Stephen L. Kajewski

Factors contributing to successful public private partnership projects

Purpose – With the increasing interest in public private partnership (PPP), there is a need to investigate the factors contributing to successful delivery of PPP projects. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the perceptions of respondents from Hong Kong, Australia and the UK on the importance of 18 such factors.Design/methodology/approach – An empirical questionnaire survey was conducted in Hong Kong and Australia. The survey respondents were asked to rate 18 factors which contribute to delivering successful PPP projects.Findings – The findings from this survey were further compared with the results achieved by a previous researcher in a similar survey conducted in the UK. The comparison showed that amongst the top five success factors ranked by Hong Kong respondents, three were also ranked highly by the Australians and British. These success factors included: “Commitment and responsibility of public and private sectors”; “Strong and good private consortium”; and “Appropriate risk allocation and risk ...

Reasons for implementing public private partnership projects

Purpose – This paper sets out to present the findings of a study to investigate the reasons for implementing Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects.Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire survey was conducted in Hong Kong (also commonly referred to as the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region), Australia and the United Kingdom. The survey respondents were asked to rate the importance of nine identified reasons for implementing PPP projects.Findings – The findings of the top three ranks for each respondent group were investigated. Ranked top by the survey respondents in Hong Kong was “Private incentive”. Ranked second by all three groups of survey respondents was “Economic development pressure demanding more facilities”. Third in Hong Kong and first in Australia was “High quality of service required”. The reason “Inefficiency because of public monopoly and lack of competition” was ranked third by the Australian respondents. And finally ranked first and third by the British respondents was “Short...

Enhancing value for money in public private partnership projects

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study the measures that enhance value for money (VFM) in public private partnership (PPP) projects from the findings achieved in a questionnaire survey. The questionnaire survey was conducted in Hong Kong (also known as the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region) and Australia, and is compared to the results conducted by other researchers in the UK.Design/methodology/approach – Respondents to the questionnaire were asked to rate 18 VFM measures in PPP projects.Findings – The results found that the top five VFM measures ranked by the respondents from Hong Kong included: efficient risk allocation (allocating the risk to the party best able to manage it); output‐based specification; competitive tender; private management skill; and private sector technical innovation. The first and second of these VFM measures were also found to be ranked high by the respondents from Australia and the UK, indicating that these were true for these jurisdictions.Practical implications...

Relationship between Construction Firm Strategies and Innovation Outcomes

Survey results provide a preliminary assessment of the relative contribution of a range of tactical business strategies to innovation performance by firms in the Australian construction industry. Over 1,300 firms were surveyed in 2004, resulting in a response rate of 29%. Respondents were classified as high, medium or low innovators according to an innovation index based on the novelty and impact of their innovations and their adoption of listed technological and organizational advances. The relative significance of 23 business strategies concerning (1) employees; (2) marketing; (3) technology; (4) knowledge; and (5) relationships was examined by determining the extent to which they distinguished high innovators from low innovators. The individual business strategies that most strongly distinguished high innovators were (1) investing in RD (2) participating in partnering and alliances on projects; (3) ensuring project learnings are transferred into continuous business processes; (4) monitoring international best practice; and (5) recruiting new graduates. Of the five types of strategies assessed, marketing strategies were the least significant in supporting innovation. The results provide practical guidance to managers in project-based industries wishing to improve their innovation performance.

Suitability of procuring large public works by PPP in Hong Kong

Purpose – The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (hereinafter referred to as Hong Kong) is an international leading commercial hub, particularly in Asia. In order to keep up its reputation a number of large public works projects have been considered. Public‐private partnership (PPP) has increasingly been suggested for these projects, but the suitability of using this procurement method in Hong Kong is yet to be studied empirically. The purpose of this paper is to specifically consider whether PPPs should be used to procure public works projects in Hong Kong by studying the attractive and negative factors for adopting PPP.Design/methodology/approach – As part of this study a questionnaire survey was conducted with industrial practitioners. The respondents were requested to rank the importance of 15 attractive factors and 13 negative factors for adopting PPP.Findings – The results found that in general the top attractive factors ranked by respondents from Hong Kong were efficiency related: these includ...

