Construction Projects In Vietnam Research Articles

The Impact of Leadership Behaviour on Management Effectiveness in Public Construction Project Organizations

This study aims to explore the less explored area of leadership behaviors within public construction project organizations. A correlational research design was adopted, with data collected through a questionnaire-based survey of 169 professionals involved in public construction projects in Vietnam. Structural equation modeling with partial least squares estimation was used to analyze the data. The results confirmed five behavioral dimensions, namely motivating leadership, goal setting, supportive leadership, participative leadership, and directive leadership, which can be used to assess the leading function in public construction work management. The study also revealed that supportive leadership and directive leadership have a significant impact on management effectiveness. Additionally, supportive leadership acts as a mediator for goal setting, motivating leadership, and participative leadership, while directive leadership acts as a mediator for goal setting and participative leadership.

Estimation of recompression coefficient of soil using a hybrid ANFIS-PSO machine learning model

Recompression coefficient (Cr) is =an essential parameter utilized to predict consolidation settlement of over-consolidated soil. Thus, the main aim of this work was to estimate accurately the Cr, using a hybrid ANFIS-PSO Machine Learning (ML) model that is a hybridization of Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). To compare the performance of proposed model, we selected two other benchmark ML models: single ANFIS and Support Vector Machines (SVM). We collected and utilized the data of304 soil samples tested from various construction projects in Vietnam, which included 12 input variables (soil parameters) and one output variable (Cr). Validation indices, namely Correlation Coefficient (R), Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), and Mean Absolute Error (MAE) were utilized for the validation of the model’s performance. Correlation analysis of feature selection results indicated that seven input variables namely clay content, plasticity index, liquidity index, degree of saturation, specific gravity, dry density, and bulk density were of importance and thus selected for prediction of the Cr. Validation results indicated that predictive capability of the hybrid ANFIS-PSO model (R = 0.802) is the best in comparison with other two benchmark models namely SVM (R = 0.727) and single ANFIS (R = 0.734). The findings of our study suggest that the ANFIS-PSO is a powerful ML tool for effectively and quickly prediction of the Cr of soil. This can help save time and reduce costs associated with laboratory experiments for determining this important geotechnical parameter.

Roadworks design: study on selection of construction materials in the preliminary design phase based on economic performance

The preliminary design phase transforms the investor’s ideas and information into general plans, drawings and specifications and helps the project managers continue the next steps in the projects. Material selection is an essential task to incorporate sustainable content into the construction industry. This paper reviewed materials selection studies and proposed a comprehensive method to compare the economic performance of construction material alternatives in this phase. The article constructed a life cycle costing equation used in the preliminary design stage that compared the total expected cost of the alternatives throughout the road construction project life cycle. The proposed life cycle cost method was divided into two scenarios according to the available information in the preliminary design phase and the material-dependent costs. A case study in Vietnam about the selection between baked bricks and concrete bricks was presented to demonstrate the proposed equations and models. The result showed that the baked bricks took the top priority due to the differences in cost items (e.g., transportation costs). Furthermore, to validate the models, they were applied to compare the expected and actual cost of 18 road construction projects in Vietnam – the differences are all below 10%. Further research may focus on building a database of models by applying the Building Information Model (BIM).

Safety communication in construction projects in Vietnam from contractors’ perspective

Little is known about how specific participants send and receive safety information and training whilst safety is always an essential factor contributing to the success of a project. Research examining the patterns of safety communication, especially in emerging markets like Vietnam, is therefore necessary. Data was collected through case studies and interviews with six contractor’s managers in different projects. This paper presents a social network analysis approach that has been used a wide range of applications and disciplines to analyse and measure how safety communication occurs between project participants. The results show that there is a clustering in the way the organization communicates about occupational safety. At the same time, there is a relationship between the frequency of exchanging information on occupational safety and the satisfaction with the work safety in the project of the contractor's managers. Initially, it can be surmised that the frequency of information exchange on occupational safety in Vietnam is similar to that in many other countries. In addition, the projects have a variety of occupational safety communication channels. In terms of applicability, metrics like ones presented in this paper can perfectly serve as a leading set of safety performance indicators, which can be rapidly measured and modeled at the outset of a project and throughout project implementation.

Survey data of the COVID-19 pandemic impact on construction workforce: A case of Vietnam

A dataset was constructed to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the construction workforce in a developing country. The data derive from a survey collected from 123 valid respondents who previously participated in or direct implementation of construction projects in Vietnam during the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey was distributed by utilizing an online questionnaire, which is composed of two sections: (1) demographic information and project characteristics, and (2) the COVID-19 impact on five aspects of the construction workforce took the form of a 5-point Likert scale. The entire dataset is stored in an Excel file (.xls) for formal analysis in IBM SPSS v.20. The entire questionnaire is included as a supplementary file.

