Roger Flanagan - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Roger Flanagan
The Chartered Institute of Building, CIOB and Lion Mark are UK registered trademarks for The Char... more The Chartered Institute of Building, CIOB and Lion Mark are UK registered trademarks for The Chartered Institute of Building. Quality, or rather the failure of quality, is one of the most important issues facing the construction industry today. Whilst many companies are committed to achieving good quality in the buildings and infrastructure that they create, recent events have highlighted that, as an industry, we are failing to consistently deliver the standards of quality that people have a right to expect. The underlying causes of these failures is something that we are only now beginning to understand. In 2017, the Chartered Institute of Building established the Construction Quality Commission to investigate the issue of quality in the construction industry and what needed to be done to improve it. The Commission wanted to understand the behaviours, both individual and corporate, that were either preventing or promoting the delivery of quality on construction projects. Research identified that there is an underlying cultural issue and that in parts of the industry, quality is being sacrificed to achieve cost or time targets. If we are to improve the delivery of quality on construction projects, change is needed from the top-down and the bottom-up. To achieve this, the CIOB has committed to promoting best practice and providing better education and training on quality management, both for our members and the wider construction community. The Code of Quality Management aims to raise standards by providing the tools and processes to help in the delivery of quality on construction projects. There is no excuse for poor quality. The quality of the built environment is key to our quality of life and is the legacy that we leave behind for future generations. We all have responsibility for the reputation of the construction industry and, most importantly, the satisfaction, wellbeing, and safety of those who use the built environment that we design, build and manage. A commitment to achieving the right quality begins by taking pride in what we do and recognising that how we do it matters.
Decision making theory suggests that a typical process for making decision comprises sequential s... more Decision making theory suggests that a typical process for making decision comprises sequential steps such as setting objectives, understanding decision situation, generating decision alternatives, evaluating and selecting an optimal option, and so on. This research focuses on the process of generating decision options from a situation analysis. In practice, this process still heavily depends on decision maker's creativity despite the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) approach has greatly facilitated it. This research aims to aid the generation of decision options by considering artificial intelligence (AI) as a possible solution. It starts with a critical review of the SWOT as a powerful and popular tool for conducting situation analysis. A weighted matrix is introduced to improve the current SWOT approach. By manipulating the matrix, a heuristic rule is derived. The heuristic rule can be fed into future AI software to generate various decision options
Wiley-Blackwell eBooks, Mar 1, 2018
Small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are at the core of the Malaysian construction industry.... more Small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are at the core of the Malaysian construction industry. They account for more than 90% of companies that accept construction work. Because the SMEs are the majority, their characteristics significantly affect the current practices in the industry. This paper sought to understand the key characteristics of Malaysian construction SMEs that operate in rural areas. The study was based on multiple case studies in five construction SMEs that operated in four different states in Malaysia. The case studies identified seven key characteristics of Malaysian rural construction SMEs: (1) motivation for survival, (2) no policy for the implementation of new technologies and training, (3) no preference on the types of construction work accepted, (4) dominated by a single owner; (5) small number of employees, (6) being affected by political scenarios and (7) different business approaches between Bumiputera and non-Bumiputera companies. This study provides the government agencies and the Construction Industry Development Board an indication of how they can assist SMEs improve their productivity and further improve the construction industry's performance by addressing the special characteristics of the SMEs. The study may also serve as a basis to understand SMEs in other countries because different cultures, traditions and problems that SMEs encountered are viewed differently in different countries.
The concept 'competitiveness' is an important element in the debate on the performance of nations... more The concept 'competitiveness' is an important element in the debate on the performance of nations, industries and firms. The purpose of this paper is, firstly, to highlight the need to ask the right questions in order to specify the meaning and measurement of 'competitiveness' and secondly to introduce a new definition of competitiveness for a nation's construction industry. An examination of the extant literature on 'competitiveness' and its associated measures, reveals that there is a vital link between 'competitiveness' and the principal goals, the mission, of a nation and firm respectively, but also that these missions are not completely covered by the measures used today. This observation enables the formulation of a definition of 'competitiveness' for a nation's construction industry. It is concluded that 'competitiveness' for a nation's construction industry must consider the needs and expectations of companies, clients and society respectively and simultaneously and cannot be captured by a single measure.
