Taiwanese Construction Industry Research Articles

Comparison of the Technical Efficiency of Construction Industries—A Case Study of Taiwan and Mainland China

A strong construction industry is critical to any country’s economic and infrastructural development. Facing declining business prospects in the domestic market, Taiwanese construction firms have sought new opportunities overseas, particularly in the mainland Chinese market. Without an adequate understanding of the market, making such investments involves significant risks. To better understand the differences in the markets, this study investigates the technical efficiency (TE) of the Taiwanese construction industry compared to mainland China. The focus was on TE values of construction companies across the two markets as well as the strengths and weaknesses to help inform the decision-making process. The TE evaluation was completed using the stochastic frontier approach (SFA) with a subinput efficiency model to evaluate three inputs (assets, costs, and labor) of 123 construction companies with 59 companies in mainland China and 64 companies in Taiwan. Results show that for the key asset investment factors in Taiwan’s construction industry, TE is lower than that in mainland China. However, Taiwan’s construction industry was found to have higher labor efficiency than mainland China. Relative to mainland Chinese companies, Taiwanese companies have advantages in both labor inputs and revenue outputs but are disadvantaged in terms of the firm and market size. This study shows that Taiwanese construction firms are positioned to pursue expansion into mainland China, ideally by establishing cooperative alliances. Results also show that government policy needs to ensure construction companies are supported by increased economic freedom and reduced restrictions, as these positively correlate with the revenue of local construction companies.

Early Intervention Mechanism for Preventing Electrical Shocks During Construction Projects: Portable Electrical Equipment

To prevent electrical shock accidents in construction sites, the present researchers used portable electrical equipment as an example to plan a preconstruction early intervention mechanism that can be used to conduct various inspections of portable electrical devices. This study used narrative text analysis for data collection and compilation. The researchers analyzed 41 real electrocution death cases involving portable electric equipment as the electrocution medium in the Taiwanese construction industry and identified hazard factors that cause electrocution from the case summaries. Then, the IDEF3 was used to integrate and construct a model for the portable electrical equipment inspection flowchart of the early intervention mechanism as a safety inspection system to prevent electrocution in construction engineering units. This study revealed hazard factors and management omissions related to electrocutions caused by portable electrical equipment. To protect workers and strengthen the safety of the construction site, this study proposed of an electric shock prevention early intervention mechanism for portable electric equipment in construction projects. Various inspections should be conducted before equipment is brought on site for construction operations to ensure the safety of electrical equipment and reduce electrocution risks. This study also established a visualization mechanism for the visual qualification label of portable electrical equipment. This mechanism is conducive to strengthening safety management.

How the capital structure of firms is determined over business cycles: further evidence from the construction industry of Taiwan

This paper uses the panel data regression model to study the Taiwanese construction industry during the period 1982–1995 because during this period, Taiwan’s gross domestic product shows a structural change in economic growth trends over three business cycles. This design allows us to examine whether the effects of firm characteristics and economic growth on capital structure vary with macroeconomic conditions and across periods with changing economic growth trends. First, the results show that the effect of macroeconomic conditions on capital structure is counter-cyclical. Second, the effects of firm characteristics on capital structure can vary with macroeconomic conditions, although firm characteristics do not have a direct effect on capital structure. Third, the effects of firm characteristics on capital structure can vary across periods with changing economic growth trends. Finally, economic growth does not have a direct effect on capital structure. However, the effect of economic growth on capital structure can vary with macroeconomic conditions and across periods with changing economic growth trends. The findings of this study can be a helpful reference for financial managers, creditors, investors and government policy-makers in emerging countries.

INFORMATION PLATFORM TO IMPROVE TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION CAPABILITIES: ROLE OF CLOUD PLATFORM

Conceptualizing technological innovation capabilities and cloud platform implementation in the construc­tion management context is still rudimentary. The primary objective of this study was to validate a model for assessing the relationships among information platform usage, technological innovation capabilities, and capital facility project performance. This study also evaluated the moderating role of type of platform in the relationships. This study empirically investigated a sample of projects in the Taiwanese construction industry. The structural equation modeling (SEM) approach was used to validate the research model. In testing the moderation effect, two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used. The findings indicate that implementation of information platform contrubutes significantly to technological innovation capabilities. In addition, these analyses suggest that technological innovation capabilities have a positive effect on project performance. The results also show that the relationship between information platform usage and technological innovation capabilities depends on type of platform (i.e., traditional or cloud-based informa­tion management platform). This indicates that the association between technological innovation capabilities and project performance is more strongly evident for projects that use cloud platform.

