Architecture / Mimarlık
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Conference Object Changing Paradigms in Construction Competitiveness Research(Association of Researchers in Construction Management, 2014) Ulutaş Duman, Dilek; Giritli, HeyecanIn the construction industry, every company has to apply some kind of strategic solutions in order to maintain their competitiveness. Although there are variety of discussions of what is the meaning of 'competitiveness' and 'strategy' keywords, in generic terms while the competitiveness means gaining advantage against rivals, strategy refers the actions that provide competitiveness. Construction management literature is abundant in researches, which evaluate the competitiveness strategies of construction industry organizations, however, they approach the "competitiveness" concept from variety of theoretical backgrounds and methodological perspectives. There is a requirement for a systematic summary of the literature in order to demonstrate the changing paradigms in competitiveness research. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to analyse and identify the changing paradigms in construction competitiveness research by utilizing meta-analysis methodology to six leading construction management journals from 2000 to 2014. Findings of the research will clarify how the research focus, level of analysis, sources of information, contribution of papers, author orientation and utilization of different schools of thoughts have changed in time and how future directions could be designed in construction competitiveness research.Article Citation - WoS: 13Citation - Scopus: 25A Diagnostic Model for Assessing the Knowledge Management Practices of Construction Firms(Korean Society of Civil Engineers, 2012) Kale, Serdar; Karaman, Erkan A.Knowledge management is rapidly becoming a key organizational capability for creating competitive advantage in the construction industry. The emergence of knowledge management as a key organizational capability for creating competitive advantage poses enormous challenges to executives of construction firms. This paper proposes a model for benchmarking the knowledge management practices of construction firms that can guide and assist construction business executives to meet these challenges. The proposed model incorporates benchmarking and knowledge management concepts with Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) and Comparative Performance Analysis (CPA) maps. The IPA and CPA maps are visual management tools that have been commonly used for continuous improvements in processes and the performance of firms. Yet they have not been used in the construction management literature or for evaluating the knowledge management practices. The proposed model can be used by construction firms as an internal performance measurement tool to evaluate their knowledge management practices. It can provide powerful diagnostic information to construction business executives of construction firms in order to evaluate their firm's knowledge management practices, identify their firm's comparative advantages and disadvantages with regard to each knowledge management practice, and set priorities for managerial actions related to knowledge management practices that need improvement. A real-world case study was conducted by administering a survey to 105 construction firms operating in Turkey and is presented to illustrate the implementation and utility of the proposed model.Conference Object Citation - WoS: 2Non-Verbal Cues: Improving Communication in Construction Projects(American Society for Engineering Education, 2012) Günhan, Suat; Şenol, Gülşen; Doğan, Sevgi ZeynepConstruction industry is a dynamic, project based industry in where many problems occur due to communication issues. As it is proven that effective communication and conflict resolution abilities have a strong correlation between them, communication in the construction industry should constantly be improved. Unfortunately, the existing construction curricula do not offer enough courses which would help students to communicate effectively. Embedding technical communication into curricula and introducing courses such as Construction Communication aiming on producing construction management (CM) graduates with good writing and speaking skills are necessary. However, written and verbal languages are not the sole means by which individuals exchange information. Non-verbal cues play a significant role in communication. Therefore it is necessary for CM graduates to master the skills of using and reading body language. The literature study for the subject of communication in the education shows that body language and non-verbal communication were not taken into consideration yet. They are primarily the subject areas of anthropologists, linguists, and social psychologists. This paper aims reviewing the role of non-verbal communication skills in construction business and highlights the importance of bringing the topic into classroom. © 2012 American Society for Engineering Education.Article Citation - WoS: 29Citation - Scopus: 31Evaluating the Knowledge Management Practices of Construction Firms by Using Importance-Comparative Performance Analysis Maps(American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), 2011) Kale, Serdar; Karaman, Erkan A.The emergence of the effective management of knowledge resources as a key factor in gaining and sustaining competitive advantage presents new challenges to construction firms. Evaluating knowledge management practices is considered one of the most important challenges facing firms in today's business environment. This paper proposes a model for evaluating the knowledge management practices of construction firms. The proposed model incorporates knowledge management concepts and multilayer perceptron (MLP) neural networks to construct an importance-comparative performance analysis (ICPA) map, a simple visual tool that can provide powerful diagnostic information to executives of construction firms. The model evaluates a firm's knowledge management practices, identifies its competitive advantages and disadvantages in each knowledge management practice, and sets priorities for managerial actions to improve knowledge management practices. A real-world case study was conducted by administering a survey to 105 construction firms operating in Turkey and is presented to illustrate the implementation and utility of the proposed model. The case study findings provided preliminary support for the validity of the proposed model.Article Citation - WoS: 36Citation - Scopus: 47Perceptions of Process Quality in Building Projects(American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), 1999) Arditi, David; Günaydın, Hüsnü MuratA Delphi process and a questionnaire survey are conducted to investigate the differences in the perceptions of entry-level professionals and long-time practitioners with regard to process quality in building projects. The factors that affect process quality in the three phases (design, construction, and operation) of a building project's life cycle are identified and ranked by the respondents' perceived degree of importance. The findings indicate that the perceptions of entry-level professionals and long-time practitioners are in agreement for most (74%) of the factors. Given the differences in the respondents' background, expectations, and experience, differences in perceptions are to be expected in the remaining 26% of the factors. Analyzing these differences helps in revising and improving existing training courses and academic programs. It is recommended that college programs include courses that treat the administrative aspects involved in the building project in great detail and that continuing education programs cover quality training and life cycle cost analysis.
