General Contractor Research Articles

Utilizing multiple intelligences as a means to improving claim performance outcomes in project-based organizations

PurposeProject claim performance is often poor with negative consequences for project-based organizations (PBOs). Conflict and emotion are reported to impact organizational claim performance outcomes, yet remains unexplored. This study investigates the multiple intelligence (MI) context from the viewpoint of the claim management office (CMO), with the intent of identifying pathways to improving the emotion-based claim performance of PBOs.Design/methodology/approachThe study utilizes an autoethnographic case study involving a PBO-based general contractor (GC). Multiple intelligence theory (MIT) is applied as the theoretical lens. Method of framework analysis is used in analyzing the data, with reference to claim management office (RFCMO) theory as a main source in making “analytic generalization”.FindingsMultifaceted complexities of MIs are identified, including ambidexterity, actions and relations, stress and conflict, cultural differences and universals, meta-strategic thinking and team diversity. The holistic emotion-based strategies model identifies how PBOs can improve claim performance, specifically by adopting theories confection remedy and controlling emotion outcomes strategies in a closed-loop process. Further, the coherent emotions governance (CEG) framework enables CMOs' to upgrade maturity levels, by integrating the strategies, general and specific measures for improving emotion-based organizational claim performance.Originality/valueThis is a pioneering study in unveiling the complexities of organizational emotions engagement and the application of confection remedy, specifically in a project management context. The antecedents of RFCMO theory are here enriched with MIT and the pool of the supporting people-centered theories, augmented by an autoethnographic case study, in which the linkage between emotion and conflict complexity is laid bare. Further, this study identifies how conflicts in construction industry can be mitigated by way of a discrete three-category theories confection remedy.

Methods to Stimulate the Proactivity of Enterprises in Fulfilling Safety Responsibilities: A Fundamental Issue in Construction Safety Management

Management factors are among the most significant causes of construction safety incidents, and there is an issue of insufficient supervision at present. The degree of diligence exhibited by relevant entities is crucial, and the payoff can influence the decision-making behaviors of involved parties. Based on this, the aim of this paper is to investigate how to enhance the initiative of enterprises in fulfilling their safety responsibilities during the construction process. By developing a tripartite evolutionary game model that involves supervision companies, general contractors, and labor subcontractors and conducting numerical simulation analysis, we reveal that simultaneous proactive investment in safety by all three parties is challenging, with labor subcontractors being relatively more prone to opt for active safety investment. Supervision companies and general contractors often struggle to fulfill their safety duties at the same time. Factors such as the rewards and penalties stipulated in a contract, rent-seeking amounts, and accident-related losses have a significant impact on the evolution of the system. Based on the findings, we propose recommendations for construction management, which include the management of labor subcontracting in construction, the control of rent-seeking behaviors, and the establishment of a cooperative safety culture during the construction process.

Housing Defect Assessment through Household Scale and General Contractor Level

Housing Defect Assessment through Household Scale and General Contractor Level

How to combine different types of prefabricated components in a building to reduce construction costs and carbon emissions?

In the context of industrialized construction and carbon emission reduction globally, prefabrication has gained considerable attention. However, most studies cared the carbon emissions and construction costs from the perspective of a whole prefabricated building rather than the prefabricated components. It makes it difficult to understand the role of prefabricated components play and make improvements from the prefabricated components level. To fill this gap, this study proposes a model to optimize the selection and combination of prefabricated components in a building project to simultaneously reduce the construction costs and carbon emissions. Six common component types were considered: shear wall, beam, floor slab, stair, balcony, and air-conditioning slab. Their costs and carbon emissions were quantified when adopting prefabrication and cast-in-situ technologies. To obtain the optimal solution, we developed an improved multi-objective mayfly algorithm (IMOMA), which incorporates enhanced circle chaos mapping and a global best guiding strategy to generate Pareto solution sets. The performance of IMOMA was evaluated using the Zitzler-Deb-Thiele series test functions, demonstrating its advantages in convergence, diversity, and comprehensive performance through metrics such as generation distance, diversity metric Δ, and inverse generational distance. A case study validated the effectiveness of this proposed method, demonstrating an average reduction of 9.05% in total construction costs and 8.04% in carbon emissions when compared to the initial scheme. Further study revealed that different prefabrication rates correspond to different optimal components combination schemes, with different trends in the costs and carbon emission curves as the prefabrication rate increases. Additionally, carbon trading policies influence the components combination, with construction costs reduced by 10.88% at a carbon trading price of 42.80 CNY/t CO2eq. This study provides valuable guidance for general contractors to design optimal component combinations and for governments to promote the sustainable development of prefabricated construction.