Many large scale construction projects (LSPs) are designed in a collaboration between famous inte... more Many large scale construction projects (LSPs) are designed in a collaboration between famous international architects and local design firms. Design management usually evolves as a tool at the design stage for designers and design solution. One of the special characteristics of the Korean construction environment places a duty and responsibility on the contractor to coordinate and check design information. Hence the contractor must manage and integrate diverse design information into the production process. This research considers how the design management diagram (DMD) can help as a part of the system at the pre-production stage of LSPs in Korea 2. The pre-production stage receives insufficient attention from the research community from the perspective of design management; it is a complex process involving interdependence, risk, and uncertainty. Through the application of a DMD from the pre-production stage, the contractor can predict and manage the design-related uncertainty during production stages. The design management factors (DMFs) were analysed by the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), and then used complexity system theory to understand the interrelationship between the causal factors. DMFs are presented as a causal loop diagram which can help the contractor to cope with designrelated uncertainties at the early production phase.
JOURNAL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT
Tender documents often lack clarity and are incomplete, making it difficult for contractors to ap... more Tender documents often lack clarity and are incomplete, making it difficult for contractors to appropriately price projects. A general view is that the quality of tender documents has declined, which has affected the bidding strategies of contractors. However, the academic literature has focused mainly upon the views of contractors. To obtain a more balanced view of tendering practices, in-depth interviews were conducted with 10 practitioners (client, consultant, and contractor) who are involved in a common project at the same time in the UK construction industry. The contractor was satisfied that the quality of tender documents had been consistent. By contrast, both the client and the consultant agreed that the quality of tender documents is an ongoing issue. During the study it was revealed that tendering practice is influenced by the relationship between stakeholders or the unbalanced access to information rather than the accuracy and analysis of tender documentations. Tendering ...
Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are the core of construction industry. SMEs are recognised as... more Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are the core of construction industry. SMEs are recognised as the backbone of economy. Materials form major parts of the total cost of construction project which make control of this resource significant. Despite the importance of materials, not enough attention has been given by researchers to materials control and management. Effective and efficient material management has the capability to reduce cost and increase productivity on construction projects for SMEs. Tracking and positioning technology has the potential to increase productivity and the application of construction material management. Affordability, reliability and ease of use are the capabilities of GPS, GIS, RFID and Bluetooth which make them suitable for SMEs. These technologies are widely available yet rarely applied for SMEs in construction. The aim of this research is to find out the applications of the tracking technology for SMEs on supply chain materials on construction site ...
... 5 The World Bank's HDM model 59 4.2. 6 The Department of Transport'... more ... 5 The World Bank's HDM model 59 4.2. 6 The Department of Transport's COBA and URECA models 60 4.2. 7 The TRRL whole life cost model 60 4.2. 8 Other approaches to life cycle costing 61 4.3 Traffic 61 4.4 Construction costs 63 4.4. 1 Road geometry 63 4.4. ...
Automation in Construction, 1996
The construction process relies upon the effective management of a variety of project information... more The construction process relies upon the effective management of a variety of project information including drawings; specifications; bills of quantities; and other technical data. The method of information transfer determines the ease with which information can be assimilated and used in the construction process. Despite the widespread use of computers for the generation of project information, hard copy documentation remains the primary method of information transfer within the construction industry. Electronic Document Management (EDM) systems offer a level of control over information flow within the construction process, whether documents are in hard copy or in electronic format. However, many of the existing methods of information transfer undermine the performance of EDM systems in two respects; (1) they require the user to re-enter information to register incoming documents into a data base; (2) they cannot interpret and manipulate information cohtained in or supporting the document. This paper describe,3 a method of bar coding hard copy drawings in order to electronically transfer document information from designer to contractor. This approach is designed to improve the functionality of EDM systems where hard copy documents predominate. The paper also considers the requirements for bar code application standards which would further improve the data exchange process concerning documents.
Construction Management and Economics, 1996
... glass used for security glazing could be coded using a ve digit code of the form C68-2C ... ... more ... glass used for security glazing could be coded using a ve digit code of the form C68-2C ... Any auto-ID standard must be sufciently Ż exible to accommodate potential uses in any stage of ... system will stimulate adoption in life cycle stages which have hitherto failed to use auto-ID. ...
