Marcus Jefferies

Critical success factors of public private sector partnerships: A case study of the Sydney SuperDome

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine perceptions of Build‐Own‐Operate Transfer (BOOT) schemes in order to develop a framework of critical success factors (CSF).Design/methodology/approach – Success factors are identified from relevant literature and a project specific CSF framework is produced with key issues discussed. Discussion focuses on a case study of a current Australian BOOT project, the Sydney SuperDome.Findings – The SuperDome is proving to be an example of how both government and private industry is attempting to meet Australias need for infrastructure in the new millennium. The project had a streamline finance process and project participants had an appetite for risk that exceeded the other tenderers. PPPs are now established as a worldwide means of developing public services with private sector finance and expertise.Originality/value – The SuperDome model is setting the benchmark for Australian BOOT projects, acting as the framework for future PPPs initiated by the NSW Government.

Using public‐private partnerships (PPPs) to procure social infrastructure in Australia

Purpose – Owing to increasing demands for new infrastructure and a reduction in public sector investment, Australian governments are increasingly turning to the private sector to form partnerships in the design, construction, ownership and operation of public sector projects. This paper aims to focus on the use of public‐private partnerships (PPPs) to procure “social infrastructure projects”, such as schools, hospitals and prisons. The research seeks to map the current extent of PPPs and to present some preliminary findings on the cost of bidding.Design/methodology/approach – The research traces the origins of social infrastructure PPPs in Australia and gives an up‐to‐date account by mapping projects that are either completed to date or in the pipeline. The research also describes preliminary findings on additional costs likely to be incurred in bidding for social infrastructure PPPs. A semi‐structured interview process involving senior managers from private sector PPP stakeholders was used in conjunction...

Using a case study approach to identify critical success factors for alliance contracting

Purpose – There has been a significant increase in the use of relationship contracting in the global construction industry, with strategies such as Partnering, Alliancing and Public-Private Partnerships all used. These approaches were introduced to the Australian construction industry in the 1990s in an attempt to overcome the adversarial nature of traditional contracting methods. The purpose of this paper is to investigate factors that influence the successful implementation of Project Alliancing by means of a case study approach focusing on the procurement of a large water treatment plant. The research findings identify critical success factors (CSFs) both from literature and the case study project. Design/methodology/approach – The research traces the origins of Alliancing and identifies CSFs by reviewing literature and analysing a current case study project. The paper first identifies CSFs on a global scale by establishing a theoretical framework of CSFs and then compares this to the case study projec...

A strategy for evaluating a fuzzy case-based construction procurement selection system

System Verification and Validation (V&V) is an essential element in the development and implementation of any computer-based decision tools. The unique concepts of Case-Based Reasoning (CBR), such as the use of mega-knowledge and nearest matching have generated extra challenges to system developers to ensure that the system is built right and the right system is built. However, little attention has been attributed to verifying and validating a CBR system. Recently, a fuzzy CBR prototype known as CaPS has been developed for the selection of appropriate construction procurement systems. To ensure that the procurement system is acceptable to the procurement experts in the construction industry, a series of tests have been conducted with domain experts using real cases (stored in the case base) and projects (as scenarios for retrieval and comparison). This paper reports on the findings of the V&V that have been performed on CAPS. Techniques available for verifying and validating a CBR system are first discussed. The V&V procedures applied to the prototype system are subsequently outlined. The results confirm that the cases stored in CaPS are correct, consistent, and irredundant. More importantly, the solutions generated by CaPS are accurate and innovative, and these are necessary for todays construction projects.

Value through innovation in long‐term service delivery : Facility management in an Australian PPP

Purpose – Public‐private partnerships (PPPs) and other innovative procurement mechanisms are frequently used to deliver both an asset and a public service over a protracted period. The value streams to the parties involved can be complex, but generally arise from the satisfactory provision of infrastructure that is fit for purpose throughout its life. This research aims to investigate the effectiveness of the facility management (FM) function in delivering long‐term value to both the client and consortium.Design/methodology/approach – This paper describes a case study of a PPP in Australia that delivered social infrastructure in multiple locations to a state government. Drawing upon multiple perspectives from within the consortium, it utilises inductive principles to identify the influences on value generation through innovation by the FM function.Findings – The ability of an Australian FM contractor to provide value within a PPP context has been shown to reflect some of the attributes described in litera...

