurement and maintenance costs and lower-quality products. The results also revealed that the construction community believes that corruption is beneficial in that it reduces time delays and can motivate workers. The findings of the study contribute to an in-depth understanding of the consequences of corruption in public infrastructure projects. This information would be useful for project personnel, stakeholders and engineering society to enhance awareness among the parties for eradication of corruption in construction.
... When budgets allocated to procure these needs of humanity are misappropriated, the net result is a socioeconomic setback [63]. It has hostile effects at various levels and leads to poor performance in terms of quality nonconformance, resource underutilization, schedule and cost overruns [2,8,13,62,71]. Therefore, it is a serious concern for all the growing economies to eradicate corruption from public infrastructure projects [51]. Various studies exist on the eradication of corruption on a macro level through various corruptionfree indicators, professional standards, transparency, the fairness of punishment, procedural compliance and contractual compliance [29,43,83]. ...
... Shan et al., [71] developed a fuzzy model for the measurement of corruption in construction projects. Kingsford Owusu and Chan [42] studied the barriers that obstruct the effectiveness of anti-corruption measures (ACMs). ...
Construction projects are capital and labour intensive with complex financial profiles. Due to this inherent complexity, construction projects are adversely affected by corruption, especially in developing countries. To emphasize the seriousness of the issue and to help eradicate corruption in construction projects, a comprehensive understanding of the effects of corruption is necessary. Therefore, the current study examined the impacts of corruption on infrastructure projects (IP) in the corrupt context of a developing country. Twenty-seven (27) impacts of corruption were identified through an extensive literature review and expert interviews. To rank these factors, a structured questionnaire survey was carried out to collect empirical data from different contractual parties working on various infrastructure projects in Pakistan. Due to the sensitivity of the topic, difficulties were faced in acquiring data. The result demonstrated that corruption is widespread in the local construction industry and it has harmful impacts on project and society inform of the creation of a monopoly, increased procurement and maintenance costs, and lower quality products. The results also revealed that the construction community believes that corruption is beneficial in a way that it reduces time delays and can motivate workers. The findings of the study contribute to an in-depth understanding of the consequences of corruption in an infrastructure project, especially in developing countries. This information would be useful for project personnel, stakeholders, and engineering society to enhance awareness among the parties for the eradication of corruption in construction. To the best of the authors' knowledge, it is the first study of its nature study on corruption in the local context.
... The focus is studied in various form, i.e. qualitative study (Kobakhidze, 2014); field experiment (Cooley & Sharman, 2015); article investigation review (Heywood & Meyer-Sahling, 2013); case analysis (Fritzen, 2007;Girodo, 1998 In relation to corruption risk management, the major areas of research are focused on the construction projects, procurement process, as well as business and governmental practices. The concern of the construction projects is to have an effective corruption model which could facilitate in evaluating, revealing and monitoring corruption in the construction project (Shan et al., 2015). This concern is due to the practice in China, where the scholars claimed that corruption took place in every stage of the construction project and in different forms (Zou, 2006). ...
... In fact, the scholars highlighted a few recommendations which include enhancements on the legal system, inspection strategies and processes as well as improvement in the promotion of ethical culture. In mitigating the corruption practices, it seems like random and regular checks, severe punishment and prosecution to corruption personnel would be an option in the construction projects (Shan et al., 2015;Slager, 2017;Voloshenko, 2015;Zou, 2006). Perhaps it is effective on top of the promotion of a healthy and clean construction culture which is necessary. ...
Corruption is a form of dishonesty or criminal offence, which more likely is undertaken by a person or organization with a position of authority. Indeed, slowly it becomes a risk which crucial to be managed properly as it has the potential to affect the outcome with an element of compromised eventually.In curbing the developmental risk of corruption in the environment, corruption risk management is stressed as a tool for improving the development outcomes with the indirect intention to reduce the fiduciary risk as well as reputational risk. Undeniably, the cost-benefit or corruption risk analysis is used as a basis in order to produce an effective or best practice in corruption risk management. The growth of corruption risk issues with an addition to the new challenges in the revolution of IR 4.0, there are various studies that have been conducted in this field. Consequently, this study aims to present the trend of the study on corruption risk management globally. This study adopted a bibliometric analysis based on the data obtained from the Scopus database. Based on the keywords used which are related to the “corruption risk” or “corruption risk management” in the title of the article, the study manages to obtain 212 documents for further trend analysis. Few tools have been engaged,i.e. SPSS to conduct the frequency analysis;VOSviewer for data visualization; and Harzing’s Publish or Perish for citation metrics and analysis. This study reports the results using standard bibliometric indicators such as document type, source type, subject area, year of publications, keywords, languages, geographical distribution, keywords, authorship and analysis of the citation. Based on the findings, there is a tremendous growth of publications on corruption risk management over the years since 1998; however, the lack of study in relation to digital corruption risk management. The increasing number of works on corruption risk management indicates the importance of the matter and unquestionable on the present focus should include technology issue in relation to the recent development of IR 4.0. © 2020, Institute of Advanced Scientific Research, Inc. All rights reserved.
... As noted in previous studies, lacking mature legislative systems could lead to corruption in megaprojects (Locatelli et al., 2017;Shan et al. 2015aShan et al. , 2015b. Ming Shan et al. (2015a) suggested that the government should build rules and regulations to improve process transparency to proactively prevent corruption practices both in government officials and construction enterprises. ...
... Hence, the company should be excluded. " The result is also in line with those of previous studies showing measurement and causes of corruption in China's construction projects (Shan et al., 2015b;Zhang et al., 2017). After CCG53, mechanisms to report wrongdoings (CCG54) and system of internal controls (CCG52) received the second and third factor loadings (0.849 and 0.827) on CCG. ...
Governmental governance is an emerging concept in the area of governance and is critical to the success of megaprojects. The aims of this study are to investigate the impact of governmental governance on megaproject performance and to identify the most critical component of governmental governance. To achieve these goals, a conceptual framework of governmental governance and a comprehensive framework of megaproject performance were established first, followed by proposing a research hypothesis that governmental governance could contribute to megaproject performance. To test the hypothesis, data collected by a questionnaire administered to 239 professionals were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modelling. Results showed that governmental governance could contribute to megaproject performance significantly. It also reported that “public monitoring and scrutiny” was the most critical latent variable of governmental governance on megaproject performance, followed by “systemic risk management,” “regulatory oversight,” “construction of clean government,” “strategic planning,” and “institutional design.” This study has contributed to the body of knowledge of governmental governance by investigating its impact on megaproject performance. The findings from this study are useful to the industry as well, because they can enhance practitioners’ understanding of governmental governance, which could help them improve their management of megaprojects eventually.
... In addition to the above, a study by Kimbro (2002) reveals that more transparent reporting signals lower corruption. It is documented in the literature that corruption in developing countries is much more severe than corruption in developed countries (Shan et al. 2015;Adeyeye 2012;d'Agostino et al. 2016;Brusca et al. 2018). The main problem that demotivates anti-corruption action in developing and transitional countries mainly comes from the weak accountability, the poor development of the legal institution, the frequent violations of law, regulations, and principles, as well as the restriction of civil freedom and healthy political competitions (Myint 2000;Shan et al. 2015). ...
... It is documented in the literature that corruption in developing countries is much more severe than corruption in developed countries (Shan et al. 2015;Adeyeye 2012;d'Agostino et al. 2016;Brusca et al. 2018). The main problem that demotivates anti-corruption action in developing and transitional countries mainly comes from the weak accountability, the poor development of the legal institution, the frequent violations of law, regulations, and principles, as well as the restriction of civil freedom and healthy political competitions (Myint 2000;Shan et al. 2015). Therefore, anti-corruption strategies should be mainly (and perhaps much strongerly) developed in these countries. ...
This paper aims to investigate the extent of anti-corruption reporting by ASEAN companies and examine whether coercive factors influence the level of disclosure. The authors adopt indicators from the Global Reporting Initiative version 4.0 to measure the extent of anti-corruption disclosures in 117 companies’ reports. Informed by a coercive isomorphism tenet drawn from the institutional theory, the authors propose that several institutional factors influence the extent of their voluntary disclosures. The findings reveal that a large degree of variability difference between the average levels of anti-corruption disclosure in Thailand (434 words) and the Philippines (149 words). The dependence on government tenders and foreign ownership are associated with the level of disclosure. Surprisingly, the United Nation Global Compact membership is not a significant determinant of anti-corruption reporting. This signifies that the membership in the international initiative does not correspond to individual company’s commitment to disclose anti-corruption information. In spite of significant efforts undertaken by global organizations to combat corruption, the level of anti-corruption disclosure is significantly different among the four countries under study. The disclosure of sensitive information such as the confirmed incidences of corruption cases requires careful consideration by the top management as it is subjected to legal implications and reputational risks. Thus, impression management can complement the coercive pressure in explaining the level of anti-corruption reporting. This study is among the first studies which explores the association between coercive factors and the level of anti-corruption disclosure in ASEAN region.
... Previous investigations declared many individual or organizational actions which may conducted to tackle corruption [3,4,9,10]. What are the prospected solutions regarding corruption in the construction industry in Indonesia? ...
... Globally, corruption is considered the biggest obstacle to economic and social development for many countries (Shan et al. 2015), mainly due to misappropriation of infrastructure development funds (Le et al. 2014). In several countries such as China, Iran, Morocco, Nigeria, and Tunisia, corruption is considered an immoral act that destroys the nation and is punishable by the death penalty (Bauer 2019;Barr 2020;FIDH 2020;Olutola 2020;Irdini 2021;Rafsanjani 2022). ...
This study examines the Indonesian Supreme Court Decision No. 438 K/Pid.Sus/2021 which was issued on January 29, 2021. This is a cassation ruling by the Supreme Court regarding a construction sector corruption case involving a government official in Yogyakarta. A normative juridical study with structured case analysis was employed to present the legal cases. It was found that the legal considerations of the judges were appropriate in determining that the defendant was guilty of corruption. However, the differences in the imposition of prison sentences and fines that existed between the panels of judges is interesting to investigate. This study contributes by uncovering corrupt practices involving government officials which are common in the construction industry.
