Blockchain Papers

Ebizimoh Abodei, Alex Norta, Irene Azogu, Chibuzor Udokwu · 5 authors

No abstract is available for this record.

Jiannan Li, Mohamad Kassem, Angelo Luigi Camillo Ciribini, Marzia Bolpagni

The complementarity among Building Information Modelling (BIM), distributed ledger technology (DLT), smart contracts, and the Internet of Things (IoT) is increasingly acknowledged in industry reports and major national digital transformation initiatives. However, theoretical foundation and empirical evidence to ascertain such a prerogative are still very limited. This paper analyses the interactions between these technologies and proposes an approach that capitalises on their complementarity by linking the physical environment; the digital environment; agreements representing the contract; and the DLT environment. A simulated installation activity is used to verify the conceptual interrelations included in the proposed framework as a proof-of-concept. The simulation reveals how a mini smart contract -for a limited scope such as an installation activity work -can be executed within the proposed approach and how payments can be automated when project delivery is coupled with machine-readable BIM requirements and contract clauses. The paper also discusses the key limitations and challenges facing the adoption of the proposed approach and in particular the diffusion of smart contracts.

Jacky Akoka, Isabelle Comyn-Wattiau

No abstract is available for this record.

Bosire, Linet K

With the implementation of devolution in Kenya where county governments are responsible for development projects in decentralized regions in Kenya, urban infrastructure projects and their financing mode is of importance in academic discussions, government policies and public sector financial management. Various county governments have initiated PPP projects for infrastructure development to suffice their mandate; however, there is scanty academic information on the factors that determine the success of attracting funding for such projects as well as the factors for the success of the projects themselves. The constraints identified to hinder the success include financial constraints, government constraints and economic constraints. This descriptive study therefore sought to establish the determinants of success of urban infrastructure projects financed by public private parternerships in Kenyan counties. Primary data was collected using a semistructured questionnaire targeting 47 county employees responsible for PPP projects implementation. 41 questionnaires were returned providing a response rate of 87.23%. The study finds that all the counties have PPP units which is in line with the national governments initiative to encourage PPP funding for projects for improving infrastructure levels across the counties. It also found that 70.73% of the counties have in place PPP implementation guidelines which are instrumental in guiding the process. The study finds that 26.2 % of variations in the proportion of urban infrastructure projects funded within the PPP framework are explained by changes in macro economic conditions, government guarantees, project implementability and procurement process. The findings show a statistically significant positive relationship between government guarantess and success of the projects. There is also a statistically significant negative relationship between macro-economic conditions and success of the projects. The study also notes a positive relationship between project implementability and sucess as well as a negative relatioship between procurement process and project success. The relationships are not statistically significant. The study recommends that government should support infrastructural development by providing project guarantees and ensuring the macro-economic environment is sound for private investments. Further, counties should address the concerns on procurement transparency and they should enhance their capacity for project feasibility inquiries, design and implementation. The study recommends further investigations on why various proposed projects are not financed and the studies should consider the other possible control variables outside the scope of the current study that may explain the variations in the success of the projects

Mohamed Marzouk, Lobna El-Mesteckawi

The decision of selecting the appropriate procurement/delivery system for large investment construction projects is a critical and challenging task for clients, and therefore a significant factor for the project’s success. Complex projects as electric power plants can involve managing multiple contracts or subcontracts simultaneously or in sequence. The aim of this paper is to develop, and analyze a decision support tool to select the most efficient procurement/delivery system for multiple contracts Combined Cycle Power Plants (CCPP) constructed in Egypt and funded by the publicsector. This process involved the identification of various procurement routes, followed by the utilization of quantitative values developed in accordance with the requirements of the multi-criteria decision analysis technique known as simple multi-attribute rating technique (SMART). Results revealed that the procurement/delivery system with the highest score, for all contractual packages, is the integrated project delivery method (IPD) under which other procurement/delivery methods could be utilized such as performance-based contracting (PBC), and construction management (CM). Further in this research, a sensitivity analysis approach was adopted to validate the IPD selection, and to determine the most critical criterion and the most critical measure of performance for each contractual package.

Benjamin K. Sovacool, Alexander Q. Gilbert, Daniel Nugent

No abstract is available for this record.

