Chinese Construction Industry

An Examination into Information Technology and Competitive Strategies within the Chinese Construction Industry

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This post evaluates the use and deployment of technology within the Chinese construction industry. As competitive environments are constantly changing in the contemporary business world, managers are devising various flexible approaches to respond to such uncertainty and complexity. Deploying strategic information systems is an important approach to address such the challenges of flexibility in business competitiveness. During the 1980s and 1990s, we saw considerable financial investment into business IT in search for “competitive advantage” in various industrial markets. There were many academic papers as well as consulting reports studying the competitive benefits of IT in business in order to persuade firms to invest in strategic information systems. Many business company sought to replicate the success stories of IT enabled business strategy, such as United Airlines, Thomson Holidays and all the other celebrated cases that have entered the information systems mythology. Although the last three decades have seen the high speed growth of investment in information technology by companies, the exact way of getting competitive advantage through information technology is still vague and hard to be concretely grasped. Large investment of information technology is also accompanied by over evaluation of IT and decline in organizational performance, as shown in many cases of failure in IT strategies. Especially in developing countries, many companies are trying to learn from economically advanced economies and initiate their large investment in information technology in order to improve their competitive advantages.

The rate of failure is particularly high in such developing countries. This increased uncertainty suggests the need for improved strategic planning and management of information systems, and the need for consideration of local socio-economic environments. The aim of the dissertation is intending to study the information technology strategies in a typical construction company and develop a deeper understanding of how information technologies create new competitive advantages for construction companies in Chinese context. The need for a link between information technology (IT) use and business strategy in construction industry has been identified and discussed over a number of years. The objectives are threefold in this dissertation. First, I will have a literature review of current research on IT strategies, competitive advantage and IT in construction industries. Secondly, I will conduct fieldwork in a Chinese construction firm, collecting data by questionnaires and interviews, trying to understand the current situations of IT adoption within the Chinese construction industry. Last but not least, I will present an analytical framework which is used to analyse the IT strategies in Chinese construction companies.

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Briefing Process Construction Projects

What Are The Contributions Made By Client Facing Project Managers To The Briefing Process Within The UK Construction Industry?

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For the past fifty years or so briefing has been highlighted as one of the problem areas within the UK construction industry. Various UK government reports have reflected these inefficiencies from the Banwell (1964) report to the Egan (1998) report. The government reports put emphasis on the importance of improving customer focus in the construction industry. The brief establishes the requirements of the client and hence the objectives of a project. As the client facing project manager is concerned with achieving the project’s objectives, this dissertation seeks to establish what contribution the client facing project manager has on the briefing process. In order for this investigation to progress the following research will include a literature review of the briefing process and qualitative research of the client facing project manager’s involvement in the briefing process. Primary data obtained from the qualitative research will be analysed and conclusion will be drawn. Analysis of results of the investigation showed both negative and positive issues for the client facing project manager on contributing to the briefing process.

Negative issues include lack of education of the briefing process; there is a lack of understanding with regard to good practice implemented and poor undertaking of strategic briefs. Positive issues include an appreciation of the briefing process and an appreciation of the impact of a project upon the client’s core business; traits of leadership implemented to the briefing process and a willingness to gain knowledge in order to develop a strategic brief. The conclusion of the investigation is that the client facing project manager needs to gain further competence in order to contribute effectively to the briefing process. The dissertation objectives are as follows;

To evaluate the involvement of the client facing project manager in preparing the brief for their client
To assess the client facing project manager’s perception of the briefing process
To examine what tools and protocol the client facing project manager uses to develop a brief
To gain an insight into any barriers that exist which would hinder the client facing project manager from implementing a strategic brief
To examine the client facing project manager’s understanding of the briefing process
To assess if the type of client influences the client facing project manager’s involvement in the briefing process
To carry out an objective investigation, in analysis and conclusion

Briefing is an iterative process in trying to interpret client requirements and involves consultation with project stakeholders during its development. A good brief should capture the client’s requirements in a clear and precise way. As briefing is an iterative process, communication and coordination is important as a large amount of information is being passed between parties involved in the briefing process. The process requires decisive decisions to be made that can have implications on cost in later stages of a project. Central to the briefing problem is that the client does not fully express the project objective and is oblivious of the alternatives open to it. On the brief taker’s side there is difficulty in trying to decipher the requirements of the client. With uncertain information moving between parties, misinterpretation is a high risk and may only be avoided by repeated iterations around the problem.

