Florence T. T. Phua

A Brief Index of Affective Job Satisfaction

This article responds to criticisms that affective job satisfaction research suffers serious measurement problems: Noncomparable measures; studies conceptualizing job satisfaction affectively but measuring it cognitively; and ad hoc measures lacking systematic development and validation, especially across populations by nationality, job level, and job type. We address these problems through a series of qualitative (total N = 28) and quantitative (total N = 901) studies to systematically develop and validate a short affective job satisfaction measure ultimately deriving from Brayfield and Rothe’s (1951) job satisfaction index. Unlike any previous job satisfaction measure, the resulting four-item Brief Index of Affective Job Satisfaction is overtly affective, minimally cognitive, and optimally brief. The new measure also differs from any previous job satisfaction measure in being comprehensively validated not just for internal consistency reliability, temporal stability, convergent and criterion-related validities, but also for cross-population invariance by nationality, job level, and job type.

How important is cooperation to construction project success? A grounded empirical quantification

Cooperation is generally purported to be vital to construction project success. However, there has been, as yet, no empirical work done to quantify explicitly the extent to which cooperation, in relation to other factors, determines construction project success. This study attempts to fill this research gap. This paper details a grounded empirical approach to identify important construction success factors using data from 29 interviews, 398 quantitative response and six follow‐up interviews from construction firms in Hong  Kong. Results show how using the grounded approach enables the tapping of unique determinants of project success previously not identified in the literature and point to a potentially fruitful approach for future research in construction management.

Quality relationships: partnering in the construction supply chain

Subcontractors and suppliers are playing an increasingly important role in project construction – it is not uncommon for as much as 90 per cent of a project to be undertaken by subcontractors. The result of this increased involvement is that main contractors are now concentrating their efforts on managing subcontractors rather than employing direct labour. Outlines an approach to partnering developed by a European conglomerate which is being employed throughout the UK. Commences with an overview of recent studies into the UK construction industry concentrating on partnering, quality and lean production. The second part discusses the context of these points from a quality, general and construction project management perspective. A form of benchmarking is described and the actual partnering approach is detailed. Finally, the paper identifies the main points relating to quality as perceived by the project participants, as well as some of the overall advantages of adopting this approach to partnering.

The antecedents of co‐operative behaviour among project team members: an alternative perspective on an old issue

Poor project performance is generally attributed to a lack of co‐operation between project participants. Much work is directed towards understanding the structural and organizational antecedents of co‐operation, but little in understanding how socio‐psychological factors affect individual co‐operative behaviour. Using social identity theory, this study attempts to fill this research gap by arguing that individuals define their self‐concepts through the organizations with which they identify and that these identity‐based forces are the basis for the development of co‐operative behaviour. Empirical findings using responses from 398 senior executives of construction firms substantiate this argument, as individuals with strong organizational identity are indeed more psychologically predisposed to behave co‐operatively. There are grounds to propose that organizational identity should be used in conjunction with other tangible economic incentives as effective mechanisms for improving individual co‐operation. Therefore, rigorous attempts by construction firms to foster such identity may prove fruitful to overall project performance. Further research is needed to explore how it may impact on other important aspects of co‐operation such as decision making and problem solving processes within the construction industry.

Operationalizing culture in construction management research: a social identity perspective in the Hong Kong context

A prevailing trend of opinion in construction management research revolves around the importance of instilling a positive partnering culture in order to improve overall project performance. Indeed, the culture part of the equation has often been taken as a given and this has led to many normative and, at best, prescriptive claims about cultures consequences in terms of individual behaviours and practices. Despite this trend, no systematic empirical work has so far been undertaken to objectively operationalize or test the real effects of culture. This study aims to fill this research gap. Grounded in the social identity framework, this study proposes an alternative approach for operationalizing and examining cultures effects using data derived from 398 local and foreign senior managers from construction firms in Hong Kong. Results suggest that the relationships between culture and individual behaviours are far more complex than alluded to by simple normative generalizations. The study underscores an urgent need for future research to adopt a more comprehensive framework for defining and measuring culture in construction management research.