Erik de Waard, Henk Volberda, Joseph Soeters

Purpose – Crisis management entails among other things developing organizational systems that are capable of reacting to unpredictable and different types of crises. It also involves designing cohesive operational elements to deal with the local dynamics of an actual crisis situation. This challenge of responsiveness – where organizations simultaneously need to react to change demands of different task environments – has hardly been investigated in management theory. The purpose of this paper is to initiate to shed more light on this blind spot. Design/methodology/approach – Modular organizing and organizational sensing are introduced as key drivers of organizational responsiveness. Based on a large-scale survey among 1,200 senior officers the study investigates how these two variables have influenced the responsiveness of the Netherlands armed forces for crisis response deployment. Findings – The findings indicate that the level of modularization is an important facilitator of organizational responsiveness. Organizational systems that are made up of semi-autonomous work groups are in a better position to simultaneously live up to the change demands of different environmental levels than organizations that follow a fine-grained modularization approach. Originality/value – It uses the military crisis response organization as an exemplary case for project-based organzations in general to take advantage of.

William Throndsen, Thomas Berker, Espen B. Knoll

As a tool for cross-disciplinary collaboration, energy and emissions calculations were central as common reference point throughout the whole process studied here. Considering only the design phase, it is clear that particularly the energy account was useful in defining both the necessary amount of work and the methods of the collaborative work. One of the merits was its ability to force each participant onto neutral ground based on shared information and work requirements. The energy account served as a boundary object (Star 2010) in this way as it provided “something” around which to collaborate across disciplinary boundaries and something that could translate different disciplinary specialities into a mutually comparable success criterion: the primary energy factor. The primary energy factor was both the what and the why of this collaboration, simultaneously a process of creation and a guiding force. The effort that went into creating the energy account and collaboration in workshops, which were employed as a sort of management tool, were argued by some informants to have made the process ‘heavy on the nose’. This was largely due to design aspects and the signal effect, which was important for PH Kjørbo as a pilot project. As this was a pilot project, it has received a certain degree of special attention from all involved institutions. The participants describe the special requirements connected to this building as \n• trust in the concept,\n• broad participation in the project’s definition process,\n• trust between partners, and\n• high level decision making at the different partners’ companies to cater to an acceptable risk allocation for all parts.\nAccording to the respondents, the design process benefited much from the oversight of a dedicated process manager, a role that was served by one of the project’s senior architects. In fact, many respondents noted the exact point in time when the process manager exited the project was also the point when the project encountered problems. \nThe participants agree that “closeness” (in terms of frequent communication both face-to-face and by other means) between the central and defining actors in the project team was a key to success. Failures accrued once the distance between actors increased due to their involvement in other projects. According to respondents, one important role for a process manager in the later stages could have been as a liaison between project management levels (contractor) and subcontractors. Some problems that appeared in this phase involved the sheer disbelief shared by the subcontractors when they first became acquainted with the calculations, the functional demands, and the specifications that had resulted from the design process - a process they knew little about. This constituted a failure on behalf of the PH collaboration to translate the concept to the hired hands, which complicated the execution phase. \nContract frameworks were also mentioned as a contributing source of errors as turnkey contract frameworks dis-incentivised subcontractors from making order changes also after they were clearly deemed necessary by consulting engineers. This is not an unusual mode of contracting in the construction business from a traditional viewpoint and could perhaps prove to work better in the future as the concept matures along with the market. A greater level of detailing in the design phase is one way to address this. However, in light of the experiences gathered at PH Kjørbo, the question is whether a more collaborative framework could have been applied to allow subcontractors to identify and share in ZEB Project report 25-2015 Page 6 of 32 the risk taking with the main contractors and/or project owner - or, in fact, to take part in the social learning that occurs as actors make the project ‘their own’. One way to incentivise junior contractors to join in more time-consuming, perhaps less profitable, contract arrangements could be to highlight the skill and knowledge development benefits available for participants in such projects. This