Blockchain Technology Adoption by Critical Stakeholders in Prefabricated Construction Supply Chain Based on Evolutionary Game and System Dynamics

Blockchain technology (BT) is a promising solution to address information asymmetry and trust issues in the prefabricated construction supply chain (PCSC). However, its practical application in PCSC remains limited under the influence of stakeholders’ adoption strategies. While previous studies have analyzed drivers and barriers to BT adoption, they often take a static view, neglecting the long-term dynamic decision-making interactions between stakeholders. This study addresses this gap by examining the interests of owners, general contractors, and subcontractors, and by developing a tripartite evolutionary game model to analyze the interaction mechanism of the strategy of adopting BT in PCSC. Additionally, a system dynamics simulation validates the evolution of stabilization strategies and examines the impact of key parameters. The results indicate that successful BT adoption requires technology maturity to surpass a threshold between 0.5 and 0.7, along with a fair revenue and cost-sharing coefficient between general contractors and subcontractors, ranging from 0.3 to 0.5 at the lower limit and 0.7 to 0.9 at the upper limit. Notably, general contractors play a pivotal role in driving BT adoption, acting as potential leaders. Furthermore, appropriate incentives, default compensation, and government subsidies can promote optimal adoption strategies, although overly high incentives may reduce owners’ willingness to mandate BT adoption. This study provides practical insights and policy recommendations for critical stakeholders to facilitate the widespread adoption of BT in PCSC.

BIM- and blockchain-enabled Automatic Procurement System (BBAPS) removing relationship bias

In the subcontractor (Sub) procurement process, the General Contractor (GC) can seek potential Subs from a limited pool based on their past relationships. This challenges new subcontractors who are qualified for the project but lack prior relationships with the GC. Furthermore, it creates a relationship bias that impedes the creation of a constructive business environment where potential Subs are encouraged to enhance their quality and compete fairly to secure procurement contracts. To address these challenges, this paper proposes a proof-of-concept of a transformational procurement system that integrates blockchain-enabled smart contracts and Building Information Modeling (BIM)-based project management. The proposed system can facilitate the data-driven automatic matching of GC with Subs, thus extending the pool of Subs and eliminating relationship bias in the procurement proceedings to enhance the effectiveness and fairness of the procurement. It contributes to the body of knowledge by enabling a digitalized and automated subcontractor procurement leveraging blockchain.

The annoyance of singultus: a case report of a rare adverse effect after epidural steroid injection

ObjectiveCervical epidural steroid injections (ESIs) can provide effective pain management for patients suffering from chronic neck pain due to various pathological changes of the cervical spine. There are several rare adverse effects reported from interventional pain procedures, including persistent hiccups (“singultus”). Based on a limited number of cases, we propose a modified treatment algorithm for this adverse outcome (Fig. 3).Case reportSingultus has been documented as an adverse effect of interventional pain procedures, including epidural steroid, facet joint, and sacroiliac joint injections. We describe the case of a general contractor who presented to our clinic with chronic neck pain and central canal stenosis. The patient received an uncomplicated lumbar ESI in the past and was recommended for a cervical interlaminar ESI. After an uneventful C6-C7 interlaminar ESI with dexamethasone, 1% lidocaine, and normal saline the patient developed singultus. Baclofen was sent to his pharmacy, but this was unsuccessful at alleviating his hiccups. The patient was subsequently started on chlorpromazine and found relief from his symptomatology.ConclusionPersistent hiccups after ESI or interventional pain procedures can be treated with conservative measures and non-pharmacologic methods, with escalation to therapy with baclofen, gabapentin, pregabalin, metoclopramide, chlorpromazine, other antipsychotic or antidopaminergic agents, and possible dual or triple therapy if further indicated.