Subjectively construed identities and discourse: towards a research agenda for construction management

Identity issues are under‐explored in construction management. We provide a brief introduction to the organization studies literature on subjectively construed identities, focusing on discourse, agency, relations of power and identity work. The construction management literature is investigated in order to examine identity concerns as they relate to construction managers centred on (1) professionalism; (2) ethics; (3) relational aspects of self‐identity; (4) competence, knowledge and tools; and (5) national culture. Identity, we argue, is a key performance issue, and needs to be accounted for in explanations of the success and failure of projects. Our overriding concern is to raise identity issues in order to demonstrate their importance to researchers in construction management and to spark debate. The purpose of this work is not to provide answers or to propose prescriptive models, but to explore ideas, raise awareness and to generate questions for further programmatic research. To this end, we promote empirical work and theorizing by outlining elements of a research agenda which argues that ‘identity’ is a potentially generative theme for scholars in construction management.

Cultural differences as an explanatory variable for adversarial attitudes in the construction industry: the case of Hong Kong

The procurement systems adopted in the construction industry are, by their very nature, fragmented and divided into sub‐organizations distinguished by the various sentient stakeholders. The industry has come to be regarded as adversarial and one in which cooperation is expected to take place in a set of circumstances that are not wholly conducive. There are many reasons why the industry has developed in this fragmented and adversarial manner. This paper reviews some of these reasons and suggests that a new approach for analysing the way the industry operates is required. The authors argue that the perspective that should be adopted to identify the determinants of cooperation should logically stem from the individual level because cooperation is the result of individual efforts and interactions with each other. Using social identity theory, the authors advance a framework for analysing the cooperative behaviour of project participants based on their cultural orientation. As far as the authors are aware this is the first attempt within the construction industry to use such an approach to explain how the industry operates and this paper provides a review of how social identity theory can be used in construction research.

Predicting construction firm performance: an empirical assessment of the differential impact between industry- and firm-specific factors

It is obvious that the performance of firms hinges upon the dynamics of both industry‐ and firm‐specific factors. A less obvious, and perhaps a more important, line of inquiry is that to the extent that they have a bearing on firm performance, how much do these two groups of factors respectively predict firm performance? To date, performance differences among construction firms that stem from industry‐ and firm‐specific differential effect has remained largely unexplored. Using a dataset comprising 526 firms across various construction‐related sectors, the sector‐by‐sector firm performance variation that is attributable to the heterogeneity of both industry‐ and firm‐specific characteristics was empirically examined. That statistically significant results of different effect sizes are found indicates that although these factors are often assumed to be intertwined it is possible to study their respective impact on firm performance. Future studies could usefully replicate and extend this study to construction firms in other countries to further investigate what drives firm performance under different national, industry and firm contexts.

Modelling the determinants of multi-firm project success: a grounded exploration of differing participant perspectives

Existing approaches to multi‐firm project success have been suggested as being overly normative and deductive. They can also be criticized for failing to accommodate the heterogeneous perspectives of respective participants in multi‐firm projects that might be hypothesized intrinsically to differ by industry sector, size and other firm demographics. This research tests the extent to which the determinants of project success differ by sector, firm size and origin within the construction industry using an inductive, grounded approach to model building. Results confirm that project success factors differ significantly between project participants, and suggest the wider application of inductive methodologies to identify such heterogeneous factors.

The politics of sameness in the Australian construction industry: Comparing operative and manager attitudes towards cultural diversity

Purpose – Australian construction sites are culturally diverse workplaces. This paper aims to compare operative and manager attitudes towards cultural diversity on Australian construction sites, and to examine the strategies that are used to manage it.Design/methodology/approach – A face‐to‐face questionnaire survey was undertaken of 1,155 construction operatives and 180 supervisors on Australian construction sites.Findings – The vast majority of operatives and managers are comfortable with cultural diversity. However, there is some anxiety about cultural diversity, especially around safety risks, and there is evidence of racism. Those concerns are more keenly perceived by operatives than by managers. Both operatives and managers see some of the negative issues (discrimination, racist joke telling) as inevitable daily outcomes of cultural diversity on sites. The normalisation of these negative forms of cross‐cultural interaction reveals a pessimistic disposition towards cultural diversity. Cultural divers...