... Public construction projects, in particular, pose a significant risk of corruption since the public construction industry has been rated as the most corrupt for the last few years. However, significant attempts have been made to quantify national corruption [17]. ...
The Ministry of Electricity (MoE) is one of Iraq’s most significant sectoral ministries. Despite massive amount invested in power generation, the country is plagued by power outages for more than three decades. One of the most common sources of the problem and significant impact on the waste of public funds in contractual processes. The Ministry of Planning issued regulations and procedures to facilitate the implementation of power plants by applying the sectorial standard bidding documents (SSBD) of design, supply, and installation of the electromechanical project to support MoE by developing economic projects that lead to raising Iraqi electricity generation field. The research evaluates the government evaluation procedures applied in SSBD and their impact on Iraqi power plant contracts. The study’s principal data gathering approaches via interviews with consultants resulted in a structured questionnaire that includes 25 criteria delivered to MoE’s senior staff. One hundred respondents out of 120. The relative importance index was applied to rank and match respondent consensus on the relevance of the 25 factors. This article’s primary conclusion is weak evaluation of SSBD criteria and inadequate bid evaluations, resulting in an ineffective procurement system, and the results aim to encourage MoE’s decision-makers to optimize the criteria.
... The fuzzy set theory was introduced by Zadeh in 1965 [42]. This theory can effectively cope with problems including ambiguous, subjective, and imprecise judgments and quantify the linguistic facet of available data for formulating the decision-making problems [43]. Definition 1. ...
Different therapeutic classes have been authorized for the treatment of hyperglycemia in type 2 diabetic patients, and even more drug classes are under development. This variety of alternative treatments and the general treatment algorithms of the clinical guidelines lead to a nonuniform prescription of drugs by endocrinologists and diabetic specialists. Diabetes medication choice is a multi-objective problem with many difficulties in making rational decisions because of the wide range of hyperglycemia-lowering agents with multiple benefits and multiple risk elements. This paper proposes a group Entropy-CRiteria Importance Through Inter-criteria Correlation (CRITIC)-Weighted Aggregated Sum Product ASsessment (WAS-PAS) multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) model with target-based criteria to prioritize and rank the glucose-lowering medicines for type 2 diabetes using the American Diabetes Association and International Diabetes Federation Clinical Guidelines. The proposed model consists of a weighting method comprising both objective and subjective approaches; the two most common objective approaches (i.e., Entropy and CRITIC methods) are used to find the objective weights. Then, these weights are aggregated with the subjective weights that endocrinologists assign to the criteria. Afterward, a WASPAS target-based method is developed to provide the final ranking of the medications. Finally, the close correlation between the final ranking of the proposed methodology and the average priority order of the medications obtained by different MCDM methods implies the strength and validity of the model performance.
... Corruption in construction projects has become a key factor affecting the construction market environment and the sustainable development of external construction [3]. How to effectively punish and prevent corruption in the construction projects has become a challenge all over the world [4], especially in developing countries such as China [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12], Ghana [13][14][15], Turkey [16], Brazil [17], and Iran [18]. Moreover, the construction industry is one of the "disaster areas" prone to corruption, which has seriously restricted the economic development [10]. ...
With the rapid development of construction projects, more and more engineering corruption problems have emerged. Therefore, this paper proposes a SEIR (susceptible-exposed-infected-recovered) based corruption model to better understand the propagation process of corruption cases in construction projects. In this model, the data samples are collected from the 2018 Engineering Corruption Case Judgment Document, the propagation parameters are obtained through actual case analysis with the help of complex networks, the change process and key influencing factors of actual nodes in engineering corruption cases are simulated by Python. The study results indicate that the personnel conforms to the “4–9 transmission law,” in which the early stage is a period of high incidence of corruption cases. The network of corruption cases is somewhat vulnerable, and its spread is about minus 8 times the change in crackdown rate and 10 times the change in infection rate. The variation range of the susceptible population S and the removed person R in the propagation simulation curve can predict the relationship between corruption infection rate and crackdown rate, which can provide theoretical guidance for preventing the occurrence of corruption.
... Risk assessment is a complex multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem where the judgment of respondents on likelihood and impacts of risk factors are generally qualitative and fuzzy in nature (Pourjavad and Shahin, 2020;Shan et al., 2015;Wang et al., 2004). Thus, fuzzy set theory has been commonly used in assessing risks (Zhao et al., 2016). ...
Today, sustainability has gained significant importance in supply chain management due to its strategic business advantages. Concurrently, industries are facing supply chain sustainability risks emanated from diversified sources. So far, however, literature is scarce regarding sustainability risk assessment. To fill this research gap, this paper presents a real-life case study of the textile industry to identify and quantify supply chain sustainability risks. In this paper, the fuzzy synthetic evaluation method is applied to compute the likelihood of occurrence, amount of impact, risk criticality of each risk factor group, and the total risk. This study finds five risk groups along with twenty sustainability risk factors. The risk groups are listed as ‘supplier’, ‘financial’, ‘social’, ‘transportation’, and ‘environmental’, based on their respective risk criticality values. The top three sustainability risk factors are ‘poor product transportation system’, ‘air, water, and soil pollution’, and ‘factory fire’. The overall risk criticality value of sustainability risks of the case industry is found as approximately high. An objective of this study is to guide practitioners to take the required strategic steps to assess and manage sustainability risks in their supply chains.
... In risk assessment, qualitative linguistic terms are unavoidable because they are equivocal and sophisticated (Wang et al., 2004). Additionally, experts' views on the likelihood of occurrence (LO) and magnitude of impact (MI) of risk factors are not always consistent (Shan et al., 2015). To tackle equivocal and inexact judgmental problems, a fuzzy set theory can be utilized effectively (Pedrycz et al., 2010). ...
This article attempts to evaluate risks associated with circular economy (CE) practices and strategies in circular supply chains (CSCs) in response to the research gap related to the risks in CSCs in the current body of knowledge. There is a need for risk classification and examination for increasing the CSC effectiveness in the industry. These kinds of studies in developing countries like Bangladesh are few. To reach the goals of this study, for evaluating the risk factors obtained from a survey-design and feedback from experts, a fuzzy synthetic evaluation (FSE) approach-based model is developed. The findings revealed that “quality degradation of recycled products” and “CE framework risks” are the most critical risk factors and groups in CSC initiatives, respectively. The findings are essential because they enable experts to understand the urgency in managing risks associated with CSC concepts. Therefore, the findings can be used to help industrial managers, government policymakers, and other stakeholders across the CSC of interest to implement and maintain the CSCs given the acknowledged risks.
... Todavia, na contramão desse raciocínio desenvolvimentista neoclássico proporcionado pelos processos de empreendedorismo está a corrupção, que consiste em um empecilho para o desenvolvimento político, social e econômico das sociedades hodiernas (LEON; ARAÑA; LEON, 2013;SHAN et al., 2015). ...
A literatura de econômica aponta o empreendedorismo como um importante aspecto de desenvolvimento e crescimento econômico, bem como assinala a corrupção como um inibidor da mesma. No entanto, poucos estudos apresentam a relação entre essas duas variáveis: empreendedorismo e corrupção. Desse modo, este artigo objetiva verificar a relação entre a corrupção, o empreendedorismo e o crescimento econômico. Tal estudo caracteriza-se como quantitativo e exploratório, utilizando levantamento de fontes secundárias, por meio dos escores do Índice Global de Empreendedorismo (IGE), do Índice de Percepção da Corrupção (IPC) e do Produto Interno Bruto Real (PIB). Além disso, os dados foram analisados considerando suas correlações, agrupamentos e regressões. Como resultados obteve-se que há uma relação significativa entre IPC e IGE, bem como tal relação apresenta-se inversa, sendo que, quando mais aumenta a corrupção de um país, menos empreendedor a mesma se torna. Por fim, pode-se obter uma equação preditiva que aproxima o valor do IPC com base nos resultados obtidos das outras variáveis independentes (IPC e PIB).
... in a volatile environment. It can quantify the linguistic value or facet of available data and decision-making variables(Shan, Chan, Le, Xia & Hu 2015). Fuzzy logic, in general, enables risk analysts to effectively and efficiently quantify uncorrelated information and make decisions based on preliminary and incomplete data, which is often the case in competitive bidding(Baloi, Daniel & Price 2003; Lin & Chen 2004, 586).In risk management, the fuzzy logic method can be used for selecting suppliers and proposals (e.g.,Halabi & Shaout 2019;Karuturi 2013;Lin & Chen 2004) or assessing potential risks in a tender and a project (e.g., Karuturi 2013;Djuric, Todorović, Djordjevic & Borota-Tisma 2019) ...
Risk management is essential in tendering and project management. With a reliable risk management method, companies can become more resilient to any level of complexity or unpredictability. A robust process could ensure any potential risks is mitigated.
The thesis investigates how experts handle risks in tendering and develops feasible risk management strategies at Arbonaut Ltd. This study attempts to clarify the advantages of risk management and define analysis techniques in the bidding process. The primary data of the research was collected from interviews with personnel from Arbonaut. At the same time, the secondary data was retrieved from the tendering reports and its proposal feed-backs.
The results determined that risks should be continually assessed throughout different phases. The decision quality of risk analysts can also influence the effectiveness of tender risk governance. Quantitative analysis models are trustworthy instruments in various indus-tries. In comparison, some qualitative tools are criticised for methodological errors and un-viable change. Businesses should tailor their risk analysis practices based on the business model, market traits, and core missions.
... The FSE technique was used in this study to develop the proposed PEMs for SSP implementation in Hong Kong. The study in developing the PEMs relies on data based on the survey respondents' perceptions, which are often subjective and ambiguous (Shan et al., 2015). Hence, the application of fuzzy set theory using FSE to objectifies the survey respondents' judgment. ...
