Client-related Factors Research Articles

Exploring Bid/No-Bid Decision Factors of Construction Contractors for Building and Infrastructure Projects

While contractors may experience financial failure if they bid on an inappropriate project, bidding on the right project may allow them to profit substantially. Therefore, understanding the various factors that influence the bid/no-bid decision is crucial for construction companies in determining whether to pursue a project. The present study aims to identify the critical factors influencing contractors’ bid/no-bid decisions. A total of 112 responses were collected from a questionnaire survey to rate the relative importance of 22 factors, and these factors were then analyzed based on the type of project and the contractor’s years of experience. The results indicate that the client’s ability to pay, clarity of the scope of work, project cash flow, the need for work, and availability of qualified labor are the most critical factors influencing contractors when making bid/no-bid decisions. The factor “previous experience in similar projects” was statistically significant among building and infrastructure projects, while “project location” was statistically significant among contractors with different years of experience. Finally, factor analysis identifies the six major underlying groups: client-related factors, bidding-related factors, contractor-related factors, market-related factors, economy-related factors, and project-related factors. The study’s findings can help contractors better understand the factors influencing their bidding-related decisions.

Trauma clinicians’ views of physical exercise as part of PTSD and complex PTSD treatment: A qualitative study

Physical exercise has the potential to be a helpful, adjunctive intervention for supporting people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complex PTSD (CPTSD). However, little is known about the views of clinicians on including physical exercise in treatment. We aimed to explore trauma clinicians’ perspectives on the role of physical exercise in PTSD and CPTSD treatment and to understand key barriers and facilitators in recommending physical exercise as an adjunctive treatment. Twelve specialist trauma clinicians from across the UK were interviewed to explore their views on the role of physical exercise and the key barriers and facilitators in recommending it as an adjunctive treatment for PTSD and CPTSD. We used a qualitative explorative methodology with semi-structured interviews and analysed transcripts using reflexive thematic analysis. Trauma clinicians viewed physical exercise as a potentially beneficial supportive intervention for PTSD and CPTSD, and perceived several ways in which physical exercise could be included in the treatment process, with an individualised approach to care underpinning inclusion. However, there were also notable barriers to including exercise at environmental, client and clinician/service levels, including; limited access to exercise resources, client-related factors such as agoraphobia and physical health problems, clinician-related factors such as lack of confidence and training, and service-level factors such as gaps in service provision. The findings highlight the importance of considering individualised approaches to physical exercise interventions in trauma treatment. Addressing identified barriers, such as improving access to resources and providing training for clinicians, is crucial for successful integration of physical exercise into PTSD and CPTSD treatment protocols. This study underscores the need for further research to inform future policies and provide guidance for trauma clinicians on how to effectively incorporate physical exercise as an adjunctive treatment.

Analyzing the critical delay factors for construction projects in the public sector using relative importance index and machine learning techniques

This study aims to identify the causes of delays in public construction projects in Thailand, a developing country. Increasing construction durations lead to higher costs, making it essential to pinpoint the causes of these delays. The research analyzed 30 public construction projects that encountered delays. Delay causes were categorized into four groups: contractor-related, client-related, supervisor-related, and external factors. A questionnaire was used to survey these causes, and the Relative Importance Index (RII) method was employed to prioritize them. The findings revealed that the primary cause of delays was contractor-related financial issues, such as cash flow problems, with an RII of 0.777 and a weighted value of 84.44%. The second most significant cause was labor issues, such as a shortage of workers during the harvest season or festivals, with an RII of 0.773. Additionally, various algorithms were used to compare the Relative Importance Index (RII) and four machine learning methods: Decision Tree (DT), Deep Learning, Neural Network, and Naïve Bayes. The Deep Learning model proved to be the most effective baseline model, achieving a 90.79% accuracy rate in identifying contractor-related financial issues as a cause of construction delays. This was followed by the Neural Network model, which had an accuracy rate of 90.26%. The Decision Tree model had an accuracy rate of 85.26%. The RII values ranged from 68.68% for the Naïve Bayes model to 77.70% for the highest RII model. The research results indicate that contractor financial liquidity and costs significantly impact construction operations, which public agencies must consider. Additionally, the availability of contractor labor is crucial for the continuity of projects. The accuracy and reliability of the data obtained using advanced data mining techniques demonstrate the effectiveness of these results. This can be efficiently utilized by stakeholders involved in construction projects in Thailand to enhance construction project management.