Describing Construction, Aug 17, 2022
Atmospheric and Climate Sciences
It is becoming clear that Climate Change is getting severe. It was reported that the improved oce... more It is becoming clear that Climate Change is getting severe. It was reported that the improved ocean heat measurements have a rate of warming upwards from 4 to 5 Hiroshima bombs liberated heat per second or 388,800 per day. It was reported also that our climate has accumulated the equivalent of a total of more than 2.8 billion Hiroshima bombs' worth of heat since 1998. Despite this global concern about the effect of global change on environment, it is believed that the problem is much more severe and with greater impact on all facets of life. The effect of Climate Change, especially with a 1˚C increase in global temperature (from 14˚C to 15˚C) is equivalent to the heat liberated from explosion of about 300 million Hiroshima of atomic bomb. This is why this CoP 26 becomes more serious and had targeted year 2060 as a year of zero CO 2 emission. This paper discusses the impact of climate change on ten sectors; water, water desalination, energy, renewable energy supply, health, society, agriculture, economy, industry, and built environment.
Chartered Institute of Building, Jan 10, 2021
Proceedings of the 24th International Symposium on Advancement of Construction Management and Real Estate, 2021
Abstract The term corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been intensely discussed across the w... more Abstract The term corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been intensely discussed across the world for over decades. Construction industry, however, is usually labeled as being relatively irresponsible for its adverse impacts on environment and relatively dangerous working condition on construction sites. The in-depth exploration of CSR issues has rarely been targeted. This empirical study investigates the impact of corporate social performance (CSP) on competitive advantage of Chinese listed construction companies. The hypothesis of this study is that corporate social performance is positively related to competitive advantage. Drawing on a dataset of 85 Chinese listed construction companies obtained from Hexun and Capital IQ database, the finding from structural equation model (SEM) provides strong evidence that CSP has a positive impact on competitive advantage. This result suggests that Chinese construction companies should promote their engagement in CSR activities and improve their CSR performance, thus gain a competitive advantage over their competitors.
The Chartered Institute of Building, CIOB and Lion Mark are UK registered trademarks for The Char... more The Chartered Institute of Building, CIOB and Lion Mark are UK registered trademarks for The Chartered Institute of Building. Quality, or rather the failure of quality, is one of the most important issues facing the construction industry today. Whilst many companies are committed to achieving good quality in the buildings and infrastructure that they create, recent events have highlighted that, as an industry, we are failing to consistently deliver the standards of quality that people have a right to expect. The underlying causes of these failures is something that we are only now beginning to understand. In 2017, the Chartered Institute of Building established the Construction Quality Commission to investigate the issue of quality in the construction industry and what needed to be done to improve it. The Commission wanted to understand the behaviours, both individual and corporate, that were either preventing or promoting the delivery of quality on construction projects. Research identified that there is an underlying cultural issue and that in parts of the industry, quality is being sacrificed to achieve cost or time targets. If we are to improve the delivery of quality on construction projects, change is needed from the top-down and the bottom-up. To achieve this, the CIOB has committed to promoting best practice and providing better education and training on quality management, both for our members and the wider construction community. The Code of Quality Management aims to raise standards by providing the tools and processes to help in the delivery of quality on construction projects. There is no excuse for poor quality. The quality of the built environment is key to our quality of life and is the legacy that we leave behind for future generations. We all have responsibility for the reputation of the construction industry and, most importantly, the satisfaction, wellbeing, and safety of those who use the built environment that we design, build and manage. A commitment to achieving the right quality begins by taking pride in what we do and recognising that how we do it matters.