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify the key facilitating factors for smart sustainable practices (SSP) and develop a project evaluation model (PEM) for SSP implementation in Nigeria and Hong Kong. SSP is coined from the integration of digital technologies such as Building Information Modelling (BIM) to facilitate sustainability practices.
Design/methodology/approach
The study employed a quantitative research design approach using empirical questionnaire surveys to solicit the opinions of 69 and 97 construction practitioners in Nigeria and Hong Kong. Purposive and snowball sampling techniques were used to identify the potential survey respondents. The fuzzy synthetic evaluation technique was used to develop the PEMs.
Findings
The findings revealed that adequate technical expertise of the SSP processes is critical in enhancing its implementation in Hong Kong and Nigeria; as well as the provision of training programs for specialists in smart and sustainable initiatives. Meanwhile, the study's findings advocated that for an SSP-enabled construction project, its project performance is mainly influenced by the client's satisfaction level and the early involvement of the project teams.
Research limitations/implications
The study's results are limited to the Nigeria and Hong Kong construction industries.
Practical implications
Construction stakeholders such as the clients, developers, contractors can utilize the PEMs to determine and track SSP initiatives implementation in building projects in a reliable and practical way.
Originality/value
No tool has been developed for evaluating SSP initiatives at the project level in the construction industry. Using case studies of Hong Kong and Nigeria, PEM indices were developed to measure and track SSP implementation in construction projects.
... Although other data solicitation techniques, such as participant observation documentary records and case studies, among others, were considered apropos for gathering the data needed, there were numerous advantages to using a questionnaire to solicit both qualitative and quantitative observations 1. The study adopted a quantitative approach to assess the vulnerability indexes of the activities and the stages of the procurement process, even though equal emphasis was placed on the qualitative views expressed by the respondents (Shan et al. 2015). 2. Because of the sensitive nature of this topic, the assurance of data confidentiality as well as the anonymity of the respondents was crucial to the study. ...
This study evaluates the susceptibility patterns of the procurement process of infrastructure projects to corruption in Hong Kong. An expert-survey is conducted with infrastructure-related professionals from Hong Kong (HK) using non-probabilistic sampling approaches. A total of 38 responses comprising of both close-ended and open-ended responses were retrieved and analyzed. This study employed a soft computing technique coupled with other descriptive tools to evaluate the susceptibility patterns. Whereas the contract stage of the process was revealed to be the highest-ranked susceptible stage of the procurement process, the model indicates that the procurement process in HK is relatively less prone to corrupt practices. Given that there are notable studies on the subject matter, this study arguably remains one of the first to examine the susceptibility patterns of the stages within the infrastructure procurement process to corruption in a specific context of the developed region. It contributes to the existing knowledge of corruption in infrastructure project procurement by revealing the respective stages of the procurement process that require more in-depth investigations and more stringent efforts in not only extirpating the vulnerabilities but also developing measures that will safeguard the procurement process and related activities from corruption. The approach adopted in this study can guide the assessment of similar corruption-related constructs in other contexts or regions.
... Nonetheless, the RII technique does not consider the subjective and imprecise judgements of the experts involved in rating the factors influencing labour productivity. According to Shan et al. (2015), the perceptions of respondents are typically subjective and uncertain. On the other hand, the fuzzy synthetic evaluation (FSE) can deal with the problems relating to ambiguous, subjective and imprecise judgements (Liu et al., 2013). ...
Purpose
The main objective of this research is to identify the most important human resource management (HRM) practices, which have the potential to enhance labour productivity using fuzzy synthetic evaluation approach.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used a mixed-methods research design in which qualitative data were collected and analysed during Phase I and quantitative data were analysed during Phase II. Nineteen experts who have experience in building construction projects were involved in interviews conducted in Phase I. During Phase II, quantitative data were collected from contractors that were involved in the delivery of building projects using questionnaires and the data were analysed using FSE technique.
Findings
Clear delegation of responsibility, stability of organisational structure and crew composition are found to be the three most important HRM practices that can enhance productivity in building construction projects. The findings of the study showed that the overall importance index computed using the FSE model is 3.65 (≈ 4) with an equivalent linguistic term of “very important”. The study also suggested that the top three HRM practices should be implemented conjointly as there is no significant difference among their weights.
Originality/value
The output of this research can provide important information regarding the HRM practices in the Australian construction industry. Thus, international developers or contractors who want to do construction business in Australia can implement the essential HRM practices so that the productivity of their construction projects will not be affected negatively.
... Along this line, scholars have attended to the relation between policy catastrophe and the regulatory state in different contexts, and suggested that political elites utilized the symbolic value of mega projects to consolidate state power (Moran 2001;Flyvbjerg 1998), and facilitate collusions among financial corporations, professional service companies, and property developers (Jennings 2013). These stateled mega projects have led to increased social inequality (Black 2007;Flyvbjerg et al. 2003) and bureaucratic corruption (Shan et al., 2015) rather than improving the wellbeing of people in general. ...
This study investigates the impact of inflation and exchange rates on export in the light of the Turkish trade regime and policies between 1980 and 2014 are considered. Theoretical and practical experiences show that inflation and lower exchange rates can be used as important instruments for increasing export leading growth (Akalpler E., 2013, p.1).
However, after applying the ordinary least squares (OLS)and augmented dickey fuller (ADF) unit root tests for the considered period to investigate the effects on the selected variables, the relationship between inflation and exports had no significant positive impact on the development of trade capacity. Similarly, when the inflation rates are considered for the unit root test, its critical values in the ADF test are higher. From the test results, it is concluded that inflation also has no positive effects on growth rate, as indicated in the ordinary least square method results.
The study aims to investigate the life cycle stages of public private partnership (PPP) projects in which corruption exists and whether one may be able to mitigate corruption. Four hypotheses were developed and tested. Firstly, the study finds that corruption happens in PPP projects in India both at project identification-preparation-procurement stage as well as at implementation-transfer-post-transfer stage. Secondly, corruption contains a ripple effect from identification-preparation-procurement stage to implementation-transfer-post-transfer stage. Additionally, efforts to mitigate corruption through audit do not seem to have the desired effect. Hence, regulators need to consider alternative delivery models to contain the ripple effects of corruption.
A corrupção é um fato social capaz de gerar consequências extremamente danosas para a sociedade, atingindo diretamente o sistema democrático, onde os agentes almejam ganhos privados em detrimento do interesse público. A Operação Lava Jato, realizada pela Polícia Federal em conjunto com o Ministério Público Federal, investigou uma série de crimes relacionados com corrupção na empresa estatal, envolvendo a participação de agentes públicos, políticos, empresários e doleiros. Portanto, esta tese tem como objetivo compreender teoricamente como ocorre a corrupção pela lente da ação empreendedora e empiricamente entender a Operação Lava Jato. A tese está dividida em duas grandes partes. A primeira parte é constituída pela introdução, referencial teórico, e aspectos metodológicos. A
introdução apresenta a contextualização do tema, a tese, o problema de pesquisa, o objetivo geral e específico, as justificativas teóricas, práticas e sociais, e a organização da tese. Já o referencial teórico disserta sobre a natureza da corrupção, a natureza do empreendedorismo e sobre o empreendedorismo corrupto. Os aspectos metodológicos são formados pela natureza
ontológica e epistemológica da pesquisa, pela abordagem qualitativa, pela classificação como pesquisa exploratória e descritiva e pela sistematização metodológica. Já a segunda parte foi dividida em três artigos. O primeiro artigo consiste em uma revisão integrativa com o objetivo de explorar as discussões teóricas que relacionam corrupção e empreendedorismo, evidenciando as críticas, limitações e gaps de pesquisa. Este artigo permitiu a verificação de oportunidades de pesquisa sobre a temática, possibilitando a determinação do caminho a ser seguido na elaboração dos demais artigos que irão compor a tese. O segundo artigo é uma pesquisa bibliográfica sobre o empreendedorismo corrupto como um subtipo do empreendedorismo criminoso. Foi realizada uma análise de conteúdo, a partir das seguintes categorias: terminologias relacionadas ao empreendedorismo criminoso; limitações da literatura; empreendedorismo criminoso x legal: características dos fenômenos; teorias utilizadas para analisar o empreendedorismo criminoso. Na sequência, foi identificado o empreendedorismo corrupto e o seu atual estágio na literatura. O terceiro artigo tem como objetivo propor um esquema para compreender a corrupção a partir da ação empreendedora, como um guia metodológico para analisar o fenômeno da corrupção. Para aplicação do
esquema, foi realizado um estudo de caso da Operação Lava Jato. Verificou-se que o cruzamento entre as tensões na lógica institucional e a orientação de vida dos indivíduos faz com que o agente corrupto utilize os meios ao seu alcance para desenvolver a oportunidade de ocorrência da ação corrupta e uma prática inovadora para auferir vantagens indevidas.
Accepted by: Konstantinos Nikolopoulos
Corruption is affecting many developing countries, manifested often in construction projects. This study identifies the factors causing corruption and prioritizes anti-corruption measures in large-scale urban construction projects with empirical data from a developing country: Iran. The model consists of six main dimensions including 24 measures and was developed by systematically reviewing the literature as well as collecting primary data through interviewing experts. The model prioritizes the anti-corruption measures through an integrated method of the fuzzy best-worst method and fuzzy measurement alternatives and ranking according to the compromise solution. The field of corruption has a multi-faceted nature and inherent uncertainty, which necessitates this integrated approach for its analysis. The results reveal that the ‘lawlessness and deregulation in public construction projects’ and ‘top management and leader commitment’ are the most important causes of corruption. This study offers two main contributions. First, it develops a conceptual model to evaluate and prioritize anti-corruption measures; second, it generates practical solution for reducing corruption in municipal and urban management, thus enhancing the prospects of successful construction projects in developing countries.
