Jongsoo Choi

Database Framework for Cost, Schedule, and Performance Data Integration

AbstractCost, schedule, and performance control are three major functions in the project execution phase. Along with their individual importance, cost-schedule integration has been a major challenge over the past five decades in the construction industry. While much effort has been exerted to propose an ideal integration system, a distributed approach has prevailed. Consequently, cost-schedule integration has remained an unsolved problem. The primary purpose of this paper is to propose a new approach to integrate cost, schedule, and performance data. This paper concentrates on project execution data related to project control functions including quantity takeoffs, cost estimation, cost control, schedule control, periodic monthly payment, and performance measurement. The terms for an ideal integration are analyzed, and a construction information database framework (CIDF) is proposed that supports multiple perspectives and levels of detail with a relatively small number of control accounts.

Comparing Perception Concerning the Importance of Apartment Complex Components Between Consumers and Housing Providers

In the last several decades, the residential apartment housing market in South Korea was led by housing providers, not by consumers, which led to a seller′s market. However, since the mid-2000s, the market has experienced a rapid transition to a buyer′s market because of an oversupply of apartment units. This implies that housing providers require new strategies for appropriately responding to the rapidly changing market environment. We conducted a survey of 799 occupants of new apartment units to assess their evaluation of 13 pre-classified apartment complex components. In addition, we conducted a similar survey of 34 customer satisfaction (CS) experts representing housing providers. The results of a comparative analysis of consumers and CS experts indicate significant differences in their evaluation of each component. The results have important implications for housing providers interested in developing effective housing supply strategies and for improving design quality.

Effects of Contract Announcements on the Value of Construction Firms

AbstractWinning a new contract has an important implication for the sustainable growth and survival of construction firms in competitive market environments. Considering this and the limited literature on market analysis, this paper aimed to explore the effects of contract announcements on the market value of firms in the context of construction industry. Through a rigorous sample-screening process, this paper selects and analyzes a total of 377 contracts awarded to Korean contractors between 2000 and 2010. Using the standard event study methodology, cumulative abnormal returns (CARs) are estimated to evaluate the overall level of project success and to compare groups categorized according to project characteristics. The results indicate that the stock market generally responds positively to contract announcements. In addition, contracts awarded during economic upturns are more likely to be favorably evaluated than those awarded during economic downturns.

Determining the Impact of Key Climatic Factors on Labor Productivity in the Mongolian Construction Industry

Mongolia is exposed to an inclement-climate environment due to its specific geographical location and altitude. Such circumstances are challenging, and careful consideration is required in terms of the scheduling of construction works; in particular, a high possibility of productivity loss exists regarding outdoor work. This study presents the key climatic factors that significantly impact on the concreting operation, and the historical climatic data, project-specific questionnaire surveys, and the actual productivity data of previous concreting works are accordingly utilized. This study utilized a total of 343 project-specific productivity data collected from the contractors. The analysis results indicate that low temperatures, high winds and precipitation are the critical factors affecting productivity loss in terms of outdoor concrete work. In addition, the authors suggest the critical-factor threshold values for the prevention of this productivity loss, and for the preparation of an optimum project schedule under the inclement-climate condition.

Does the stock market curse contractor’s bidding decision and winning a new contract?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the stock market reactions at the time of new construction contract winning announcements to explore whether the managements made wise bidding decisions and thus create values. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 813 new contracts awarded to publicly traded US construction firms for the years 2000 through 2009 are screened and these are analyzed by applying event study methodology. This paper estimates the effect of an event on stock market’s responses, using cumulative abnormal returns (CARs), and the CAR values are estimated for four types of windows: days 0 (i.e. the day of the event announcement), (−1, +1), (−2, +2), and (−3, +3). The market responses are further subdivided according to such variables as the project type, owner type, project location, work scope, and bidder size. Findings – The results of this study show that the stock market did not curse contract winners by positively responding to the announcements of new contract awards. The s...