WITHDRAWN: Factors influencing construction technology adoption in residential projects at Vietnam

Globally, construction firms have adopted construction technologies (CT) which have emerged as powerful tools that can be used to work more efficiently. Historically, Vietnam’s construction has failed to adopt CT in comparison to other countries with similar Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, which has resulted in lower productivity. Objectively, this research is threefold: (1) To review the studies to date in CT adoption and identify the challenges reported by authors in previous studies (2) To critically analyze the adoption of CT in construction projects in Vietnam and (3) To propose data driven solutions to facilitate the adoption of CT in Vietnamese construction projects and countries with similar GDP per capita. A comprehensive literature review was conducted and a total of 215 articles were shortlisted for the study. Using the information from previous studies and experts in the construction industry, a questionnaire was designed, and a survey was carried out in Vietnamese construction industry to identify the extent of adoption of CT tools, barriers, drivers, and the most popular CT tools. Autodesk, Microsoft Office and Primavera were the top three CT tools. (1) Unknown impact on productivity, (2) Late implementation of software in construction projects, (3) Lack of understanding on importance and needs in construction industry (4) Lack of funds during budget planning for technological advances and implementation (5) Lack of experts required for technological change and insufficient skills in the industry were identified as the most influential factors in Vietnamese context. From the study made, the authors have provided data driven solutions that can be implemented in Vietnam and all countries facing similar challenges in adoption of CT. Previous studies have not successfully been able to provide important and realistic solutions that can improve the adoption of CT. This study adds to the body of knowledge by identifying the barriers which keep evolving over time. Lastly, to propose data driven solutions that can push the boundaries of CT adoption in construction industry worldwide.

Some issues when implementing the common data environments

Common Data Environments (CDE) is an essential foundation for the execution of Building Information Modeling (BIM) to construction projects in Vietnam. The current data environment applied in projects has many limitations, inadequacies that reduce the quality of construction works. CDE could be an effective solution to the issue. However, there are several difficulties when applying CDE in the current built environment. These difficulties consist of the choice of implementation method, the scale of the CDE as well as the legality. Through the method of synthesis - analysis, this article focuses on analyzing and clarifying the issues, thereby suggesting some suitable CDE implementation methods for construction investment projects.

The impact modeling of project management function behaviors on construction labor productivity

PurposeConstruction labor productivity (LP) is the key element in forming the success of construction projects. Numerous studies on the topic of critical success factors (CSFs) within construction LP have been conducted, but the results have rarely emphasized developing factors related to managerial function behaviors (MFBs) and examining its relationship with construction LP, a key criterion for measuring construction effectiveness; these less researched topics were the aims of this study.Design/methodology/approachThe empirical research studies were designed to develop managerial behavior's attributes based upon a literature adaptation and focus group studies (FGSs). Then, the causal relationships between MFBs and LP were examined by drawing on project-specific data collected from 195 completed construction projects in Vietnam, which was to the approach to an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and Bayesian model averaging (BMA) technique.FindingsThe findings reveal that the MFBs' attributes were organized into a four-factor MFB framework: “cooperation emphasis (COOP),” “people orientation (PEOP),” “commitment emphasis (COMT)” and “leadership promotion (LEAD).” The findings reveal that COOP, PEOP and COMT have significant effects on LP.Originality/valueThe success of this approach is expected to broaden academic's horizons of factors affected LP and suggest a useful tool for supporting the project management professionals in enhancing construction LP and sustainability.

Improving green performance of construction projects through supply chain integration: The role of environmental knowledge

The implementation of green supply chain integration (GSCI) to achieve green performance (GP) has been confirmed by prior research in many industries, especially manufacturing industries. Despite this fact, very limited research has been performed to investigate the effects of green integration and environmental knowledge (EK) on green performance of construction projects. Therefore, the current study was conducted to fill this gap in the literature. A framework of many hypotheses regarding interactions between green integration (i.e., supplier, internal, and customer integration), environmental knowledge, and green performance was developed and validated by data collected from 19 construction projects in Vietnam, with the support of Structural Equation Modeling. The findings show that environmental knowledge is a significant antecedent to the development of green integration strategies. Moreover, customer integration and supplier integration have direct effects on green performance, whereas internal integration has an indirect effect on green performance through supplier integration. It is surprising to see that internal integration does not have direct effects on both customer integration and green performance. Theoretically, this study is one of the first efforts in construction that develops a framework of green supply chain integration in which the roles of integration and environmental knowledge to achieve green project objectives are highlighted. Practically, our study suggests that construction firms need to accumulate environmental knowledge and develop integration within their firms before implementing green integration strategies at the supply chain level.