Strategic Choices of General Contractors in the Context of China’s Industry Chain of Construction Industrialization

Amidst the challenges of economic downturn and construction industrialization, the profits obtained by general contractors through comparative advantage strategies are slowly decreasing, and thus, new strategic choices are required. The collaborative division of labor effect in the industry chain can improve profits and labor productivity, which is an important driving force for enterprise transformation and development. Therefore, a need arises to improve the profits of general contractors in the industrial chain system composed of prefabricated component suppliers, general contractors, and building development enterprises. Accordingly, this paper constructs a backward integration, forward integration, and bidirectional integration Stackelberg game model based on the proportion of resource investments, with general contractors as the main decision-making body. It then compares and analyzes the optimal decision-making values in different situations to study the optimal strategic decision-making problem of general contractors. Research results indicate the following. (1) All three integrated strategies can improve the profits of general contractors. When the proportion of resource investment meets certain conditions, the profits of general contractors under the bidirectional integration strategy are the highest, while the sustainable performance of the industrial chain and prefabricated buildings can be increased and the coordination of the industrial chain can be achieved. Thus, it is the best choice for a general contractor. (2) As a prefabricated component supplier needs to carry out continuous technological innovation activity to obtain a cumulative effect, the return on investment of forward integration is less than that of backward integration. (3) General contractors may consider choosing to carry out bidirectional integration strategies of forward integration followed by backward integration.

Selecting Resilient Strategies for Cost Optimization in Prefabricated Building Supply Chains Based on the Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm-Ⅱ: Facing Diverse Disruption Scenarios

As a new sustainable building production mode, prefabricated building supply chains can realize energy saving, environmental protection and full cycle value maximization of building products. Prefabricated building supply chains often experience disruptions due to supply instability, transportation delay and force majeure, resulting in project delays and cost escalations and posing challenges to the sustainable development objectives of enterprises. Therefore, it is important and essential to study the strategy of enhancing the resiliency of prefabricated building supply chains, which has not been comprehensively explored in previous papers. This paper constructs decision-making models for supply chain cost resilience strategies under varying scenarios of supply disruptions, incorporating both redundant inventory and back-up supplier strategy. It considers the total cost and resilience of the supply chain as dual objective functions. Parameter-tuned non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-П (NSGA-П) algorithms were used innovatively to solve the project case, and the impacts of the redundant inventory coefficient and back-up supplier supply price coefficient on the model result were analyzed. The results indicate that the supply chain with resilience construction has a superior capability to cope with disruption. The results show that when there is a mild supply disruption, the general contractor uses the capacity within the supply chain and chooses a redundant inventory strategy to restore resilience. In the event of moderate disruption, both the easy inventory strategy and back-up supplier strategy are selected to maintain supply chain stability. In the event of a severe disruption, only the back-up supplier strategy is selected to cover the losses and maintain the project schedule. In addition, the choice of resilience strategy is impacted by the inventory levels and component prices of back-up suppliers. It further verifies the effectiveness of the model and the impacts of uncertain parameters in the model on the results. This study contributes to enhancing the resilience management of the prefabricated building supply chain by the general contractor, thereby elevating the overall efficiency and competitiveness of the supply chain and furthering the sustainable development of prefabricated buildings.

Extended ExpTODIM technique based on GRA for capability evaluation of real estate general contractors with hesitant triangular fuzzy information

Extended ExpTODIM technique based on GRA for capability evaluation of real estate general contractors with hesitant triangular fuzzy information

Reducing betrayal behavior in green building construction: A quantum game approach