This paper extracts the causes of collusion behavior based on literature analysis and expert interviews and obtains collusion causation data. The Apriori algorithm is used to mine the relationship between the causes of collusion behavior, and the network model of the causes of collusion behavior is constructed. The successive failures theory mines the most easily evolved causation chain of collusion behavior. The study results showed that: (1) The critical causes of the formation of collusion are self-discipline consciousness and difficulty of investigation. The strong control ability of causation network of collusion behavior is self-discipline consciousness, difficulty of investigation, and transparency of rights operation. (2) Based on the analysis of the group case data, eight causation chains are most likely to form collusion in actual cases, among which the causation chain of collusion behavior that occurs frequently is “difficulty of investigation⟶self-discipline consciousness⟶interest chain”. (3) In view of the causation nodes in the causation chain of collusion behavior, we propose more effective preventive and preventive control measures for collusion between bidders and tenderers in construction projects from three aspects, namely, behavior awareness binding, collusion implementation dilemma and collusion supervision deterrence.
Freeways in Australia play a significant role in connecting distant communities, shifting freight and strengthening the country’s economy. To meet the growing needs of present and future generations, delivering a socially sustainable road infrastructure that creates generational benefits is essential. However, the existing literature reveals the lack of comprehensive indicators to assess the social sustainability performance of freeway projects. Therefore, this paper aims to identify a critical set of system-specific indicators to evaluate the life cycle social footprint of Australian freeways.
This study conducted 31 interview questionnaire surveys with actively engaged stakeholders involved in various freeway projects around Australia. The data collected was analysed using fuzzy set theory and other statistical approaches.
The study identified 42 critical indicators for assessing the social sustainability performance throughout the life cycle of freeways in the Australian context. For example, stakeholder involvement, reduction of casualty rate due to road accidents, fair remuneration to project workforce and improved accessibility to required services.
The context-specific opinions extracted from the industry experts and the comprehensive set of critical indicators identified would ensure that all the vital aspects of social sustainability are considered throughout the life cycle of Australian freeways in the future, assisting the decision-makers in enhancing the project’s social sustainability performance.
The linguistic explanations associated with the ratings given by the industry experts provide greater insight into the context of the life cycle social sustainability assessment of Australian freeways exclusively.
Purpose
Inefficiency dilemmas in project governance are caused by various risks arising from the characteristic of construction supply chain projects, such as poor project performance, conflicts between stakeholders and cost overrun. This research aims to establish a fuzzy synthetic evaluation (FSE) model to analyze construction supply chain risk factors. Corresponding risk mitigation strategies are provided to facilitate the improvement performance of ongoing construction supply chain projects.
Design/methodology/approach
A literature review is utilized to reveal the deficiencies of construction supply chain risk management. Thus, a total of five hundred (500) questionnaires are distributed to construction professionals, and four hundred and thirty-five (435) questionnaires are recovered to obtain the evaluation data of construction professionals on critical risk factors. Additionally, the FSE is used to analyze and rank the significance of critical risk factors. Finally, this research discusses nine critical risk factors with high weight in the model, and explains the reason for the significance of critical risk factors in the construction supply chain.
Findings
The questionnaire results show that the thirty-one (31) identified critical risk factors are verified by related practitioners (government departments, universities and research institutions, owners, construction units, financial institutions, design units, consulting firms). Thirty-one (31) identified critical risk factors are divided into common risks, risks from contractors and risks from owners. The most significant factors in the three categories, respectively, are “political risks,” “owner's unprofessional” approach and “cash flow.” Managing these risks can facilitate the development of the construction supply chain.
Originality/value
This paper expands the research perspective of construction supply chain risk management and complements the risks in the construction supply chain. For practitioners, the research result provides some corresponding measures to deal with these risks. For researchers, the research result provides the direction of construction supply chain risk treatment.
Sustainable building approaches should be included at every level of the development process
for maximum benefit without jeopardising the structure’s intended usage. However, researchers
have paid less attention to how they may be applied to developing nations. This study aims to investigate
the numerous determinants of sustainable delivery in the construction industries of developing
nations. For this to happen, existing literature was used to inform the development of a closed-ended
questionnaire. Consequently, 95 structured questionnaires by building professionals investigated
the importance of these factors. As a result, the factor’s structure was determined and confirmed
using the study’s partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) approach, which was
utilised to investigate the connections between these factors. According to the PLS-SEM analysis,
the factors most strongly influencing sustainable delivery are those associated with the preparation,
followed by evaluation and use factors, respectively. As a result of this research, authorities in Egypt’s
building sector will have a road map for implementing sustainability principles to reduce building
costs, boost the local ecosystem, and strengthen social cohesion
The present study has been conducted to construct a valid and reliable checklist of indicators for the construction of corruption measurement model in China. The study has used a DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control) tool of six sigma technique for the checklist process improvement. Twenty-four experts with diversified background were included in the study to evaluate the applicability of the adapted version of corruption measurement tool in the Chinese context. The checklist comprised of five major departments under administrative sector; human resource management, financial management, asset management, external control, and services and authority departments. Kruskal Wallis test, Cronbach's alpha, R2, and internal consistency were applied to check the reliability and validity of the checklist. The results showed that all the indicators are applicable in the Chinese context and the designed checklist is highly reliable and valid for the construction of administrative corruption measurement model in China. This tool could be used in measuring the administrative level corruption in China and other researchers can test its applicability in different contexts for future use.
Understanding corruption in the cyber space warranted greater attention. What more, there are
relatively limited studies in the literature that provide understanding of the phenomenon. The objective
of the study is to provide understanding of corruption in the cyber space and how corruption risk
management could assist in mitigating corruption in the cyber space. This study employed a Gioia
methodology. Using Gioia methodology process of data collection, i.e. interviews as primary data
collection, fourteen experts were interviewed to gain in-depth understanding of the phenomenon. Gioia
data analysis process was used to provide understanding on the concept. This study found several
important findings. First, cyber corruption is escalating in Malaysia. Second, Corruption Risk
Management (CRM) is significant in curbing corruption activities in the cyber space. Third, there are
three stages of CRM: 1) recognising corruption by a ‘click,’ 2) analysing the system, and 3) evaluation.
The findings advance the knowledge on cybercrime, where it extended previous work on mitigating
measures. As this is the first study that developed a CRM model using Gioia methodology, the findings
contribute to giving novelty to fraud study, indicating a pathway to mitigate corruption in the digital
environment.
Risk management has become an integral part of any management task. Given that the construction sector is one of the most risky, Corruption risk is an important issue in the construction industry. Corruption is one of the biggest problems facing governments and it stands as an obstacle to their sustainable development. Based on the ISO 31000 risk management standard and the ISO 31000 Bow-tie risk management assessment from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). This paper aims to manage the corruption risk at the operation and maintenance stage in the Iraqi construction projects using qualitative analysis and it offers a policy analysis by the Bow-tie tool with the potential to address risks associated with future corruption. Twelve causal factors of corruption were identified and ranked according to priority. It developed a feasible technique for risk-analysis sessions with the Bow-tie model’s structure allows professionals in the construction sector in the Federal Board of Supreme Audit in Iraq to recognize the routes from and to the corruption risk barriers and events could be identified that either attempt to mitigate consequences or stop the occurrence of top events. The first corruption risk is releasing the well-executed letter of guarantee for the contracting after the initial receipt, that is, before the end of the maintenance period and the final receipt of the project scored (0.4992) at this stage in the construction project in Iraq. The resultant model assists stakeholders in gaining a better understanding of corruption risks, their origins, and their consequences.
Despite the importance of client’s role in securing public trust, fairness, and equity in all transactions within the construction market, little is known about the current state of fair trade practices committed by the clients in public construction projects. Therefore, this study proposes an evaluation model for assessing fair practice of public project clients in the Korean construction industry. Twenty-four indicators grouped into six categories were derived as an evaluation framework through literature review, media, and expert interview. A questionnaire survey was conducted to evaluate the performance of fair practice and derive the gap between perceived importance and performance of each indicator. A total of 95 responses was analyzed using gap analysis and importance-performance analysis (IPA) to reveal specific practices with the highest priority for improvement. Lastly, this study proposes a performance evaluation index (PEI) to quantitatively rate the score on fairness of public clients in Korea. This study provides a thorough insight on the forms of unfair practice in the Korean construction industry, of which the results would be especially useful for industry practitioners and policy makers to effectively deal with unfair practices in the construction industry.
Corruption has been identified as a major problem in construction projects. It can jeopardize the success of these projects. Consequently, corruption has garnered significant attention in the construction industry over the past two decades, and several studies on corruption in construction projects (CICP) have been conducted. Previous efforts to analyze and review this body of knowledge have been manual, qualitative and subjective, thus prone to bias and limited in the number of reviewed studies. There remains a lack of inclusive, quantitative, objective and computational analysis of global CICP research to inform future research, policy and practice. This study aims to address this lack by providing the first inclusive bibliometric study exploring the state-of-the-art of global CICP research. To this end, a quantitative and objective technique aided by CiteSpace was used to systematically and computationally analyze a large corpus of 542 studies retrieved from the Web of Science and published from 2000 to 2020. The findings revealed major and influential CICP research journals, persons, institutions, countries, references and areas of focus, as well as revealing how these interact with each other in research networks. This study contributes to the in-depth understanding of global research on CICP. By highlighting the principal research areas, gaps, emerging trends and directions, as well as patterns in CICP research, the findings could help researchers, practitioners and policy makers position their future CICP research and/or mitigation strategies.