Explaining the barriers faced by veterinarians against preventing antimicrobial resistance: an innovative interdisciplinary qualitative study

BackgroundConsidering the significance of increased antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and its adverse effects on individual and social health and the important and effective role that veterinarians play in controlling this growing issue worldwide, it is essential to have effective preventive control programs. To this aim, the first step is to identify the factors behind the prevalence of AMR in Iran and the barriers veterinarians face to controlling this problem. Thus, the present study was conducted to explain the barriers veterinarians faced in the prevention of AMR from an Iranian veterinarian’s perspective.MethodsThe present research was done in three cities in Iran in 2021. The data were collected through in-depth interviews with 18 veterinarians selected through purposive and snowball sampling and analyzed using conventional qualitative content analysis.ResultsThe data analysis results were classified into 4 main categories and 44 subcategories. The former included: educational factors, administrative/legal factors, client-related factors, and veterinarian-related factors.ConclusionsThe increased AMR can be approached from multiple aspects. Considering the different factors that affect the increased AMR, it is necessary to consider them all through effective planning and policy-making at multi-level and multidisciplinary dimensions. There is special attention needed to scientific and practical interventions at the individual, interpersonal, social, and even political levels. At the same time, measures should be taken to rehabilitate and maintain the health of society to strengthen supervision and attract the full participation of interested organizations.

Homecare workers - an untapped resource in preventing emergency department visits among older individuals? A qualitative interview study from Sweden

BackgroundOlder individuals with functional decline and homecare are frequent visitors to emergency departments (ED). Homecare workers (HCWs) interact regularly with their clients and may play a crucial role in their well-being. Therefore, this study explores if and how HCWs perceive they may contribute to the prevention of ED visits among their clients.MethodsIn this qualitative study, 12 semi-structured interviews were conducted with HCWs from Sweden between July and November 2022. Inductive thematic analysis was used to identify barriers and facilitators to prevent ED visits in older home-dwelling individuals.ResultsHCWs want to actively contribute to the prevention of ED visits among clients but observe many barriers that hinder them from doing so. Barriers refer to care organisation such as availability to primary care staff and information transfer; perceived attitudes towards HCWs as co-workers; and client-related factors. Participants suggest that improved communication and collaboration with primary care and discharge information from the ED to homecare services could overcome barriers. Furthermore, they ask for support and geriatric education from primary care nurses which may result in increased respect towards them as competent staff members.ConclusionsHCWs feel that they have an important role in the health management of older individuals living at home. Still, they feel as an untapped resource in the prevention of ED visits. They deem that improved coordination and communication between primary care, ED, and homecare organisations as well as proactive care would enable them to add significantly to the prevention of ED visits.

Barriers to enrolment of clients into community client led anti-retroviral therapy delivery (CCLAD) in selected health facilities in Kasese district, Uganda.

Community Client Led Anti-retroviral therapy Delivery (CCLAD) Model has been associated with increased community participation and ownership, which leads to better treatment outcomes with reduced workload and increased client satisfaction of health services. To explore the barriers to enrolment of eligible clients into CCLAD in selected health facilities in Kasese District, Uganda. Analytical cross-sectional study utilizing mixed method approach was conducted among 384 PLWHIV attending public health facilities of Kasese District. Sampling was done by simple random sampling method. Data was collected using researcher-administered questionnaire method and interview guide. Most of the respondents 253(65.9%) had not yet enrolled into CCLAD. This was due to some client-related factors such as non-disclosure of HIV sero-status (p=0.040), person to whom HIV sero-status was disclosed to (p=0.009), not having ever heard about CCLAD (p=0.000), incorrect description of CCLAD (p=0.000), limited knowledge of advantages of CCLAD (p=0.000) or disadvantages of CCLAD (p=0.003). Other barriers were; failure to have access to organizations or groups that support PLWHIV to get treatment (p=0.025) and duration of ART refills [AOR=1.637, 95% CI (0.820 - 3.270)]. Adoption of CCLAD model among PLWHIV in Kasese District is still low.