The issue of energy consumption in buildings is becoming increasingly pertinent. Society highly values energy conservation and environmental protection, viewing the adoption of green buildings as an inevitable trajectory in the evolution of the construction sector. However, a challenge emerges during the progression of green building construction concerning betrayal within the supply chain. This paper employs a quantum game approach to tackle the issue of green building betrayal within a two-tier green building supply chain comprising developers and contractors. Initially, a non-zero-sum classical game model is formulated based on the green-building construction process between developers and contractors Subsequently, the classical strategy space is extended to the quantum strategy space. The findings indicate that in classical games, and without considering quantum entanglement, even if both parties adopt comprehensive strategies, the party exerting complete effort still faces the risk of betrayal. Conversely, in scenarios of maximum quantum entanglement, the loss incurred by the party not exerting complete effort does not affect the party making a complete effort. Consequently, when accounting for quantum entanglement, both parties tend to opt for complete effort. Lastly, an entanglement treaty is proposed to constrain the strategic choices of both parties and ensure that neither has an incentive to betray. The findings of this study provide good suggestions for green building project managers to improve the effort degree of the developer and general construction contractor in green buildings to promote the development of green buildings.

Improving project management “closeout” phase outcomes: evidence from a large general contractor in Iran using “X-inefficiency theory”

PurposeOptimal clean-up procedures lie at the heart of the closeout phase of construction projects under contract law. However, due to its complexity involving multiple issues, potentially unfulfilled contractual obligations, performance claims and counter-claims, combined with consequently deteriorating stakeholder relationships, the management of closeouts is fraught with difficulties leading to suboptimal outcomes. This is particularly true where general contractor (GC) organizations do not have a claims management office (CMO) dedicated to improving such suboptimal clean-up outcomes. Thus, this study aims to develop a model by which CMOs’ may effectively manage the clean-up phase in an environment of closeout claims.Design/methodology/approachX-inefficiency theory was utilized as the theoretical lens guiding this study. The theory helps identify closeout strategies implemented by a GC, which manages completion claims through a CMO. Data were received and analyzed from a large GC, which served as the firm case study. In this case, managing the closeout completion claims was the main function of the CMO.FindingsThe average delay of closeout completion was four times greater than construction phase delays. The GC results highlighted the “economic destruction tsunami of projects,” as a root cause for these completion delays. Wrap-up activities under contract law are identified, including within the domains of statements of completion, project handover and debt settlement. Behavior strategies are also defined, including relational and contractual approaches. Moreover, a process for improving closeout claim performance is described, comprising project closeout identification, rational intra-firm behavior, closeout completion and program closeout practice.Originality/valueFindings from this work can significantly contribute in X-inefficiency theory in relation to how a decrease of X-inefficiency will lead to better closeout claim performance. It also offers practical insights into how best to minimize delayed closeout completion while providing valuable lessons for stakeholders in complex infrastructure projects. Further, a model is developed that may be utilized by owners, consultancies, designers and other contractor organizations in an effort to improve closeout claim performance.

Evolutionary Game Analysis on Cooperative Behavior of Major Projects’ Technology Innovation Subjects under General Contracting Mode

Major projects are the important platform for enhancing a country’s comprehensive national power and strengthening its capacity for independent innovation. Although major projects in China have made remarkable achievements, willingness to cooperate and innovate has not achieved the desired target. In this paper, the evolutionary game model of cooperative innovation behavior of general contractors and subcontractors is constructed by considering reputational factors. Through theoretical derivation, the influence of the distribution ratio of collaborative innovation benefit, spillover technology absorption capacity, and reputation discounting coefficient on innovation behavior is analyzed. Finally, MATLAB software is used to simulate the dynamic evolution process of strategy selection. The results show that (1) a reasonable benefit distribution coefficient can promote the evolution of innovation behavior in a positive direction; (2) both the reduction of innovation cost and the increase of spillover technology absorption capacity can make the innovation subject more inclined to choose the active collaborative innovation strategy; and (3) it is the higher-than-threshold reputation loss that can effectively inhibit the “free-rider” behavior. The research conclusions and managerial implications can provide reference for improving the willingness to cooperate in major projects’ technology innovation.