Information technology utilization to improve project team-owner relationship and project performance

While prior research suggested a positive relationship between the use of particular Information Technology (IT) tools and organizational performance, very few published studies have attempted to assess the influence of IT usage on project team-owner relationship and the performance of capital facility projects. Thus, the first objective of this study is to validate a framework for assessing the associations among IT usage, project team-owner relationship, and project performance. The second objective is to examine the moderating role of environmental turbulence in the relationship between project team-owner relationship and project performance. This study empirically investigated a sample of projects in the Taiwanese construction industry. The results show that IT utilization can enhance the relationship with the owner and then improve project performance. The findings also indicate that the positive relationship between project team-owner relationship and project performance depends on environmental turbulence.

Graphical fault tree analysis for fatal falls in the construction industry

The current study applied a fault tree analysis to represent the causal relationships among events and causes that contributed to fatal falls in the construction industry. Four hundred and eleven work-related fatalities in the Taiwanese construction industry were analyzed in terms of age, gender, experience, falling site, falling height, company size, and the causes for each fatality. Given that most fatal accidents involve multiple events, the current study coded up to a maximum of three causes for each fall fatality. After the Boolean algebra and minimal cut set analyses, accident causes associated with each falling site can be presented as a fault tree to provide an overview of the basic causes, which could trigger fall fatalities in the construction industry. Graphical icons were designed for each falling site along with the associated accident causes to illustrate the fault tree in a graphical manner. A graphical fault tree can improve inter-disciplinary discussion of risk management and the communication of accident causation to first line supervisors.

Entropy for Business Failure Prediction: An Improved Prediction Model for the Construction Industry

This paper examines empirically the effectiveness of entropy measures derived from information theory combined with discriminant analysis in the prediction of construction business failure. Such failure in modern complex supply chains is an extremely disruptive force, and its likelihood is a key factor in the prequalification appraisal of contractors. The work described, using financial data from the Taiwanese construction industry, extends the classical methods by applying Shannon's information theory to improve their prediction ability and provides an alternative to newer artificial-intelligence-based approaches.

Applying Clustering Algorithms to Explore the Circumstances of Fatal Falls in Construction Industry

This research adopted constrained k-prototypes algorithm to analyze the database that contains 294 cases of fatal falls between the years 2003 and 2010 within the Taiwanese construction industry. The objective of this study is to explore the circumstances of the fatal falls. The results of the analysis indicate that the primary circumstances under which the accidents occurred include the professional category of other specialized construction businesses; hazardous mediums such as scaffolding, support frame, stairs, stairways, and the openings, etc.; the time period between 9:00 am and 11:00 am; the falling height between 0 and 10meters. Meanwhile, not adopting safe construction methods is a major indirect factor that contributes to the accidents. The fundamental factors contributing to the accidents include not clearly informing the subcontractors of the conditions of the work environment, risk factors, labor health and safety regulations as well as the necessary measures to ensure the health and safety prior to the project commences.

A survey of the potential for i-Build technology in improving the effectiveness of construction management in the Taiwanese construction industry

i-Build technology is a state-of-the-art business integration tool, which includes all the functions of construction management for the enterprise and its partners. The aim of this paper is to examine the current awareness of i-Build and to identify its potential for improving the effectiveness of construction management in the Taiwanese construction industry. This paper reports on the findings obtained from a questionnaire survey conducted between November 2009 and January 2010, with contributions received from 50 organisations representing Taiwanese main contractors, construction companies, architects, engineering companies and clients. The results revealed that 5% of Taiwanese construction professionals have experience of using i-Build.

Impacts of automation technology on quality of project deliverables in the Taiwanese construction industry

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impacts of automation technology on project deliverables from the perspectives of various stakeholders. To address the primary aim, a survey was conducted to determine correlations between quality of project deliverables and automation adoption at the phase and task levels. This study also explored the links between automation utilization and project deliverables in detail. A second survey was used to identify common characteristics associated with the project deliverable-leveraging tasks. The analyses suggest that the quality of project deliverables is significantly associated with automation usage in the front-end, design, procurement, and construction phases. In addition, degrees of automation used in executing the project deliverable-leveraging tasks may have a significant impact on the correctness and completeness of project deliverables. The results also indicate that information and data intensive, management-related, and work-procedure-related characteristics can positively influence the quality of project deliverables.