Determinants of option B+ HIV treatment adherence among HIV-positive breastfeeding women in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe is one of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa with the highest prevalence of HIV. Despite the launch of the Option B+ treatment approach in 2013 to eliminate mother-to-child transmission, the number of pregnant women and children living with HIV is still high due to non-adherence. This prompted this study with the aim to explore the determinants of adherence to Option B+ HIV treatment among HIV-positive breastfeeding women. This descriptive phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of 12 purposively recruited HIV-positive breastfeeding women in 2020 through in-depth interviews. The collected data were analysed using Colaizzi's phenomenological data analysis framework. The study findings revealed that client-related factors such as food insecurity, travel, early infant diagnosis, and treatment-related factors such as the unavailability of drugs, the side effects of medications, and health institution-related factors are barriers to adherence among HIV-positive breastfeeding women. The findings also indicated that support from the family, health care workers, awareness of the benefits of the treatment plan, and positive role models are promoters of adherence. To improve breastfeeding women's adherence to Option B+ HIV treatment, the identified barriers to adherence should be addressed while optimising the motivators of adherence.

Adequacy of Regulatory Framework to Minimize Disputes in Construction Projects

The construction industry is a competitive, complicated environment where people with various skills, perspectives, and levels of knowledge. Conflicts are unavoidable in this complicated setting due to differences in perspectives among project participants. Conflicts quickly develop into disagreements if they are not handled properly. The end goals of every construction project are to reduce cost, improve quality, and complete the job on schedule. One of the biggest things that prevents the construction project from being successfully finished is disputes. Construction conflicts have become significantly more common and complex in recent years. Consequently, it's critical to understand what leads to disagreements. However, in the event of a dispute, Dispute Resolution Methods are implemented to resolve differences and prevent the breach of relationship and communication between the parties to achieve the construction project in the desired time, budget, and quality. The purpose of this study was to identify and evaluate the main factors that contribute to building disputes. Through a comprehensive literature review, 39 root causes of construction disputes were identified under seven categories namely client-related, contractor-related, design-related, contract-related, human behavior-related, project-related, and external factors. The responses gathered from construction industry specialists in Sri Lanka via a questionnaire survey were used to determine the significance of those indicated factors by converting them to the Relative Importance Index(RII). Results showed that the project-related category is the most significant category that causes disputes in construction projects. Additionally, correlation analysis shows that there is a strong relationship among the dispute-causing categories. Also, the respondents are familiar with “arbitration” as the dispute resolution method and they are satisfied with the “conditions of contract” as a Regulatory framework for dispute resolution. The findings support the notion that construction disputes are a source of concern for every project and that the best way to address this issue is to prevent and cautiously manage them to ensure the smooth operation of the construction process.

Interventions co-designed by healthcare providers and clients for improving therapeutic relationships in maternal and child healthcare: a pilot study using human centered design in rural Tanzania