Effectiveness of Public-Private Partnership Projects During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The purpose of the study is to assess the effectiveness of public-private partnership (PPP) projects during the COVID-19 pandemic, taking into account the specificities of the industry. The empirical research base included the main characteristics (contract price, federal district of the project, customer, general contractor, project start period, project start year, project deadlines, price reduction during project implementation, application security, contract security and type of activity) of 144 regional investment projects. The research methodology included mathematical modeling using the DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) data convolution method, on the basis of which an efficiency index was assigned to each PPP project from 0 to 1. The study concluded that prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, regional investment projects received more funding; after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the implementation time of regional investment projects has increased, the contract value more often changes downwards during the project implementation; and the average support for a project application has increased. The efficiency of implementation of regional investment projects, calculated using the DEA method, was reduced. The results obtained will be useful to private investors and government authorities when implementing joint projects to improve their efficiency.

How Do Developers Influence the Transaction Costs of China’s Prefabricated Housing Development Process? An Investigation through the Bayesian Belief Network Approach

The implementation of prefabricated housing (PH) has become prevalent in China recently due to its advantages in enhancing production and energy-saving efficiency within the construction system. However, stakeholders may not always fully realize the benefits of adopting PH due to the emergence of transaction costs (TCs) in the development process of such projects. This study investigated the strategies for developers to make rational choices for minimizing the TCs of the PH project considering their own attributes and external constraints. A Bayesian Belief Network model was applied as the analytical method, based on surveys conducted in China. A single sensitivity analysis indicated that developers influence the TCs of PH through the following three most impactful factors: prefabrication rate, PH experience, and contract payment method. Integrated strategies are recommended for developers in various situations based on a multiple sensitivity analysis. Developers facing challenges due to high prefabrication rates are advised to reduce the risks by procuring highly qualified general contractors and adopting unit-price contracts. For developers with limited PH experience, adopting the Engineering–Procurement–Construction procurement method is the most efficient way to reduce their TCs in the context of China’s PH market. This study contributes to the current body of knowledge concerning the effect of traders’ attributes and choices on TCs, expanding the application of TC theory and fulfilling the study on the determinants of TCs in construction management.

Research on Cost Management Evaluation of Urban Renewal Projects under EPC Mode

Compared with developed countries, the research on modern urban renewal in China is relatively late. However, with the landing of more and more projects in recent years, since Guangzhou, Shenzhen and other places took the lead in urban renewal, urban renewal has gradually entered a period of market-oriented and diversified operation. In recent years, under the influence of urban renewal strategy, the construction of old residential renovation projects is in full swing. In order to reduce the risk of construction, the construction unit often selects EPC project general contracting mode as the contract form of old residential renovation projects. However, the EPC project general contracting mode not only reduces the investment risk of the construction unit, but also greatly improves the difficulty of the general contracting unit's cost management of the renovation project of the old residential area. In order to complete the renovation project of the old residential area within the range of the budget estimate approved by the government and obtain the expected social benefits, cost management has become the control point of the project management of the EPC project general contractor. Based on the perspective of the general contractor, this paper takes the renovation project of the old residential area under EPC mode as the research object, uses AHP and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method to evaluate the project cost management, analyzes the deficiencies in the actual cost management and puts forward countermeasures and suggestions.

Development of a method for evaluating diversification strategies for managing the activities of construction companies

The model for choosing rational diversification strategies of construction companies based on an expert assessment of construction's technical and economic parameters is described, which considers the most significant indicators and the advantages of participants in the construction process. These advantages and the features of diversification strategies are included in the indicators of the diversification center, which should be created in the construction company. Since this task is complex and requires the involvement of a separate team of experts, if it is impossible to create such a center within the st ructure of a construction company, it is necessary to involve a consulting company that deals with this problem. The method of evaluating diversification strategies of construction companies has been improved, which is distinguished by taking into account changes in the structure of companies' organizational environments and allowing them to increase their management efficiency. This method is based on expert assessment and considers the opinions of all participants in the construction process: owners, developers, investors, general contractors and designers. In the future, the method described will be implemented in the activities of construction companies, and the obtained results will be verified. Implementing the method of formation and evaluation of diversification strategies is an essential component of ensuring the stability of the development of construction companies and obtaining their profits. The obtained results, both theoretically and practically, serve as a basis for further scientific and applied research aimed at improving various aspects of the management of construction companies. The described tools are essential practically for construction companies and holdings. In the long term, the use of the developed methods and models will positively impact the development of the country's construction industry as a whole.