Familiarity with the strategies of Academic Corruption (AC) strengthens meritocracy values, increases participation, and education quality calls for the proper use of policies and cultural values by the higher education system. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of lean culture (LC) on reducing AC with the mediation of positive organizational politics (POP). Statistical population of this research included faculty members of University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Iran. The method of this study was correlational, and it was conducted on faculty members of University of Sistan and Baluchestan with a sample of 185 people based on stratified random sampling method. The research tools included three questionnaires of lean culture questionnaire adapted from Maciąg model (Maciąg, 2019b), positive organizational policy questionnaire adapted from Kacmar and Carlson (1997); Nye and Witt (1993), & Sen et al. (2018) models and the researcher-made questionnaire of reduction of academic corruption adapted from Tierney and Sabharwal (2017) model. According to the findings, confirmatory validity, composite reliability, and Cranbach's alpha were reported to be appropriate in all the three tools. The analysis method was using Partial Least Squares (SmartPLS). The results showed that LC directly and indirectly was effective in reducing AC through POP. Moreover, LC had a direct effect on POP and POP had a direct effect on AC reduction. It could be stated that lean values besides positive organizational policy could play a constructive role in reducing AC; and reducing AC is somehow connected to cultural and political factors of higher education.
This study investigates the correlational impacts of two key constructs associated with corruption in construction and infrastructure-related projects: 1) the effectiveness of extant anti-corruption measures (ACMs) in project planning, procurement and management; and 2) the barriers that hinder the effectiveness of the ACMs. Typically, the study examines the correlational impacts of within developing countries, using Ghana as its immediate context of research. A survey was conducted with 62 professionals involved in project procurement and management. Twenty-four relational iterations were established and examined among the identified constructs (i.e., four barriers and six ACM constructs), forming the study’s hypotheses. The results showed that the lack of knowledge and understanding of one’s right in a contractual environment and political barriers were the most critical variable and construct, respectively. The partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) results revealed that seven out of the twenty-four statistical relationships tested were significant. Primarily, the socio-political barriers’ construct, as the most critical one, revealed to have strong impacts on administrative, compliance, and promotional anti-corruption measures. The findings justify why most projects in developing countries are plagued with political corruption that leads to cost and time overruns. Theoretically, this study contributes to the body of knowledge on approaches for dealing with corruption in construction and infrastructure-related projects, an unexplored topic. Practically, it can inform relevant stakeholders of projects, policymakers, and anti-corruption advocates, of the significant barriers that obstruct the effectiveness of anti-corruption measures and the means to extirpate them.
Fuzzy Set Theory - And Its Applications, Third Edition is a textbook for courses in fuzzy set theory. It can also be used as an introduction to the subject. The character of a textbook is balanced with the dynamic nature of the research in the field by including many useful references to develop a deeper understanding among interested readers. The book updates the research agenda (which has witnessed profound and startling advances since its inception some 30 years ago) with chapters on possibility theory, fuzzy logic and approximate reasoning, expert systems, fuzzy control, fuzzy data analysis, decision making and fuzzy set models in operations research. All chapters have been updated. Exercises are included.
Corruption perceptions are commonly utilized as essential information to measure corruption across countries and regions. In this paper we consider the hypothesis that respondents to corruption perception questions utilize different response scales in their answers, i.e. for identical levels of corruption practices, subjects from one country could answer a different level of corruption perception than subjects from another country, based on socioeconomic characteristics. This hypothesis is investigated by utilizing the technique of anchoring vignettes with a sample of citizens in Spain and Chile. The results show that response scales are used differently across individuals in both countries, suggesting that the use of uncorrected measures of corruption perceptions could mislead some conclusions about the comparisons of the corruption levels between countries.
The authors surveyed exploratory factor analysis (EFA) practices in three organizational journals from 1985 to 1999 to investigate purposes for conducting EFA and to update and extend Ford, MacCallum, and Tait’s (1986) review. Ford et al. surveyed the same journals from 1975 to 1984, concluding that researchers often applied EFA poorly (e.g., relying too heavily on principal components analysis [PCA], eigenvalues greater than 1 to choose the number of factors, and orthogonal rotations). Fabrigar, Wegener, MacCallum, and Strahan (1999) reached a similar conclusion based on a much smaller sample of studies. This review of 371 studies shows reason for greater optimism. The tendency to use multiple number-of-factors criteria and oblique rotations has increased somewhat. Most important, the authors find that researchers tend to make better decisions when EFA plays a more consequential role in the research. They stress the importance of careful and thoughtful analysis, including decisions about whether and how EFA should be used.
China has made a continuing effort over the past decade to conduct a judicial reform (Hu, 2007; Jiang, 1997) in order to accommodate its fast-developing market and economy. The judicial reform changes a number of aspects of Chinese litigation practices including the selection of judges, the hearing of cases and the writing of judgments. This research aims at describing, analyzing and explaining some of the ways in which Chinese judges change their discursive construction of civil judgments due to the ongoing judicial reform. A variety of data are used in this research: a medium-sized corpus of Chinese civil judgments, lawyers and judges’ accounts, written laws (statutes) and legal news reports. Analytical results suggest that Chinese civil judgments, although being a highly institutionalized and standardized genre, include a number of discursive instances demonstrating Chinese judges’ context-specific writing variations and their efforts in enhancing the transparency of background litigation practices.
Empirical research about corruption is quite a new undertaking. In an attempt to determine the causes and consequences of corruption academics have lately concentrated on cross-country analysis. At the center is mostly the use of some professional assessment of the degree of corruption in various countries. Such assessments are sometimes conducted by agencies in an attempt to determine country risks and sold to investors. Other sources such as surveys have been conducted in recent years and contributed to a cross-country assessment of the extent of corruption. These data have been fruitfully applied to the investigations about the following relationships.
Following the growing consensus within and outside the Nigerian construction industry that corruption and other unethical practices are endemic in the industry, coupled with scarce empirical study on professional ethics in the industry, there is a need to examine the perceptions of the professionals regarding ethical issues. This study therefore assesses the perceptions of construction professionals regarding ethical issues in the Nigerian construction industry. One hundred and ninety two professionals were sampled from 108 construction organizations comprising 55 consultancy organizations, 35 contracting organizations, and 18 client organizations in selected Nigerian major cities. A survey research design was employed. Descriptive statistics were used in analyzing the data. The results indicate that there is a decline in unethical practices within the industry compared to the pre-1999 era. The more common form of bribery is financial. Quantity surveyors were perceived as the most susceptible to bribery among the professionals in the industry. The builder/construction manager faces the greatest pressure to act unethically among the professionals in the construction industry. The study recommends that professional institutions should give more priority consideration to ethical discourse at technical sessions, public lectures, and seminars. Furthermore, project financiers should ensure adequate and prompt remuneration for professional services. Since the quantity surveyors are perceived as the most susceptible to bribery, clients should ensure that their discretionary powers in the procurement of building projects are limited or subjected to third party verification. Finally, additional research is needed to explore the types of measures that might help curb professionals' unethical practices in Nigeria.
Discusses 3 techniques for assessing the psychometric adequacy of correlation matrices; (a) computation of M. S. Bartlett's test of sphericity, (b) inspection of the off-diagonal elements of the anti-image covariance matrix, and (c) computation of the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin 1970 measure of sampling adequacy. The advantages and disadvantages of each are compared with respect to assessment of correlation matrices prior to factor analysis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
In this paper we demonstrate that the axiomatic measurement approach developed in the poverty and inequality literature can be usefully applied to the measurement of corruption. We develop a conceptual framework for organizing corruption data and discuss several objective, aggregate corruption measures consistent with axiomatic requirements. We then provide an empirical application of the methodology and estimate the respective corruption measures for a sample of over 25 countries during the year of 2000. Our empirical analysis reveals significant discrepancies between the country rankings generated by these measures and those provided by the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) from Transparency International. To our knowledge, this paper represents a first analysis of corruption measurement using an axiomatic framework. Acknowledgments: We thank seminar and session participants at LAMES/LACEA 08, SBE 08, Midwest Economic Association Meetings, and the Walton College of Business.
Enterprise risk management (ERM) has been practiced in a wide variety of industries, and construction firms have been seen as prime candidates for ERM adoption. The objectives of this study are to develop a computerized knowledge-based decision support system (KBDSS) for ERM and to investigate the ERM maturity in Chinese construction firms (CCFs) based in Singapore. The KBDSS allows users to assess the ERM maturity of their organizations using a fuzzy model and performs the perceptibly complicated mathematical calculations. By conducting a questionnaire survey with 35 Singapore-based CCFs and inputting the relevant data into the KBDSS, the ERM maturity of these firms was assessed. The results suggested that these CCFs had a low level of ERM maturity and that the weakest criterion was the application of a risk management information system. The results also indicated positive association between ERM maturity and firm size, and significant agreement on the ranking of the maturity criteria among all the survey CCFs. The ERM maturity of Singapore-based CCFs can serve as a benchmark, with which the other firms can compare, and the methodology adopted is applicable to other construction firms, thus contributing to the body of knowledge relating to ERM.
Corruption is a symptom of fundamental economic, political, and institutional causes. Addressing corruption effectively means tackling these underlying causes. The major emphasis must be put on prevention - that is, on reforming economic policies, institutions, and incentives. Efforts to improve enforcement of anticorruption legislation using the police, ethics offices, or special watchdog agencies within government will not bear fruit otherwise. The following are only some of the major economic policy changes that will unambiguously reduce opportunities for corruption: lowering tariffs and other barriers to international trade; unifying market-determined exchange rates and interest rates; eliminating enterprise subsidies; minimizing regulations, licensing requirements, and other barriers to entry for new firms and investors; demonopolizing and privatizing government assets; and transparently enforcing prudential banking regulations and auditing and accounting standards. The reform of government institutions may include civil service reform; improved budgeting, financial management, and tax administration; and strengthened legal and judicial systems. Such reforms should involve changing government structures and procedures, placing greater focus on internal competition and incentives in the public sector, and strengthening internal and external checks and balances. As a complement to these broader reforms, the careful and transparent implementation of enforcement measures, such as prosecuting some prominent corrupt figures, can also have an impact.