BackgroundResearch shows that poor provider–client interactions in maternity and child health (MCH) continue to affect health outcomes, service uptake, continuity of care, and trust in formal healthcare systems.ObjectiveThe study’s objective was to jointly create a prototype intervention package for enhancing nurse-client relationships using human centered design (HCD) approach.MethodsA five-step HCD methodology was used: (1) Community-driven discovery through qualitative descriptive research methods using 9 focus groups with nurses and clients and 12 key informant interviews with MCH administrators; (2) consultative ideation and co-creation meetings with 10 nurses, 10 clients, and 10 administrators to co-design a rough prototype model; (3) rough prototype validation through qualitative insight gathering using 6 FGDs with nurses and clients; (4) refinement and adaptation meetings with 14 nurses, 14 clients and 12 administrators; and (5) documentation and sharing of lessons learnt.ResultsAccording to the community-driven research, poor service, a lack of concern, poor communication, a bad attitude, and unhappiness at work are the nurse factors that affect the relationships between nurses and their patients. Non-compliance with procedures, unfavorable attitudes, poor communication, low education, poverty, and faith in conventional healers were among the client-related factors. Inadequate funding, bad management techniques, improper policy execution, and a lack of an independent institution for handling complaints are the health system factors that affect nurse-client relationships. In response, three ideation and co-creating meetings resulted in 24 interventions. Seven (7) of these were rated as more acceptable and feasible in the local context and formed a rough prototype. During validation, there were some disagreements on the feasibility of curriculum and resource-related interventions. Refinement meetings resulted in a final prototype including four interventions: (i) promotion of patient-centred care; (ii) awards and recognition for nurses; (iii) strengthening complaints mechanisms and (iv) disciplinary measures for abusive nurses and clients. The lessons learnt have been shared through publications and institutional research meetings.ConclusionsHCD approach provides a novel entry point for providers and clients to examine the problems and design interventions for strengthening their therapeutic relationships in MCH care. Researchers, practitioners, and policy developers are welcome to consider the emerging prototype as it was deemed acceptable and potentially feasible in rural African contexts.

Adolescents' and Adults' Perceptions of Sensory-Based Interventions: A Qualitative Analysis.

Adolescents and adults report that their sensory integration and processing differences affect their occupational performance and quality of life, thus requiring effective sensory-focused interventions. Researchers have yet to investigate this population's experience of occupational therapy interventions designed to remediate these challenges. To explore the perceived experience of adolescents and adults with respect to (1) response to intervention, (2) strategies offered to manage sensory differences, and (3) need for services on completion of an intervention. Retrospective, qualitative study. Zoom or phone call. Eleven adolescents and adults with sensory integration and processing differences who had previously completed occupational therapy interventions. Sensory-based intervention based on the principles of Ayres Sensory Integration® (ASI) and the Sensory Therapies and Research Frame of Reference. A semistructured interview to obtain data, followed by an in-depth analysis using an inductive coding process to group initial open codes into themes and common subthemes Results: Open codes were grouped into three core themes: (1) therapist-related factors (what the therapist did in treatment); (2) client-related factors (what the client experienced); and (3) follow-up (future needs of the clients). Four main subthemes of the client-therapist relationship emerged: (1) therapeutic alliance; (2) education and knowledge; (3) strategies, tools, and resources; and (4) future needs. This study provides a perspective on the experience of adolescents and adults specific to the impact of a sensory-focused occupational therapy intervention on their daily lives. This will help occupational therapists when designing interventions for current and future clients. What This Article Adds: This study highlights the need for further research addressing effective sensory-based interventions for adolescents and adults. It also captures which components of intervention clients deemed helpful and identifies potential targets for future intervention.

Rapid implementation mapping to identify implementation determinants and strategies for cervical cancer control in Nigeria.