Decision making theory suggests that a typical process for making decision comprises sequential s... more Decision making theory suggests that a typical process for making decision comprises sequential steps such as setting objectives, understanding decision situation, generating decision alternatives, evaluating and selecting an optimal option, and so on. This research focuses on the process of generating decision options from a situation analysis. In practice, this process still heavily depends on decision maker's creativity despite the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) approach has greatly facilitated it. This research aims to aid the generation of decision options by considering artificial intelligence (AI) as a possible solution. It starts with a critical review of the SWOT as a powerful and popular tool for conducting situation analysis. A weighted matrix is introduced to improve the current SWOT approach. By manipulating the matrix, a heuristic rule is derived. The heuristic rule can be fed into future AI software to generate various decision options
Wiley-Blackwell eBooks, Mar 1, 2018
Small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are at the core of the Malaysian construction industry.... more Small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are at the core of the Malaysian construction industry. They account for more than 90% of companies that accept construction work. Because the SMEs are the majority, their characteristics significantly affect the current practices in the industry. This paper sought to understand the key characteristics of Malaysian construction SMEs that operate in rural areas. The study was based on multiple case studies in five construction SMEs that operated in four different states in Malaysia. The case studies identified seven key characteristics of Malaysian rural construction SMEs: (1) motivation for survival, (2) no policy for the implementation of new technologies and training, (3) no preference on the types of construction work accepted, (4) dominated by a single owner; (5) small number of employees, (6) being affected by political scenarios and (7) different business approaches between Bumiputera and non-Bumiputera companies. This study provides the government agencies and the Construction Industry Development Board an indication of how they can assist SMEs improve their productivity and further improve the construction industry's performance by addressing the special characteristics of the SMEs. The study may also serve as a basis to understand SMEs in other countries because different cultures, traditions and problems that SMEs encountered are viewed differently in different countries.
The concept 'competitiveness' is an important element in the debate on the performance of nations... more The concept 'competitiveness' is an important element in the debate on the performance of nations, industries and firms. The purpose of this paper is, firstly, to highlight the need to ask the right questions in order to specify the meaning and measurement of 'competitiveness' and secondly to introduce a new definition of competitiveness for a nation's construction industry. An examination of the extant literature on 'competitiveness' and its associated measures, reveals that there is a vital link between 'competitiveness' and the principal goals, the mission, of a nation and firm respectively, but also that these missions are not completely covered by the measures used today. This observation enables the formulation of a definition of 'competitiveness' for a nation's construction industry. It is concluded that 'competitiveness' for a nation's construction industry must consider the needs and expectations of companies, clients and society respectively and simultaneously and cannot be captured by a single measure.
Many large scale construction projects (LSPs) are designed in a collaboration between famous inte... more Many large scale construction projects (LSPs) are designed in a collaboration between famous international architects and local design firms. Design management usually evolves as a tool at the design stage for designers and design solution. One of the special characteristics of the Korean construction environment places a duty and responsibility on the contractor to coordinate and check design information. Hence the contractor must manage and integrate diverse design information into the production process. This research considers how the design management diagram (DMD) can help as a part of the system at the pre-production stage of LSPs in Korea 2. The pre-production stage receives insufficient attention from the research community from the perspective of design management; it is a complex process involving interdependence, risk, and uncertainty. Through the application of a DMD from the pre-production stage, the contractor can predict and manage the design-related uncertainty during production stages. The design management factors (DMFs) were analysed by the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), and then used complexity system theory to understand the interrelationship between the causal factors. DMFs are presented as a causal loop diagram which can help the contractor to cope with designrelated uncertainties at the early production phase.
JOURNAL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT
Tender documents often lack clarity and are incomplete, making it difficult for contractors to ap... more Tender documents often lack clarity and are incomplete, making it difficult for contractors to appropriately price projects. A general view is that the quality of tender documents has declined, which has affected the bidding strategies of contractors. However, the academic literature has focused mainly upon the views of contractors. To obtain a more balanced view of tendering practices, in-depth interviews were conducted with 10 practitioners (client, consultant, and contractor) who are involved in a common project at the same time in the UK construction industry. The contractor was satisfied that the quality of tender documents had been consistent. By contrast, both the client and the consultant agreed that the quality of tender documents is an ongoing issue. During the study it was revealed that tendering practice is influenced by the relationship between stakeholders or the unbalanced access to information rather than the accuracy and analysis of tender documentations. Tendering ...
Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are the core of construction industry. SMEs are recognised as... more Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are the core of construction industry. SMEs are recognised as the backbone of economy. Materials form major parts of the total cost of construction project which make control of this resource significant. Despite the importance of materials, not enough attention has been given by researchers to materials control and management. Effective and efficient material management has the capability to reduce cost and increase productivity on construction projects for SMEs. Tracking and positioning technology has the potential to increase productivity and the application of construction material management. Affordability, reliability and ease of use are the capabilities of GPS, GIS, RFID and Bluetooth which make them suitable for SMEs. These technologies are widely available yet rarely applied for SMEs in construction. The aim of this research is to find out the applications of the tracking technology for SMEs on supply chain materials on construction site ...