would, however, require some proof of concept to be sufficiently translated into a clear added value for\nsuppliers. At this juncture, the newly constructed Powerhouse is one such proof. In replicating elements of the Kjørbo project, it is likely that resources can be saved on design and parts of the pre-project phase. However, to avoid the amount of order changes seen in the execution of PH Kjørbo (especially for different projects), more resources must be spent on learning for junior contractors. \nFinally, the symbolic value that was characteristic of Powerhouse Kjørbo contributed to both its ability to be realised and concrete benefits for actors involved in the time after completion. Many have drawn parallels between PH Kjørbo and Tesla, implying that PH Kjørbo is for the building industry what that electric car is for the automotive industry. As many of the respondents emphasised, the building is a statement that says “it’s possible.” The goal had never been accomplished, let alone attempted, before, and success hinged on the project participants’ belief in that final statement. A radically different approach combined with an ambitious goal made that belief possible, and it was reinforced by the interdisciplinary work that was the basis of the project. This extra effort was a necessity in this project, but it might not be in the next. Some of it can most likely be implemented in other projects. However, as this report also demonstrates, picking pieces out of the success story PH Kjørbo may not yield equally impressive results because there is a connection between the pieces that is important for the whole building to succeed.\n1.2 Summary of part 2: Taking a zero emission office building in use\nThe second part of this report examined the early use phase of PH Kjørbo, which was undertaken by local actors with the tenant as well as the project team. Although it is clear that the planning and design phase and the technological solutions played important roles in the success of PH Kjørbo, the way in which the running-in period was handled contributed some crucial finishing touches to the users’ overall very positive experience with PH Kjørbo. Notwithstanding the technical calibrations themselves (which are outside the purview of this inquiry), the way user expectations were met by specific consideration of practical and cognitive aspects of the use of the building created a good use experience and not just an energy-saving machine. Great care was taken to prevent technical shortcomings from interfering with work and causing frustrations, even when it has compromised energy targets temporarily. A positive use experience was considered “elementary”, an attitude that, at least in theory, denied allowing money to become an issue in this pulling contest between energy efficiency and user experience. Challenges experienced in the running-in period overall were experienced by the tenant as lower or not above what was considered normal based on experience with previous moving processes. In PH Kjørbo the ventilation system was allowed to let temperatures drift more than in a normal building.\nHowever, this system also proved that indoor temperatures experienced as normal do not necessarily require them to stay consistently at “22.2 degrees” - in fact, a drift in temperature between 20-25 degrees was found to be perfectly acceptable by the occupants. Temperatures in the lower end of this range were considered cold by some but were manageable by providing information and handling practical and cognitive expectations - or, simply speaking, a sweater kept handy. Indoor temperatures in the top range or above, should they occur at all in the Nordic climate, are equally badly handled in most Norwegian buildings, according to the informants. Again, handling users’ expectations with care in this phase proved helpful in improving user acceptance. This same characteristic of the running-in period at PH Kjørbo was found when examining the acoustic issues posed by the extensive use of exposed concrete. Negative experiences were reported largely by ZEB Project report 25-2015 Page 7 of 32 users who were used to extremely silent conditions. Addressing the reasons for the design choices openly (thermal mass) allowed users to settle into their new surroundings. As one of the respondents noted, when viewing the experience of this particular building as a whole, the somewhat increased noise levels caused by scarce sound roofing due to a minimal ventilation system meant that the ventilation noise normally endured in other buildings was totally eliminated, but the indoor climate was still described as extremely good. The result was a sum of experiences that evidently surpassed any conventional building.\nPH Kjørbo shows that treating the user as a form of “sensor” and devoting resources to the “processing” of information from such “sensors” in the running-in period provides substantial insight into the user experience that is crucial for improving the use experience. At Kjørbo, user experiences were collected through the office link system by the office manager, who then bore witness for the users in the user forums that guided the work of the running-in team. This provided a unique data source for detecting the comfort threshold. When complaints started to come in, they could be addressed quickly - either through informing about the reasons or through actual technical fixes. According to our informants, at the time of the interviews, as issues were picked up, negotiated and solved, complaints began to disappear.