Cervical cancer constitutes a huge burden among women in Nigeria, particularly HIV-infected women. However, the provision and uptake of cervical cancer screening and treatment is limited in Nigeria. Understanding implementation determinants is essential for the effective translation of such evidence-based interventions into practice, particularly in low-resource settings. COVID-19 pandemic necessitated online collaboration making implementation mapping challenging in some ways, while providing streamlining opportunities. In this study, we describe the use of a virtual online approach for implementation mapping (steps 1-3) to identify implementation determinants, mechanisms, and strategies to implement evidence-based cervical cancer screening and treatment in existing HIV infrastructure in Nigeria. This study used a mixed methods study design with a virtual modified nominal group technique (NGT) process aligning with Implementation Mapping steps 1-3. Eleven stakeholders (six program staff and five healthcare providers and administrators) participated in a virtual NGT process which occurred in two phases. The first phase utilized online surveys, and the second phase utilized an NGT and implementation mapping process. The Exploration, Preparation, Implementation and Sustainment (EPIS) framework was used to elicit discussion around determinants and strategies from the outer context (i.e., country and regions), inner organizational context of existing HIV infrastructure, bridging factors that relate to bi-directional influences, and the health innovation to be implemented (in this case cervical cancer screening and treatment). During the NGT, the group ranked implementation barriers and voted on implementation strategies using Mentimeter. Eighteen determinants to integrating cervical cancer screening and treatment into existing comprehensive HIV programs were related to human resources capacity, access to cervical cancer services, logistics management, clinic, and client-related factors. The top 3 determinants included gaps in human resources capacity, poor access to cervical cancer services, and lack of demand for services resulting from lack of awareness about the disease and servicesA set of six core implementation strategies and two enhanced implementation strategies were identified. Rapid Implementation Mapping is a feasible and acceptable approach for identifying and articulating implementation determinants, mechanisms, and strategies for complex healthcare interventions in LMICs.

Occupational therapists views on addressing the sexuality of adult clients in rehabilitation settings: A qualitative focus group study.

Sexuality is a common concern among people with disabilities or chronic conditions, and failure to address sexuality can lead to poorer rehabilitation outcomes. To explore the factors affecting addressing the sexuality of adult clients in clinical practice as perceived by Korean Occupational Therapists (OTs) and the perspective on what needs to be established to address sexuality in occupational therapy practice. This descriptive qualitative study using focus group interviews was conducted with 15 OTs providing rehabilitation services for adult clients in the post-onset maintenance phase or for outpatients in Seoul, South Korea. Data collected through focus groups were analyzed using the constant comparative method. The main factors influencing addressing clients sexuality in clinical practice were identified: "absence of institutional system for addressing sexuality in rehabilitation setting" for environmental factors; "lack of professional competency" for therapist-related factors; and "repressed sexuality" for client-related factors. Moreover, recognizing that "sexual health is one of the goals of rehabilitation" and prioritizing it in rehabilitation settings are essential. OTs must be "experts with knowledge and skills" to access the client's sexuality, and "education and publicity" should be actively conducted to raise awareness of sexual health for clients. To deal with clients sexuality, institutional preparation should be prioritized under the recognition that sexual health is one of the goals of rehabilitation. In addition, it is necessary to prepare a relevant curriculum for OTs and create awareness so that clients can recognize improving sexual activity as a role of OTs.

Integrated Model for the Factors Determining the Academic’s Remote Working Productivity and Engagement: Empirical Study

This empirical study aims to examine and validate the factors influencing productivity among remote academic staff in Jordanian higher education institutions during the Covid-19 crisis, with a specific focus on the mediating role of employee engagement. A comprehensive conceptual framework is developed by integrating relevant studies on remote work-from-home, productivity, and engagement, along with insights from in-depth interviews. Employing a descriptive correlational survey design, the study explores the relationships among the study factors using a quantitative approach. Data is collected from a random sample of 408 remote academic staff members who worked from home during Covid-19. The findings robustly support the proposition that organizational, individual, technological, and client-related factors significantly and positively influence academic productivity through the mediation of employee engagement. These results emphasize the importance of considering these interrelated factors holistically to enhance productivity and engagement in remote academic work. The study contributes to a deeper understanding of remote work dynamics and provides practical insights for improving productivity and engagement in the Jordanian higher education context.