... 5 The World Bank's HDM model 59 4.2. 6 The Department of Transport'... more ... 5 The World Bank's HDM model 59 4.2. 6 The Department of Transport's COBA and URECA models 60 4.2. 7 The TRRL whole life cost model 60 4.2. 8 Other approaches to life cycle costing 61 4.3 Traffic 61 4.4 Construction costs 63 4.4. 1 Road geometry 63 4.4. ...
Automation in Construction, 1996
The construction process relies upon the effective management of a variety of project information... more The construction process relies upon the effective management of a variety of project information including drawings; specifications; bills of quantities; and other technical data. The method of information transfer determines the ease with which information can be assimilated and used in the construction process. Despite the widespread use of computers for the generation of project information, hard copy documentation remains the primary method of information transfer within the construction industry. Electronic Document Management (EDM) systems offer a level of control over information flow within the construction process, whether documents are in hard copy or in electronic format. However, many of the existing methods of information transfer undermine the performance of EDM systems in two respects; (1) they require the user to re-enter information to register incoming documents into a data base; (2) they cannot interpret and manipulate information cohtained in or supporting the document. This paper describe,3 a method of bar coding hard copy drawings in order to electronically transfer document information from designer to contractor. This approach is designed to improve the functionality of EDM systems where hard copy documents predominate. The paper also considers the requirements for bar code application standards which would further improve the data exchange process concerning documents.
Construction Management and Economics, 1996
... glass used for security glazing could be coded using a ve digit code of the form C68-2C ... ... more ... glass used for security glazing could be coded using a ve digit code of the form C68-2C ... Any auto-ID standard must be sufciently Ż exible to accommodate potential uses in any stage of ... system will stimulate adoption in life cycle stages which have hitherto failed to use auto-ID. ...
Describing Construction, Aug 17, 2022
Atmospheric and Climate Sciences
It is becoming clear that Climate Change is getting severe. It was reported that the improved oce... more It is becoming clear that Climate Change is getting severe. It was reported that the improved ocean heat measurements have a rate of warming upwards from 4 to 5 Hiroshima bombs liberated heat per second or 388,800 per day. It was reported also that our climate has accumulated the equivalent of a total of more than 2.8 billion Hiroshima bombs' worth of heat since 1998. Despite this global concern about the effect of global change on environment, it is believed that the problem is much more severe and with greater impact on all facets of life. The effect of Climate Change, especially with a 1˚C increase in global temperature (from 14˚C to 15˚C) is equivalent to the heat liberated from explosion of about 300 million Hiroshima of atomic bomb. This is why this CoP 26 becomes more serious and had targeted year 2060 as a year of zero CO 2 emission. This paper discusses the impact of climate change on ten sectors; water, water desalination, energy, renewable energy supply, health, society, agriculture, economy, industry, and built environment.
Chartered Institute of Building, Jan 10, 2021
Proceedings of the 24th International Symposium on Advancement of Construction Management and Real Estate, 2021
Abstract The term corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been intensely discussed across the w... more Abstract The term corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been intensely discussed across the world for over decades. Construction industry, however, is usually labeled as being relatively irresponsible for its adverse impacts on environment and relatively dangerous working condition on construction sites. The in-depth exploration of CSR issues has rarely been targeted. This empirical study investigates the impact of corporate social performance (CSP) on competitive advantage of Chinese listed construction companies. The hypothesis of this study is that corporate social performance is positively related to competitive advantage. Drawing on a dataset of 85 Chinese listed construction companies obtained from Hexun and Capital IQ database, the finding from structural equation model (SEM) provides strong evidence that CSP has a positive impact on competitive advantage. This result suggests that Chinese construction companies should promote their engagement in CSR activities and improve their CSR performance, thus gain a competitive advantage over their competitors.
Code of Quality Management , 2019
The Code considers the issue of quality management in the construction sector. A transformation a... more The Code considers the issue of quality management in the construction sector. A transformation and improvement challenge are needed to bring quality to the fore for the construction industry. Quality engineering should be an integral part of the construction industry by moving away from checking and remedying defects towards defect prevention. Quality is increasing in importance as defects caused by poor quality materials, design, or workmanship discovered after completion can have serious consequences.