Internet‐based information and communication systems on remote construction projects: a case study analysis

In an attempt to bring the unique talents of various construction industry project participants together in a more productive and integrated manner, the Online Remote Construction Management (ORCM) project commenced in July 1999 proposing to test, field trial and/or evaluate the implementation of various Internet-based Construction Project Management (ICPM) systems and information and communication technologies (ICT) on five case study projects over a two-year period. This paper provides final results, findings and recommendations obtained after two years of research, surveying and benchmarking activities on one of the five ORCM case study projects. ‘Critical Success Factors’ are identified offering a positive contribution to the successful implementation of ICT tools and ICPM systems on remote construction projects. Similar research activities were undertaken on the other four ORCM case study projects and will be considered in future papers.

The implementation of online information and communication technology (ICT) on remote construction projects

In an attempt to bring the unique talents of various construction industry project participants together in a more productive and integrated manner, the Online Remote Construction Management (ORCM) project commenced in July 1999 proposing to test, field trial and/or evaluate the implementation of various Internet‐based construction project management (ICPM) systems and information and communication technologies (ICT) on four case study projects over a two‐year period, aiming, in general, to demonstrate leadership in facilitating the use of online technologies for the design, management and construction of building and civil construction projects. This paper provides the final results and a list of “best practice guidelines” that are critical in helping ensure successful implementation of ICT tools and/or ICPM systems on geographically dispersed (remote) civil and building construction projects..

The researcher's perspective on procuring public works projects

Purpose – As part of a comprehensive research study looking at implementing public private partnerships (PPPs), interviews with experienced researchers were conducted with the aim of realizing their views on private sector involvement in public works projects.Design/methodology/approach – Amongst these interviews, five were launched with academics from Hong Kong and Australia, and two were conducted with legislative councillors of the Hong Kong Special Administration Region Government.Findings – Findings show that Hong Kong and Australian interviewees had previously conducted some kind of research in the field of PPP. “Different risk profiles” and “private sector more innovative/efficient” were highlighted as the main differences between projects that were procured by PPP and traditionally. Other differences include risk transfer. In a PPP arrangement the public sector passes on a substantial amount of the project risks to the private sector, whereas in a traditional case the public sector would take the ...

Online Remote Construction Management (ORCM)

Unlike many other industries, construction is highly fragmented with numerous design firms, consultants, contractors, subcontractors and suppliers involved in almost any project. Due to the construction industry not having a coherent and integrated computer system that encompasses the whole of the construction process from design through construction to final account and facilities management, even though the todays technology can make this possible, data exchange between project participants is still largely undertaken on paper. In an attempt to bring the unique talents of various construction industry project participants together in a more productive and integrated manner, the Online Remote Construction Management (ORCM) project commenced in July 1999 proposed to test, field trial and/or evaluate inline information and communications systems on up to 5 case study projects over the 2-year period. The ORCM research project aims to demonstrate leadership in facilitating the use of online technologies for the design, management and construction of building and civil construction projects, by identifying and implementing appropriate communication and information technology solutions that will ultimately improve resource management, support and integrate total project life cycle considerations, increase efficiencies on projects, reduce overall cost and improve project outcomes. This paper provides final results, findings and recommendations obtained through the implementation of two ORCM Surveys on one of five ORCM case study projects investigated.

Innovative technologies in road sector

Toole, Hallowell and Chinowsky (2013) define innovation as, “the act of introducing a significant improvement in a process, product, or system that is novel to the organization, may cause individuals to view things differently, and results in competitive advantage, increased value for the client or benefit to stockholders”. The road construction industry needs new applications from the view point of innovation and technology (Caerteling et al., 2009). Focus needs to be on enhancing road industry performance considering that road infrastructure is a substantial contributor to employment and gross domestic product (Caerteling et al., 2011). Based on limited literature available on application of innovative technologies in the road sector, typical examples reported are: solar roads, Smart highways in the Netherlands that glow in the dark, new road surface material, CFA (Continuous Flight Augur) piling, Moveable barrier system, use of recycled material and others. This paper presents an overview of innovation in the road construction sector, the driving factors behind adopting new techniques and materials; and the barriers it faces in their application.