The aim of this research is to investigate the political, economic, and legal (PEL) risks faced by foreign firms when undertaking construction projects in Vietnam. The specific objectives are to investigate the types of PEL risks faced and the risk response techniques adopted. The data collection instrument was a questionnaire with open ended questions. The data collection method was in-depth face to face interviews with 18 experts from France, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, and the United States who have managed construction projects in Vietnam. The major risks faced include corruption, termination of public projects, bureaucratic administrative system to obtain permits and approvals, changing and inconsistent regulations, inadequate legal framework, fluctuation of exchange, and interest and inflation rates. Ways to respond to these risks are recommended by the experts. Foreign firms undertaking construction projects in Vietnam may make use of these findings to identify their PEL risks and determine the appropriate risk response measures to give their projects a higher chance of success.
Gaps between cash outflows and inflows throughout the life cycle of construction projects can create extended periods of low cash availability for a construction contractor, jeopardizing the financial stability of the business. A number of researchers have therefore attempted to model cash availability at a project level. However, at a firm level, financial stability is more thoroughly examined as a function of the cash flows related to multiple projects. This paper proposes a methodology on the basis of fuzzy systems theory to forecast cash requirements of a portfolio of projects for a construction firm, taking into account the effect of changing portfolio composition on portfolio cash-flow risk. Portfolio cash-flow risk is calculated from a variance matrix created by using covariance among cash flows of pairs of projects. Expert opinions of a group of highway construction contractors regarding project selection, project risk assessment and cash control were collected to create a fuzzy proportional derivative (PD) model that predicts portfolio risk for a construction firm. The model was assessed by the same group of contractors for overall logic (if/then rule base), appropriateness of cash-flow calculations (moving weights of cost categories), and practicality through application on a hypothetical test case. The paper concludes that a fuzzy proportional derivative model can be an effective tool to establish trends in cash-flow availability and risk across a portfolio of construction projects.
Understanding relationships between causes of and vulnerabilities to corruption are essential in corruption research in construction because it addresses the fundamental issues of the widespread corruption in the public construction sector. Through an empirical survey, this study aims to investigate effects of the two causes of corruption, the flawed regulation systems and lack of a positive industrial climate, on five various kinds of corrupt vulnerabilities in China. The data were collected from officials, practitioners, and academics involved in the Chinese public construction sector, and then analyzed by factor analysis and partial least-squares structural equation modeling. The analysis results suggest that the flawed regulation systems have a higher influence on corruption vulnerabilities than the lack of a positive industrial climate. The results also indicate that the most influential item on the flawed regulation systems is negative leader roles, followed by inadequate sanctions, lack of rigorous supervision, and multifarious licenses and permits. The most influential item on the lack of a positive industrial climate is interpersonal connections, followed by overclose relationships among contracting parties, great project complexity, and poor professional ethical standards. Based on these research findings, this study contributes to knowledge by validating the theoretical hypothesis in China. Finally, recommendations for future practice and research are provided in this study.
Forum papers are thought-provoking opinion pieces or essays founded in fact, sometimes containing speculation, on a civil engineering topic of general interest and relevance to the readership of the journal. The views expressed in this Forum article do not necessarily reflect the views of ASCE or the Editorial Board of the journal.
Estimating the durations of construction activities requires experts knowledge. Statements used by these experts usually contain some sort of imprecision. Previous studies have demonstrated the use of fuzzy set theory for quantifying the imprecision associated with the durations of project activities. These studies, however, did not address the processing of this information for generating a complete schedule. This paper presents a new network scheduling method based on fuzzy sets theory. The proposed method incorporates a number of new techniques that facilitate: (1) the representation of imprecise activity durations; (2) the calculation of scheduling parameters; and (3) the interpretation of the fuzzy results generated. Two network examples are worked out to illustrate the use of the proposed method, and to compare its capabilities with Monte Carlo simulation. The results indicate that the proposed method is capable of providing schedules that can appropriately account for the nature as well as the type of uncertainties normally encountered in construction projects. The results are in close agreement with those obtained using Monte Carlo simulation. The calculations are, however, more simple, requiring less computational effort than that needed in Monte Carlo simulation. The proposed method is practical and can be easily computerized.
The aim of this paper is to propose a decision support tool for contractors before the bidding stage to quantify the probability of delay in construction projects in Turkey by using the relative importance index (RII) method incorporated into fuzzy logic. For this purpose, 83 delay factors were identified, categorized into 9 major groups through a detailed literature review process as well as interviews with experts from the construction industry. The relative importance of these delay factors and groups was quantified by using the relative importance index method. The ranking of the factors and groups was demonstrated according to their level of effect on delay. A delay assessment model was proposed using the fuzzy set theory by taking into account the delay factors characterized in construction projects. The assessment model was developed using a commercial software product. The proposed methodology was tested in a real case study; and the probability of the delay of the project was evaluated by means of the assessment model after the required inputs were entered into the software. The factors and groups that contribute most to the probability of delays were discussed depending on the case study results. The assessment model results were found to be satisfactory. Finally, some recommendations were made in order to minimize and control delays in construction projects.
Although enterprise risk management (ERM) has been advocated in the construction industry, its implementation is still plagued with hindrances. The objectives are to identify the critical hindrances to ERM implementation in Chinese construction firms (CCFs) and investigate the interrelationships among these critical hindrances. To achieve the objectives, 36 hindrances were identified through a literature review and a questionnaire survey was performed with 119 respondents. The results indicated that 20 hindrances were deemed critical, among which insufficient resources (e.g., time, money, and people) was ranked top. Additionally, the critical hindrances were categorized into lack of relevant resources and procedures (LRRP), lack of senior-level support and leadership (LSSL), and lack of high-quality data (LHQD). LSSL contributed to LRRP, whereas LRRP resulted in LHQD. The managerial implications drawn from these results can help the management take measures to overcome them. Although this study is focused on CCFs, other firms may use the identified hindrances and follow the method to prepare their customized list of hindrances.
‘This is an excellent book which introduces the underlying concepts and practical issues related to psychosocial measurement and scale development’ - Statistics in Medicine. Effective measurement is a cornerstone of scientific research. Yet many social science researchers lack the tools to develop appropriate assessment instruments for the measurement of latent social-psychological constructs. Scaling Procedures: Issues and Applications examines the issues involved in developing and validating multi-item self-report scales of latent constructs. Distinguished researchers and award-winning educators Richard G Netemeyer, William O Bearden, and Subhash Sharma present a four-step approach for multi-indicator scale development. With these steps, the authors include relevant empirical examples and a review of the concepts of dimensionality, reliability, and validity. Scaling Procedures: Issues and Applications supplies cutting-edge strategies for developing and refining measures. Providing concise chapter introductions and summaries, as well as numerous tables, figures, and exhibits, the authors present recommended steps and overlapping activities in a logical, sequential progression. Designed for graduate students in measurement//psychometrics, structural equation modeling, and survey research seminars across the social science disciplines, this book also addresses the needs of researchers and academics in all business, psychology, and sociology-related disciplines.
Many academic researchers have conducted studies on the selection of a design-build (DB) delivery method; however, there are few studies on the selection of DB operational variations, which pose challenges to many clients. The selection of a DB operational variation is a multicriteria decision-making process that requires clients to objectively evaluate the performance of each DB operational variation with reference to the selection criteria. This evaluation process is often characterized by subjectivity and uncertainty. To resolve this deficiency, the current investigation aimed to establish a fuzzy multicriteria decision-making (FMCDM) model for selecting the most suitable DB opera-tional variation. A three-round Delphi questionnaire survey was conducted to identify the selection criteria and their relative importance. A fuzzy set theory approach, namely, the modified horizontal approach with the bisector error method, was applied to establish the fuzzy membership functions, which enables clients to perform quantitative calculations on the performance of each DB operational variation. The FMCDM was developed using the weighted-mean method to aggregate the overall performance of DB operational variations with regard to the selection criteria. The proposed FMCDM model enables clients to perform quantitative calculations in a fuzzy decision-making environment and provides a useful tool to cope with different project attributes.
Although the design-build (DB) system has been demonstrated to be an effective delivery method and has gained popularity worldwide, it has not gained the same popularity in the construction market of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The objective of this study was to investigate the barriers to entry in the DB market. A total of 22 entry barriers were first identified through an open-ended questionnaire survey with 15 top construction professionals in the construction market of China. A broad questionnaire survey was further conducted to prioritize these entry barriers. Statistical analysis of responses shows that the most dominant barriers to entry into the DB market are lack of design expertise, lack of interest from owners, lack of suitable organization structure, lack of DB specialists, and lack of credit record system. Analysis of variance indicates that there is no difference of opinions among the respondent groups of academia, government departments, state-owned companies, and private companies, at the 5% significance level, on most of the barriers to entry. Finally, the under-lying dimensions of barriers to entry in the DB market were investigated through factor analysis. The results indicate that there are six major underlying dimensions of entry barriers in DB market, including the competence of design-builders, difficulty in project procurement, char-acteristics of DB projects, lack of support from public sectors, the competence of DB owners, and the immaturity of DB market. These findings are useful for both potential and incumbent design-builders to understand and analyze the DB market in China.
Response strategy is a key for preventing widespread corruption vulnerabilities in the public construction sector. Although several studies have been devoted to this area, the effectiveness of response strategies has seldom been evaluated in China. This study aims to fill this gap by investigating the effectiveness of response strategies for corruption vulnerabilities through a survey in the Chinese public construction sector. Survey data obtained from selected experts involved in the Chinese public construction sector were analyzed by factor analysis and partial least squares-structural equation modeling. Analysis results showed that four response strategies of leadership, rules and regulations, training, and sanctions, only achieved an acceptable level in preventing corruption vulnerabilities in the Chinese public construction sector. This study contributes to knowledge by improving the understanding of the effectiveness of response strategies for corruption vulnerabilities in the public construction sector of developing countries.