Keeping clients connected: exploring Australian alcohol and other drug clinicians’ perspectives on barriers and facilitators to treatment attendance

Substance use contributes to significant individual and social harms. Although psychosocial treatment is effective, early treatment discontinuation is common. Despite this, exploration of clinicians’ perspectives on barriers and facilitators to attendance has been limited in scope (e.g. specialized settings, written responses). The current study used an in-depth approach to explore the views of clinicians on barriers and facilitators to attendance in psychosocial alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment, with a view to translating these views to clinical practice. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with AOD clinicians from a range of professional backgrounds (n = 15: 7 female; 8 male) working in treatment settings in Australia. Thematic analysis was used to analyze interview content. Themes relating to attendance included client-related factors (motivation, expectations, beliefs; complexity, access, level of support), clinician-related factors (therapeutic relationship), organizational and systemic factors (individual service factors; systemic/sector wide factors), and stigma (experienced across clinician-related, organization and systemic domains). A complex combination of practical, psychosocial, and systemic/organizational factors intersect with, and influence, client attendance. These findings speak to the importance of client-centered and flexible approaches from clinicians and organizations. Such approaches might simultaneously mitigate a key barrier to attendance: stigma. This study highlights the impact of the therapeutic relationship on attendance despite organizational and funding constraints.

The Relationship Of County-Level Characteristics On Length Of Time Clients Are In Child Protective Services: The Context Of Care

Time spent in the child welfare system changes the life trajectory of those in care. Children who spend longer in care are at greater risk for mental illness. Adoption and Safe Families Act put a limit on how long children could be in out-of-home care; 15 months out of the last 22. Researchers have studied both individual and environmental correlates of time in care. No study has explored individual and environmental predictors of time to case closure. This study sought to fill the gap by studying county and individual-level variables, including race and delinquency. Data came from a state administrative dataset (n = 46,923). Using multilevel modeling, results indicated that older children, being Black, or having a Child in Need of Services case was at a greater risk of time in care. The effects of these latter two variables varied by county. At the county level, percent minority and adjusted crime rate were related to time in care. Practitioners can use the results to address contextual and client-related factors to increased time to case closure. Future research should focus on understanding how these factors correlate with longer stays in care and on developing and testing interventions that address these correlates.

Evaluation of the factors influencing adherence to ART in HIV/AIDS patients at Kampala International University Teaching Hospital Bushenyi District

Globally, there were an estimated 33 million people living with HIV by the end of 2007, and more than 25 million people since 1981 have died from AIDS. In 2007 there were 2.7 million new infections and 2 million HIV-related deaths. All these facts are attributed to the compromise of adherence to ART. Currently, there are an estimated 940,000 people (adults and children) living with HIV in Uganda but the adherence levels are hence posing a great challenge in the fight against the scourge. To assess factors influencing adherence to ART among HIV/AIDS clients at Kampala International University Teaching Hospital, a descriptive cross-sectional study design quantitative in nature was used to recruit 52 respondents for the study out of whom 52 questionnaires thus giving a response rate of 100%. 75% of the respondents strongly agreed that level of income may influence adherence to ART, 57% of the respondents agreed that drug hypersensitivity and side effects affect adherence to ART and 63.5% of the respondents agreed that clinic characteristics can impact adherence. The researcher concluded that client-related factors influencing adherence to ART include the client’s age, level of education, level of income, social support, co-morbidities, and patient’s belief about the effectiveness of ART. Therapy-related factors affecting adherence to ART include; polypharmacy, hypersensitivity, pill burden, and regimen complexity. Health system-related factors affecting adherence to ART include; clinic characteristics, selfmedication, lengthy wait before the next clinic visit, and the patient-provider relationship. Keywords: HIV/AIDS, ART, Adherence, Uganda, Hypersensitivity.

Assessment of Client-Related Factors for Delaying of Public Buildings Constructions Projects in Local Government Authorities: A Case of Arusha City Council

