Wenzhe Tang

Relationships among Risk Management, Partnering, and Contractor Capability in International EPC Project Delivery

AbstractEngineering-Procurement-Construction (EPC) method has become commonly adopted in international construction markets, in which contractors bear enormous risks. Previous studies suggest the need to improve contractors’ risk management by partnering with project participants and enhancing their organizational capability. Nevertheless, limited research has systematically and quantitatively addressed the causal relationships among them. This study quantifies the relationships among these themes via the development and validation of a conceptual mediation model. With supporting data from Chinese contractors, this research outlines the statuses on contractors’ risk management, application of partnering, and their organizational capability. Path analysis validates that partnering not only effectively facilitates risk management via promotion of contractor capability but also directly enhances risk management. Canonical correlation analyses further reveal the different degrees to which partnering critical ...

Enhancing Design Management by Partnering in Delivery of International EPC Projects: Evidence from Chinese Construction Companies

AbstractThe engineering-procurement-construction (EPC) approach has been increasingly adopted in competitive international markets, in which design management is critical to project performances. Existing studies have embraced a partnering strategy to integrate stakeholders’ diverse expertise and need for better solutions to design. This study has quantitatively investigated the cause-effect relationships among partnering, design management, and project outcomes by developing and testing a conceptual model. With the support of data collected from Chinese construction companies as EPC contractors, this study reveals that contractors’ design management should focus on four factors: planning and executing, resolving disputes, optimizing design, and promoting techniques . Path analysis confirms that partnering can not only significantly facilitate design management, thereby improving project outcomes, but also directly promote project performances and create long-term strategic benefits. Canonical correlation...

Creating social–physical resilience to natural disasters: lessons from the Wenchuan earthquake

Creating resilience is a proactive approach engaging with natural disaster reduction, which should be based on an understanding of the linkages between social–physical systems. Here we report a case study of Wenchuan earthquake, revealing that vulnerable built systems, degraded ecological systems, and socially disadvantaged communities were closely interrelated and largely existed in rural areas of inland China. This indicates that, while it is urgent to improve resilience of built systems, fundamentally, approaches should be adopted for rural dwellers to enter virtuous circles of economical activities as well as benign ecological cycles. Achieving these is challenging that will require systematic governance improvements in China. The lessons from Wenchuan earthquake suggest a research and policy emphasis on the interactions between social processes and ecological processes in inland rural areas of developing countries for enhancing physical resilience, which would facilitate achieving the mutual objectives on adaptation to earthquake-caused risks, weather-related disaster mitigation, and sustainable development.

Critical success factors in Thailand’s green building industry

The promotion of Green Buildings (GB) has become a global trend that improves resource efficiency and the well-being of societies. The development of GB still encounters different obstacles in developing countries. The critical success factors of GB and their relationships with GB certification levels in Thailand have been investigated. The relationships between the competence of individual project participants and competence of project team at different GB certification levels are also analyzed. The results reveal the underlying patterns of the overall picture of the GB industry in Thailand, and suggest that all project participants should continuously improve their competences via technical and management innovation for delivering affordable and sustainable products, thereby making green buildings more available and appealing to the public. This study provides empirical evidence for all project participants to adopt appropriate team building strategies and optimally allocate their resources to achieve the suitable GB certification levels.

Evaluation of Cooperation during Project Delivery: Empirical Study on the Hydropower Industry in Southwest China

AbstractPrevious studies agree that cooperation among participants is critical to successfully deliver projects; however, little research has quantitatively illustrated how participants benefit from cooperation. Based on partnering and cooperative game theories, the degree of willingness to cooperate (DWC) model has been used in this study to reflect the interactions among participants through dynamic simulation. With the support of data collected from a field survey, the outcomes of DWC model simulation have been tested, confirming that DWCs have significantly positive influences on cooperation gains, and incentives are effective in improving participants’ rewards. Application of the DWC model then reveals the cooperation status of hydropower developments in Southwest China, suggesting five practical strategies for interorganizational cooperation in project delivery. This study advances the knowledge area of multiorganizational dynamics during project delivery by building interdisciplinary linkage betwee...

Enhancing Trust-Based Interface Management in International Engineering-Procurement-Construction Projects

AbstractThe engineering-procurement-construction (EPC) method is gaining more acceptance worldwide as a project delivery strategy due to the construction efficiencies gained through making one orga...

Causes of contractors’ claims in international engineering-procurement-construction projects

Engineering-Procurement-Construction (EPC) method has increasingly been applied in international markets. In this research, the causes of contractors’ claims in international EPC projects are model...

Understanding the causes of vulnerabilities for enhancing social-physical resilience: lessons from the Wenchuan earthquake

ABSTRACT In an effort to understand the social-physical vulnerabilities from the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, this research established and validated a conceptual model for natural disaster analysis. The earthquake severely impacted the built environment, with many buildings being destroyed in the earthquake and from secondary impacts. This vulnerable environment exacerbated the poverty in the local residents because of the lack of flat land and the inaccessibility of the mountainous areas. Therefore, there was an interactive relationship between the built environment vulnerability and the social vulnerability. Due to general poverty and low education levels, social vulnerability in rural areas is often the result of poor quality building construction; in the event of an earthquake, therefore, most economic losses and casualties are the result of building destruction. To enhance social-physical resilience, measures should be adopted to mitigate the vulnerability of the built environment and society through actions such as land use planning, the use of seismic-resistant technologies, and investment in infrastructure, education, industrial development, and environmental protection. This research extracts the reasons for the vulnerabilities through an examination of the interactions between the natural environment, the built environment, and the local society. The insights gained have significant theoretical and practical implications in assisting vulnerable communities resist and adapt to natural hazards to achieve sustainable development.

Understanding the Role of Built Environment Resilience to Natural Disasters: Lessons Learned from the Wenchuan Earthquake

AbstractThis study develops and validates a conceptual model of the role of built environment resilience to natural disasters by conducting an overall case study of the Wenchuan earthquake. This re...