Tony Ma

The significance of the tendering contract on the opportunities for clients to encourage contractorled innovation

During the tendering process for most major construction contracts there is the opportunity for bidders to suggest alternative innovative solutions. Clearly clients are keen to take advantage of these opportunities, and equally contractors want to use their expertise to establish competitive advantage. Both parties may very well benefit from the encouragement of such innovation and the availability of cheaper methods of construction than have been contemplated by the tendering authority. However recent developments in common law have raised doubts about the ability of owners to seek alternative tenders without placing themselves at risk of litigation. This common law has recognised the existence of the so‐called “tendering contract” or “process contract”. Since the tendering process is inherently price competitive, the application of the tendering contract concept is likely to severely inhibit the opportunity for alternative tenders. The “tendering contract” is automatically brought into being upon the timely submission of a conforming tender. This is contrary to the traditional view that an invitation to tender was considered to be no more than an invitation to treat, therefore submission of a tender creates obligations for neither party. Under the “tendering contract”, the owner becomes obliged to treat all tenderers equally and fairly. This paper is primarily based on the literature review. The aim of this paper is to highlight the problems with the competitive tendering process in relation to contractor‐led innovation and explore ways in which owners can develop procurement procedures that will allow and encourage innovation from contractors.

Optimism bias within the project management context: A systematic quantitative literature review

Purpose One of the major challenges for any project is to prepare and develop an achievable baseline schedule and thus set the project up for success, rather than failure. The purpose of this paper is to explore and investigate research outputs in one of the major causes, optimism bias, to identify problems with developing baseline schedules and analyse mitigation techniques and their effectiveness recommended by research to minimise the impact of this bias. Design/methodology/approach A systematic quantitative literature review was followed, examining Project Management Journals, documenting the mitigation approaches recommended and then reviewing whether these approaches were validated by research. Findings Optimism bias proved to be widely accepted as a major cause of unrealistic scheduling for projects, and there is a common understanding as to what it is and the effects that it has on original baseline schedules. Based upon this review, the most recommended mitigation method is Flyvbjerg’s “Reference class,” which has been developed based upon Kahneman’s “Outside View”. Both of these mitigation techniques are based upon using an independent third party to review the estimate. However, within the papers reviewed, apart from the engineering projects, there has been no experimental and statistically validated research into the effectiveness of this method. The majority of authors who have published on this topic are based in Europe. Research limitations/implications The short-listed papers for this review referred mainly to non-engineering projects which included information technology focussed ones. Thus, on one hand, empirical research is needed for engineering projects, while on the other hand, the lack of tangible evidence for the effectiveness of methods related to the alleviation of optimism bias issues calls for greater research into the effectiveness of mitigation techniques for not only engineering projects, but for all projects. Originality/value This paper documents the growth within the project management research literature over time on the topic of optimism bias. Specifically, it documents the various methods recommended to mitigate the phenomenon and highlights quantitatively the research undertaken on the subject. Moreover, it introduces paths for further research.

Developing a fuzzy risk assessment model for guaranteed maximum price and target cost contracts in South Australia

Purpose – This paper aims to develop a fuzzy risk assessment model for construction projects procured with target cost contracts and guaranteed maximum price contracts (TCC/GMP) using the fuzzy synthetic evaluation method, based on an empirical questionnaire survey with relevant industrial practitioners in South Australia. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 34 major risk factors inherent with TCC/GMP contracts were identified through an extensive literature review and a series of structured interviews. A questionnaire survey was then launched to solicit the opinions of industrial practitioners on risk assessment of such risk factors. Findings – The most important 14 key risk factors after the computation of normalised values were selected for undertaking fuzzy evaluation analysis. Five key risk groups (KRGs) were then generated in descending order of importance as: physical risks, lack of experience of contracting parties throughout TCC/GMP procurement process, design risks, contractual risks and de...

A Comparative Study of the Benefits of Applying Target Cost Contracts Between South Australia and Hong Kong

This article aims to identify and analyze the key benefits of adopting Guaranteed Maximum Price and Target Cost Contracts (GMP/TCC) over and above the traditional lump-sum contractual arrangement through an empirical questionnaire survey conducted in South Australia and compared with the findings in Hong Kong. The Mann-Whitney U Test indicated differences in perception between the two groups of respondents on the majority of the identified benefits. The study has provided an in-depth understanding of the perceived benefits of the GMP/TCC scheme, hence leading to a wider application of those alternative integrated procurement strategies in both regions for reference by the construction community at large.

The effect of dwelling occupants on energy consumption: the case of heat waves in Australia

Climate change predictions indicate more extremes in weather conditions in the coming decades with more frequent and severe heat waves in certain locations including Australia. It is likely that the more vulnerable members of the community will be at risk during heat waves in the future from both health and financial perspectives. The trend towards fully air conditioned larger homes has already seen very large peaks in electricity demand during past heat waves. Electricity prices have increased substantially in recent years and will increase further due to greater peak demand and environmental levies. To manage the risks to dwelling occupants during heat waves, research has been carried out to determine methods of promoting adaptive behaviours through residential design. This paper describes the concept of a “cool retreat” within a dwelling which can provide comfort conditions with minimal cooling costs during heat wave periods. The cool retreat concept is shown to have its origins in the past in a number of locations around the world subject to hot conditions. Various cool retreat configurations have been analysed for thermal performance, demonstrating the viability of this approach for dealing with extreme conditions in the future.

Soft skills of construction project management professionals and project success factors: A structural equation model

Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to identify the soft skills of construction project management; and second, to investigate the influence of these soft skills on project success factors in the Vietnamese construction industry. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire survey was conducted with 108 project management professionals from the Vietnamese construction industry. Partial least square structural equation modelling was employed in data analysis. Findings Four-dimensional structure of project success factors was confirmed in this study. Results also showed that soft skills of project managers significantly contributed to project success factors and hence the project success. Research limitations/implications There may be geographical limitation on the conclusions drawn from the findings. Similarly, the sample size was still small, despite a relatively high response rate. In addition, the majority of the respondents were contractors and clients as other project players were reluctant to respond to the survey. Practical implications This study provides an understanding of the relationship between soft skills and project success factors. Originality/value Although there have been studies focused on soft skills of project management and project success factors, few have attempted to analyse the effects of these soft skills on critical success factors. Thus, this study adds significantly to the existing research on both project management skills and project success factors.

An Analysis of the Adaptive Re-use of Heritage Buildings in South Australia

The conservation of heritage buildings plays an important role to enhance the sustainable built environment. Adaptive re-use of heritage buildings has become a wider revitalization way to promote sustainability and protect the heritage buildings’ significance. However, many building owners and developers still perceive the re-use of heritage buildings as being an unviable option as planning and building regulations may restrict their uses. Therefore the viability of adaptive re-use of heritage buildings is yet to be fully evaluated. The aim of this research is to investigate the perceived benefits and barriers of adaptive re-use of heritage buildings and to suggest recommendations to promote its re-use. Questionnaire survey and case studies collected in South Australia are used to illustrate the research objectives.This research discovers that the adaptive re-use of heritage buildings provides environmental, social and community benefits based on the conservation experts point of views. From the building owners, the adaptive re-use did provide some economic benefits. It also identifies the barriers for the conservation work. The major problem is the conservation cost. Moreover, the compliance of Building Code requirements and earthquake review are also the barriers for the conservation work. The long development approval can be another obstacle for the conservation work.