This study aimed to assess client-related factors for delaying of Public buildings construction projects in Local Government Authorities. The factors assessed were; project design, political intervention and decision-making challenges. The study was conducted at Arusha City Council (ACC) employing cross-sectional survey through semi-structured questionnaire and interview guide to 55 sampled informants. . Cross tabulation with Chi-square tests was deployed to analyse data. Following the findings of the assessment of client-related factors for delaying of public buildings construction projects in Arusha City Council, it is concluded that inadequate project design is one of the major causes of delays of public buildings construction projects in local government authorities. More specifically, variations due to inadequate design, the effect of insufficient budget resulting from inadequate project design and insufficient professional staff are the main causes of delays in public buildings constructions project. It is also apparent that political intervention is another major factor that contributes to delaying public building construction in Arusha City council (ACC). It is also concluded that decision making challenges is another major contributor to delaying public building construction projects in ACC. More specifically, it is concluded that bureaucracy in the decisions making process, unnecessary directives by government officials and delays in the payment of interim certificates are the main causes of delaying public buildings constructions projects in ACC. It is recommended that the government should employ an adequate number of building construction engineers, quality assurance officers, as well as project monitoring and evaluations officers who are expected to be tasked to ensure that projects are designed adequately, and their execution are managed and monitored effectively. Also, the government should avail adequate budget for all public building construction works and should pay interim certificates timely to avoid delaying the projects. In addition, the government should formulate and institute a general guideline that obstructs politician and government officers to be bid for public building construction works in their respective councils. This measure is expected to prevent conflict of interest among politicians and government officers.

The role of academics’ socio-demographic characteristics as moderating in WFH productivity: Empirical evidence

The present study examines the faculty staff’s socio-demographic factors (i.e., gender, academic ranking, and experience) as moderating variables on the relationship between the four interrelated factors (organizational, individual, technological, and client engagement) and their productivity (performance) during the Covid‐19 pandemic. A conceptual framework was developed by integrating several relevant studies in the field of Work from Home (WFH) productivity. To end this, we involved (n=388) academic staff working from home during the Covid-19 crisis to test the hypotheses in the higher education context. The findings showed that the academics’ WFH productivity was significantly associated with the four interrelated factors (organizational, individual, technological, and client-related factors) either collectively or individually, and the most important one was the individual-related factors. The moderation analysis reveals that the effect of the socio-demographic characteristics (gender, academic ranking, and experience) on WFH productivity was varied. Surprisingly, the study findings provided evidence for the first time that the client’s engagement (student) factor, which has not been studied before, was found as one of the main determinant factors of WFH productivity during the Covid-19 crisis.

Critical Delay Factors in Typical Physical Projects: The Case of the Ministry of Home Affairs in Malaysia

In Malaysia, public projects have been consistently reported as dilapidated and delayed, causing the government to bear financial losses. Furthermore, the purposes of the projects have not been fully achieved, thus affecting the public interest. This study examined the critical contributing factors to the delay in implementing physical projects in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MOHA). The scope involved the physical construction projects of the Immigration Department of Malaysia’s offices and premises in Malaysia, which was mandated in the 11th Malaysia Plan. A total of 105 respondents, including contractors, consultants, end-users and clients, participated in a survey on the factors and effects of physical project delay. The data were analysed using the relative importance index (RII) and Spearman’s correlation to identify the most critical delay factors and their association with delay effects. A total of 38 delay factors were identified, with contractor-related factors being the most critical, followed by consultant-related, client-related and other factors. These delay factors were found to be positively correlated with the effects of delay, including time and cost overrun, quality, litigation and arbitration, and abandonment.

An investigation of how stakeholders influence construction project performance: a small and medium sized contractor’s perspective in the Jordanian construction industry

PurposeThis research uses contingency theory and Venkatraman’s concept of moderating fit to explore how key project stakeholders (clients, consultants and suppliers) influence project performance from the perspective of small and medium contractors in the Jordanian construction industry.Design/methodology/approachAn anonymous structured survey was performed comprising 200 key informants including senior project managers, construction managers, engineers and general managers working for small- and medium-sized contractors in the Jordanian construction industry. The Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyse the data.FindingsThe results of this study show that consultant-related factors (quality of documentation produced, ability to communicate and technical competencies) are perceived to have the most significant direct effect on project performance, followed by client-related factors (payment promptness, decision certainty and documentation control) and supplier-related factors (supplier performance, defects control and logistics management).Originality/valueThe results contribute new theoretical, empirical and practical insights to existing construction project performance research by highlighting the key performance factors which need to be managed for each stakeholder group to ensure effective project performance from a small- and medium-sized contractor perspective.