International construction projects invariably involve political risks. This has been a persistent and pernicious problem encountered by international contractors. Various sets of variables have been suggested in the literature focusing on different aspects of political risk management (PRM) for international construction enterprises (ICEs). It is crucial to identify the relative importance and groupings of these variables. This paper aims to identify critical variables associated with PRM in international construction projects, and to analyze their rankings and underlying relationships. A total of 17 variables were identified through a literature review and consolidated by pilot studies with professionals in the international construction industry. Questionnaire instruments containing the 17 variables were sent out to the practitioners and academics, and 138 completed questionnaires were received. The top five ranked variables for PRM were (1) relationship with governments, (2) misconduct of contractors, (3) experiential knowledge of political risks, (4) relations with power groups, and (5) localization. Factor analysis was used as the data reduction tool and these 17 variables were further grouped into four resource dimensions, as follows: (1) relations, experience, acceptance, and localization; (2) recourse, organization, operation, and technology; (3) growth, ownership, leverage, and diversification; and (4) sustainability, opportunity, integration, and long-term. A management framework with both theoretical and practical meanings was finally developed for successful PRM in international construction projects. The findings would help the ICEs to clarify the highly prioritized variables and underlying factors which could be used as an assessment tool to evaluate the performance of PRM. Successful PRM would provide competitive advantages for the ICEs to survive and prosper in the host construction market, especially in those locations characterized by highly political risks.
Enterprise risk management (ERM), as a holistic approach to risk management, has been advocated in the construction industry. The objectives of this paper are to assess the ERM maturity in Chinese construction firms (CCFs) based in Singapore and uncover how ERM was implemented in these firms. Through a questionnaire survey with 35 CCFs, the data relating to ERM implementation were collected. The analysis results indicated a low level of ERM maturity in these firms, and the positive association between ERM maturity and firm size. In addition, risk communication, objective setting, and risk-aware culture were the top three scores, while formalized key risk indicators and a risk management information system were the bottom two scores. Moreover, three case studies were conducted. The cross-case comparison results substantiated the survey findings, highlighted the influence of the parent firms on the ERM implementation, and indicated that the firms without formal ERM implementation can still have some practices consistent with the ERM fundamentals. These empirical results are arguably the first to be presented for the construction industry and therefore add to existing knowledge of ERM. In addition, various organizational issues have been identified that may influence ERM maturity. The future development of the ERM body of knowledge can, for enhancement purposes, take into account ERM maturity as well as the organizational issues for implementation. Furthermore, the ERM maturity of Singapore-based CCFs can serve as a ballpark benchmark, with which the other firms can compare in terms of ERM practices, and the similar research design and method can be used to investigate ERM implementation in CCFs located in other countries. Therefore, this paper significantly contributes to the ERM body of knowledge.
Construction businesses are risky ventures and enterprise risk management (ERM) has been advocated in construction companies. To ensure ERM success and the subsequent benefits, it is necessary to understand the key activities of ERM. The objectives are to identify the critical success factors (CSFs) for ERM and analyse the interrelationships among these CSFs in Chinese construction companies (CCCs). To achieve this objective, 16 CSFs were identified through a comprehensive literature review and 89 completed survey questionnaires were received. The results of the analysis show that the three most important CSFs are ‘commitment of the board and senior management’, ‘risk identification, analysis and response’ and ‘objective setting’. Additionally, the three underlying CSF groupings are (1) execution and integration; (2) communication and understanding; and (3) commitment and involvement of top management. The commitment and involvement of top management positively contributed to the communication and understanding as well as the execution and integration of ERM, while the communication and understanding facilitated the execution and integration of ERM. The proposed framework indicating the key ERM practices and the inter-grouping relationships provides an in-depth understanding of ERM in CCCs, compared with the existing not so relevant ERM frameworks in various other industries.
Risk management (RM) should be implemented in construction projects to assure the achievement of project objectives, regardless of project size. This study aims to investigate RM in small projects in Singapore in terms of status, barriers and impact of RM on project performance. To achieve the objectives, a questionnaire survey was conducted and data were collected from 668 projects submitted by 34 companies. The analysis results indicated a relatively low level of RM implementation in small projects, and that “lack of time”, “lack of budget”, “low profit margin”, and “not economical” were prominent barriers. Also, the results reported the positive correlation between RM implementation and improvement in quality, cost and schedule performance of small projects, respectively. The findings of this study can provide an in-depth understanding of RM in small projects in Singapore and make benefits of RM convincing to the participants of small projects.
Construction firms have been seen as prime candidates for enterprise risk management (ERM) adoption. The ERM maturity assessment helps them to identify weak areas of their ERM implementation and to prioritize resources to improve these areas. The objectives of this paper are to identify the ERM best practices and important ERM maturity criteria in Chinese construction firms (CCFs) and to develop an ERM maturity model for CCFs. Through an in-depth literature review and a questionnaire survey conducted with 89 professionals, a total of 66 applicable ERM best practices and 16 important maturity criteria were identified and thus used in the proposed model. The results indicated that commitment of the board and senior management; risk identification, analysis, and response; and objective setting were the top three most important criteria. In addition, this model adopts the fuzzy set theory to quantify the implementation levels of the best practices. Moreover, this model was applied in a CCF based in Singapore and the output result was consistent with its current ERM practice. Although this paper focuses on CCFs, it helps other construction firms to prepare their customized model using the best practices and criteria identified in this paper, contributing to the global body of knowledge relating to ERM.
Corruption is a pervasive stain on the construction industry in many countries. South Africa is no exception. A questionnaire survey showed that corruption there is perceived to be widespread. Beyond the quantitative survey findings, thematic analysis was used to explore the verbatim comments offered by many survey participants. This analysis clarified the nature and extent of corruption more precisely and four predominant themes emerged: involvement in corruption, forms of corruption, factors that may give rise to corrupt activities, and the means of combating corruption. Public officials are thought to be actively involved in acts of corruption, particularly in the soliciting of bribes and in tender manipulation. Professional consultants and other actors in the construction supply chain are not above reproach. Forms of corruption centre largely on appointment and tender irregularities, and to a lesser extent on contract administration and closeout irregularities. Factors instrumental in corruption include the skills shortage within the industry, a perceived absence of deterrents and sanctions, and poor ethical standards. Procedural impediments, fear of victimization and personal attitudes all act as barriers to combating corruption. While confirming opportunity, pressure and self-justification as the three pillars of the Cressey ‘Fraud Triangle’ theory of corruption, the research findings suggest that a more dynamic interpretation of this model is advisable. In addressing corruption, at least in the public sector, improvements in procurement processes are needed along with shifts towards higher standards of ethical behaviour among public sector employees at all levels. Greater procurement process transparency (in both public and private sectors of the industry) would address the worst effects of undue political interference and nepotism. The South African construction industry (particularly its statutory professional councils and contractor affiliation bodies), together with public sector agencies and private sector client associations, should collaborate to adopt a more proactive stance against corruption, and be more engaged with detecting and reporting it.
This paper analyzes the results of a survey that aims to explore World Bank project success factors and specifically the relationship between critical success factors (CSFs) and project success as perceived by World Bank Task Team Leaders (project supervisors). The exploratory factor analysis highlights a specific set of five CSFs: monitoring, coordination, design, training, and institutional environment. The regression analysis shows that there is a statistically significant and positive relationship between each of the five CSFs and project success. Consistent with theory and practice, the most prominent CSFs for project supervisors are design and monitoring. The findings contribute to the project CSF literature by conceptualizing project supervision as a multidimensional construct and by confirming supervision as a generic CSF for World Bank projects. The World Bank project supervisors and managers should strengthen project design and monitoring and thus improve project implementation as well as the chances for project success.
In this paper, we employ, and test the reliability and validity, of multiple corruption related datasets such as the Corruption Perceptions Index of Transparency International, the Control of Corruption Index of the World Bank, the International Country Risk Guide of PRS, the World Value Survey, the Bribe Payers Index, and the International Crime Victimization Survey. We find evidence that the reliability of international corruption indexes has improved over the years. However, a number of shortcomings – such as the risk of selection bias, longitudinal sensitivity, and measurement errors that are inherent in composite indexes – are commonly observed. These problems are critical enough to affect the results of empirical analysis, as we illustrate using linear models. Therefore, we conclude that researchers should pay more attention towards minimizing the impact of measurement error through rigorous data screening and robustness tests using multiple data sources and methods. A thorough and systematic evaluation of the reliability and validity of international corruption indexes is essential to increase their usefulness.
The public works/engineering/construction sector has been identified as the most corrupt sector in the world. For a long time the industry had no concerted plan to attack the problem, but in the late 1990s several events happened that have given rise to the industrys most far-reaching effort to address corruption. Efforts are underway by world governments, engineering/construction organizations, and individuals to combat corruption and conduct business in an honest, transparent, and fair manner. In this article we discuss the magnitude of corruption in the industry, describe the most common types of corruption, identify actions being taken to eliminate corruption in the industry, and explain what individuals can do to address the problem.
A survey on some unethical practices in the Nigerian construction industry is presented. A twenty-item questionnaire tagged 'Engineering Ethics Scale' (EEE) is designed. The questionnaires were administered to 200 prospective civil and structural engineering students at the University of Benin, Nigeria. In the Nigerian civil/structural engineering training program, every student undergoes three months of industrial attachment in the construction industry each year from the first to the third year and six months industrial attachment during the fourth year. The study has called for a refocus on engineering practices in Nigeria. The increasing numbers of dilapidated structures, abandoned projects, and collapsed structures are grim evidence of the corrupt practices that have pervaded deep into the engineering industry.
