This publication presents an literature review, progress of an environmental scan, and preliminary findings of research for the project... Show moreThis publication presents an literature review, progress of an environmental scan, and preliminary findings of research for the project entitled Innovative Uses of Native CAD Files. Sponsorship: Electri International Show less
This article examines the relationship between specific construction project characteristics and the degree and speed that the foremen are... Show moreThis article examines the relationship between specific construction project characteristics and the degree and speed that the foremen are able to improvise in response to disruptive events on the jobsite. Specifically, characteristics such as the number of crew members working under the supervision of a foreman, the occupancy status of the project (i.e., occupied or unoccupied) during construction, the stage of completion of the project, and the levels of turbulence, time pressure, cooperation, collaboration, and organization, were examined. Using a multilevel regression modeling approach, an analysis of 244 disruptions reported by 50 foremen was conducted to determine whether the construction project characteristics could predict more or less improvisation and faster or slower improvisation by the foreman. The findings indicate that on construction projects that are rated by the foremen as more organized, the foremen can make more modest improvised decisions to resolve a disruption, but that on construction projects that were rated by the foremen as more collaborative (i.e., involved joint decision-making), a greater degree of improvisation was deployed. In addition, it was found that on sites that were rated by the foremen as more cooperative (i.e., involved greater willingness to help each other), the foremen required more time to improvise their decisions. Sponsorship: National Science Foundation Show less
This article introduces a theory of emotion-driven behavior in construction contracting and provides support for this theory by presenting the... Show moreThis article introduces a theory of emotion-driven behavior in construction contracting and provides support for this theory by presenting the quantitative results of a study on the emotional reaction of individuals to the language in contract clauses. Four different versions of the standard Delay Clause found in most construction contracts were extracted from four different contracts and were presented to a group of 27 individuals. Participants rank ordered the clause versions from 1 (most negative) to 4 (most positive). Overall, Clause Version 2 was ranked as having the most negative contract language, with nearly 75% of the participants ranking it as most negative. In contrast, Clause Version 4 was ranked as having the most positive contract language, with over 50% of the participants ranking it as most positive. Participants likewise selected negative emotion words to describe their reaction to Clause Version 2 and positive emotion words to describe their reaction to Clause Version 4. The findings suggest that contract clauses that contain negative language do tend to generate negative emotional reactions while positive contract language do tend to generate positive emotional reactions. Show less
The document is a compilation of the Baseline Assessment, Foreman Survey, and Exit Interview documents for National Science Foundation... Show moreThe document is a compilation of the Baseline Assessment, Foreman Survey, and Exit Interview documents for National Science Foundation research project, CMMI-1100514, Flexible Decision-making in Response to Disruptive Events on Construction Sites. Sponsorship: National Science Foundation, CMMI-1100514, Flexible Decision-making in Response to Disruptive Events on Construction Sites. Show less