Louise Nelson Dyble

The history of the Chicago Skyway in Illinois, from its inception in 1953 to its 99-year lease in 2005, is examined in this paper. As one of the last U.S. toll roads to be built before the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, the skyway's administration reflects the decentralized and relatively flexible institutions of highway administration that prevailed at the time. Chicago officials were able to finance the skyway with revenue bonds to address an anticipated traffic crisis resulting from uncoordinated planning for the Indiana Toll Road. However, Chicago's independent initiative came with a lack of oversight and resulted in questionable design parameters, traffic projections, and financing. Skyway bonds went into default in 1963, and decades of financial shortfalls and deferred maintenance followed. In the 1990s, improved traffic and revenue allowed for debt retirement and physical rehabilitation. Its lease to an investment group led by Australia's Macquarie Bank indicated a new paradigm of decentralized highway administration that included an important private-sector role. The $1.83 billion deal was hailed as a triumph for Chicago and a model for future transactions, but once again, its value for investors was questionable. A half-century of skyway history reveals some of the advantages and risks of a decentralized and relatively unregulated system of highway financing and administration.

Biemo W. Soemardi, Krishna S. Pribadi

The policy regarding the management of national road networks in Indonesia has been centrally programmed and managed by the Directorate General Bina Marga, under the Ministry of Public Works. Under such policy, the national road and bridge system is planned, programmed and financed by the central government, whereas the implementation of construction and rehabilitation/maintenance of roads and bridges are delegated to local authorities. In exercising its authority, the government of Indonesia has relied on traditional design-bid-build approach for delivery of road and highway construction and maintenance projects. Under this approach, program development and engineering were prepared by the central agency (DGBM) whereas the biding and construction process will be carried out by local authorities at provincial level. This paper discusses result of preliminary study on alternative delivery method for road projects in Indonesia. The study attempts to identify the potential application of design-build delivery method, as well as performance based contract to the current management structure of national road network system. In particular, this study aims at investigating the impact of organizational structure and decentralization mechanism at both central and local authorities to current state of application of traditional design-bid-build delivery method in road construction projects.

Racheal N Kairu

Kenya’s Constituency Development Fund (CDF) Act has been hailed as one of the most critical legislations and indeed one of the few landmark achievements of the ninth parliament and indeed of the NARC Government. Increasingly, however, concerns about the utilization of funds under this program are emerging. Most of them revolve around issues of allocative efficiency, rampant abuse and mismanagement in CDF operations, which has given rise to an increasing number of complaints from the public.
\nHowever, while majority of CDF Committees countrywide are embroiled in acrimony and even legal battles, a few enjoy appreciation from their constituents and have even been recognized by various stakeholders for best management practices. These Committees have had excellent performances in the management of the funds towards the achievement of the intended purpose and as such have been able to attain real economic and resources decentralization. The question therefore is why some Constituencies are doing well in managing CDF.
\nThe specific objective of the study was to assess the extent to which achievement of CDF objectives has been a success factor in the management of CDF in Gatanga Constituency, one of those that have been rated among the successful ones in the management of CDF. The study, which took place between June, 15 jmd July 31, 2009 adopted a cross sectional survey to meet its objectives. The population of interest was the various stakeholders in the CDF activities and the data collected was analyzed using descriptive and correlation types of data analysis.
\nThe study noted that Constituents generally felt that if CDF was well managed, it would change the face of the country in terms of providing social infrastructure. The study also revealed that though majority of the constituents were generally satisfied with CDF management since it was established in the year 2004. However, management needs improvement in terms of both the projects and resources. Planning, organizing, compositions of CDF committees also require major improvement to bring about more successful completion of specific project goals and objectives. The CDF’s National Management Committee (NMC) and Ministry of Finance should also ensure committee compliance to laid out procedures for project selection. It is hoped that the findings of this study will inform national policy dialogues and reforms in the CDF management.

Adetokunbo A. Oyetunji, Stuart D. Anderson

Project delivery systems define the roles and responsibilities of the parties involved in a project. They also establish an execution framework in terms of sequencing of design, procurement, and construction. The decision made in the selection of a project delivery system for a project impacts all phases of execution of the project and greatly impacts the efficiency of project execution. Such decisions should be facilitated by thorough analysis. Structured, quantitative decision analysis processes have been shown to have several benefits over the simplistic, holistic, and informal processes that typically characterize subjective evaluations. However, a dearth of quantitative values of project delivery systems established and validated through research has invariably left project managers with no alternative than to make project delivery selection decisions on the basis of subjective evaluations. Development of the needed quantitative values for application in a decision analysis process would greatly enhance the quality of the decision-making process and provide a defensible rationale for selection of project delivery systems for capital projects. This paper presents research findings that provide the needed quantitative values in this area. Based on the quantitative values defined here, interested parties can develop and implement quantitative evaluation of project delivery alternatives to identify the optimal solution for a given project. Multicriteria decision analysis was found to be the suitable approach for a quantitative, analytical evaluation of project delivery systems. Consequently, the quantitative values presented in this paper were developed in accordance with the requirements of the multicriteria decision analysis technique known as simple multiattribute rating technique with swing weights (SMARTS). Utilizing the quantitative values presented here and applying the analysis technique of SMARTS, a decision support tool has been developed and validated for the Construction Industry Institute. The decision support tool is presently being utilized by member companies of the Construction Industry Institute that were privy to its development. With the presentation of the quantitative values in this paper, other parties interested in developing similar tools would benefit from the research results presented here.