Factors causing design changes in Vietnamese residential construction projects: An evaluation and comparison

Most of the construction projects in Vietnam are suffering from the design changes during the implementation phase. These changes have a significant impact on the time and cost of the project. The primary purpose of this study is to explore factors causing the design change of residential construction projects from the Vietnamese perspective. This study has used a questionnaire to collect data for the occurrence and effect of these factors on project performance. Based on the literature review, there are a total of 28 initial factors filtered. These factors were classified into four cases: environment, clients, consultants, and contractors. The results of the analysis showed that there is almost no difference in mean between groups of respondents, and there is a relatively high consensus in ranking the factors between project parties. Based on factor analysis, there are four principal components extracted from all initial factors, with total variance explained of nearly 65.2%. In addition, an evaluation sheet for the overall impact of factors on project performance is proposed. The result indicated that the level of impact is 70.7 per the scale of 100. Eventually, a comparison with other construction project types has been made to understand generally the factors of design changes in the construction industry.
 Keywords:
 design change; residential building; construction management; Vietnam.

Assessment of Contractors’ Claims on Construction Projects in Vietnam

Background:Claims have increasingly become inevitable in construction projects. A great amount of money, time, and merit of claims are the most critical factors that prudent companies should not overlook.Objective:The objective of the study is to survey claim practices in the Vietnamese construction industry by collecting data from both contractors and consultants.Material and Methods:This paper presents findings that the lack of awareness of the on-site people is the major problem of claims management. Moreover, the inadequacy of supporting evidence, originating from the unawareness of personnel as well as improper documentation system, is also a serious problem causing the loss of chances to recover incurred damages.Conclusion:To overcome these problems, it is recommended that the management should pay more attention to these aspects in order to have effective claim management, by which unnecessary losses could substantially be reduced and deserving compensation would be recovered.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF THE INFLUENCE OF ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE ASPECTS ON PROJECT SUCCESS

Recently the global trend to organize the activities of companies in different spheres and sectors of the economy on the project principle has become more relevant and acute. Heads of companies currently pay particular attention to the assessment of the result of the project and find the factors that affect its success. At the first stage of development of this problem, the researchers focused on the study of the indicators of the “iron triangle”, on the achievement the strategic goals of the company or on the meeting the interests of the project customers. Contemporary scholars focus on a wider range of project success factors, their ambiguity and multi-dimensionality. Organizational culture of a project is one of the most important factors as, on the one hand, its impact is well recognised, but on the other hand it is difficult to identify its impact as the culture interacts with other factors. Therefore, it is difficult to determine the boundaries of the impact. However, extending the success factors of a project to include aspects of organizational culture provides managers with an additional tool to achieve project results. The purpose of the article is to test the OCPS (Organizational Culture – Projects Successful) method that has been modified by the author according to the features of the Russian economy. The method allows determining the impact of organizational culture on the project success in different branches of activity. The research is based on a systematic and synergistic approach that considers the project success as a complex system in which the effect of the control action is not directly proportional to the efforts made. This is due to a wide range of possible factors that affect the success of the project, a high degree of uncertainty of the environment, as well as a variety of internal impulses of an organization. The method has been applied and tested in the case study of companies operating in a construction industry as a project is the main type of business for them. In this sector of economy, projects can attract large cash flows. However, unsuccessful projects lead to financial instability of a company. Qualitative and quantitative methods have been used in the study. The main results that have been obtained are 1) the determined aspects of organizational culture that affect the project success in the organisations operating in construction industry of economy: teambuilding, external communication and leadership; 2) the generation of criteria for their assessment and recommendations on the use of the identified aspects of organizational culture in order to increase the probability of success of construction projects. For this purpose a matrix of levels of success of construction projects has been proposed. The application of the matrix allows quickly responding to the problems existing in the project team. The obtained scientific results will allow project managers to get an additional tool to study the aspects that affect the success of an organization’s projects, as well as to identify the elements, influencing on which increases the opportunity to achieve project results. Further studies will be devoted to the testing of the suggested method in the case study of projects made by companies operating in other branches of economy. Subsequently, it will verify the method in the context of applicability to organizations regardless of their sphere of activity. Keywords project management, project success, organizational culture, organizational culture aspects, project efficiency, OCPS methods, construction industry of economy, institutional peculiarities.

English

English

Knowledge Transfer from International Consultants to Local Partners

Inspired by the fact that local partners acquire substantial knowledge from foreign consultants, an empirical study has been conducted on four metro construction projects in Vietnam to assess the knowledge transfer in practice. The process and results have been recorded in this article. A two-stage model has been developed and tested by using data obtained from 130 respondents. The first stage demonstrates that there are at least six factors affecting the knowledge transfer from foreign consultants to local partners. The second stage shows that acquired knowledge helps to improve the performance of the local partners. In addition to well-known determinants such as the transferor's willingness, capacity to transfer, the learner's intent and capability to learn, the results of the study provide the evidence to confirm the important roles of knowledge-related factors and environment-related factors. Furthermore, this study enriches the literature on knowledge transfer by adding a look into a specific context of consulting services.

