Bon-Gang Hwang

Critical success factors for enterprise risk management in Chinese construction companies

Construction businesses are risky ventures and enterprise risk management (ERM) has been advocated in construction companies. To ensure ERM success and the subsequent benefits, it is necessary to understand the key activities of ERM. The objectives are to identify the critical success factors (CSFs) for ERM and analyse the interrelationships among these CSFs in Chinese construction companies (CCCs). To achieve this objective, 16 CSFs were identified through a comprehensive literature review and 89 completed survey questionnaires were received. The results of the analysis show that the three most important CSFs are ‘commitment of the board and senior management’, ‘risk identification, analysis and response’ and ‘objective setting’. Additionally, the three underlying CSF groupings are (1) execution and integration; (2) communication and understanding; and (3) commitment and involvement of top management. The commitment and involvement of top management positively contributed to the communication and understanding as well as the execution and integration of ERM, while the communication and understanding facilitated the execution and integration of ERM. The proposed framework indicating the key ERM practices and the inter-grouping relationships provides an in-depth understanding of ERM in CCCs, compared with the existing not so relevant ERM frameworks in various other industries.

Developing Fuzzy Enterprise Risk Management Maturity Model for Construction Firms

AbstractConstruction firms have been seen as prime candidates for enterprise risk management (ERM) adoption. The ERM maturity assessment helps them to identify weak areas of their ERM implementation and to prioritize resources to improve these areas. The objectives of this paper are to identify the ERM best practices and important ERM maturity criteria in Chinese construction firms (CCFs) and to develop an ERM maturity model for CCFs. Through an in-depth literature review and a questionnaire survey conducted with 89 professionals, a total of 66 applicable ERM best practices and 16 important maturity criteria were identified and thus used in the proposed model. The results indicated that commitment of the board and senior management; risk identification, analysis, and response; and objective setting were the top three most important criteria. In addition, this model adopts the fuzzy set theory to quantify the implementation levels of the best practices. Moreover, this model was applied in a CCF based in Si...

Addressing Risks in Green Retrofit Projects: The Case of Singapore

The objectives of this study are to identify the risks in green retrofit projects in Singapore; analyze their risk criticalities; compare the risk criticalities between conventional and green retrofit projects; and provide mitigation measures for the critical risks. Twenty risks and 37 mitigation measures were identified from a literature review. A questionnaire survey was performed with 30 professionals experienced in green retrofits, and five post-survey interviews were conducted. The results indicated “post-retrofit tenants’ cooperation risk” was the top risk, and that 19 risks were more critical in green retrofits than in conventional retrofits. Additionally, 28 mitigation measures obtained significant agreement.

Green building projects: schedule performance, influential factors and solutions

Purpose – The purposes of this paper are to: investigate schedule performance of new and retrofitting green building projects; identify the critical factors that influence the schedule performance of new and retrofitting green building projects; and provide solutions to improve schedule performance of new and retrofitting green building projects. Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire survey were conducted and responses were received from 34 firms experienced in green building projects in Singapore. After the data from the survey had been analyzed, face-to-face interviews were conducted with two senior project managers to solicit comments on the survey results. Findings – This study identified the degree of project delay in 98 new green building projects and 51 retrofitting green building projects in Singapore. The result indicated that 22 percent of the Singaporean green building projects were plagued with delay and retrofitting projects had a significantly higher likelihood of delay and significa...

Identifying critical leadership styles of project managers for green building projects

In recent years, green building construction has been earning a significant place in Singapores construction industry. The success of a green building project is inevitably associated with the leadership of the project manager. This study attempts to identify the leadership characteristics and styles of project managers in Singaporean green building projects. Conducting a questionnaire survey with 30 project managers experienced in green construction, this study identified 13 leadership characteristics, among which ‘strive for work performance and productivity’ was ranked top. Additionally, the 13 characteristics were categorized into two groupings: (1) directive and task-oriented leadership and (2) relationship-oriented leadership. The results indicated that the leadership style of the project managers was more towards directive and task-oriented leadership but did not overlook their relationships with subordinates. Therefore, this study provides an understanding of leadership characteristics and styles of project managers in green building projects for both practitioners and researchers.

