Abukar Warsame

Organizational modes in the residential building sector in Sweden

Traditional organizational studies emphasize department groupings and the management style of different organizations that are often based on common tasks, products, geography and processes. They also mainly emphasize the connection between construction supply chain and procurement methods but have not analysed of how external factors shape the organization structure and consequently the supply chain. Three things are analysed: the impact of competitive pressure, required competence and degree of flexibility on various modes of construction organization used for producing multi‐family residential housing in Sweden from a transaction cost theory perspective. Organization structures depend on the level of project engagement, competence demanded by the preferred organization mode as well as the economic environment, and the level of construction activities.

The effect of subsidy on housing construction in various regions of Sweden

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the extent that interest subsidies have impacted onthe total production of Swedish single- and multifamily houses. It also intends to examine wheth ...

Framework for Quality Improvement of Infrastructure Projects

In order to achieve high quality that not only gives acceptable return value to society but also satisfies the needs of all the stakeholders of infrastructure projects, comprehensive understanding of issues pertaining to the quality of the project is needed. The aim of this study is to provide an overview the most common procurement methods used in constructing infrastructure transport projects and analyze how these methods contribute to the desired quality of the final product in relation to client competence. An on-line survey of construction actors was carried out to ascertain quality level of Swedish infrastructure transport projects and determinant factors of quality problems. An equal number of respondents indicated that the quality of infrastructure projects has either increased or remained same level over the past twenty years. Respondents also pointed out lack of client competence that is vital in realizing the desired quality level through proper procurement, monitoring and evaluation procedures. Public clients heavily rely on traditional design-build procurement that requires considerable client involvement of a project. Thus, the association of quality problems and lack of client competence may not be a mere coincidence but an overlooked outcome of current situation.

Long Run Relationships, Vertical Integration and International Competition： Can They Contribute to Explaining Regional Construction Cost Differences？

The existence of opportunistic behavior by contractors or sub-contractors in the bidding process encouraged by the governance structure of construction companies as well as the kind of relationship ...

How Can Clients Improve the Quality of Transport Infrastructure Projects? The Role of Knowledge Management and Incentives

The aim of this paper is to argue for a number of statements about what is important for a client to do in order to improve quality in new infrastructure projects, with a focus on procurement and organizational issues. The paper synthesizes theoretical and empirical results concerning organizational performance, especially the role of the client for the quality of a project. The theoretical framework used is contract theory and transaction cost theory, where assumptions about rationality and self-interest are made and where incentive problems, asymmetric information, and moral hazard are central concepts. It is argued that choice of procurement type will not be a crucial factor. There is no procurement method that guarantees a better quality than another. We argue that given the right conditions all procurement methods can give good results, and given the wrong conditions, all of them can lead to low quality. What is crucial is how the client organization manages knowledge and the incentives for the members of the organization. This can be summarized as “organizational culture.” One way to improve knowledge and create incentives is to use independent second opinions in a systematic way.

The Impact of Competition, Subsidies, and Taxes on Production and Construction Cost: The Case of the Swedish Housing Construction Market

Few empirical studies focus on developing data and analyses on the factors that influence the decision making process of builders, developers and landlords. Interest subsidy, taxes, and competition are some of the factors that can influence the level of construction or production costs and ultimately the price of the housing units produced. Different subsidy schemes and value-added taxes (VAT) have been used as tools to increase housing construction in Sweden. However, their effect on costs of the housing stock has not been rigorously examined in the current housing supply literature. The aim of this paper is to investigate the relationship between production and construction cost and its determinants especially their relationship to different subsidy schemes and value-added taxes. In our econometric analysis, we utilize a quarterly panel data that covers 1975–2004. Our results suggest that there is a positive relationship between subsidies and construction cost and inverse relationship to value added taxes. This could explain why few companies within the housing construction industry raise the cost of production since these companies could manage to transfer some of the tax burden from themselves to the housing developers. Paper goes on to discuss common practices of construction companies that affects production costs.