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Sustainability Dissertation

Has The Economic Crisis Impacted The Levels Of Commitment Towards Sustainability Within The Property Industry?

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The recent economic crises within the UK, Europe and the world continues to worsen and along with it growing concerns continue to increase over the fragile state of our environment with rising fears over climate change and global warming. Energy security along with the need to secure energy supply has been prioritised as a short to medium term objective by governmental authorities as climate change protocols appear to be set as a medium to long term priority. This hypothesis aims to assess the effects the recent economic crisis is having upon the property industries commitment to sustainability. It will provide an overview of the concept of sustainability, detailing the current constraints and the means by which it needs to be addressed in the future. This research paper will examine the legislations that have been produced to meet future targets within the property industry highlighting key initiatives for future sustainable development. Furthermore, it will deliberate the concept of green development identifying its key strengths, benefits and the provisions required to be incorporated in green leases and developments within the industry. It is essential that sustainability takes more precedence in the future to help curb global warming and in doing so establish the current global recession and its effects on sustainability with the realisation that the property industry must comply to promoting sustainability in order for greater environmental conditions. It seeks to identify the key roles and relationships faced by practitioners within the property industry and the need for mandatory procedures to adhere to regulation and establish greater levels of sustainable development in new and existing buildings.

Dissertation Objectives

To provide an overview of the concept of sustainability and its effects on the property industry
Research the government’s laws and regulations towards promoting green development and betterment towards sustainability
To identify the problems of the economic crisis and its effect upon promoting sustainability
To understand and anticipate practitioner’s commitment towards sustainable development and how the lapse in the commercial market and limited bank lending has affected their decisions

The fundamental issue of sustainability within the built environment is becoming an increasingly topical subject; and yet the term sustainability defies specific definition among many of those working within the property sector, with many unsure as to what it actually means. Sustainability is now reaching the top of many political agendas with growing concerns at the realisation of the rate of climate change and so the progress in encouraging sustainability is becoming an essentiality. The term sustainability in relation to property development can be loosely defined as the location, design and development of property which is economically viable, environmentally responsible and which has a positive, material effect on the quality of life. With the strain caused by the recent financial downturn in the economy this study examines how both this and the need for environmental sustainability will prevail and how those working within the property sector have taken to their commitment to sustainability with the rise of economic turmoil, said to be the worst recession since World War I. This literature review takes a closer look at the different concepts of sustainability, recent government measures to improve sustainability and how the recent economic downturn has impacted upon the sustainability agenda by the new government legislation in attempts to produce a Zero Carbon environment. With the lack of academic papers available it will acquire professional statements, government publications and reports to review any literature upon promoting sustainability, its definition and the global recession’s impact upon practitioners’ commitments to adhering to regulations for future betterment of the built environment.

Dissertation Structure

Chapter 1 – Introduction This chapter introduces the problematic issue surrounding global warming and how the concept of sustainability must be realised in order to reduce carbon emissions and the challenges it brings within the property industry. The current financial climate is addressed and the financial impact it has upon the property industry together with legislative regulations produced by the government to reduce carbon footprint of buildings and promote sustainability. The chapter outlines the aims and objectives of the research study, entailing the outline methodology and the research methodology that will be utilised to perform this study.

Chapter 2 – Review of Literature on sustainability Literature review assists in addressing the concept of sustainability, identifying its principles, the government’s actions to tackle this problematic issue within the built environment and the future strive for green development.

Chapter 3 – Review of literature on the economic crisis’ impact upon sustainability within the property industry Literature review on the current economic crisis and its effects upon both sustainability and the property industry and the relationship held between each of these three elements.

Chapter 4 – Research Methodology This chapter examines the research methodology to be applied to carrying out the research.

Chapter 5 – Research Findings and Analysis The results from the interviews will be used to provide an analysis to go along with the literature review in order to evaluate the hypothesis formulated in section 1.

Chapter 6 – Conclusion This chapter gives a conclusive result of the research conducted, and provides a summary and evaluation, identifying the constraints felt during the process of producing this report and an answer to the hypothesis.

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