Comparison of schedule delay and causal factors between traditional and green construction projects

Abstract Despite the heighten focus on environmental sustainability for green construction, rare research has been conducted to analyze such projects, especially in the aspect of their schedule delay and causal factors. Conducting a survey in which 30 companies in the Singapore construction industry participated, this study first identified the degree of project delay in 220 traditional and 96 green construction projects performed in Singapore. Next, a set of factors affecting project delay was identified based on various literatures to determine the most influential factors for both green and traditional projects. The analysis result established that 15.91% of the traditional projects were delayed while 32.29% of the green construction projects were completed behind schedule. Furthermore, the top 5 factors causing delay in green projects were: (1) speed of decision making by client; (2) speed of decision making involving all project teams; (3) communication/coordination between key parties; (4) level of ...

Value Management in Singaporean Building Projects: Implementation Status, Critical Success Factors, and Risk Factors

AbstractValue management (VM) has been recognized as an effective method for achieving best value-for-money for clients in the construction industry. This study aims to investigate the VM implementation status in building projects in Singapore, to identify the critical success factors for VM, and to assess the potential risk factors associated with VM studies. To achieve these objectives, a comprehensive literature review was carried out and a questionnaire survey was performed with 50 professionals. The analysis results indicated that VM implementation was relatively low in the Singapore building projects and was significantly associated with project size. In addition, this study reported “communication and interaction among participants” as the most important factor for VM success. Furthermore, potential risk factors were assessed in different VM phases, and the analysis results suggested that “inadequate experience in VM” was the most critical risk factor and that there was agreement on the risk rankin...

Understanding Enterprise Risk Management Maturity in Construction Firms

Enterprise risk management (ERM) has been practiced in a wide variety of industries, and construction firms have been seen as prime candidates for ERM adoption. The objectives of this study are to develop a computerized knowledge-based decision support system (KBDSS) for ERM and to investigate the ERM maturity in Chinese construction firms (CCFs) based in Singapore. The KBDSS allows users to assess the ERM maturity of their organizations using a fuzzy model and performs the perceptibly complicated mathematical calculations. By conducting a questionnaire survey with 35 Singapore-based CCFs and inputting the relevant data into the KBDSS, the ERM maturity of these firms was assessed. The results suggested that these CCFs had a low level of ERM maturity and that the weakest criterion was the application of a risk management information system. The results also indicated positive association between ERM maturity and firm size, and significant agreement on the ranking of the maturity criteria among all the survey CCFs. The ERM maturity of Singapore-based CCFs can serve as a benchmark, with which the other firms can compare, and the methodology adopted is applicable to other construction firms, thus contributing to the body of knowledge relating to ERM.

Development of a benchmarking framework for pharmaceutical capital projects

Benchmarking is a proven technique for improving project performance and, as such, is a critical component of any mature project delivery system. Competitive benchmarking requires industry‐specific metrics in absolute terms since processes vary by industry, and any metrics used within a single industry must be attuned to its particular processes. A framework is developed for evaluating pharmaceutical capital facility projects using metrics specific to the characteristics of these unique projects. Establishment of the framework made possible the development of a set of industry‐specific metrics and a flexible data collection and reporting system for measuring project performance. Preliminary findings from an initial sample of 40 pharmaceutical projects confirm that meaningful industry‐specific metrics can be produced for pharmaceutical capital facilities benchmarking. Developing such a framework enables the industry to measure project performance more accurately, get meaningful project performance comparisons, and ultimately establish credible norms for project performance.

Risk identification and allocation in underground rail construction joint ventures: contractors’ perspective

AbstractInternational construction joint ventures (ICJVs) have been widely used in large-scale infrastructure projects all over the world. This study aims to investigate the factors affecting adoption of ICJVs for underground rail construction projects, to identify the critical risks faced by parties that perform the projects under ICJVs, and to examine the obstacles to appropriate risk allocation among the parties under ICJVs. To achieve these objectives, an in-depth literature review was carried out and a questionnaire survey was conducted with 33 contractor firms as well. The survey results reported “sharing of project risks” as the top attractive factor of ICJVs and “differences in culture and working style” as the top negative factor. In addition, both foreign and local contractors considered “partners disagree over some conditions in contract” the most critical risk to the parties involving projects under ICJVs. While risk allocation was perceived to be very important for ICJVs, “unclear division of...