During the last decade, "fuzzy techniques" have been increasingly applied to the research area of construction management discipline. To date, however, no paper has attempted to summarize and present a critique of the existing "fuzzy" literature. This paper, therefore, aims to comprehensively review the fuzzy literature that has been published in eight selected top quality journals from 1996 to 2005, these being Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, ASCE; Journal of Management in Engineering, ASCE; Construction Management and Economics; Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management; International Journal of Project Management; Building Research and Information; Building and Environment; and Benchmarking: An International Journal. It has been found that fuzzy research, as applied in construction management discipline in the past decade, can be divided into two broad fields, encompassing: (1) fuzzy set/fuzzy logic; and (2) hybrid fuzzy techniques, with the applications in four main categories, including: (1) decision making; (2) performance; (3) evaluation/assessment; and (4) modeling. The comprehensive review provided in this paper offers new directions for fuzzy research and its application in construction management. Based on a comprehensive literature review on the applications of fuzzy set/fuzzy logic, and hybrid fuzzy techniques in construction management research, an increasing trend of applying these techniques in construction management research is observed. Therefore, it is suggested that future research studies related to fuzzy techniques can be continuously applied to these four major categories. Fuzzy membership functions and linguistic variables in particular can be used to suit applications to solving problems encountered in the construction industry based on the nature of construction, which are widely regarded as complicated, full of uncertainties, and contingent on changing environments. Moreover, hybrid fuzzy techniques, such as neurofuzzy and fuzzy neural networks, can be more widely applied because they can better tackle some problems in construction that fuzzy set/fuzzy logic alone may not best suit. For example, neural networks are strong in pattern recognition and automatic learning while fuzzy set and fuzzy logic are strong in modeling certain uncertainties. Their combination can assist in developing models with uncertainty under some forms of pattern. Finally, an increasing trend of applying fuzzy techniques in the building science and environmental disciplines is also observed; it is believed that the application of fuzzy techniques will go beyond the construction management area into these disciplines as well.
Range estimating is a simple form of simulating a project estimate by breaking the project into work packages and approximating the variables in each package using statistical distributions. This paper explores an alternate approach to range estimating that is grounded in fuzzy set theory. The approach addresses two shortcomings of Monte Carlo simulation. The first is related to the analytical difficulty associated with fitting statistical distributions to subjective data, and the second relates to the required number of simulation runs to establish a meaningful estimate of a given parameter at the end of the simulation. For applications in cost estimating, the paper demonstrates that comparable results to Monte Carlo simulation can be achieved using the fuzzy set theory approach. It presents a methodology for extracting fuzzy numbers from experts and processing the information in fuzzy range estimating analysis. It is of relevance to industry and practitioners as it provides an approach to range estimating that more closely resembles the way in which experts express themselves, making it practically easy to apply an approach.
This paper describes a forecasting method for predicting potential cost overruns and schedule delays on construction projects. The output of the forecasting method is useful in evaluating the project status at different time horizons and in quantifying the impact of the performance indicators on the profitability of the job. The method is intended for use by members of project teams in performing integrated time and cost control of construction projects. The paper addresses the effects of a number of factors, referred to in the developed method as indicators, on project cost overruns and schedule delays using fuzzy logic. The proposed forecasting method has been implemented in a prototype that operates in the World Wide Web environment. It has an open architecture that allows users to actively interact and, accordingly, makes use of their own experience and knowledge in the forecasting process. An example project is analyzed to test the developed prototype, demonstrate the use of the proposed method, and to illustrate its capabilities.
Engineering and design professionals constitute a major driving force for a successful project undertaking. Although the industry has been active in addressing the performance of construction labor and methods to estimate or predict such performance, relatively fewer efforts have been conducted for the engineering profession. In an attempt to fill out this gap, the paper presents a study to utilize neurofuzzy intelligent systems for predicting the engineering performance in a construction project. First, neurofuzzy systems are introduced as integrated schemes of artificial neural networks and fuzzy control systems. The use of these neurofuzzy intelligent systems, particularly fuzzy neural networks, in predicting engineering performance is then demonstrated in the industrial construction sector. The development of the system is based on actual project data that was collected through questionnaire surveys. Statistical variable reduction techniques are further employed to develop linear regression models of the same engineering performance prediction scheme, and results are being compared between both techniques.
The construction industry everywhere faces problems and challenges. However, in the developing countries, these difficulties and challenges are present alongside a general situation of socio-economic stress, chronic resource shortages, institutional weaknesses and a general inability to deal with the key issues. There is also evidence that the problems have become greater in extent and severity in recent years. This paper considers some of the challenges facing the construction industries in developing countries. The main issues addressed are: construction industry development; globalisation; culture; and the environment. In each case, the issue is analysed from the perspective of the developing countries, and the main implications and present challenges highlighted. Lessons are then drawn mainly from the recent experience of other countries al all levels of development, especially Singapore, to highlight possible ways by which progress can be made in the developing countries. A research agenda is presented and the important role of researchers in the drive to improve the performance of the construction industries of the developing countries in the light of their resource constraints and administrative weaknesses, is outlined.
The frequent complex construction procedures of constructed facilities have led to the inevitable use of linguistic expressions in the specifications as well as during and following construction operations. The linguistic values in the specifications are generated based on the specifier's subjective judgment, while those commonly encountered during and following construction are often used for assessing the performance of the facilities. The use of such expressions has often caused their misinterpretation. This, in turn, results in inadequate performance and, subsequently, in the failure of the constructed facilities. To overcome these problems, the use of a fuzzy set concept is suggested. This concept quantifies the linguistic values and translates them into graphical models. The use of a fuzzy average rule and fuzzy algebra are introduced for integrating subjective judgments of the assessors, leading to the overall performance rating. An example using graphical display is demonstrated. Despite the innovativeness of the concept introduced for assessing the performance of constructed facilities, the method demonstrated herein is relatively simple to follow and easy to understand.
A MADM problem is given as: {\underset{\raise0.3em\hbox{}}{w}} = ({{w}_{1}},{{w}_{2}}, \ldots ,{{w}_{n}}) where Ai, i = 1, ..., m, are possible courses of action (candidates, alternatives); Xj, j = 1,...,n, are attributes with which alternative performances are measured; xij is the performance score (or rating) of alternative Ai with respect to attribute Xj; wj, j = 1,...,n are the relative importance of attributes.
With the rapid growth of the Chinese economy, the desperate demand for infrastructure developments has created bottlenecks in the country's sustainable development. Infrastructure investment could not be funded completely by the government alone. Taking Beijing as an example, there will be about 2,400 infrastructure projects to be developed during 2006-2010 with a total investment of over RMB 470 billion, which may impose budgetary pressure on the government. As a result, public-private partnership (PPP) could be considered as a favorable option to help provide these rapidly demanded public works and services. In order to investigate the potential for adopting PPPs in the People's Republic of China, this paper aims to explore the critical success factors (CSFs) necessary to conduct PPP projects. The views from Chinese experts were collected via an empirical questionnaire survey. The respondents were invited to rate a total of 18 CSFs that contribute to the success of PPP projects as gleaned from the contemporary literature. The results of this survey were analyzed by the factor analysis technique. The findings showed that the 18 CSFs could be grouped into five underlying factors including: Factor 1-stable macroeconomic environment; Factor 2-shared responsibility between public and private sectors; Factor 3-transparent and efficient procurement process; Factor 4-stable political and social environment; and Factor 5-judicious government control.
The increasing complexity and dynamism of construction projects have imposed substantial uncertainties and subjectivities in the risk analysis process. Most of the real-world risk analysis problems contain a mixture of quantitative and qualitative data; therefore quantitative risk assessment techniques are inadequate for prioritizing risks. This article presents a risk assessment methodology based on the Fuzzy Sets Theory, which is an effective tool to deal with subjective judgement, and on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), which is used to structure a large number of risks. The proposed methodology incorporates knowledge and experience acquired from many experts, since they carry out the risks identification and their structuring, and also the subjective judgements of the parameters which are considered to assess the overall risk factor: risk impact, risk probability and risk discrimination. All of these factors are expressed by qualitative scales which are defined by trapezoidal fuzzy numbers to capture the vagueness in the linguistic variables. The most notable differences with other fuzzy risk assessment methods are the use of an algorithm to handle the inconsistencies in the fuzzy preference relation when pair-wise comparison judgements are necessary, and the use of trapezoidal fuzzy numbers until the defuzzification step. An illustrative example on risk assessment of a rehabilitation project of a building is used to demonstrate the proposed methodology.
Public procurement is prone to corruption, which in the global construction market alone accounts for an estimated US$340 billion per year. There is a growing need for procurement systems to be able to fight corruption and improve the effectiveness, efficiency, fairness and transparency of public procurement. A comprehensive list of irregularities in public procurement is derived from irregularities observed during technical vigilance inspections by experts and reported cases. The research involved a questionnaire survey, Delphi method and an empirical investigation of the dynamics of irregular practices in public procurement. The survey revealed the top 15 most frequent irregularities. The irregularities have been classified under five categories: transparency, professional standards, fairness, contract monitoring and regulation and procedural irregularities. The ranking of these categories reveals that transparency is the key factor requiring prime attention. The other categories are of nearly equal importance. A framework for good procurement is developed and actions proposed under five categories to curb corruption in public procurement. The framework and the irregularities can be related systematically to various aspects of combating corruption, and hence should fulfil the urgent need of policy-makers, professional staff, regulators and consumers.
The annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), published by Transparency International (TI), has had a pivotal role in focusing attention on corruption. Despite recent critiques of the CPI, it remains highly influential on research into the causes of corruption and is also extensively used to galvanise support for measures to fight corruption. In this article we explore the CPI in more depth in order to highlight how the index has been used for political ends which may not always turn out to be supportive of anti-corruption efforts. The argument is developed in four sections: in the first, we focus on Transparency International's definition of corruption, highlighting some conceptual difficulties with the approach adopted and its relationship to the promotion of ‘good governance’ as the principal means of combating corruption. In the second section, we outline some methodological difficulties in the design of the Corruption Perceptions Index. Although the CPI has been much criticised, we demonstrate in the third section that the index continues to exercise great influence both in academic research and in the politics of anti-corruption efforts, particularly as exercised by Transparency International itself. In the final section we argue that the CPI contributes to the risk of creating a ‘corruption trap’ in countries where corruption is deeply embedded, as development aid is increasingly made conditional on the implementation of reforms which are impossible to achieve without that aid.