The Psychological Contract of Safety: The Missing Link Between Safety Climate and Safety Behaviour in Construction Sites

The causal relationship between safety climate and safety behavior is examined in numerous studies, however the pathway that mediates this relationship is still unclear. Viewing safety through the lens of the ‘Psychological Contract’ it is argued that ‘Psychological Contract of Safety’ (PCSaf), could be a vital factor for improving safety performance. Previous research suggests that (1); safety climate is based on perception of workers regarding safety and (2); PCSaf is based on perceived mutual obligations between workers and supervisors, as a result, if PCSaf or mutual obligations between workers and supervisors are fulfilled, then safety behavior of the workers will be positively influenced. A proposed model of Psychological Contract of Safety (PCSaf) as an alternative intervention in the understanding and management of safety practice is presented. A final model will deepen understanding and reveal relationships between safety climate and safety behavior on construction sites.

Psychological Contracts: Framework for Relationships in Construction Procurement

AbstractThe existence of psychological contracts (PC) in construction procurement is examined. Specific objectives are to identify the presence of the PC in construction project teams and catalogue...

A Comparison of Public Private Partnership Environment Between Australia and China

Due to the central government’s effort in encouraging and supporting the participation of social capital investors in infrastructure development since late 2013, China is currently catching Public Private Partnership (PPP) fever. However, China is still considered to have immature regulatory and institutional PPP frameworks. By contrast, PPP projects have enjoyed significant success in Australia, which is one of the most mature PPP markets globally. Hence, this paper aims to review the environment for PPPs in Australia and China and consequently identify trends and potential innovations. It was found that although the overall environment is still evolving, China has a wealth of experience with PPPs. Given the tremendous economic growth and immense demand for infrastructure, China will continue to have a massive demand for future PPP projects. In Australia, the need for significant private investment in the nation’s infrastructure is expected to result in the emergence of a variety of innovative funding and financing models. However, notwithstanding the maturity of the Australian PPP market, very little has been done to confirm PPP performance during the operational phase. This paper makes an important contribution by comparing the two PPP markets and the findings will provide a better understanding of PPPs to industry practitioners in order to deliver cost-effective infrastructure. It could also offer a starting point for Australia to enter the Chinese PPP market based on its huge technical, financial and legal PPP expertise.

Role of Psychological Contract to Influence Safety Behaviour at Construction Sites

Viewing safety through the lens of the ‘Psychological Contract’ and considering the influence of supervisor on construction site, this research proposes a ‘Psychological Contract of Safety’ (PCS) which is based on the mutual obligations to safety between supervisor and workers, predicts safety behaviour at a construction site. In order to test this hypothesis, data were collected from a mega-construction project in Sydney, Australia. The empirical data indicates that there is a strong influence of the PCS on the safety behaviour of individual workers. Using Structural Equation Modelling this research tested a survey instrument that can be used in other construction settings to examine the strength of the mutual relationship between supervisors and workers and its influence on safety behaviour.

Organizational Factors, Residual Risk Management and Accident Causation in the Mining Industry: A Systematic Literature Review

Organizational factors are considered part of the broader human factors domain that links three aspects of industrial set-ups, namely, the job, the individual and the organization and how these impact on employee health and safety. The broader human factors domain in the context of sociotechnical systems has attracted a lot of research in the past three decades. In particular, organizational factors have long been suspected to have the greatest influence on individual and group behavior at the workplace, although there is little research on their influence in industrial accident causation. In addition, there is little research on the influence of organizational factors on residual risk management in high-risk industries such as mining. Residual or net risk is defined as the level of risk present with all identified risk control measures in place. Most accidents in the mining industry are as a result of residual risk, as compared to inherent risk. Therefore, it becomes imperative to examine accident causation in the context of residual risk management. This paper explains a systematic literature review that is intended to identify research studies published on organizational factors in the mining industry between 1980 and 2017. The aim of the review is to examine the relationship between organizational factors and accident causation in the context of residual risk management. Gaps identified in the literature review would assist in directing future research towards this critical relationship, which is responsible for the injury and loss of many lives in the mining industry. The search strategy involved identifying published and peer-reviewed articles in electronic databases such as Scopus, Web of Science, Proquest, EMBASE, ASCE and CINAHL. Selection of eligible articles was achieved through refined inclusion and exclusion criteria that resulted in a total of 27 articles eligible for review. Primary outcomes and research gaps from the data extraction are presented following the PRISMA reporting checklist.