The Impact of Project Organizational Culture on the Performance of Construction Projects

Cultural influence has recently received significant attention from academics due to its vital role in the success or failure of a project. In the construction industry, several empirical investigations have examined the influence of culture on project management. The aim of this study is to determine the impact of project organizational culture on the performance of construction projects. A total of 199 completed construction projects in Vietnam with specific data gathering through questionnaires were analyzed. The findings reveal that contractor commitment to contract agreements is the most significant cultural factor affecting project performance. Goal alignment and reliance, contractor commitment, and worker orientation (i.e., commitment to workers) contribute to improved overall performance and participant satisfaction. Contractor commitment and cooperative orientation enhance labor productivity, whereas goal alignment and trust and contractor commitment ensure learning performance (i.e., learning from experience). The findings of this study may assist construction professionals in implementing practices that can contribute to the sustainability and success of construction projects.

Research on Delay Risks of EPC Hydropower Construction Projects in Vietnam

In recent years, in Vietnam, economy has been developing rapidly. To ensure rapid and sustainable economic growth, strong support from the energy sector is required. Governments in Vietnam have invested in numerous hydropower projects, many of which employ the EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) contract. However, the EPC general contractors are facing many difficulties, resulting in schedule delays and considerable losses. This research is conducted to highlight the main risk factors in the delays of hydropower construction projects in Vietnam. The research employs the method of statistical calculations and risk analysis to obtain feedback from experts participating in similar projects. The research outcomes are as follows: identifying the risks that can cause delays in EPC hydroelectric construction projects in Vietnam; calculating and classifying the degree of impact of each risk to the progress of the construction. The practical significance of this study is to ensure the timely completion of projects, benefits for the investors, and the EPC general contractors.

Identification of operational trust factors in contractor-owner relationships: a case study in Vietnam

In the construction industry, trust development is affected by interactions among partners during interactions. However, few attempts to explore the development of trust between construction parties during the life of a project have been made, and few attempts have reduced the concepts behind trust to an operational level. This study identifies the operational factors that foster trust in contractor-owner relationships over a project's life cycle. Five large construction projects in Vietnam were used as case studies. The study proposed different sets of operational factors for building trust between contractors and owners according to the project phases. Our results indicate that Vietnamese construction parties emphasise relational bonding to build trust between partners, while institutions are given the least attention. Additionally, contractors and owners basically agree on the factors that build trust in institutions and relationships, but the two groups differ significantly in the sets of factors that enhance calculus-based trust.

Estimating time performance for building construction projects in Vietnam

Time performance is one of the most important aspects to be benchmarked in project management. Many factors arise during the project implementation process affecting the project time. Identifying the problems that are significant to executing construction schedule and incorporating them into a comprehensive model will be useful in project management. Based on a data set of 70 projects (outliers discarded), the multiple regression technique is applied to integrate significant variables into a model used to predict or evaluate the project time index. The result suggests that six variables, namely underground site condition, project management works, estimating works, competency of subcontractor(s), accuracy and completeness of design, and owner’s project financing emerged as important factors in regression model. The constructed regression model has a good performance when compared with an artificial neural network model developed for purpose of cross validation.

Effects of interpersonal relations on public sector construction contracts in Vietnam

Public owners and private contractors and consultants are expected to maintain arm’s length relationships with each other to avoid any accusation of corruption. In the context of public construction projects in Vietnam, this study examines: the relational contracting (RC) related behavioural patterns that lead to better interpersonal relations during the construction stage and at the end of the project among public project owners, and private contractors and consultants; and the extent to which better interpersonal relations affect project performance. Using a questionnaire survey, data were collected from public owners and private contractors and consultants in Vietnam. Correlation analysis shows that there exist several behavioural patterns that significantly affect interpersonal relations among project team members during the construction stage and at the end of the project, and the general harmony during the construction stage. It was also found that cost performance is significantly correlated with project harmony level. Schedule performance is significantly correlated with interpersonal relations between project team members during the construction stage, and at the end of the project. The findings indicate the important role that interpersonal relations play in project outcomes and vice versa. The behavioural patterns that are found to be significantly correlated with harmony during the construction stage and/or relationships among project team members suggest that concrete actions may be taken by owners, consultants and contractors to improve relationships, and thereby improve cost and schedule outcomes. It is recommended that owners, consultants and contractors adopt some of the behavioural patterns identified.

Work Structuring and the Feasibility of Application to Construction Projects in Vietnam

Work Structuring and the Feasibility of Application to Construction Projects in Vietnam