Böcker i Spon Research-serien

Performance-Based Optimization of Structures introduces a method to bridge the gap between structural optimization theory and its practical application to structural engineering.

Focusing on office buildings, this book explores how Green Building (GB) development can be managed to achieve successful project outcomes. The book starts by highlighting the special requirements of GBs which distinguish them from traditional buildings. The book then presents a detailed discussion of the success conditions for GB projects. Highlighting 73 success conditions which have been categorised within 20 broad themes, the book reports on the findings from interviews with GB stakeholders from Australia, Hong Kong, Pakistan, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom. The book demonstrates how the complexity, design methodology, and team collaboration prevalent in the delivery of successful GB set them apart from traditional building projects. The book also demonstrates that success in GB delivery is generally associated with socio-technical conditions.The research reported in this book will allow project decision-makers such as clients and project team members to consider the wide range of identified success conditions to optimise project performance across its development stages and achieve successful project outcomes. Theoretically, the findings can inform future research focused on GB development, resulting in the more efficient development of GB projects that can reduce the effects of climate change and resource depletion.

Do recent moves in the construction industry towards collaborative working and other new procurement procedures really make good business sense? Addressing this question, this book includes the categorizing of the differences between various procurement methods.

This book presents and discusses the various debates surrounding the concept of Value for Money. The book presents a new protocol: an Equilibrium Testing Mechanism (ETM) developed by the authors.

This book highlights the connectivity of construction actors, resources, and activities as fundamental for understanding how innovation takes place, and how it can be pushed forward.

This wide-ranging study of crucial procurement issues includes international historical context, collaboration and risk management, with a focus on sustainable procurement approaches. The international significance of public-private partnerships and relationship-based procurement approaches is reinforced with case study examples from the UK, Europe, North America and the Asia-Pacific regions.

The book provides a detailed examination of the drivers for innovation in construction, engineering and infrastructure organisations. In particular, the questions of how and why innovation becomes recognised and sustained over time are explored.

This important work sets out cutting-edge social science and business-oriented thinking derived from a major EPSRC research project. Its interdisciplinary approach draws together industry and research, and is international in its relevance.

The main risk-minimisation strategy in the construction phase is trust, which plays a major role in the success of key working relationships across the construction industry. This book investigates this phenomenon, and goes on to show that once developed, trust outshines all other risk minimisation strategies and is essential for project success. Drawing on many years of empirical research involving project managers working internationally, Trust in Construction Projects also provides strategies to minimise information asymmetries in order to build trust, and ensure the success of construction projects.

Leadership and sustainability have separately been the subject of numerous studies in a built environment context over the years, but they have yet to be addressed together. The real impact of legislation and guidelines designed to promote sustainability within the construction industry is closely linked to the leadership behind it, as this book explores in a variety of ways.

Sets out social science and business-oriented thinking derived from a major EPSRC research project. This work's interdisciplinary approach draws together industry and research.

Provides a comprehensive overview of the literature on interpersonal communication and delivers a critical review of various research methods previously used in and outside the construction management field. This text investigates the link between successful projects and the effectiveness of communication.

Using the construction industry as the subject of research, this book traces the development of the literature on organisational culture and business effectiveness. It investigates the culture-performance link using an objective measure of company performance and an evaluation of organisational culture, which is largely behaviourally-based.

Shows how the concept of knowledge can make sense in the construction industry, an industry which can be viewed in essence as being engaged in the material transformation of 'nature into buildings'. This book explores different businesses including a medium sized construction firm, and Wingardh Architecture, Sweden's prestigious architecture firm.

Buildings and infrastructure represent principal assets of any national economy as well as prime sources of environmental degradation. This book incorporates the results of a major research programme by members of the Australia Co-operative Research Centre for Construction Innovation and its global partners.

Improved efficiency and effectiveness in the construction industry provide huge potential savings. Various forms of relational contracting such as partnering, alliancing, public private partnership (PPP), and joint venture are good examples of this. This work presents the principles of relational contracting, practicalities and case studies.

This book showcases a number of effective applications of risk management tools and techniques across product and service life in a way useful for practitioners, graduate students and researchers.

Looks at employee resourcing in-depth, both analytically and in order to provide a practical insight into the strategic considerations and operational approaches which modern large contractors take in deploying their human resources. This work is suitable for both students and managers.

This book documents the experiences, development and prospects of the construction industry in numerous developing countries.

Details 'everyday' experiences and procurement decisions made by people in firms in the industry related to projects as they seek out other firms to work with during the tendering stage. This work introduces a new model for mapping the construction sector of particular interest to construction management and to procurement decision makers.