مقترح نظام اداري لقواعد اختيار اسموب التنفيذ في مشاريع قطاع التشييد في العراق

Among the most important problems which faced the new approach is the wide use of old approach , particularly the traditional approach ( general contractor ) and the bill of quantity contract, and this were commonly used in the course of the application of fast – track approach in spite of unfulfilling the execution requirements for the fast – track , so It became necessary to look for certain contract rules to be used as a substitute suited all conditions and cases after concluding lessons from the local experiments in rebuilding issues . This research aims at analyzing the subject of shortening time factor taking in consideration the effect all the effective factors which leads to increase the cost and time A scientific methodology was followed in both theoretical and practical phases of the study . A detailed statistical analysis of the study was incorporated using questionnaire and interview method to evaluate the effective factors directly or indirectly on fast – track approach.

Internal and external threats to enterprise security: essence and diagnostics

The paper studies the essence and diagnostics of internal and external threats to enterprise security. External threats to the enterprise are identified, in particular, unfavorable changes in the political and economic situation in the country, the use of unfair competition methods, unreliability of suppliers, partners and contractors, natural and technical emergencies, unauthorized access of competitors to confidential information of the enterprise, imperfection of the regulatory framework, industrial and economic espionage, changes in consumer tastes and preferences. The author identifies internal threats to the enterprise, in particular, low professional level of the top management of the enterprise, violation of labor discipline, outflow of qualified personnel, decrease in the professional qualification level of personnel, violation of the regime of commercial secrecy, low level of innovation activity of the enterprise, lack of an effective planning system at all levels, low technical and technological levels of production. The author analyzes what negative consequences can result from threats to the security of an enterprise from its administrative and managerial staff and personnel in general, suppliers and other contractors and consumers. The author identifies the tools whose implementation can preventively influence key business processes and minimize negative consequences in the event of threats. As for the tool that has effectively proven itself among enterprises in developed countries and is used to support the internal environment in terms of developing managerial and human resources, it is worth noting the corporate entrepreneurship assessment tool (CEAI). As for the tool that is actively used, including by domestic entrepreneurs, to collect and analyze customer data, which allows storing information about the history of interaction with customers and increasing their loyalty, it is worth mentioning a CRM system.

How optimal trust–dependence nexus facilitates relational behavior in contractor–subcontractor collaboration: a configurational analysis

PurposeAlthough trust is generally taken as a fundamental factor in influencing relational behavior in contractor–subcontractor collaboration, the determination of an optimal level of trust is still lacking. Trust with an optimal tipping point that matches dependence best is considered the optimal trust to improve relational behavior between general contractors and subcontractors. To fill the knowledge gap, this study explores how combinations of trust and dependence trigger relational behavior between general contractors and subcontractors through a configurational approach.Design/methodology/approachQuestionnaires were administered to 228 middle management and technical staff members of the general contractor. The data were analyzed using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), and the inductive analytic method allowed researchers to explore configurations of different dimensions and levels of dependence and trust.FindingsNecessity analysis results indicated that neither dependence nor trust was a necessary condition for facilitating relational behavior. Through sufficiency analysis, four configurations of optimal trust matched with dependence were identified in contractor–subcontractor collaboration. Even if contractors rely only on subcontractors for resources, the optimal trust between contractors and subcontractors should include both institution- and cognition-based trust. In the event that contractor–subcontractor collaboration involves relational dependence, both affect- and cognition-based trust are necessary for the optimal trust.Originality/valueThis study enhances existing research by delving deeper into a nuanced understanding of optimal trust in dependence scenarios, and enriches project governance theory by uncovering the internal transmission of relational governance. Practically, this study offers general contractors guidance on how to establish optimal trust strategies based on the dual dependence level with subcontractors, which can facilitate subcontractors' relational behavior, and ultimately improve contractor–subcontractor collaboration performance.